Weird Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 05:35:24 -0700 (MST) From: Ron Lundeen Subject: WEIRD To: Torg mailing list X-Bmw: Black Marble Wombat Version 5.2.1 WEIRD The Paranormal Reality Weird (as in "illusion") is a reality very similar to present day Core Earth; in fact, the residents think and act and live just as any residents of our Earth. The history and technology are identical. However, there are things lurking in Weird that science cannot explain: ghosts, vampires, will o' wisps, and other creatures of the night stalk the living and go about their (frequently) evil business unnoticed by the general population. Perhaps your co-worker is a witch in a coven by night; maybe that person you carpool with turns into a monster under the light of the moon. There are things occuring in Weird that man is not meant to see. For this reason, there exists a psychological membrane called the Veil. The Veil keeps the frightful, unnatural things of Weird hidden. No one really believes in ghost, or witches, or vampires. But they exist, lurking just out of sight beyond the Veil. The Veil protects these unnatural creatures by masquerading their presence. Humans will rarely acknowledge a confrontation with the supernatural; this is the work of the Veil. If by chance you catch a glimpse of a vampire flying high in the sky, you'll convice yourself it's just a large bird. If you glimpse a corpse-light out of the corner of your eye, it's just a reflection off of something. If a werewolf were to go berserk in a local mall and run away, the authorities would chalk it up to "mass hallucination." The papers would declare that a "madmam" was loose, and that by all witnesses he was "big, and pretty hairy." But a werewolf? Of course not; werewolves don't exist. In Weird, the PCs will brush up against the supernatural, and only they will believe it. They are unlikely to get help from local police or media, who wouldn't believe that gargoyles are coming to life at night, or that a dead toymaker's creations are relentless murderers. The PCs will be facing the Unnaturals on their own. Weird is a world drawn from the White Wolf _World of Darkness_ setting, with a bit of Palladium's _Beyond the Supernatural_ and _X-Files_ thrown in. Weird is a world only slightly darker than our own, but darker nonetheless. AXIOMS: Tech 23, Spiritual 9, Social 21 In these three repects, Weird is identical to Core Earth, and has identical axioms. As far as these three axioms are concerned, treat Weird as you would Core Earth. Magic 11 This is the Magic axiom at which the "Unnaturals" are possible - ghosts, werewolves, spectres, etc. Primitive, lengthy magical rites form the basis of witch and warlock covens, and these rituals have power. Magical items can exist, usually as talismans of warding or protection created by covens. Magical "spells" can be codified, including Divination, Apportation, rough Alteration, and meager Conjuration, but are not particularly reliable. Curses, which are magical in nature, will have some sort of effect. WORLD LAWS Law Of The Veil This World Law defines a border between humans and Unnaturals, and makes that boundary difficult to peer through. Paranormal creatures and events will not be discovered, even under casual observance, in most situations. People will simply refuse to believe they have just witnessed a paranormal event, unless the evidence is overwhelming. There is always some sort of explanation handy that will (just about) explain things away. People simply refuse to believe. The Law of the Veil states that all intelligent creatures in Weird will be Folk (that is, normal human), or Entity (all Unnaturals). The Law of the Veil also separates the Unnaturals from one another. It is unlikely that any Unnatural will have knowledge of any other Unnatural (possibly even themselves; Joe Smith may wonder why, after the night of every full moon, he wakes up exhausted with a horrible taste in his mouth, but he doesn't question it too deeply). A werewolf could work alongside a doppleganger, and neither would suspect the other of being inhuman. This aspect of the Law of the Veil is a boon to humans; it keeps the Unnaturals of the world (of which there are a surprising number) from working with each other to gain power and spread evil. Only in rare cases, such as a witches' or a vampires' coven, or a circle of mages, will Unnaturals work together. Law of Curses When a curse is uttered in Weird, it is likely to have immediate effects. A bag lady could curse a rich man who rebukes her to lose every penny he has, or a vampire might curse a human to shun the light of day. Frequently these curses will have an effect, though it is shielded by the Law of the Veil; if a computer whiz is cursed to "have all machines shun his touch," then he'll run into a string of bad luck with computer viruses and power surges. Nothing supernatural will be acknowledged. Curses can be difficult to adjudicate in game terms. To throw a curse, a character must generate a Spirit total against an attribute or value of the target decided by the GM. A rich man cursed to poverty would defend with his Business skill, perhaps, and a fighter cursed to weakness would defend with his Strength. If no applicable attribute or skill can be determined, the victim defends with his Spirit attribute. The following modifiers apply to the bonus number of all curses thrown (most of these are aquired from TSR's Ravenloft supplement, Oaths of Evil): Curse is Highly Justified (in the eyes of the curse thrower) +1 Curse is Justified (in the eyes of the curse thrower) +0 Curse is Unjustifed (even in the eyes of the curse thrower) -1 Curse thrower is emotionally charged +1 Curse thrower is of Gypsy blood +3 Curse thrower is a woman +1 Curse thrower is a man -1 A Human is cursing an Unnatural +1 An Unnatural is cursing a Human -3 Curse is highly dramatic (and often rhymes, or is poetic) +2 Curse mentions game mechanics -6 Curse includes broad prohibitions ("never fight," "revile the light of the sun," "lose all loved ones," etc. A curse should hamper, not restict, to be more punishing) -3 Curse is not tailored to the victim for the situation -3 Curse does not include an escape clause -3 Curse is uttered as the curse-thrower dies +6 These modifiers should be judged by the game master, to encourage curses that are hampering, but interesting to play. A wealthy character who refuses to pay a pittance to a bag lady may be "cursed to gain not a penny until he gives freely to a needy child." The severity of the curse will depend on the success level achieved. In most cases, a curse will have little or no game mechanic effects, but should instead be roleplayed. Law of Confrontations The Law of Confrontations simply means that Possibility-rated people (specifically, the Storm Knights) will come into contact with the supernatural more often than ordinary people. They will also have greater cause to believe in the supernatural occurence, although those around them may not. This World Law is simply a story device to explain why, whenever the characters adventure in Weird, they encounter the supernatural or Unnatural creatures. USING WEIRD Being so similar to Core Earth, it is possible to place Weird as a pocket dimension of Core Earth. The most powerful Unnatural in Weird is the Vampire Lord Karras Bloodmoon. Lord Karras is actually familiar with many dozens of Unnaturals, from ghosts to werecreatures, and is recognized by most Unnaturals as a superior. This is perhaps due to the large obsidian pentacle he wears on a chain around his neck (if you wish to make Lord Karras a High Lord, then this pentacle is Kobarec, his Darkness Device). The Law of the Veil extends even to the boundaries of the realm. The storms around Weird are almost nonexistent, and the mealstrom bridges are nearly invisible (actually, masked by the Law of the Veil). Weird is as secretive an invader as Nippon Tech, and could have encompassed large areas of land before its presence is discovered by the Storm Knights. WEIRD TEMPLATES It is possible to play either humans or Unnaturals from Weird. An Unnatural will usually have an Advantage and a Drawback. Often these are specified by the type of Unnatural, and all are usually drawn from the Orrorsh sourcebook. Some examples are: Werewolf: Advantage - Resistance to Normal Weapons (wolf form only) Drawback - Severse Weakness to Silver (wolf form only) Vampire: Advantage - Elemental Alteration (mist) Drawback - Stymie Condition (daylight hours) Fairy: Advantage - Animal Control (specify a forest animal) Drawback - Severe Weakness to Iron Note that NPC Unnaturals, like Horrors, may have many Advantages and few or no Drawbacks. PC Unnaturals must take one of each. In addition, if the PC Unnatural is a shapeshifter of some sort, he must take the Shapeshifting skill from the Orrorsh sourcebook, and abide by the restrictions specified there. (Other Orrorsh-specific skills, such as Occult, Swami, and True Sight, do not exist in Weird, and no Unnatural has a Fear Rating or True Death or Perserverance). Three templates are printed below, to pass along the feel of Weird characters. TOYMAKER Dex 9, Str 8, Tou 8, Per 11, Min 10, Cha 10, Spi 10 Tag Skill: Scholar (Toymaking) Equipment: 9mm Luger (dmg 15, Tech 20, 3-10/25/40), Leather Apron (TOU+1), various tools and toy parts, $20. Background: You are well past your prime at 71. Your father came to America from Germany, determined to give his family a new life. You learned how to be a toymaker from him, as he learned from your grandfather. You delight in creating simple mechanical toys, like puppets and dolls and clockwork soldiers. These mass-produced plastic toys like "Transformers" just don't have the personality toys did when you were younger. Occasionally you've found your toys tend to. . .get away from you, and you can always attribute the problem later to a faulty spring or loose fitting. But sometimes it seems your toys full of "personality" acquire a personality of their own. . . Personality: You are a soft-spoken old man who tends to get nostalgic about the "old days." But you can be serious and down-to-earth when necessary. You love children, and delight in giving them little gifts. Quote: "Now, back when Roosevelt was President. . ." COMPUTING PARAPSYCHOLOGIST Dex 10, Str 8, Tou 9, Per 10, Min 10, Cha 11, Spi 9 Tag Skill: Computer Science Equipment: Laptop Computer, Pocketknife (STR+2/16), various books on spirit lore and ghosts, lots of Life Savers. Background: You were always a whiz in school, especially around computers, and you're doing well as a college sophomore. But you're convinced that there's more "out there" than meets the eye. you've gone out of you way to study up on unexplained phenomena. You want to be like Egon in Ghostbusters, if you can find the ghosts to face. Personality: You are young and friendly. You get along pretty well with everybody. You do tend to get overexcited, and moody when things don't turn out how you want, but you have an unquenchable zest for life. Quote: "I'll go in first." CURSED GARGOYLE Dex 11, Str 12, Tou 13, Per 8, Min 7, Cha 7, Spi 8 Tag Skill: Flight (but see below) Natural Tools: Claws (STR+3/15) Hide (TOU+3/16) Wings (speed value 9, but see below) Advantage: Attack Form Resistance, Firearms/Explosives Drawback: You are heavy (Weight value 14, roughly 1400 lbs) and big (about 7'6" tall) with large wings. This reduces your mobility a great deal (can't fit in most cars, will fall through weak floors, etc.) Background: You were just a stone gargoyle atop a downtown building until a few years ago. You're not sure how you came to life; one day, you just did. You would soar above the city at night, loving the freedom of flying. You hid from the "humans," who kind of frighten you despite their small size. You accidentally killed one a few weeks after coming "alive," and she swore you'd never fly again until you killed one of your own kind. The curse was powerful; since that day you've been completely unable to fly, and been forced to hide in alleys and dumpsters. Humans are starting to frighten you less, and you feel you might be able to befriend some of them, but what you'd do then you're not sure. Personality: You are a lot like a child, have been "alive" only a few years. You are self-conscious of your appearance and your size, and avoid large crowds of people. You'd love to be able to fly again, but you've never met another gargoyle, and you're not sure if you would want to kill another (who might be the only one in the world to understand you) to be able to fly again. You figure you'll cross that moral dilemma when it comes up. You're kind of big, and kind of dumb, but until you can find a friend, you're all that you've got. Quote: "I not gonna hurt you." Let me know what y'all think! Ron ======================================================================== # It ought to be easy, ought to be simple enough # # Man meets a woman and they fall in love # # But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough # # And you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above. # # - Bruce Springsteen, "Tunnel of Love" # ========================================================================