Gods of the Fall - Another Approach to Cyphers Redux

Previously, I brought up an idea to make Cyphers a feature of a PCs divine power. After receiving Predation recently (digital and then my backer's copy) I was reading and found that that game uses similar tactic with Cyphers being encoded into people's DNA via the temporal disturbances that cause them. Now I wonder if my idea was my own or something I subconsciously remembered from my playtest of Predation last year. Either way I still think there's merits to this idea for Gods of the Fall.

Going further (farther?) and taking a cue from the mode of cypher distribution via time anomaly a GM could give new cyphers out via fonts of divine power, wellsprings of magic, and slain foes in the form of spiritual energy (and possibly divine energy). This isn't too far from the current norm in which cyphers are divine energy that often is formless glowing orbs or crystals. Only the oldest of cyphers have become manifest in the form of common objects.

There's a single downside to adopting this method into the game, at least from my standpoint, and that's that it prevents any non-divine beings from using cyphers against the PCs. Frankly, it's not often I do so, but that's my prerogative and I'm loathe to throw something out of the toolbox that I may want later. And while I don't use it often I have used it, and so it's not something I want to retcon. Perhaps in future campaigns I'll make the change. Perhaps not. Either way it's an idea worth putting a little cognition on.

Nuts & Bolts #123 - RPG Blog Carnival - Genre Smash

This month's topic, Gonzo and Cross-Genre Gaming, comes from the Crossplanes blog. I don't know much about "gonzo" gaming a such, but I know a thing or three about mashing genres together. In fact, every one of the settings I showcased in my "Top Five RPG Settings" blog post is at least a little bit of a mash up.

• Nightbane is modern horror mixed with alien invasion
• Dark Sun is high fantasy crossed with post eco-apocalypse
• Deadlands is a western crossed with both horror and fantasy
• Shadowrun is cyberpunk mixed with urban fantasy
• Numenera is fantasy mixed with post-apocalypse and far futures, where the unknowable science replaces magic

What is it about genre mash-ups that appeals? Well, for my money it's the ability to juxtapose different themes in ways that you cannot usually. Consider Shadowrun, you can take a street samurai who is holding onto their humanity by shreds in the face of continuous augmentation and put them across from a hermetic mage whose very source of power relies on staying as pure in body as they are in spirit. 

Numenera juxtaposes a medieval human society amidst the ruins of not one by either prior civilizations with technology so far advanced that it is understood as hardly more than magic. A prime example of Clarke's Law. 

Alternately, the combination of two genres can help support themes, building higher than either can alone. Deadlands mixes the wild west with supernatural horror. The western expansion was already a case of exploring the unknown, conflict with indigenous peoples, and the boom or bust nature of the gold rush. The injection of supernatural horror is able to deepen all of those themes by adding the supernatural unknown, expanding the conflicts with the indigenous people by adding layers of ideology between the hucksters (european magic) who take power from the Reckoners, and the native shamanistic magics that oppose the Reckoners; add in the power of God in the form of blessed for an entirely extra layer. Further the boom or bust of the gold rush is thematically echoed by the Ghost Rock boom/rush, which also enables a technology vs nature vs supernatural element in the form of the various steampunk super science inventions.

Ditto how a post-eco-apocalypse adds new layers to the darker fantasy tones of Dark Sun by providing context for blood sacrifice, slavery, use of primitive gear, and the lesser prevalence of magic. Likewise for Nightbane where the paranoia of invasion and takeover of the government is deepened by the injection of magical doppelgangers, shape-changing creatures, and the questioning of self as a result of supernatural transformation. Add in third and fourth parties in the form of vampires (who have their own designs for us) and the Lightbringers (whose origins are purposefully difficult to pin down) and this supernatural spin on a traditionally science fiction genre is given new life.

Then again, maybe it's just that mash ups speak to that primal gamer instinct to compare crap. Can a black dragon really take down a Veritech fighter? Well, thanks to Rifts we can find out. [The answer is yes BTW, easily.] Sometimes you just want to see odd combinations, and really the American pop cultural landscape has been filled to the brim with two massive settings that embrace all manner of genre in the form of the DC and Marvel comic book universes. Neither publisher has ever shied away from having aliens, magic, mutants, high tech super soldiers, and psychics all in the same setting (with plenty of other options to boot). Batman is "just a guy" and his arguable best friend is an alien god. They routinely hang out with a Goddess/Golem (Wonder Woman depending on her origin), a metahuman/mutant (the Flash), a space cop (Green Lantern), and more. The Avengers are similarly mashed up in the comics (less so in the movies where magic is just Clarke's Law tech).

Me, I prefer a mash-up that adds something in terms of theme or tone. Whether that is in support of or juxtaposition of the genres at work doesn't matter, but I think that those mash ups are the ones that gain the most from the effort and tend to capture the imagination more. Your milage may vary, but I'll always see it that way. 

Furry Road - The Feral

Image Source: Palladium's After The Bomb, 2nd Edition

Design Notes: Originally I was looking at Aggressive or Rugged as descriptors here, as I wanted this character to feel like a character who grew up outside of civilization. Thankfully Predation recently came out and features a new descriptor, perfect for my needs: Savage. As a mutant cat the focus Moves Like a Cat seemed a natural fit to catch many of the aspects of the character I wanted to see. Claws is as easy as the T1 warrior ability, Needs No Weapon. In this end this was a pretty easy build. Could I do it without the MLaC focus? Sure, I'd apply pretty much the same skills and pools, and the only thing I'd be missing was the Safe Fall ability. 

Zhan the Cat is a Savage Warrior who Moves Like a Cat

Tier 3 • Effort 3

Might 18 • Edge 2
Speed 19 • Edge 3
Intellect 10 • Edge 0

Cypher Limit: 2

Armor: 0 (none)

Skills:

• Inability
• all pleasant social interactions
• Trained
• all tasks involving intimidation and scare tactics
• smashing and breaking things
• balancing
• Unarmed Attacks
• Survival
• initiative
• perception
• Specialized
• climbing
• jumping
• Speed defense

Abilities:

• Safe Fall
• Practiced With All Weapons
• No Need for Weapons
• Trained Without Armor
• Swipe
• Mighty Blow
• Fury
• Lunge

Equipment: Appropriate clothing, plus one expensive item, two moderately priced items, and up to four inexpensive items.

Weapons:

• knife (light weapon)
• crude pipe club (medium weapon)

Initial Link to the Adventure: You told everyone you were going to join, and no one said no to you, so here you are.

Connections: 

• Jim the Raccoon saved your life and you now feel you owe him a debt that cannot be repaid.
• You love to tease and play practical jokes on Max the Dog but you also respect his ability to drive with such precision and grace

Last Week Today - June 5 - 11, 2017

Monday
Furry Road - The Brains

Tuesday
Tuesday Tools - Revised Cypher System Character Sheet

Wednesday
Nuts & Bolts - Hacking the Cypher System - An Aspect of Fate

Friday
Gods of the Fall - Session Prep - ...Into the Furnace