Holiday Interlude 2017 #2 - Father Time

Image Source: https://alexstoneart.deviantart.com/art/Father-Time-318943657

Holiday Interludes

• 2014
• #1 - Gingerbread Dragon
• #2 - Gingerbread Ninjas
• 2015 
• #1 - Octoclaus the Santapus
• #2 - The Ginger-mech Man
• #3 - Krampus
• 2016
• #1 - Frostborn Snowmen
• #2 - Reindeer
• 2017
• #1 - Turkeysaurus Rex

The godly personification of time itself. Father Time is typically encountered in the form of an old and wizened man carrying a scythe. On occasion he displays an hourglass, watch, sundial, or similar timekeeping device, often when manipulating time itself. In all practical ways immortal, when "slain" Father Time becomes an infant who's very cry can tear down the old and usher in the new. 

Name: Father Time

Level: 15 (TN 45)

Health: 200 • Armor: 0

Damage: Special.

Movement: Immediate

Modifications: Father Time is Eternal, if he should ever be reduced to Zero Heath a new age begins and Father Time is reborn as an infant. In his infant form Father Time's wails bring down what was old and usher in what is yet to come.

Combat: Father Time attack with his scythe, reaping what has been sown and moving his target one step down the damage track.

Interaction: Father Time is usually encountered in the form of an elderly man with a scythe. He is pleasant to talk to and willing to hear all petitioners out, he does have all eternity afterall.

Use: Father Time is immeasurably powerful but he is also old and bored. He can often be convinced to send a person or persons back to an earlier to change the flow of events for the sheer novelty of the unfolding new timeline.

Loot: Father Time's Scythe is a level 10 artifact weapon dealing 10 damage that bypasses armor to a random pool with each attack when wielded by any being who is not Father Time. The depletion of the Scythe is often agreed upon between the borrower and Father Time and is usually limited to a specific number of uses after which the Scythe crumbles to dust and returns to Father Time.

GM Intrusion: Father Time sends the target forward or backward in time allowing them a chance to change history, or the ability to bypass events. 

Nuts & Bolts #143 - Hacking the Cypher System - Still More on Shifts

Unmasked was released recently. I wrote about it last week (here), and mentioned that regarding the Cypher System's Power Shift mechanic there was "more that enough for a whole different article about that specifically." Well, welcome to this week and another article about power shifts! I have written about the topic a few times previously.

Unmasked's chapter on Shifts actually resonates with that second article, and I think there's a lot to unpack and a lot to learn, not just for Unmasked, not just for using Cypher System for Supers, but for any use of Shifts in a Cypher game, including those in Gods of the Fall.

Chapter 8 isn't a long one, which makes it all the more powerful. It's the mechanical and narrative equivalent of Bruce Banner. It looks unassuming but it contains a powerful force. Heck I guess that fits with the whole theme of Unmasked. By page count the chapter looks like a Teen, but the content reveals that it's more of a Prodigy, and mask-form capable of wielding tremendous power that seems to defy logic. Perhaps I'm hyperbolizing a bit, but you'll have to be the judge of that for you. Me, I think there's some amazing stuff in these three, yes 3, pages!

Firstly, Unmasked basically rips the training wheels off. Instead of just pointing back to the Shift categories in the CSR (page 270) it offers the following.

Players should feel free to be creative with the three power shifts they can place on abilities in their new mask-form. There is no definitive list, because power shifts can be used on nearly anything. GMs should work with their players to establish what does and does not make sense for a power shift. (Unmasked, page 62)

That's HUGE. Instead of limiting players and GMs to the list in the book (insomuch as they are actually limited, MCG isn't going to HALO drop into your dining room to force you to follow the rules strictly) they are explicitly opening Shifts up to 11. This game goes full throttle in a way even Gods of the Fall didn't. However, you can't just tell players and GMs to make stuff up without giving some guidelines (at least not without people then asking you for guidelines). And guide it does. With three simple suggestions it gives people all the tools they need, it's now in the hands of the players and GMs to use them.

Power Shifts are suggested to be "Clear," "Restricted in scope," and "Indicative of the PC they are attached to." And with those three simple suggestions, and some prose to explain the intent, Power Shifts go from a pick and play assortment of prefabricated cookie cutter boosts to something that can be incredibly versatile and, best of all, flavorful and thematic. A whipping sixteen examples, a mix of the CSR shifts and entirely new ones, are then presented and further drive home just how much you can do when given the right tools.

I think this will be incredibly useful for Gods of the Fall where sometimes shifts were really difficult to fit for Gods with more esoteric Dominions. A God of Shadows for instance could have a shift called "At Home in Shadows" that would give a boost to any action where the God was hiding in shadows, attacking from shadows, or the like. A God of Chance could take a shift in "The Odds are With Me" and gain a shift on games of chance/gambling, and all re-rolls from spending XP as another example.

Lastly in a sidebar this chapter tosses out an interesting new optional rule: Pushing It. This reminds me of similar mechanics from other supers games like Power Stunts and Extra Effort from Mutant & Masterminds, or the effects of Hero Point or the like in any number of other games such as Savage Worlds.

The idea is that during a dire situation the player can spend some XP to have the hero temporarily move shifts from one area to another to affect the outcome of a roll. A mastermine character with shifts in "Smart as Sin," which usually affects their Intelligence and knowledge skills, to a one round bonus to Speed defense to avoid being hit by a bus thrown at them by a villain. It's a nice way to help balance the huge disparity in power that can come from shifts and I think it also fits the superheroic genre quite well. It'll also fit nicely into Gods of the Fall, because it's hard to think that a God can't occasionally do a little extra something something when needed.

All in all I think that despite being rather a short chapter the value of the advice here is going to come back tenfold or more. The Cypher System has always been open and welcoming to player and GM innovation but never has that mindset been so fiercely and advocated for and embraced. Taking these steps to a more toolkit oriented ruleset is something I encourage every GM to try. I think it'll help you and your players to engage more with both the settings and characters.

MCC Recap - A Branch to the Head for All

Recently I ran the first 1/3-1/2 of A Fallen Star for All with a ragtag band of seekers trying to breach the uncovered ancient stronghold.

• +James Walls  as Cypher the Shaman of ACHROMA
• +Alex Perucchini  as Flik-flak the Sentinel
• +andrew lyon  as Francois Franswa the Frog Manimal
• +Paul Go  Agutter the Healer

Spoilers for the first bit of A Fallen Star for All ahead...

Because I'm trying to establish a non-murder hobo game I'm encouraging the players to invest in their community, and I think it's working! After the clan's elders tasked them with investigating the uncovered ancient complex that was recently revealed by a fallen star the briefly spoke with the clan's head seeker, Trev-gar about the dangers he saw before retreating (as wise choice). Deciding that the needed more protection they went to a barter session with Peek, the local tanner, to get some armor. Cypher traded a trio of glowing fingers for some hide armor, and Agutter commissioned a vest of pleather and purchased a cloak with some knick knacks from his prior outing.

Using their "sky-carriage" gained from the prior exploration ofthe Sky-High tower they quickly covered the day's travel and arrived at the crater of the fallen star. Warned that other tribes had sent seekers to this spot the group lands nearby in the jungle and hides their vehicle lest it be stolen or stripped for parts. Arriving at the edge of the crater on foot they decided to take the long way around to avoid the red fog that had "jacked up" Trev-gar and his team. This seemed wise (it was) but turned unlucky for them as they bumped into a seeker group from the Blessed Brotherhood. The mutants laid claim to Agutter's medipack but an enraged Cypher quickly murdered them with some clever RP and good dice and the support of a spine throwing Franswa. Well, all but one, who escaped (I'm sure they'll never see him again).

After circumnavigating the red fog they approached a pair of structures that looked much like stone mushrooms. An empathic/telepathic cat (now called Dr. Claw) warned them about some kind of murderous mutant. It didn't take long for Cypher to slay the mutant (seriously, this Shaman is a beast) but in the process Franswa the Frog-manimal was driven insane by a nat 1 on his mutation check to hurl some spines. Drawn by the sounds of battle the mutant's companion, a blue skinned man, emerged from the huts and was likewise quickly dispatched but not before downing the insane Franswa.

Looting the bodies and they structure yielded several artifacts, only one of which exploded and killed Feeleep (one of Franswa's 9 additional personalities, all dead now;  as an aside do I get to count that as 10 PC deaths? ;) ). Experimenting with a strange device within the structure they recovered a cube of some kind with a sunburst (or maybe an eye?) symbol on one side that Cypher deduced was a key (he would know, doors are his favored enemy).

The group also found a mutant who joined them, replacing the now perished Franswa as the group's "diversity hire" (3 PSH and a mutant currently, with +Craig McCullough playing a 4th PSH). So far our group's track record with manimals, mutants, and plantients has been poor, but we'll see if Andy's new PC bucks the trend. We wrapped up after about 2 hours of play with a break to generate Andy's new character. I think that if all goes well the remainder will make for the bulk of the January and February sessions, at which point I will either choose a new module to run, or poll the players for what they wish to do next...

Most shocking thing we learned about MCC:

• Rolling a 1 on a mutation check means you gain and defect and permanently lose the mutation! I suspect this is one we'll be talking about for a while as a group. I'm planing to play as written but if this seems to excessively to punish mutants, manimals, and plantients I may need to houserule. 

Most amusing behavioral change:

• After getting a net result of 1 on an artifact check and causing a 6 damage explosion that killed a PC the group is now quick to tell me that they are putting distance between themselves and anybody making an artifact check.

Interesting (to me) Rules Adjudications:

• After getting healed Cypher made an attack on the adjacent enemy. I ruled it as a sneak attack and gave a die upgrade. He basically just sat up and axed the guy in the groin with no warning. Ouch!
• After Franswa went insane and gained 9 new additional personalities I had Andy use the purple sorcerer to roll up 9 new sets of stats and ruled that each personality had its own Personality and Intelligence (which seemed entirely logical) AND Luck score. I also encouraged Andy to not have each personality just be a slightly different version of the base character, sadly we didn't have enough time to see how that would play out. 
• After dropping to zero I ruled that the personality in control of Franswa's body would be permanently dead if the character dropped to zero but was healed, or succeeded on a body roll. I thought this was an interesting adjudication as it wiped out that combo of Per, Int, and Luck stats as well, making for some genuine stakes for the many personalities. I really hope to see another mutant with this come into the game to see how this plays in the long term. 

In Memoriam: 

• Franswa (and Feeleep, and 8 other personalities)