So, we have basically completed character creation. Updates might get slower from here on out, just as a warning. Hopefully should be able to update throughout the week, but don't expect multiple updates in one day like the beginning. Time and dramatic necessity permitting, of course.
Our guy, when he's fantasing, imagines himself as the hero. He sees himself rescuing the princess, slaying the dragon, climbing the tower. Then he'll dismiss it as fantasy and get down to serious planning. He wants a wife, he wants kids, he wants a job designing computer games (okay, maybe just a job), and he wants to have no doubt about his place in the cosmos.
Then he looks around him and realizes that, despite these being realistic objectives, he's nowhere near any of them.
In the end, he wants (to quote Clarence Clarity) symmetry, happiness, sanity, and clarity. He wants his life to make sense, he wants his world to make sense, and he wants to look back on his decisions and know he did the right thing.
In summary.
What's been keeping you awake?
Staying up late surfing internet websites.
What just happened to you?
A mannequin pickpocketed me.
What's on the surface?
Nerdy fast-food worker/amateur game designer with a handlehorse mustache.
What lies below?
Devout but doubtful orphan who hates his grandmother, desires order, and fears death.
What's your path?
Make sense of my dumb life.
Now, time for housekeeping.
First we set our dude's Discipline. Discipline is our character's base skill and self-control. A normal human has 1-2. We have 3, since we're an exceptional individual even before we were Awake.
Next we determine Responses. Responses are how our character responds to moments of extreme stress, when the psychological strain of the situation overwhelms him. We divide three between Flight and Fight. I'm gonna make a judgement call (Feel free to correct me) and say our character has 2 Flight and 1 Fight. While our man is quick to run, if you push the right buttons he'll let loose the frustration and rage he's kept boiling under the skin.
The last thing we're meant to do is determine Talents. We have our Exhaustion Talent, which makes our supernaturally talented at something we can already do. If we use it too much, we fall asleep: this is bad.
Then we have our Madness Talent, which allows our character to do something he can't normally do – something outside human limits, like reading minds or bending steel with bare fists. If we use it too much, we turn into a Nightmare: this is worse.
But let's not decide that now. Consider our character. He doesn't know what his Talents are, why should we? Let's wait until we use them. That way, it's a surprise. For now, look at the questions, and ponder what sort of powers you could have based off that.
For now, let's go for the meat of the game.
Play.
SCENE I
I see our guy walking down a midnight street. It's out in the suburbs: every house is dark. He pauses under a streetlamp, swaying slightly. He's been up for a month, way beyond any precedents. It feels like all the blood is rushing to his head, like it's about to pop open in a geyser of red. He shuts his eyes...
And that's when he gets knocked on his ass by a stranger. Face down in the pavement, he feels a hand grab something from his breast pocket. When he opens his eyes the hooded mugger is a blur heading down the street. He pushes himself up then pats himself down. Wallet, phone, keys, it's all there.
Then he realizes he can't recall his own name.
He opens up his wallet then checks the driver's license. It's blank, like the template for a forger. Our dude drops it and backs away in shock. Then he looks down the street.
A black mannequin in a monk's cowl leans out from the corner, looking down the street. As soon as our guy spots him he bolts.
If you want to chase him down, here's how it works.
We roll dice. By default you roll however many Discipline dice you have, in this case 3. I roll my Pain dice. Every 1, 2, and 3 is a success. Whichever pool of dice has the highest number dominates: this flavors the result. Whoever has the highest amount of successes wins the roll.
Now, for this, I'll be rolling 4 Pain. Even if you're an exceptional human, you're chasing down a mannequin. You sweat, you tire out: this guy doesn't. 3 dice versus 4: I don't like those odds.
... Well, word from the wise. At any time you can add 1 Exhaustion die or up to 6 Madness die to a roll. That Exhaustion will put you head-to-head; the Madness will crush it.
Up to you, as always. If you do want to bring out the Exhaustion and Madness, let us know what ours happen to be.
Author
Topic: Don't Rest Your Head {SG} (Read 3012 times)