In the beginning, there was only the Unbroken Light: Omnipotent, but with nothing to influence, omniscient, but with nothing to know, omnibenevolent, but with no life to recieve its goodwill. Like a sunbeam through a prism, it shone upon the infinite Darkness and wrought a world from its own Light - a world of colors where belief and merit give shape and meaning to reality, mundane and magical alike.
This is a world of wild magic, where it is said that spirits spontaneously manifest from nothingness, subtly influencing the unfolding of history. As they gain belief, their influence grows until they make a name for themselves. As a newly manifested spirit, can you gather enough believers to ascend to godhood?
Welcome back to the world of Chromatic Spirits.---
This is a "loose continuation" of the Chromatic Spirits RPG which died out nearly a year ago. While it takes place in the same world, there will be a few gameplay differences, mainly to make it less difficult to write. The first is that I will avoid having too many concurrent plot threads happening at once. The second is some mechanical changes to give the players more agency.
We will pick up from one of the plot threads of the last game, which will be voted on. If you were part of the last game and want to continue using the same character, you may do so. If you want to create a new character that is also fine; if the characters end up meeting, well, we'll figure that out when we get to it (probably just allow you to use both characters, or maybe combine them if the plot allows it). New players may also join.
Find the original game here. But I'll try to make it accessible to new players who don't want to read the whole thing.
Chapter 1: Ghostly Wisps
Round 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Chapter 2: Strange Creatures
Round 5Round 6Round 7Round 8Chapter 3: Forgotten History, Famililar Faces
Round 9Round 10Round 11Round 12Round 13Round 14Round 15Round 16---
Mechanics:To create a new character, you must state your
first action. This is a small event that could be attributed to chance, but which cause people to begin believing in a spirit. To keep the plot from fragmenting, try to create new characters in the vicinity of existing players. (Please wait until we choose a starting location before creating a character.)
New players begin as weak, wispy spirits that can do little more than slightly nudge objects or make suggestions to NPCs and other players. However, as you continue to play, you gain Essence and Mana based on your actions and choices, which increase the level of influence you are able to wield, until you evolve into a proper character.
Because of this, new players can jump in mid-game without much of a hassle. Players from the last game that don't rejoin (I mean it's been a year after all, it's to be expected) will just fade away and/or stop doing things.
(Returning players will get a starting boost to give them on roughly the same abilities they had in the last game, in addition to the default abilities now available to all players.)
Most abilities consume Mana. There are 3 kinds of Mana:
Red Mana is acquired by getting people to believe in your power (whether benevolent, malevolent, or ambiguous is up to you) and is used for active abilities that let you influence the world physically.
Green Mana is acquired by forming personal connections with creatures, people, places or objects and is used to "commune" with your environment or with humans. The details vary, but generally require you to demonstrate your "goodwill" to someone or something besides yourself.
Blue Mana is acquired by demonstrating wisdom or cleverness and is used for information-gathering abilities.
All non-corporeal spirits are given the following basic abilities:
Push: Apply a bit of physical force to an unstable object. You may expend up to 3 Red mana to increase the force applied.
Suggest: Insert an idea into the mind of a person or animal. You may expend up to 3 Green mana to increase the strength of the suggestion.
Examine: Gather information about an object. You may expend up to 3 Blue mana to increase the information gained.
If you are Bound to the target of any of these 3 basic abilities, the effect is stronger. More on Binding later.
The more "supernatural" an ability is, the more mana it requires to use. Slightly influencing a chance event that could have plausibly happened without your presence is cheap. Creating overt magical effects consumes more mana.
Spirits also have "essence", which is basically your "level" in a certain color. It functions as a maximum mana value that replenishes over time. Essence is acquired by gathering believers or strengthening the belief of those who believe in you.
New spirits begin with 1 Essence of each color.
A spirit's color is based on its general behaviors and impacts the abilities it gains over time. As a general rule, there are 6 basic kinds of spirits.
Monsters (demonstration of power without a cause)
Guardians (power in service of a cause)
Familiars (pure harmony and friendship)
Guides (wisdom in service of a cause)
Tricksters (demonstration of wisdom without a cause)
Demons (demonstration of both power and wisdom without a cause)
These are not actual parts of the rules (you don't have to choose a "class"), but should give you a general idea of what kind of behavior each color represents.
A spirit's color is not fixed, but the more belief you gain the harder it will be to change the way humans see you. Focusing on one particular playstyle will help you acquire Essence efficiently.
Spirits may be
Spectral,
Bound, or
Corporeal.
A
Spectral spirit has no form and may move freely, but it is much more difficult to acquire believers this way, because how will people know it's you? A spectral spirit may
Bind itself to a physical host to become more powerful.
A
Bound spirit is connected to a physical "host". This may be an object, an animal or plant, a person, a location, or even an abstract concept like a ritual or period of time. Basically, it is "the thing you are associated with" and will generally be linked to your
first action. Bound spirits maintain a "shared essence" pool that they can only access when bound to that host.
Binding to a host makes it easier to acquire believers and strengthens your ability to make an impact through that host, but it limits your movement and flexibility. You may abandon the host, but you will lose access to the essence that you gathered through association with the host.
The more "specific" a host is, the more benefit you gain from the association. (Example: A spirit of a particular tree will be more powerful than a spirit of trees in general of the same level, but only when connected to that particular tree.)
Also, don't bother Binding to major objects like celestial bodies, at least not until you become
really well-known. These are prime real estate and are generally occupied by god-level entities. It's basically impossible to acquire believers this way, since people will just associate your actions with the existing spirit.
Corporeal spirits have a physical form of their own. You may not start as a corporeal spirit, but you will gain the ability to manifest a form as you grow stronger.
Generating (or modifying) a physical form requires you to sacrifice Essence; the more explicitly supernatural your form is the more Essence it requires to create. This Essence is not lost, but it becomes associated with the physical form; if the body is destroyed or abandoned you lose the Essence associated with it.
You may take a "shortcut" to corporeality by binding yourself to a mage and becoming a familiar, but since your Essence comes from them your actions may be more limited.
Corporeal spirits have all the logical abilities and limitations of the form they choose.
Spirits can communicate with other spirits in their immediate vicinity as a free action.
---
Starting Location Options:Under the watchful rule of the Violet Sorceress-Queen Iolaion, a great kingdom of magic and technology flourishes. But not all is well in the world. On the outskirts of the kingdom and in the heart of the Capital itself, conflict burns and corruption festers, and monsters yet roam the roads between the cities.
Location options for the new game. Choose one:
(Later on, we may return to the other locations)
A. The Capital City, Ioladin. The cornerstone of the Queen's rule, a great city sparking with the latest in new magic and technology, including steam-powered motorcars and fast communication networks. But every rose has its thorns, and the city is not without its seedy underbelly. A web of conspiracy stirs in the back alleys - rumor has it that someone has hired the Midnight Eyes, an elite order of assassins, to kill the High Priest of all people.
B. The Academy of Chromatic Magic. Although technically located within the walls of Ioladin, the Academy is vast enough to be a source of adventures in its own right, as every magic school should be. Run by the Headmaster Fionn Fintan, a powerful White Mage, this is the place where students of all ages go to study the art of magic and the history of their world. But not all is as it seems, for it is rumored that an ancient and forgotten secret rests within the walls of the school. It is not for nothing that the Queen chose this very spot to host the greatest concentration of magical experts in the kingdom.
C. The Village of Brunwood. On the outskirts of the Kingdom, the citizens of a small rustic village are terrorized by a shadowy Monster Lord known only as the Dragon, who lives in a dark castle on the hill. Those who fail to pay their cripplingly high taxes are publicly executed by the Dragon's inhuman servants. Recently, a mysterious woman in a yellow-golden dress has arrived in the village, speaking of guardian spirits who may protect the village against the Dragon. Is she here to bring hope, or is she just stupid?
D. Military Camp near Brunwood. Annoyed at the Dragon's persistant rule, the Queen has sent a small legion of her Crimson Knights under the leadership of Captain Argent to the outskirts of the Kingdom to conquer his land. Far from home, bored, and with questionable moral compasses, their presence may or may not be the salvation the village seeks. Rumor has it that monsters lurk in the forest - some serving the Dragon, others with their own interests...
E. Open Ocean. Aboard a hired vessel, the merchant Octavian Gray carries a mysterious package across the sea. The package is sought after by the eccentric Lord Sinocard of Svartvelt, a wealthy collector of curiosities who will pay handsomely for the package, though its contents remain unknown. Travelling along with Gray is a small band of hired bodyguards, as well as the Lady Rosa, a distant relative of the Queen, who is on a diplomatic mission seeking an alliance with Sinocard. The journey has been largely uneventful, but the ship is about to pass through an unnatural storm...
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Topic: Chromatic Spirits RPG: Ghosts to Gods: Round 16: Battle against a Pumpkin (Read 21178 times)