Alright, this thing needs to get started, so here we are. This will be updated with more precise rules as they're tested and added.
For now, sit back and enjoy a simpler time. A time where stats didn't really do anything. A time when armor didn't exist, and weapons were useless. A time when turning into a horrible, slavering atrocity was really one of the only ways to advance yourself.
The world has always been a rather volatile place, at least as far as anyone can remember. Sure, there's scattered myths about a Time of Peace or an age before The Blackening, but most people's lore is pretty much solid warfare and atrocities since the dawn of time. It's a fractured place as well, usually divided into various factions and provinces, all naturally at war with each other.
Unfortunately, each of these provinces is generally interested in keeping a step ahead of their neighbors, and thus has a keen interest in all sorts of horrible advancements and gambles. Entire armies of vampires or openly demonic rulers aren't unheard of, to say nothing of the blasted regions where everything went wrong.
With the advent of the Tainted, things may be escalating yet again. While demonic breeding programs, fiendish grafting, and infernal possession are hardly new, the process of Tainting is an entirely different method of creating demonically empowered mortals. Though the exact procedure varies, the end result is a mortal who carries a demonic spark within them, and is able to use it to empower themselves as they please, rather than simply possessing fiendish strength or a particular special ability as is common with halfbreeds and graftees.
Of course, Tainting does have some downsides. Most notably, Tainted always eventually go berserk and transform into towering demonic abominations, promptly going on a rampage and using their incredible power for carnage and destruction. Those that survive calm down eventually, but remain utterly wicked and depraved, being all the more dangerous for whatever mind they have left. The horrible mutations and psychological effects Tainted suffer up until that point are generally considered minor concerns relative to the end result.
As mentioned, the world is rather fractured and warlike. Provinces war against each other constantly, and their rulers go to great lengths to assure that they don't lose. Most common folk live under harsh terms, if they live at all.
It is, at least, a varied place. Natural and magical forces and catastrophes have resulted in a rather large variety of creatures living side-by-side, to say nothing of what lurks off the horizon. The terrain is usually more normal, but some regions can get truly strange, and utterly unnatural weather and materials aren't anything to be surprised at.
Technology is generally low medieval to bronze age, but does vary from place to place. The most advanced regions manage a smattering of steampunk, while isolated instances, especially from ancient ruins or mad kings, can achieve impressive magitech or steam on a massive scale. Complete wilderness or stone age tribes aren't unheard of either; the world has no shortage of incidents to knock people down several pegs.
Magic is relatively common, but this too varies. Some regions kill anyone who isn't a sorcerer, though coincidentally they tend to vanish in screaming neon green explosions that drag surrounding regions into the void with them. Others burn witches at the stake, which might be a wiser idea than most people think. In most regions, they're avoided but not especially reviled by the common folk, regarded as eccentrics and just generally strange. Of course, what they cast affects this rather strongly- a healer tends to receive different responses from a pyromancer.
Naturally, most regions, and thus most people, have use of a good sword, bow, or even claw in their service. Being a mercenary or adventurer is an extremely common choice for those who are able, if only to get out of being a conscript or test subject. Those that manage to survive tend to do very well for themselves, whether they stay freelance, find long-term employment, or take over a region for themselves.
Name:
Race/Gender/Breed/Etc:
Appearance:
Skills:
Inventory:
Backstory:
Race/Gender/Breed/Etc is fairly open-ended; while I would prefer everyone be relatively human-ish-like, a giant bug or obviously demonic creature isn't going to raise all that many eyebrows. You should specifically request anything you want different from default, such as a bonus to attacking or eye lazers. Note that most racial bonuses probably won't be all that severe, though the reaction of the locals might be.
If you're Tainted, mention it there or in a new line underneath. Don't forget to mention the details, specifically what you were Tainted with.
Inventory is fairly open-ended, but remember that you're just starting out, so especially nice gear should probably be limited to a piece or two. Also note that inventory doesn't do anything yet, so don't fret too much about it.
Skills covers skill points, abilities, concepts, and spells. You get a mere three skill points starting off, which is enough to make an ability or the concepts for a spell. You may also hoard them if desired. You should provide a brief description of what those skill points were even if you're spending them.
Backstory is optional. It's a good place to explain your race/culture/etc. in more detail, and you should probably at least briefly describe where you got your stuff or why you're adventuring. Tainted should explain how they got that way as well.
Finally, you may invent a Province if you'd like, and it will be added to the game. Feel free to go into as much or little detail as you like, though things might get added, removed, or changed with time or to fit the setting and game better.
The world is divided into Provinces, which will eventually be represented on a crude map.
A province is a self-sustaining realm with solidified leadership, or at least the potential for both. Many provinces continue to trade and otherwise interact with their neighbors, even ones they're also at war with, for things they greatly prefer but could do without if absolutely, vitally necessary.
Within provinces, there can be all manner of divisions and distinctions. Obviously, towns and cities tend to exist within provinces, but may have their own laws and leadership. Some provinces are also divided into specific regions, either naturally or officially, which might likewise have local governors and magistrates. And of course, all manner of unofficial agreements and illicit deeds might result in crime lords or merchant princes with utterly unofficial but nonetheless absolute power.
Consequently, politics will be rather important. They needn't be especially complex, but being an apolitical mercenary will inevitably have at least a few odd consequences.
Advancement generally occurs in one of two ways: Stat Points and Skill Points. HP can also be raised, but the exact mechanic for this has not yet been decided. Suffice to say it will involve getting injured a lot.
Stat Points: Stat Points are granted whenever a character spends a round performing an action, whether it succeeds or fails. Multiple instances of the same action, such as singing several songs or being attacked multiple times in a round, do not grant additional stat points. Aside from Defense, multiple different actions usually also do not grant additional points; generally, whatever the player spent most of their time doing is what they receive a stat point in.
Stats themselves are extremely broad categories, such as Attack, Defense, or Crafting. Raising them requires a number of stat points equal to their current value; someone with Defense 1 need only be attacked once to attain Defense 2, for instance, at which point they would need to be attacked twice more for Defense 3.
Skill Points: A skill point is granted whenever a character rolls a natural 5 or 6. Rather than fitting into a preset category, skill points are short, descriptive references to the event in question. Skill points generally reference the event, rather than defining it, so deciding that the relevant part of Archery Decapitation was that you were firing from a rooftop is acceptable. They have no innate function until used.
Note that while saying "I cut off his head" with a normal attack isn't likely to do any more damage than "I poke him with my sword" or "I hit him again," it makes a rather large difference in what skill point you might get from the act. Choose wisely.
Three skill points may be combined to form an Ability. A skill point may also be converted into a Concept, whether to gain a new one or strengthen an existing one.
Abilities: Abilities are special abilities that may be activated once per battle. Generally speaking, they're otherwise normal actions that grant a +1 bonus to the roll and may have some special effect, but are often limited in what they can be used against.
Offensive abilities may not be used any more conditionally than normal actions; that is, you cannot activate an ability "If I hit" any more than you could attack "If I'd hit." You may, however, use an ability "If I'm still wounded," just as you could attack "If I'm still wounded." Defensive abilities may be used with conditionals, but may not activate retroactively. An ability that reduces damage could be activated "If I get hit," for instance, while a dodge ability could not.
Like spells, abilities are fairly open-ended in effect; basic physics and common sense must be observed up to a point, but high-action results are acceptable. They do, however, have some limitations based on construction.
Abilities are made from three skill points, and each skill point must be relevant to the intended ability in some fashion. Overly broad connections, like "attacking enemies" or "using a weapon" are usually not acceptable. An ability's special effect(s) depends on the strength of the foe and the result of the rolls; using a stunning attack on a healthy dragon would have far less effect than on a nearly-dead peasant, for instance.
Furthermore, an ability must generally be limited to a specific situation or category of opponents, also based on the relevant skill points. As a rule of thumb, an ability should work against one out of three categories, whatever they may be. "Heavily Armored" as opposed to "Lightly or Medium Armored" would likely be acceptable, as would "Heavily Armored" as opposed to "Lightly Armored or Unarmored." Overly cheesy or uneven divisions, such as "Landbound" as opposed to "Flying or Swimming," or "Living" as opposed to "Dying or Dead," are obviously not acceptable.
As might be expected, note that more specific abilities tend to have stronger effects when relevant, and vice versa.
Spellcasting is a rather difficult art, and its practitioners are often justifiably regarded as eccentric at best.
In order to make a spell, the caster must first have Concepts. Concepts represent whatever the caster feels is an appropriate distinction, such as Love, Fire, War, or Subtlety. Concepts are acquired by spending skill points; one skill point makes one Concept. They may be strengthened by applying more of themselves, similar to how Stats gain levels.
Three concepts may then be combined into a spell. Unlike with skill points and abilities, this does not consume the Concept. However, any three Concepts can only be combined once; to get more spells, you need more Concepts to combine with your current ones. You may redefine Concepts to be more specific if you feel multiple spells ought to be the same combination.
Players may play as a Tainted if they so choose. Tainted are far stronger than normal characters, but inevitably transform into horrible, slavering atrocities that promptly feast on their friends. Those that survive long enough may regain consciousness but remain depraved and obsessed.
Playing a Tainted
Tainted have a power pool, starting at 1. They may spend a point to gain a +1 bonus on a relevant action. They regain power points by engaging in an activity relevant to their Core (see below).
Any time a Tainted character rolls a 5 or 6, they get a +1 bonus to their next action, as their demonic (or otherwise) power wells up.
Any time they roll a 7+, they suffer a mutation. A mutation gives them a permanent +1 bonus to the relevant action. Tainted may attempt to de-mutate themselves shortly thereafter by taking a turn to do so, suffering a -1 penalty for every action they've taken since getting the mutation. Out of combat or other stressful situations, players must decide to attempt to de-mutate themselves or keep the mutation immediately.
On an 8, Tainted go into a rampage. They gain a +1 bonus to all actions relevant to their Core and will spend power points at will. Players may loosely control themselves during a rampage, but not very well. Players may end a rampage early by attempting a roll, with a bonus for each turn they've rampaged, and penalties for various things that would make them not want to stop, usually meaning potential actions relevant to their Core. A 2 or lower on this roll results in a metamorphosis.
On a 9+, or another 8 while rampaging, Tainted metamorphose completely. They cease to be even remotely human and become usually quite large, demonic creatures suited to their whims and Core. Metamorphosed Tainted who survive their rampage may re-awaken, but remain depraved and obsessed with feeding their Core.
Creation and Fluff
Tainting is an advanced procedure that infuses a mortal with the essence of a supernatural entity. The result is essentially a mortal with excellent control over supernatural power, rather than simply possessing certain abilities or traits as with most attempts at combination. A Tainted's body warps to their will, even if that happens to be against their will.
The exact method of Tainting varies widely, with different methods having different advantages, pitfalls, and quirks. Some are as painless and simple-sounding as meditating while one absorbs the desired essence, while others involve being eaten alive from the inside without anesthetic. It's an extremely difficult procedure regardless, so those able to perform it don't do so lightly. Most Tainted are in service or in debt to someone or another, even if not openly.
Tainting has certain requirements. The subject generally needs to be fairly mundane; attempts to Taint vampires or werewolves and such usually end badly, though it's theorized that Tainting something with a more appropriate entity might function.
The source, on the other hand, needs to be patently supernatural. Vampires and werewolves and such won't suffice; the creature needs what's known as a Core. Most sources are recently or soon-to-be slain extraplanar entities, but some use suitably infused minerals or other tokens, or else harvest the creature's essence without slaying it.
The Core is a spiritual concept among Tainters, and refers to the aspect of a creature that defines it and makes it suitable as a source. Generally speaking, only creatures that are heavily infused with or an outright embodiment of a concept have a Core. A human soldier is just a mortal who fights, whereas a Carnage Demon might well be carnage, in the same way that a fish simply swims while a water elemental is water. Demons are usually used, because they come in many varieties and lend themselves easily to war, but some Tainters use angels, forest spirits, or stranger fare.
The Core used to create a Tainted affects them, though on a whole they remain themselves. Different methods and individuals are affected to different degrees, but if nothing else a Tainted's power is always fed by its Core.
And there we have it. Feel free to ask questions.
Particular notes:
-Tainted will probably get some sort of roll to not transform, but take a penalty based on the number of mutations they have. And have to make such a roll at lower totals; right now you need a 6, spent power point, appropriate mutation, and to be rampaging to transform. Ha ha, no. I'll fix it later.
-Weapons will do stuff in the future, but probably mostly just adding damage. The difference between a greatsword and a club, or a spear and a dagger, will mostly be one/two-handedness and whatever skill points you get from them, with possible differences based on how easy it is to make/conceal them and such. So don't worry too much about reach and crit rate mechanically, just think about how your abilities will work with them.
-If something's not clear or sounds like it'll be a problem, feel free to ask or point it out. This is a rush job.
Important: Alright, the skill point/ability thing was horridly explained, so I'm resorting to examples.
Alright, let's start with Urist McStabby. As might be expected, he's in the middle of a fight.
TURN 1Shank em in the knee!
[4] vs [3] Urist shanks someone in the knee for 1 damage.
Get him!
[4][2] vs [3][2] One of the mooks stabs Urist for 1 damage.
TURN 2Shank em in the gut!
[5] vs [5] Well crap, Urist missed. He rolled a 5, however, so even so he gets a skill point.
+1 Gut ShankNote that "Gut Shank" doesn't do anything yet, but he can combine it to form a special move.
In fact, let's assume Urist already had "Strangle" for strangling someone earlier (or rather, rolling a 5 or 6 while doing so), and "Cranial Door Bash" for knocking down a door with his head. Urist is pretty deranged, so he figures those could go well together.
Specifically, he's going to create Gutripper using them. He's got Gut Shank for shanking someone in the gut, Strangle for gripping things tightly, and Cranial Door Bash for bashing down obstacles. Overall, he figures that ought to be good enough to rip someone's guts out on the spot.
What the hell, Urist.
Still, he's got a fair point with most of them- the GM is likely to point out that ripping someone's guts out sounds like it'd only work with light/no armor, while the door bash sounds like it'd be a heavily armored thing. Urist decides to point out how savage bashing down a door with your bare skull is and how well that'd translate to gutting someone barehanded, and say it'll only work on unarmored foes.
The GM agrees, and Urist has a shiny new ability.
New Ability: Gutripper (Rips out an unarmored target's guts)TURN 3Test out Gutripper! Test out Gutripper!
[5+1] vs [4] Urist hits for two damage, except he's also trying to gut his foe, who is indeed unarmored.
Now, the GM notes that he only dealt two damage, so it's not a very impressive disembowelment. On the other hand, the adversary was a mook with only a few hit points left anyway. He decides Urist inflicted serious trauma, but didn't actually gut him- the mook will be incapacitated or take a serious penalty for a round or two.
Also, Urist rolled a natural 5, meaning he gets another skill point, probably in either Attempted Guttings or Gut Trauma. Sick bastard, I wonder what he'll do with that point?
Finally, note that Urist has used his Gutripper ability now, so he can't do it again this battle. It'll be ready to use next time he gets into a scrape.
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Topic: Tainted Power RTD (Turn 9: Not Much Gets Done) (Read 18121 times)