| Where do you get adventure ideas? |
[22 Dec 2005|09:57am] |
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Disneyland - It's A Small World |
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(Cross-posted from the SJGames forums.)
Anywhere and everywhere. I have unabashed Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder (and chronic Repetitive Information Injury), and this puts me in contact with all kinds of new and interesting (or old and interesting) ideas - and all the while, I'm thinking about how what I'm reading or hearing could fit into an adventure or campaign. Among the adventures I've written or had in progress, I've borrowed from children's movies (Adventure Pizza: Giant Robot!), my own phobias (Creatures of the Night: Anamiae), anime (the work-in-progress pastiche Adventures of the Mini-Lilim, and The City of Lost Memories, among others), sports stadiums (What's In A Name?), and Disney theme parks (my current project).
One of the websites that I find particularly inspiring - YMMV, of course - is The Urban Legends Reference Pages. In particular, their Random feature is a fantastic boon; just skip through a few and let the stories sift through your head. Here are a few examples off the top of my head (I didn't come up with any of these ahead of time):
- Was Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschchev denied permission to visit Disneyland? - The situation between Heaven and Hell roughly corresponds to the détente between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. You could escalate this similarity in your campaign; suppose that an Archangel is visiting Horde-owned territory on a goodwill visit, but is denied access to one of the Horde's most well-known and popular recreational areas on what looks like a trumped-up excuse. When the Archangel orders some of his entourage - the PCs, naturally - to find out what his Demon Prince host is hiding, hijinks ensue. (And who knows - maybe the Demon Prince really is hiding missile silos beneath the racquetball courts...)
- A miraculous car that gets 200 miles to the gallon is reclaimed by the factory and never seen again after its owner calls to congratulate the manufacturers about its fabulous performance. - Jean forbids allowing humans to have access to Divine technology before they develop it on their own - but an angel of Lightning, in a deep Role, has been killed, and his Jeanite supercar left to his mortal and unaware widow, who sells it before Jean's angels can get to it. The GM can decide what characteristics the car has - but whatever they are, the PCs could be the angels sent to re-acquire the car, the mortals who've bought the car and are wondering why these people seem to want it back so badly, or the demons who see a golden opportunity to get their hands on some Heavenly technology... (For added fun, you can combine this with The $50 Porsche: when the widow lists the supercar at an absurdly low price in the classified ads, suddenly even more groups are trying to get it - including some who don't even know what the car can do...)
- "There's room for one more" - A rogue Malakite of Destiny née Dreams, with the Choir attunements of both, is wandering the Marches, looking for humans who are due to die soon and stepping into their dreamscapes to warn them. Yves, the Archangel of Destiny, has sent a group of angels to bring him back to the fold; meanwhile, a group of demons, seizing on the Malakite's behavior, are trying to drive him farther into madness by tracking down the humans he warns and killing them anyway.
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| Mostly so I can remember it |
[28 Sep 2005|08:25pm] |
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They Might Be Giants - We're The Replacements |
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Malakim
Michael's Virtues are notoriously difficult to kill. Their vessels are no tougher than other angels', but they heal much faster: an unconscious Malakite of War heals one Body hit per round until he reaches 1 hit, at which point he begins healing normally.
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| New attunements |
[09 Jul 2005|08:04pm] |
Both Servitor Attunements, both for Michael's angels.
Wear Your Skin Like Iron (War)
An angel with this attunement positively reeks of confidence on the battlefield - so much so that it discourages any foe who comes against him. The attunement costs between 1 and 6 Essence to activate; for the duration, any enemy who attacks the angel has a penalty to that attack roll equal to the Essence spent. An enemy may make a Will roll before the first attack to avoid the penalty, but this Will roll takes the same penalty as an attack roll would! On a failure, the attunement is functional (and that enemy may not try again to resist that use of the attunement); a success means that the foe is immune to the attunement's effects for 24 hours. Wear Your Skin Like Iron lasts for the angel's total Forces in rounds, plus his vessel's level if he is currently wearing one.
Fast As Polished Steel (War)
This attunement dramatically improves its user's reaction time, sometimes allowing Soldiers to rival even Ofanim in their speed and dexterity. The attunement costs between 1 and 6 Essence to activate; for the duration, the user's Agility is increased by the amount of Essence spent, but only for the purposes of initiative and Dodge rolls. (This can increase Agility above 12, but will never allow its user to act before an Ofanite of War.) The attunement lasts for rounds equal to the user's total Forces.
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| Darán - Kobolds |
[18 May 2005|07:05pm] |
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Rush - Subdivisions |
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Kobold - -15 pts.
The kobolds of Darán are the elves' counterparts; they are connected to the animals of the world in much the same way that the elves are connected to the plants. Kobolds are short and thin, with sharp teeth and fearsome claws, but they prefer to fight with weapons and in armor. Kobolds are not as intelligent as the other major races, but they make up for it with strength and toughness; unfortunately, their lifespans are markedly shorter even than those of humans.
Although the kobolds had reached a point of détente with the other major races, the Great War five hundred years ago changed that; while the dwarves, elves, and humans banded together to fight off the usurper, the kobolds sided with the rebels, but backed off once the magic fell apart and it was clear that they were fighting on the losing side. In the interim, however, they have begun to move into the old haunts of the dwarves and elves, and now hold both Mirkwood (the elves' ancestral home) and Carcánnan (the mountain fortress of the Àgrathar).
ST 11 [10]
DX 10 [0]
IQ 9 [-20]
HT 11 [10]
Advantages: Animal Empathy [5], Claws (Blunt) [3], Discriminatory Smell [15], Hard to Subdue +3 [6], Teeth (Sharp) [1]
Disadvantages: Intolerance [-10], Mating Season (winter) [-10], Restricted Diet (meat) [-10], Seasonal [-5], Short Lifespan -1 [-10]
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| Darán - Òkolóe (Ocean Dwarves) |
[29 Apr 2005|10:03pm] |
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Firefly - "It's a net." |
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Òkolóa (Ocean Dwarf) - 23 points
It was in the ships of the ocean dwarves that those dwarves and elves who escaped the great war made their way to their new home, far from the lands of man, and it is in the descendents of these ships that the Òkolóe ply the seas around that island. Unlike their cousins the Àgrathar, they have bronze skin, only the faintest and shortest of hair on their bodies, faces, and scalps, and small webs between their toes and fingers; also unlike their cousins, they are not unwilling to enter the field of battle offensively. Overall, however, they are not aggressive; their clans occasionally have skirmishes, but they don't go out of their way to start fights.
The Òkolóe spend most of their lives on or in the water; in fact, their civilization, such as it is, exists mainly on ships and rafts, a vast fleet close off the northern coast of the island. Despite having originally dwelt strictly on the surface, the ocean dwarves have adapted to underwater life. They can withstand pressures and temperatures far beyond the reaches of other races, and can stay beneath the surface, under good circumstances, for nearly an hour before coming up for air. However, their voices and hearing have also adapted, and are no longer as efficient above water - and they have entirely lost the ability to smell or taste.
Advantages: Absolute Direction [5], Amphibious [10], Breath-Holding +5 [10], Extended Lifespan [4], Hard To Kill +2 [4], High Manual Dexterity +2 [10], Nictitating Membrane +2 [2], Pressure Support +2 [10], Speak Underwater [5], Temperature Tolerance +3 (+3xHT degrees to low end) [3]
Disadvantages: Curious [-5], Disturbing Voice (-25%, above water only) [-7], Hard of Hearing (-25%, above water only) [-7], No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5], Social Stigma (outsider) [-5], Truthfulness [-5], Workaholic [-5]
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| Darán - Àgrathar (Volcano Dwarves) |
[29 Apr 2005|08:48pm] |
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Firefly - "Mighty fine shindig." |
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Àgrathin (Volcano Dwarf) - 18 points
The volcano dwarves are in the minority of the dwarves of Darán, comprising perhaps a quarter of the total population. They once filled the mountains of Darán and built the great Imperial Halls that now lie in ruin in Hytrachon, as well as countless other wonders. Since the war five hundred years previous, when the rest of the world - save the elves, and their cousins the ocean dwarves - thought they had been killed to the last, the Àgrathar have retreated to the mountains of the same massive island southeast of the mainland to which the elves and Òkoloe fled.
The Àgrathar are short and swarthy as a whole; the males have full beards after the age of majority (females have no facial hair), and both genders sport full heads of hair with no tendency toward natural baldness, although some - especially those who work in the forges themselves - are clean-shaven both in face and scalp. Although they are short - 4'6" on average - they are as strong, on average, as a human, and considerably harder to kill. (They do not, however, fight, as a general rule, except to defend themselves.)
Advantages: Absolute Direction [5], Damage Resistance +3 (-40%, heat/fire only) [9], Extended Lifespan [4], Filter Lungs [5], Hard To Kill +5 [10], Nictitating Membrane +2 [2], Night Vision +3, Temperature Tolerance +5 (+5xHT degrees to high end) [5]
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional) [-5], Compulsive Carousing [-5], Pacifism (Self-defense only) [-15], Social Stigma (outsider) [-5], Truthfulness [-5]
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| Elves in Darán |
[29 Apr 2005|07:39pm] |
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Firefly - Main Theme |
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This replaces this entry, which no longer applies.
Elf - -9 points
Elves were thought dead by the human population of Darán (and strictly mythological by some) until very recently; they have not yet had time to integrate with human society, but there is a sizeable elven population in some of the larger cities.
The elves of Darán have green skin and faintly luminescent blue eyes; their skin changes from a light green in summer to a very dark green in winter. In addition, the elves have a mating season in the spring; this causes colorful "tattoos" to form on their skin, in a pattern unique to each individual elf. These tattoos appear at the beginning of the mating season, and disappear afterward, over the course of a few days. While they are an indicator of fertility, and first appear around the age of 25, they do not fade entirely once an elf passes beyond the age of fertility, although they do grow dull and dim in color. (It is worth noting that although elves are sexually compatible with other humanoid races, they are not cross-fertile.)
Finally, elves have the ability to generate a bark-like substance on their skin to protect them from harm, which requires an hour of concentration to grow. The bark lasts for three hours, or until the elf has taken a significant amount of damage; in the former case, the bark turns to dust at the end of the three hours, while in the latter, the bark simply flakes off as the damage is taken. If the bark is worn away by damage, the elf must heal 2 HP before the bark can be regrown; if it is worn away by time, the bark may be regrown immediately.
Advantages: Attractive [4], Damage Resistance +2 ("barkskin") (-10%, limited duration (3 hours); -50%, requires an hour to grow the bark; -20%, semi-ablative) [2], Reduced Consumption +3 (-50%, food only) [3], Extended Lifespan +1 [2], Flexibility [5]
Disadvantages: Dependency (sunlight, weekly) [-10], Mating Season* (spring) (-50%, non-exclusive) [-5], Seasonal** [-5], Social Stigma (outsider) [-5]
* Mating Season: Your race has a specific time of the year during which they are fertile. If you are a fertile adult (older than 25 and younger than 150), you gain the Lecherousness disadvantage during these times. Non-exclusive: your race is fertile year-round, but especially at this time of year. You still gain Lecherousness during this period, but related self-control rolls are at +2. -50%
** Seasonal: Like Lunacy (p. 143), but it is the seasons of the year that affect you. Treat summer as a full moon, winter as a new moon, spring as waxing, and autumn as waning.
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| Spirit Gum |
[10 Jul 2004|08:43pm] |
This is a relic for In Nomine, but it could just as easily be ported over to pretty much any system, since it has no actual mechanics other than a Will roll.
( Spirit Gum )
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| In Nomine attunement |
[13 May 2004|03:23pm] |
There's Gotta Be A Pony In Here Somewhere (Revelation)
An angel with this attunement is lightning-quick at ferreting out a single objective among a lot of chaff - assuming that it's actually there, and that the character knows that it's there - although he doesn't necessarily have to know exactly what it is. For 3 Essence, the Revealer can immediately discover (and retain) the location of his objective, if it is within (Celestial Forces) yards of the angel. (If it isn't, the Essence isn't spent.) This attunement can also be used on information; in this case, the angel must have direct access to the source of the information (an encyclopedia or a computer network, for example). The GM should judge whether use of this attunement is appropriate; a beginning PC should not be able to unerringly search the entire Internet, for example.
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| Wealth in In Nomine |
[20 Apr 2004|08:46am] |
I have a feeling I'm going to be working on this post for quite some time. Constructive comments are welcomed and appreciated.
( Wealth )
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| New In Nomine Resource |
[19 Jan 2004|02:39pm] |
Master (New Resource)
Many mortals know the benefits of being allied with someone with greater power and resources - even if it means sometimes having to do something distasteful. Some of these have managed to forge a deeper connection with their masters, although they might not know they've done so; those who have created such a link have, in In Nomine terms, a Master.
Only mortals (including undead!) can create these connections, and they can only be formed willingly; although forced master-servant relationships exist, they are not in the same class as those covered by this Resource. The benefit that a Master gives to a mortal is dependent partly on the power level of the mortal in question, and partly on the amount of control which the mortal is willing to cede to his Master; the Master's level as a resource is the penalty which the Servant must take to his Will to resist a command that the Servant doesn't want to follow!
To calculate the CP granted to the Servant for creating the connection, double the Master's resource level (described above), divide this by the difference between the Master's total Forces and the Servant's, and round up. (Later changes in the total Forces of either the Master or the Servant, or changes in the Master's resource level, can raise the amount of CP granted to the Servant, but will never lower that amount.)
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| Elves in Darán |
[22 Dec 2003|02:30pm] |
The mountain elves of Darán are a dying race. Although they were once vibrant and full of life, they suffered through a massive war with the humans in recent decades that reduced their population to less than five percent of its antebellum level. They make their home on the surface of the mountains within which the dwarves dwell, and enjoy a mutual support network (in fact, it was the dwarves who kept the humans from wiping out the elves utterly) - but even the dwarves cannot save the elven race at this point.
Elves
Attributes: ST +1, DX +1
Advantages: Acute Hearing/1, Charisma/1, Composed, Extended Lifespan/4, Hard To Kill/2, Hyper-Reflexes, Night Vision, Perfect Balance
Disadvantages: Dying Race, Intolerance (Humans), Lunacy, Weak Immune System
Total cost: 47 points. Elves in human society should take the additional disadvantage Social Stigma (Minority Group), which lowers the racial cost to 37 points.
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| New In Nomine attunement |
[15 Dec 2003|10:58pm] |
Prophet Sharing
Servitor Attunement - Faith
The recipient of this attunement is granted all three of the Songs of Symphony, each at a level equal to his Celestial Forces, but with one caveat: the Songs may only be invoked by a mortal who does not know the Servitor's divine status. The request for information must be made in person, the required Essence is automatically drawn from the mortal questioner (if he has too little Essence, the Song simply does not work, and the mortal should be asked to come again another day), and the Servitor is compelled to respond with the information the Symphony has given him. Note that the mortal does not need to know or believe that the Servitor has this ability in order to invoke it! Any such request made in sincere faith will trigger the attunement.
As a reward for the additional responsibility which this attunement imposes, any time this attunement is used, Khalid allows the Servitor in question to gain one extra Essence when the Symphony normally replenishes him.
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| In Nomine Creation attunement |
[10 Dec 2003|02:57pm] |
Five Fettucini Noodles In The Back Of The Cupboard (New Creation Servitor attunement)
By spending 1 Essence and thirty minutes in preparation, the user of this attunement can prepare a healthy, good-tasting meal from nearly anything solid or liquid - even garter snakes and motor oil, if the situation calls for it. The volume of the finished product won't be any greater than the volume of the original ingredients, but any poisons in the components will be utterly neutralized.
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