Twin Peaks Sorcerer

[Bevan]

NOTE: This contains a lot of spoilers concerning the Twin Peaks TV show. I have been warned.





As a TV show filled with subtle demons, strange rituals, and hidden secrets, I was wondering how Twin Peaks would work using the Sorcerer rules. I looked at the various characters to see which ones would be considered sorcerers in Sorcerer terms.

1. Windom Earle. The no-brainer. He's the one character in the series who we see trying to summon a demon, and the one character who possesses a lot of Lore (through his knowledge of the White and Black Lodges). Though formerly a coven member (Operation Blue-Book), Earle's current Lore description would be Mad.

2. Dale Cooper. The person in the series who has had the most direct contact with various spirits (demons?). However, he is usually unaware of the true nature of his visions. Lore: Naif.

3. Major Garland Briggs. The major has had long contact with the Lodges, and probably underwent similar magic training to Earle. Lore: Coven Member (Operation Blue-Book).

4. Margaret the log-lady. Her knowledge of the strange and cryptic comments suggests that her log is in fact possessed with a spirit claiming to be her husband (an object demon). Lore: Naif (she relies on her log to interpret the spirit realm for her).

5. Laura Palmer. She appears to have had some control over Bob, at least for a while, and his sick attraction to her has the dysfunction of a bound demon. She is probably a Naif as well.

The one thing that all five of these characters have in common is a lack of connection with those around them. Thus, this seems to be the most reasonable way to define Humanity in Twin Peaks. Major Briggs cannot relate to his son nor does he behave like a normal person, Laura became more and more distance and isolated, and Margaret and Earle cannot relate to anyone. Even Dale become more distant and bizarre as the series continues.

By this definition, Hank Jennings has higher Humanity than Major Briggs. No one would deny that Briggs is a far more benevolent, friendly, and honorable person than Hank, but he is also more inhuman. Hank understand people, and can interact with society with surprising skill. Briggs has become an outsider, and cannot properly interact with people.

Albert is a person who, while not a sorcerer, suffers from low Humanity, and thus has a difficult time relating to anyone.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

You can certainly see the influence of Twin Peaks on Sorcerer in the core book, I think, especially the first season. I use various characters and references throughout all the examples, especially character creation.

One of the interesting things about Twin Peaks is that most sexuality is actually associated with lowering Humanity, rather than empathy, compassion, or love (all of which correspond with increasing Humanity in the story, I think). Most of the sexuality in the story is abusive and/or incestuous, and the younger characters are often drawn into such situations through experimenting with their developing sexual potential.

I'd put Dale Cooper actually at Apprentice or even Adept status, especially if you include the movie Fire Walk with Me in the canonical story. You don't actually have to have a demon or do the rituals to have a high Lore and to use it effectively.

It's been a while, so I'm hazy on the details ... what was Laura's father's name? Was he her real father or her stepfather? Whichever, he strikes me as the original binder for Bob, who transfers his allegiance to Laura during the back-story.

Best,
Ron

[joshua neff]

It's been a while, so I'm hazy on the details ... what was Laura's father's name? Was he her real father or her stepfather? Whichever, he strikes me as the original binder for Bob, who transfers his allegiance to Laura during the back-story.

Leland Palmer, & unless I missed something, he was her real, biological father.

[Bevan]

Dale seems to posseses a greater familiarity with the supernatural in Fire Walk With Me, and his visions do not seem to match his experiences in the actual show (I don't really look at Fire as canon). Certainly in Fire, he seems more like a lone adept than a naif, though in the show itself, Dale seems to have very little knowledge of the supernatural or the spirit world (which would suggest a low Lore).

It's true that sex in the show is primarily used for manipulation and control. Josie controls Harry, Ben controls Catherine, Laura controls James and Bobby, and One Eyed Jack's is a center for control. I think it ties into my definition of Twin Peaks' Humanity as human ties in that the sex usually destroys people's ties to those around them. The sex turns the people into predator and victim, removing them from a normal human reliationship. Josie becomes more inhuman as she manipulates Harry, Ben and Catherine betray their families, and Laura corrupts James and Bobby. A true human relationship is based on trust, whereas most of the sex in Twin Peaks either destroys trust or is a taking advantage of and thus a perversion of trust.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Yeah! Leland, that was it. Thanks, Josh. I even mention him in the Sorcerer book. My take is that Bob possessed Leland and successfully drove Laura to Humanity 0. Or rather, that choices Laura made drove her to 0, in the abusive/enabling relationship with Bob.

Bevan, I totally, totally agree with your interpretation. I think it's important that Cooper is presented as nearly neuter.

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

I think it's important that Cooper is presented as nearly neuter.

Except when it comes to donuts. :-)

Mike

[Bevan]

If Humanity is based around your connection with people around you and how truly "human" you are, then I would say that someone reduced to zero Humanity would be unable to interact with other humans on anything close to a normal level or might fade away, going to either the White or Black Lodge. There is some implication, I think, that Mike and Bob were originally human. I think that Garland Briggs is the person in the series with the lowest Humanity, though Windom Earle might match him.

The spirits that appear in the series are Mike, Bob, the Dwarf, the Giant, the Old Woman, the Boy, and the Log. I think that all could be classified as demons in Sorcerer terms. Though the Giant is clearly associated with the White Lodge and is thus "good," he is still strangely inhuman, appears to be bound to Dale, and his presence lowers Dale's connection to normal humans, and thus lowers his Humanity.

The Old Woman and the Boy have a brief appearance in the 10th episode, and also appear in Fire Walk With Me. They do not appear enough for me to deduce their demon abilities, though here are my estimates for the others. The Dwarf is too cryptic for stats to be made.

Bob was probably bound to Laura before her death. Perhaps after that he was just hanging on somehow. He, of course, got bound to Dale in the final episode. The Giant seems to be bound to Dale, and the Log is bound to Margaret. It's possible that Gerard is a naif, which would make Mike bound to him.

Bob
Type: Possessor, Desire: Corruption, Need: To dance
Stamina 7, Will 8, Lore 7, Power 8
Telltale: Host's hair turns white
Abilities: Command (owls), Confuse, Cover, Daze, Perception (fear), Taint, Vitality

Mike
 Type: Possessor, Desire: Revenge (Bob), Need: Unknown
 Stamina 7, Will 8, Lore 7, Power 8
 Telltale: When dominant, his presence causes the host trauma
 Abilities: Confuse, Cover, Daze, Hint, Perception (locate Bob), Psychic Force, Special Damage (affects only demons)

Giant
 Type: Passing, Desire: Unknown, Need: Unknown
 Stamina 9, Will 10, Lore 9, Power 10
 Telltale: Always speaks cryptically
 Abilities: Cloak, Cover (hotel employee), Daze, Hint, Perception (detects sorcerers), Perception (for teleporting), Shapeshift (the hotel employee at the Great Northern), Travel (teleport)

Margaret's Log
  Type: Object, Desire: Attention, Need: To be constantly held
  Stamina 3, Will 4, Lore 3, Power 4
  Telltale: Unknown
  Abilities: Boost (Lore), Hint, Perception (detects other demons)

[fahdiz]

Hi folks (first post, please be kind)

I was planning on running a Twin Peaks-themed Unknown Armies game...but the more I read about Sorcerer (especially this thread, natch) the more I think the *latter* is the appropriate system for such a game scenario.

No point to this really...other than to say "thank you" for all the great insights, breakdowns, and such in this thread.  I look forward to reading lots more from you folks.  :)

Cheers!

[Ron Edwards]

Hi fahdiz,

Welcome to the Forge!

I'm curious about your rationale for possibly preferring Sorcerer to Unknown Armies, for a game of this sort.

I can tell you what my preferences and perceptions would lead to, for such a comparison:

1. UA does very well with scenarios in which the player-characters have already hit the "90% done" stage in a story, and the final train-wreck is there to be played out. Sorcerer does very well, on the other hand, with scenarios that evolve through the decisions of the protagonists over an extended period.

2. UA tends to focus on larger-scale conspiracies to discover and get trapped in. Sorcerer tends to focus on personal decisions that have great impact on others' fates, with whatever "larger insight" being secondary.

3. The madness meters in UA tend to limit the range of characters' decisions as they creep toward either end. Humanity, in Sorcerer, does not alter the range of the character's possible actions as long as it is 1 or higher.

... but again, I'm interested in your view about it.

Best,
Ron

[fahdiz]

Hi fahdiz,

Welcome to the Forge!

Thank you.  :)

I'm curious about your rationale for possibly preferring Sorcerer to Unknown Armies, for a game of this sort.

I can tell you what my preferences and perceptions would lead to, for such a comparison:

1. UA does very well with scenarios in which the player-characters have already hit the "90% done" stage in a story, and the final train-wreck is there to be played out. Sorcerer does very well, on the other hand, with scenarios that evolve through the decisions of the protagonists over an extended period.

Actually, I feel like UA does a great job with pre-trainwreck stuff as well.  Going from Street to Global to Cosmic is a real journey of growth (or devolution, as it might be).  And even if the "90%-done" theory is correct, Twin Peaks (it could be argued) is quite close to that eventual trainwreck at the beginning of the first episode.

2. UA tends to focus on larger-scale conspiracies to discover and get trapped in. Sorcerer tends to focus on personal decisions that have great impact on others' fates, with whatever "larger insight" being secondary.

I agree with this.

3. The madness meters in UA tend to limit the range of characters' decisions as they creep toward either end. Humanity, in Sorcerer, does not alter the range of the character's possible actions as long as it is 1 or higher.

Well, of course, when one is obsessed...one's decisions *are* quite limited, by their very nature.  I love the aspect of obsession in UA - and the inverse relationship of power to social ability.  But obsession as a driving mechanism (it's *a* main theme of the show, but not necessarily *the* main theme) doesn't seem to fit quite as well in Twin Peaks.

... but again, I'm interested in your view about it.

OK.  :)  

1) The setting info in UA tends to steer people towards an urban setting - not that you *can't* do a rural story in UA, but it's "less supported" by the source material...or it appears that way to me, at least.  UA is reflexively postmodern - and although the story of Twin Peaks is told in a postmodern *style*, the story itself is a quite rural fable...almost classical and traditional in its treatment of morality, choice, and power.  Since Sorcerer is much more open in terms of "setting", it seems to work better for this kind of tale.

2) The definition of "demons" in UA is more narrow than the one in Sorcerer, and the one in Sorcerer fits the TP setting much better, in my opinion - especially where Bob and Mike - and the doppelgangers - are concerned.

There's more, but I'm not thinking very clearly right now - I keep getting distracted.  LOL.

Thanks again for the welcome!

[Bevan]

Actually, I think that the demons of UA could work pretty well in Twin Peaks. Mike implies a couple of times that he and Bob used to be human, and Margaret's log supposedly has the spirit of her dead husband. Furthermore, the nature of the Giant, the Dwarf, the Old Woman, and the Child are enigmatic enough that you could make them dead humans if you wished (or possibly the Giant could be an agent of the "Cruel Ones").

That said, I think that the magic of Sorcerer works better for Twin Peaks than the magic of Unknown Armies. Long rituals for summoning and binding spirits seem to match the occult feel of Twin Peaks more than the power batteries of postmodern paradox that define Unknown Armies.

In Unknown Armies, Windom Earle would be a phobomancer, feeding off fear to channel his power (possibly with the taboo that he can never feel fear himself). I'm not sure if that magick school has appeared in any UA supplements, though I think it has cropped up on a few websites.

The supernatural in Unknown Armies is very global, ways of defining the world that the movers and shakers of the Occult Underground are struggling over. Conversely, the supernatural in Sorcerer is very personal: your relationship with your own person demons. I think that the intimate elements of Sorcerer magic, as well as the metaphor of lost humanity, makes Sorcerer a better vehicle for a Twin Peaks campaign than Unknown Armies.