Sorcerer: SVU

[FruitSmack!]

Howdy,

Here's my first one-sheet for a few-shot that I'm thinking of running for some friends.  Just looking for some criticism and feedback.  I'm going to run it in the NYC that is in all good cop dramas.

Sorcerer Victims Unit

Premise:  When combating some of the most heinous criminals imaginable, how far into their minds are you willing to descend?

Demons:  Demons are the "personification" of crimes.  Sorcerers allow themselves to be possessed by the lingering residue of crimes, such as crime scenes, evidence, and victims.  These demons, if they can be called such, aren't really sentient, but do have the imperative to spread.  More like a virus than an agenda.

Demons are non-tangible criminal acts like Murder, Rape, Incest, Homicide, Neglect, and other violent and traumatic crimes.

Sorcerers:  Sorcerers are the men and women of law enforcement and peripheral vocations that investigate and solve these violent crimes.  Day in and day out they willingly submit themselves to the horrific world of these crimes in order to bring justice to the victims so that they might have a voice.

Humanity:  Humanity represents the line the sorcerer has between themselves and the criminals they are combating.  As humanity is lost, sorcerers start justifying more and more violent actions against those they are trying to stop.  At a humanity of zero, they cast aside all thought of civilized law and order and instead resorts to eye-for-an-eye style justice.  While they direct this at the criminals they hunt, by this point they have become no better then violent vigilantes.

Lore:  Lore represents the training and knowledge of the criminal mind.  I    could be an understanding of psychology, FBI profiling techniques, or just    good old fashioned experience that one gets working around violent       offenders.

Sorcerous rituals are the protocol of investigation.  Impressing or harming a demon can be accomplished by things such as interrogating suspects or forensics.  You might Contact a demon by finding a witness to a crime or talking to a victim.  Serving a search warrant or arresting and interrogating a suspect could work as a Summon.

Demonic powers are very subtle.  These demons are non-physical and always possess their hosts and their power effects are equally so.  However, to someone that knows what to look for, power effects are easy to see.  Powers manifest as psychological quirks that while some are seemingly innocent, betray deeper criminal psychosis.  If using Boost, there is unfathomable rage.  When Cloaking, the sorcerer becomes predatory as if stalking a victim.  Holding a victim might make them feel violated and used.  No matter what the intent of the sorcerer when using a power, there is always a disturbing feeling of criminal intent.  Targets will feel victimized and the sorcerers will feel the rush that those that victimize feel.  Sometimes both in equal measures.

Setting:  The setting is any large modern city.  New York, L.A., and Chicago would work well, as would any city with a sizable police force with a dedicated unit devoted to violent crimes.  Alternately, the FBI and their profilers could make for a game set in multiple locals, sense they have federal jurisdiction.

Getting away from law enforcement that is dedicated to such crimes, you could also play police officers from smaller towns and cities that get wrapped up in sudden violent crime.

In any case, sorcerers don't even need to be Detectives or Officers.  Law enforcement has numerous resources that work with them.  Forensic doctors, scientists and engineers can be used.  The D.A.s office in most places have investigators at their disposal.  Criminal Justice professors and trainers could also make good characters that aren't police officers.

Notes and Inspirations:  The idea for this came from watching one of my favorite police dramas, Law and Order: SVU.  I envision the characters for a game based on this one-sheet being like Det. Benson, Det. Stabler, and Dr. Wong.  I especially was interested in the episodes where the detectives find themselves so emotionally invested in a case that they actually have to step back and try to separate themselves lest they become the monsters that they are dedicated to stop.

(if anyone would prefer a PDF of this same thing, I put a copy on my website in my sig.)

aaron

[Mike Holmes]

First:

Humanity:  Humanity represents the line the sorcerer has between themselves and the criminals they are combating.  As humanity is lost, sorcerers start justifying more and more violent actions against those they are trying to stop.

You probably understand this, but just to be pedantic, as humanity is lost, nothing changes. Only going to zero changes the character at all. Otherwise how the character acts is up to the player. Very important.

What you want to say is that humanity is lost by doing things that make you like the criminals, and dealing with their filth.

I like the idea, but what you need to do is to make up a sample demon. The problem is that I don't see having "cloak" emulating anything in the source material (even with very creative interpretation). Now, that said, I think you could do something pretty cool that was a little more over the top. Or maybe I'm just not seeing it? Let's see an example.

Mike

[FruitSmack!]

Hi Mike!

Yah, I realized the Humanity thing after you mentioned it.  My brain shut off and put me in White-Wolf humanity mode.  After a quick refresher with Sorcerer I was back on track.  What about this for humanity:

Humanity:  Humanity represents the line the sorcerer has between themselves and the criminals they are combating.  At a humanity of zero, they cast aside all thought of civilized law and order and instead resorts to eye-for-an-eye style justice.  While they direct this at the criminals they hunt, by this point they have become no better then violent vigilantes that repay offenders with their own brutal acts in kind..

Better?

As for sample demons, I came up with a few:

Rape (Power-Assertive)
Type:  Parasite
Stamina 4, Will 6, Lore 5, Power 6
Frequently-Used Abilities:  Shadow, Daze
Other Abilities:  Hold, Boost (Stamina), Taint
Need:  Ingesting sexual body fluids from another, but only durring a sexual act where the sorcerer has dominance over their partner.  The act can be concentual, but paying someone to act out submisiveness dosn't count.
Desire:  Domineering those seen as weaker for no other reason than you can
Telltale:  Those around them that see the sorcerer as being stronger than them in a slightly discomforting and intense way.  Those that actually see  (co-workers under them, those of lesser rank, children, introverts, naturally mild mannered or shy people) the sorcerer as being a stronger person than them will feel very intimidated indeed.

Mass Murder (Work Place Spree Killer)
Type:  Parasite
Stamina 4, Will 7, Lore 6, Power 7
Frequently-Used Abilities: Armor, Fast, Boost
Other Abilities:  Vitality, Cover (Psycho Gun Nut), Travel ("He came out of nowhere in the chaos, Detective!!")
Need:  Release frustration by killing something living (a few birds or a small pet, at least)
Desire:  Brutally destroy sources of frustration
Telltale:  People feel jumpy and on edge around the sorcerer, especially at work or other functions that are moderately stressful.  Their friends and co-workers might stop joking around with them and apologize for trivial reasons because they just get that "psycho with and AK-47" vibe.

Angel of Death (Mercy Killer)
Type:  Parasite
Stamina 4, Will , Lore , Power
Frequently-Used Abilities:  Cloak, Cover (Twisted Health Care Worker), Hold
Other Abilities:  Special Damage (Body Malfunction), Hint (Gut instinct)
Need:  End the suffering of another by either death or some other drastic and insane way (huge overdose of drugs/medicine, putting them in a persistent vegetative state, removing limbs or body parts).
Desire:  Solve problems for others, especially when it's not your concern.
Telltale:  Whenever the sorcerer does something nice for someone, upon completion the receiver of the sorcerer's nicety gets a feeling of terror and fear for their life, as if they're being sized up as a potential victim.

I tried to have the telltales be perceptions others would have of the sorcerer.  The sorcerer isn't actually like that (unless they want to be), but people react to them as such.  When making up demons, I see players having their demons being specific criminal acts and having the telltales reflect that.  The "demons" come about AFTER the act is committed.  People aren't possessed and then do bad stuff, they do stuff and the parasite demons are a result of their actions.  Unless a sorcerer "summons" them, they just dissipate as people clean up the crime scenes, forget what happened, and move on with their lives.  I also invisioned that there was another "copy" of the demon floating around somewhere too, from the original perp when they commited whatever crime that created the demon that the sorcerer summons.  Kind of figured that could make for some decient Venom/Carnage stories that the players might like to come up with.

The needs I see as being as close to the crime as possible.  The simple way to fulfill them is to actually commit the crime, however there are some less icky ways of fulfilling them (but those are only slightly better than actually committing the crimes).

Thanks for your thoughts (and any future ones you might have) on this!

aaron