Rough Sorcerer one sheet: Anime-style Sci-fi

[Tim Mahan]

Note 1:  I won't be able to playtest anything for a while so I'm just throwing this out there.  Nitpicking highly appreciated.

Style:  This is one of the sci-fi styles Ron suggested, and it just so happens it's one one of my favorites: over the top anime sci-fi.  

Lasers aren't clean red lines that slice through the air, they're blaster bolts and streaks of superheated plasma that make your hair stand on end with static as they burn by.  The blasts dig huge chunks out of the walls when they hit, leaving jagged craters dripping with magma.
It's kung-fu versus giant robots, swords versus laser guns, mysterious alien artifacts and ruined temples, and the triumph of the human spirit over cold, hard robotic overlords (or giant tentacle monsters - it's all the same to me).

Humanity: Human passion and drive, being a decent person.

Lore/Humanity Loss: Sacrificing human passion for ambition, or being driven to the extent that you're just not one of the good guys anymore (tentative) Also, over reliance on technology (very tentative).

Demons:

Passers: Robots and aliens hiding under human skin, which when torn (or blasted) off reveals alien flesh or cold, cabled metal.

Objects: Big fuckin' guns, starfighters, giant robots, alien artifacts masquerading as jewelry (in the style of Green Lantern and Lensman).

Inconspicuous: Old Ones who whisper to you from their ancient prisons on the other side of reality, waiting to break free.

Possessors: Brain slugs, or the spirits of dead ancestors downloaded into your brain by the arcane technology of a dead culture.

Parasites:  Invasive cybernetics taking over your body inch by inch, alien lifeforms roughly shoved into your body to nest among the organs - careful, it might hatch someday!

Robots and Aliens Ain't Always Bad: Some are just critters as per the &Sword rules.  Robots usually have low initial humanity with a set maximum.  As Ron once said about Passer demons, some Robots just... can't... quite... get it right... honey.

Note 2: What follows is probably very broken, but I couldn't resist presenting it.  Please be harsh.

The Rule of Heart: A character who has no bound demons may pick one demon power to use for an action or scene, as long as the use of the power does not threaten the character's humanity.  The Power of the ability is equal to the successes made on a Humanity vs. Lore roll.
Taint, Hop, Shapeshift, or Spawn are not eligible to be used as Heart abilities.  A new power called Redeem may be substituted for Taint.  Upon success, the target of the Redeem power gains a temporary point of Humanity.

Cosmic Smackdown: Other characters with the Heart ability may make Heart rolls and add their successes as bonuses to a single character's Heart roll.  Just in case you need to Care-Bear-Stare a Nasty from outside space.

Watch Outlaw Star, Lensman, and Iria.  Add a shot of the indie comic Finder.  Blend and drink.

I've got a couple different settings in mind to use for this stuff, and I'm working on descriptors, which I'll post soon.  Of course, please tell me if this stuff is ridiculous.

[sirogit]

I suggest watching Transformers the Movie, it's got

1. Some very intereasting visuals, paticularly the psychadelic insides of Unicron, and a style which is both cheap and remarkably vibrant("Craptacular")

2. A great demon(Unicron)who happens to be voiced by Orson Welles.

3. Some good work with the theme of adventures to bizzarre land.

I didn't like it that much, but the Harlock Saga has alot of similarities to what you're going for, paticularly robot/alien stuff as neat and usefull but which ultimately must be denied in order to maintain humanity.

[Tim Mahan]

Hey Sirogit,
Good call on Transformers the Movie.  The part where Hot Rod becomes Rodimus (hee) Prime is the type of scene that inspired the Heart rules,  which I've revised with a better eye towards balance.

Use Your Heart:
A character, by making a tremendous effort of will, may call on the inner reserves of his spirit to perform amazing feats.  If a character has no Bound demons and is taking an action which does not threaten his Humanity, he may use one Demon ability to further that action. This ability is called Heart. Every time a player uses Heart, he must take a penalty on a subsequent Will roll equal to the number of successes gained on the Heart roll. The Will penalties only take affect after the player has finished using Heart.
The Heart roll is a Will vs. Will roll, which feeds into a Humanity vs. Humanity roll.  Successes determine the ability's Power.
Power restrictions still apply.  Redeem is still go for launch.

(Heart is inspired by the Hack ability, found in Clinton R. Nixon's mini-sup Inside)

Demons in the setting want to ensure that their masters become relentlessly driven in the pursuit of their goals.  They do this by exploiting human passions and drives until they become unbalanced and consume the sorcerer's life.  Also, Robot Demons want to foster an unhealthy dependence on technology - the less humans think and act without the help of machines, the better.

All robotic overlords and tentacle monsters from Beyond Space are Immanent demons with Power at 8+.

Humanity: Human passions and drives, being a good guy.
Lore: Obsession.
Rituals:  Week long VR binges, invasive cybernetic surgery performed in the basement,  stalking someone and getting their name tattooed all over your body Memento-style, keeping a shrine to someone you hate (see the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman).  Building a robot that looks just like the co-worker you have a crush on. Brrr.

Watch Macross Plus, Cybercity Oedo, Akira, Tenchi Muyo in Love,  Street Fighter II the Movie.

[Tim Mahan]

Whoops, the Humanity Loss stuff is a bit off-genre.
At Humanity 0 you should either be a cold, calculating machine (like the Terminator or the monster from Aliens)or have given up entirely, succumbing to whatever comes your way.  
Lore is defined as forcing your brain into modes of inhuman, machine-like thought, with no regard to the consequences of your actions.
Rituals should involve drugs which enhance dampen emotions and enhance logic, interfacing with A.I.s or alien gods, and generally destroying any remnants of human cares and worries.
This should be the last of my fix-up postings.  I'll see if I can fit it all together with some descriptors and setting ideas.  Any suggestions?