I'm currently putting together a S&S setting, but to ease my players into the new game, I'm going to start them off with a Charnel Gods game, which seems to me the best way to introduce my players to Sorcerer (they're less experimental, and they tend to groan initially, but they almost always enjoy themselves in the end...)

So inspired by the Rowan setting, I've set up a new epoch. I'm going to prep some of the stuff here, work my way through it (since this is my first time GMing Sorcerer) and hopefully as the game proceeds update it...

The Theme: Time. Charnel Gods is a world that is always running out of time, and this theme is consciously and unconsciously expressing itself through the inhabitants of the world. The symbol of this theme is the astrological clock in Prague, which can be seen here in this atmospheric but modified photo:

http://www.kevissimo.com/1_Pages/pmca/astroclock_l.htm

The Setting (as emailed to the players)

Opposite the Prince’s castle in the city of Praag, overlooking a cobblestone square, stands a massive astrological, clock, gleaming of gold and silver and ebony and ivory, forming the façade of an ancient building, charting the sun, the moon, and the heavens, and some whisper that its blind architect created it to foretell the end of the world. Known as the City of Mysteries, Praag, with its narrow alleys and streets and tall white-washed buildings winding around three hills is home to alchemists, astrologers, philosophers, artists, heretics, and a host of other madmen. It is said that the Prince delights in the wonders created by the court magicians and the automatika fashioned by the artificers while the merchant princes of that fair city plot against the Imperial Court in the distant capital city of Aramantheum.

Aramantheum is at the heart of a crumbling Empire, its fading splendor apparent to all, as beggars and dogs fight over the scraps in the streets. This city has two lords: the first is the Emperor, a man lost in the carnal pleasures particular to the elite and the High Thearch, the First of the Vigil, who rules the kingdom through Sword, faith, and ruthless determination. The heart of his power is the religious bureaucracy at the center of the city in the gilded Hall of Repose. It was this very place that the first Thearch, armed with god’s own Sword, began the first watch over the deity deep in slumber in a chamber in the earth. Above the resting place a great fortress-temple was built, a great bell in its bell-tower, to be rung at the end of time to awaken the god to save his people. Faith in the Vigil, as the religion is known, spread throughout the lands under the temporal power of the Emperor and the spiritual power of the Thearchs. The phrase sums up the faith of the Vigil: One God, One Sword; One Priest, One Truth.

Yet in the monasteries on the borders, monks and wandering priests often fell to heresy, murmuring and sometimes proclaiming that there was more than one god and more than one truth. And while the Vigil suppressed such claims with ruthlessness, these heresies persisted, until today, when the others were found. It is said that champions (although others suggest they are villains or infidels instead) have come from the land of the gods, bearing weapons of terrible power. Heresy spreads throughout the lands while the Thearch’s gather deep below in the catacombs directing their inquisition.

Far from those torchlit conspiracies is proud Praag. Young nobles duel over honor with rapiers and blackpowder pistol in the city’s squares, merchants ply their goods through the city’s colorful market places, and scholars hunch over crumbling texts, and strangers arrive, bearing both monstrous truths and weapons. And as the Empire convulses at the impending heresy and civil war, old enemies await within the forests on the borders of the Empire, their inhuman eyes greedily awaiting their time to seethe forth and swallow civilization whole.

The Sorcerers
Those who have recently appeared have been hailed as heroes, heretics, and imposters. All these appellations are wrong. You know: you’ve been to that nightmarish place where the gods… rest… and you have come back bearing not just the horrible truth, but the power to make the world tremble: the Fell Weapons, the weapons of the gods themselves.

The Fell Weapons
Some say the weapons come from the gods, but now that you hold the blade in your hand, you believe that this weapon has given you the power of the gods… What will you do with this power?

Whew! I need a cigarette after reading that...

Sounds like a fantastic setting, can't wait to hear how the game goes.

Wow. Just... wow. What a cool setting.

I may have to steal this for a Charnel Gods game of my own. Or perhaps Paladin...

Awesome. I can't think of much else to say just now...except to ask when you guys are playing. I can't wait.

- Scott

What writeup! Love that freakin' clock too! Fantastic symbol, I can just see it tolling ominously or a symbolicaly apt mannikin come spinning out (or an ominous astrological pattern) whenever humanity goes down. LOOOVE it!
Hungrily awaitig your writeup of the actual play....

The clock is very cool; I saw it on holiday a few years ago.

You've got some nice conflicts built into the setting, but it seems vague enough to allow plenty of influence from players.

I look forward to hearing more.

-Matt

Thanks for the kind words! I'm really excited about running Charnel Gods (and Sorcerer) for the first time.

Its getting closer so I've elaborated upon the original description. I'd really like some feedback if anything comes to mind.

What I've done is write the original in bold, followed by comments in italics that expand upon and develop the original idea. I've also added a few crunchy bits where needed. I really focused on two things: the capital and Praag - the rest of the area I'll allow to develop through play.

Opposite the Prince’s castle in the city of Praag, overlooking a cobblestone square, stands a massive astrological, clock, gleaming of gold and silver and ebony and ivory, forming the façade of an ancient building, charting the sun, the moon, and the heavens, and some whisper that its blind architect created it to foretell the end of the world.

The square itself is bustling, but nobody is seen within the clock’s towering shadow. It is quiet, and as cold, as a grave in the shade of this towering edifice. It is ancient, some say it was constructed even before the castle opposite, by the city’s first alchemist and inventor. Some say that the wizened old man who cares for the clock is its inventor, but the learned scoff at such an absurd superstition.

[Anyone with Lore can look at the clock and its various positions of the constellations and celestial bodies to determine the general welfare of the epoch as depicted in the lowest humanity of any of the Sorcerers. The test is Lore (or an appropriate Livelihood, Cover, Past, Origin, such as Astrologer) against the lowest humanity of the Sorcerer).]

Known as the City of Mysteries, Praag whose narrow alleys and streets and tall white-washed buildings wind around three hills is home to alchemists, astrologers, philosophers, artists, heretics, and a host of other madmen.

Far from the ideology and religious dogmatism of the capital, this area has long been a beacon to those with different ideas. The mineral wealth from the nearby region has provided the city with the wealth and power to attract both wise and foolish men and women alike. Those in the city argue that it is the most learned place in the world, while those in the capital whisper that it is a court full of madmen, charlatans, heretics, and fools who would try to touch the stars.

[Typically in Charnel Gods the only magic are the Fell Weapons, but for this setting, to reflect the wonders of the age, Alchemists can concoct potions that may provide a demon-like effect for a short period, followed by potentially lethal effects! Likewise, at moments of great celestial significance, many of the astronomers and astrologists may have the opportunity to experience a Hint with potentially mind- and life-damaging experiences]

It is said that the Prince delights in the wonders created by the court magicians and the automatika fashioned by the artificers while the merchant princes of that fair city plot against the Imperial Court in the distant capital city of Aramantheum.

The Prince of Praag is himself reputed to be a wise scholar with an interest in the Arcanica and Automatika that has become fashionable in the court. Little clockwork toys and machines are delights that thrill the citizens, but it is rumored that much larger and shocking machines are being built in workshops, such as machines that mock human speech and thought.

[Prince Jaromir is a man of great power and import and ably assisted by a number of ministers and advsors, although is own knowledge is quite astounding: Sta - 2 (Hale but elderly) Will - 4 (Keen mind) Lore (Alchemical Wisdom) - 4 Livelihood - Prince and Alchemist 6 Humanity – 3. His most recent interest has been in the clockwork machines that he has been funding. Others have worked on golems and impish lifeforms grown in vats, but there’s been no apparent successes to date, although a number of malformed fetus like creatures have been found floating in the sewers]

Old Scratch, it is fantastic to see you putting your own game on the table. I look forward to hearing about the outcomes. Your descriptors helped make my last month of gaming fantastic and I'm excited to see you put that creativity to work.

The optional rules you have, based on the setting are fantastic. Let us know how it plays for you.

Aramantheum is at the heart of a crumbling Empire, its fading splendor apparent to all, as beggars and dogs fight over the scraps in the streets.

It is said to have lived in Aramantheum is to have lived as both a saint and a sinner. It is the most sacred and profane of places in the world. It is here where the god lies sleeping, but also a place where the living are sold as slaves in cellar meat-markets. It is the world’s spiritual center, and the sounds of chanting and the smells of incense waft from temples, yet it is also the world’s political center, and people are tortured and murdered with a nod and towns burnt to the ground with the pounding of a stamp in wax.

This city has two lords: the first is the Emperor, a man lost in the carnal pleasures particular to the elite…

The first Emperor was a warlord who was converted to the teachings by the First Thearch and since that time the Emperor has always ruled the Empire under the divine guidance of the High Thearch. At times the Emperor and the Thearchs have been at odds, but as the Thearch’s control the bureaucracy they have gained better control over the Empire as it has sprawled ever larger. The current Emperor Vultarin is one of the few latter Emperors to have led armies in the field, but his old injuries have led him to become dependent on drugs. The drugs have altered his personality and his desires and his notorious appetites have brought the court to new depths of depravity.

[Emperor Vultarin Sta - 2 (Old injuries) Will - 2 (Drug Addled) Livelihood: Rule with an Iron Fist: 4 Humanity - 2]

…and the High Thearch, the First of the Vigil, who rules the kingdom through Sword, faith, and ruthless determination.

The current High Thearch Borivoj has become unhinged, swinging wildly between fanatical and depressed, it is said his sleep is deeply troubled. Countless nights he has awoken in screams, only to cry out for his assistants, who spent the rest of the night sending out frenzied missives to far-flung monasteries and retreats or searching ancient and moldering volumes for a phrase the High Thearch is seeking.

[High Thearch Borivoj Sta - 3 (Driven by fear and adrenaline) Will - 4 (Complete devotion to his Faith) Lore - 5 (The Inner Truths of Vigil Doctrine and Mind-Shattering Dreams of the Apocalypse) Humanity – 2]

The heart of his power is the religious bureaucracy at the center of the city in the gilded Hall of Repose.

The Hall of Repose is a massive cathedral housing the church bureaucracy as well as its most sacred texts. Its towers are the tallest in the world, and its grounds occupy a considerable portion of the city. It is truly a marvel of architecture and design, and the greatest art of the world is housed within. It is said that the place was designed by the First Thearch and that nothing has been added beyond his original plan.

[The First Thearch designed the Hall of Repose with a specific purpose – to control the Fell Weapons and he used all his considerable occult knowledge to imbue the locale with this power. All rituals carried out at this locale have a +1 die bonus in the Sorcerer’s favor, except for Contain which receives a +2 dice bonus.]

It was this very place that the first Thearch, armed with god’s own Sword…

The First Thearch was a mighty warrior who wandered into the Charnel Fields and came back with the first Fell-blade in this epoch. The experience opened a thousand doors in his mind and occult knowledge never seen before or after in this epoch was his. However, he discovered that he had the power to end the world within his hands, and surrendered that power and locked the Fell Blade away for the sake of Humanity. The First Thearch is revered and his prodigious writings and warnings form the foundation of the religion he created: the Vigil (also known as the Faith).

[The First Sword: Tesnohledek, Fell-weapon Sword, Tell-tale: Blade (and its wielder) shimmer with an intense inner light. Other attributes: ??? Any ideas folks?]

…began the first watch over the deity deep in slumber in a chamber in the earth.

The First Thearch, armed with the Sword, became aware of a god’s body within this world, buried deep within the ground. The Hall of Repose was constructed over the divinity and today the body still lies there. The First Thearch could never be certain if the being is still alive, but the followers of the First Thearch are convinced that the god is still alive.

Above the resting place a great fortress-temple was built, a great bell in its bell-tower, to be rung at the end of time to awaken the god to save his people.

The name of the religion, the Vigil, reflects their waiting over the god for its time to awaken. A small sacred cadre tends to the colossal god’s needs, lighting candles within the giant chamber and watching intently for the god to awaken. It is believed that at the Vigil’s greatest need, the bell above will awaken the god below to come to their needs. The common folk though have been told that the bell will ring to announce the awakening of the god. In truth, the bell will only ring at the end of the world, when a Sorcerer ascends to the Charnel God.

Faith in the Vigil, as the religion is known, spread throughout the lands under the temporal power of the Emperor and the spiritual power of the Thearchs.

The Empire exists to spread the influence and reach of the Vigil so that they can carry out their secret project. A portion of the Imperial bureaucracy is filled with priests of the Vigil, and many of the finest Imperial soldiers are invited to serve in the Vigil Militant, the Faith’s martial order and the most respected military group in the world.

The phrase sums up the faith of the Vigil: One God, One Sword; One Priest, One Truth.

Nearly everyone with the Empire is a follower of the Vigil, awaiting for their god’s awakening. However, the Vigil has another purpose, one unknown to all but a handful: they are to remain vigilant for the appearance of other Fell-weapons that may appear in the world. A small handful of sub-sects exist purely for this purpose, the most notorious being the Invigilators, the elite of the Inquisition. The entire Faith exists to support the efforts of this small group.

[All the Thearch’s and their most trusted advisors have studied the secret writings of the First Thearch and have some knowledge of the Fell-weapons, and thus they all have a Lore skill. All the Invigilators within the Inquisition have Lore skills and are knowledgeable of the Contain ritual.]

I swear, every Charnel Gods campaign I read here is cooler than the last one.

You are going to add this to the spiffy new CG database, right?

Does the clock have one of those nifty occult orrery setups in it, like Aughra's observatory in The Dark Crystal?

Good background for this might be J. Gregory Keyes' Age of Unreason series, the Avigon graphic novel by Che Gilson, and maybe to a lesser extent, Mark Oakley's Thieves and Kings.

Keep us posted, I have a feeling this one's gonna knock some socks off.

Yeah, once you've run this (and I can't wait to read about it), it should definitely go up at the Resource sit.

Tesnohledek sounds great.

- Scott

Nev the Deranged wrote: You are going to add this to the spiffy new CG database, right?

Does the clock have one of those nifty occult orrery setups in it, like Aughra's observatory in The Dark Crystal?

Good background for this might be J. Gregory Keyes' Age of Unreason series, the Avigon graphic novel by Che Gilson, and maybe to a lesser extent, Mark Oakley's Thieves and Kings.

Wow, that's awesome how you laid a whole 'nother layer of tension onto what was already a cool setup. Vultairen and the Thearch are great NPC's.

The thing I'm wondering is... how are you going to have the setting react to the advent of a whole bunch of player-character types, each with their own Fell Weapon? It sounds like you'll have a religious war, P.D.Q.

Yet in the monasteries on the borders, monks and wandering priests often fell to heresy, murmuring and sometimes proclaiming that there was more than one god and more than one truth.

The Vigil has rigidly adhered to its doctrine, yet as the end of the epoch nears, their efforts become more frantic. Those who cross over into the Charnel Fields discover that there is more than one god, and yet realizes the very fate of the gods. The very existence of dead gods challenges the Vigil and suggests that god beneath the Hall of Repose may very well be naught but a bloated corpse. The appearance of other Fell-weapons calls into question the truth of the doctrine: One God, One Sword; One Priest, One Truth. It is in the distant monasteries that other truths appear. While the Order of the Sword Monks may still be loyal to the Thearchs and bolster their troops with their own formidable and accomplished monks, other orders that explore the metaphysical have veered from the dogma of the center.

[Typical Sword-Monk Sta - 4 (Body Forged in the Fires of Religious Doctrine) Will - 3 (Their Will is the Thearch's Will) Past - 4 (Paragon of Flashing Blade Artistry - when armed with a sword, their training increases their Past by +1) Appearance: Steel Vambraces and Greaves with which they parry weapons and flowing brown robes and an intricate surcoat that details their level of training]

And while the Vigil suppressed such claims with ruthlessness, these heresies persisted, until today, when the others were found.

In the past the Order Inquisitor and the Order Vigilant were able to suppress word of other Fell-weapons and to even ritually contain a few, but rumors abound that a number of other Fell-weapons have been appearing throughout the Empire and beyond its borders. Many dream of a single sword, contained deep within the earth, that beckons to them to draw it and seize the power that the First Thearch rejected.

[Order Inquisitor Sta - 3 (The Gaunt Aspect of Death) Will - 4 (Hell Hath No Greater Foe) Past - 4 (Rapist of the Mind and Soul) If an Invigilator: Lore - 1 (Inklings of the Apocalypse - if used for the Contain ritual their skill rises to their Will) Appearance - Black tunic, trousers, vest, and great coat as well as a wide-brimmed hat and a whip for Special Attack - Non-lethal) A black case containing instruments of suffering.

Knight of the Order Vigilant Sta - 4 (Battle-hardened) Will - 3 (Zealous Defender of the Faith) Past - 4 (Knight Templar) Appearance - Typically wearing black and red colors and a steel breastplate (As per Armor) and carrying a Greatsword if on foot, a Longsword if mounted]

It is said that champions (although others whisper they are villains or infidels) have come from the land of the gods, bearing weapons of terrible power.

Enter the player-characters (and possibly their rivals).

And there heresy spreads throughout the lands, while the Thearch’s gather deep below in the catacombs directing their inquisition.

Ultimately the means of the Theocrats is at odds with their desires – they want to save the humanity but will risk their own in their desire to destroy the Fell-weapons and maintain the doctrine of their faith. Even as the fabric of the Empire crumbles, Inquisitors and Knights Vigilant ride forth throughout the lands, bearing swords and instruments of torture, leaving terror and broken bodies in their wake.

DannyK wrote: Wow, that's awesome how you laid a whole 'nother layer of tension onto what was already a cool setup. Vultairen and the Thearch are great NPC's.

The thing I'm wondering is... how are you going to have the setting react to the advent of a whole bunch of player-character types, each with their own Fell Weapon? It sounds like you'll have a religious war, P.D.Q.

Far from these torch-lit conspiracies though is Praag.

While Praag is distant from the capital and the machinations of the Thearch’s and their servants, it is where the end of the world will begin. Its liberal atmosphere and the heresies bubbling beneath the surface is inviting to those who find the Fell-weapons.

Young nobles duel over honor with rapiers…

The only ones allowed to wield swords are the clergy of the Vigil and their loyal servants such as the Sword Monks and the Knights of the Order Vigilant. All others are forbidden to use any swords – but rapiers do not meet the traditional definition of a sword and in the last twenty years young nobles and the merchant class have taken up dueling and the possession of rapiers as a sign of their growing power and influence. Praag itself has become the capital of dueling with the most famous dueling teachers and half a dozen rival schools of fencing.

…and blackpowder pistols in the city’s squares,

And blackpowder firearms are a product of the alchemy practiced in Praag. The use of cannon and firearms has dramatically increased the power of Praag’s armies. Nearby cities and towns have quickly allied with Praag and clamor against the capital, using the alchemical marvels as a means of resisting the Empire's legions. Many have refused to give tribute, and war seems to be brewing between proxies of the two factions. But so prevalent is gunpowder that many of Praag’s young rakes have taken up master-crafted pistols as a status symbol.

…merchants ply their goods in the city’s colorful market places,

While Aramantheum is the political and spiritual capital of the world, Praag has become the commercial and mercantile capital. Its nearby mines provide it with considerable mineral wealth and the trade up and down the river gives it extensive power throughout the region. The six Merchant Princes of Praag together wield considerable power and even the Prince of Praag listens carefully to their needs. Many believe that it is the Merchant Princes at the forefront of the sedition against the capital of the Empire.

…and scholars hunch over crumbling texts…

While the Hall of Repose has considerable knowledge, much of it has been shaped by the edicts and ideology of the First Thearch. Yet in Praag, none are bound by such constraints and their discoveries have become quite controversial, and many are afraid to speak out publicly about their philosophies, still fearing the Inquisitors that have appeared again on the streets of Praag.

…and strangers arrive, bearing both monstrous truths and weapons.

There are those carrying marvelous weapons who have been seen in the livery of the Merchant Princes.

And as the Empire convulses at the impending heresy and civil war…

To the south, two proxy cities have come to blows over the pretext of a boundary dispute, but in truth it is a clash of ideologies. After a quick victory on the battlefield, the allies of Praag have besieged their rival city, and great siege cannon have been dug into emplacements around the city, and many believe it is a matter of days before the city falls and the Empire will be shaken as the power of the Empire is openly challenged.

…old enemies await within the forests on the borders of the Empire….

Beyond the fertile farmlands and tamed countryside lies a great expanse of wood populated by savages. Ignorant of the Faith, they raid and pillage the lands, and to halt this, the Empire has built fortresses along the treeline and carries out campaigns deep within the murky forests, carrying on a feud hundreds of centuries old. In his later years, the first Thearch joined the Empire’s army on a crusade to the north in a remarkable campaign where the forests were uprooted and the villages of the savages raised, with the captured savages nailed to the few trees still standing amidst the smoking ruin. The campaign only ended when a leader of the savages known as der Skaul slew the aged Thearch in combat and drove the Imperial legions south. Since then, these wildmen have named their greatest leader der Skaul and the atrocities continue on both sides.

[Forest Wildman Warrior: St 3 Will 4 Livelihood: Inhuman Berserker 3 Humanity: 2]

…their inhuman eyes greedily awaiting their time to seethe forth and swallow civilization whole.

The truth of der Skaul is different, it is not a title of a leader, but the name of an object. The first Thearch journeyed north when he sensed the existence of another fell weapon – der Skaul. The aging First Thearch met with der Skaul’s wielder on the field of battle and as the Thearch attempted to break the binding, he was slain in combat and his body mutilated. Der Skaul has continued to be a source of power and infamy among the forest tribes. Its most recent wielder, adopting the traditional name of der Skaul has brought great power and tragedy to the forest tribes: he has slain a great Nameless one that haunted the woods, and in his victory him and his warriors devoured the heart of the Nameless one to acquire its power, and they have been transformed. With the power they have gained, they have converted, sometimes with force the other tribes. Those who have partaken of the feast, drinking the potion adulterated with the blood of the Nameless one turn pale, with some taking on almost albino features, and all have their eyes clouded over with a pale white mist. The forest peoples, with their new power, have again turned their eyes to the south, and it is only a matter of weeks before hordes of pale warriors, drunk on the blood of a monstrosity sweep over the unsuspecting communities to the south.

[Those dozens of tribal warriors who have eaten souls have acquired the power of the Sorcerer to channel their Will to overcome injuries. Those who have merely drank the blood have become something less than human – they lose a point of humanity but gain a point of Will.]

Well, I’ve got three PCs so far, and I’m hoping some people might have some ideas for Bangs…

Herr Bukkerot

A tall, gaunt and pale figure with long black hair that reaches to his waist, tied into intricate know work
Sta – 3 Rural Upbringing on the Steppes north of Praag
Will – 4 Angry and driven by rage
Lore –3 A Whispering Voice, carried on the wind, has guided him to his destiny
Cover – 3 Former scout for local lords
Price – 1 Brutal
Humanity – 3
Telltale – Runes scarred into chest & arms during a ritual, but due to his possession of the artifact they glow blue and cold when he is angry.

It was during an initiation ritual, one of the last traditions his people has adhered to since being absorbed by the Empire, that Bukkerot discovered the Fell-Weapon. While venturing out onto the steppes alone, to live there for weeks, Bukkerot was caught in a blizzard and wandered wildly about, guided by only a whispering voice, when the ice broke beneath him. Struggling in the dark, he broke through the ice onto a plain littered with carnage – the bloated rotting bodies of gods and monsters alike, their corpses still locked in some fierce battle. It was there, on an icy body of something… something terrible with horns that he found the axe – it was a peculiar object there – amidst all the terrible weapons, there was a simple wood-axe. He drew it, fled from the Charnel Fields, and dove back into the pool of blood – the axe was like it was made of ice and brought him back to the surface.

Frost – Wood Axe Fell Weapon
Binding Strength: 2 in Frost’s favor
Telltale: Aura of frost – icy to the touch, chills room when handled, floats like ice
Appearance: Single headed axe appearing as if made of ice.
Desire: Hopelessness and Desperation
Need: To be used when angry (typically chopping wood but other possibilities exist)

Abilities: Link, Special Damage Lethal: Draws Heat from the living, Protection from Cold, Shapeshift: Morphs user into White Wolf, One other ability undecided as of yet.

Sta – 10 Will – 11 Lore – 5 Power – 11

Herr Bukkerot’s Kicker: He is working a job as a mercenary within the city of Praag when the window shutters blow open and in flies the family’s pet raven, bearing in its talons Bukkerot’s father’s family heirloom – an amulet prized within the family

Darius (Given name at birth – changes names frequently)

There is nothing distinctive about Darius – he is of an average height and weight, his eyes seem to adopt whatever color of clothing he wears, and he seems perfectly ordinary and average – almost unnaturally so (I’ve decided that Darius is the most common name in the Empire and I’ll use this to name every other NPC just to fit in with this character concept).
Sta – 4 Unnatural vitality from sources unknown
Will – 3 Driven to possess knowledge and discover mysteries
Lore – 3 A Whispering Voice that has tormented him and turned him near unfeeling
Cover – 4 Court Body Guard / Agent Provocateur
Price – 2 die penalty to inspire, motivate, befriend, or intimidate others
Humanity – 4
Telltale – Looks utterly mundane

It seems Darius is destined for terrible acts despite his perfectly normal appearance and history. The only thing that made Darius different was the voice that was a mixed blessing, one he paid little wisdom to until on the day of his wedding, it announced that he must personally slay his bride at the wedding – horrified at what he heard and fearful of what he might do, he threw his whole life away, fleeing from the voice that taunted him. After running ragged for days, he found himself upon a cliff, and despairing he threw himself down…

…only to explode into a bloated corpse of a god. Crawling from the rotting entrails and organs, Darius suddenly heard two voices in his head, different voices, urging him on. Following the voices, Darius found the body of a mortal, standing, pinned to a god. The corpses hands were on the pommels of a parrying dagger and matching fencing sword that the mortal had apparently driven through its own neck in a last act of suicide. Darius grasped the blades and a battle of the wills began, and Darius won, but only after the two blades had leeched out every last ounce of feeling and emotion from his body, leaving him a near empty husk (this seems at odds with the character’s high-ish humanity – so I’ll talk with the player about it, but I assume that the player’s humanity suggests a desire to reclaim that which was lost – a theme we can explore through the adventures).

Since then, Darius has served as a spy, guard, and even assassin for those who need a dependable but near-invisible person to carry out their tasks.

The Obsidian Sisters: Matching Rapier and Dagger Fell Weapons
Binding Strength: 1 in Darius’ favor – after costing him a portion of his humanity
Telltale: Lights and colors dim when the blades are drawn.
Desire: Ruin
Need: Secrets to be revealed before it.

Abilities: Armor: the blades move with unnatural speed to block incoming attacks, Perception: Acute hearing and vision in the dark, Cloak – blades are undetectable before they strike, Travel: the ability to move through and merge with walls, Special Damage Lethal: Wounds by the blade blacken and rot, Travel: Blades always return to each other

Sta – 9 Will – 10 Lore – 7 Power – 10

Darius’ Kicker: Hired by the Prince of Praag himself to spy upon the Tetrarch’s of Praag’s council, Darius, using the power of his swords conceals himself within the wall and watches the meeting with two acolytes, and then notices a shadowy figure approaching the back of the Tetrarch of Praag with blades drawn…

Not Named Yet: NNY
Lean and wiry, with a white streak in the left eyebrow, this character is androgynous and known as a messenger and courier for those within Praag. Witty and resourceful, the character has climbed up from the gutters by itself.
Sta – 3 Survived the Streets of Praag
Will – 4 Brush with the Unknown – Granted a Gift by the gods themselves
Lore – 3 Dream Visitations
Cover – 4 Escort/Courier
Price – 1 Hubris and over-confidence when trying to control the Fell Weapon
Humanity – 4
Telltale – Not written down – I’ll have to ask again (Perhaps strangle marks about her throat?)

Not Named Yet (NNY) lived a hard life at a village not far from a major road. Tragedy struck when a fire swept through their modest house, killing her mother. Her father, enraged, blamed NNY and began strangling her, as she struggled to gain consciousness she saw flashes of her father’s face replaced by a flash on a monstrous gods face and suddenly she was sprawled amidst the gore of the Charnel Fields, where the massive lumbering bulk of a god, rotted and dead, slowly rose and shambled closely to her, handing NNY a blade, a finely crafted sword and as she clutched the blade, she found herself alone in a forest, far from the village. She then fled to Praag, where she lived on the streets, believe that NNY had lived solely by wits, when in fact the Fell Weapon itself had assisted. NNY believes that the blade can be controlled, but the blade knows better…

Bastard Sword Fell Weapon
Binding Strength: 1 in NNY’s favor
Telltale: Emanates visible pulses of energy when touched
Appearance: A finely crafted Bastard Sword whose form seems to waver
Desire: Spite (The weapon hates its creator and desires to destroy not only its own creator, but creativity itself)
Need: To destroy the creative means (eg: to cut out a poet’s tongue, a craftman’s hands, etc…)
Abilities: Link (see through one another’s eyes), Special Damage Lethal, Protection from Fire, Cloak: hard to perceive and lightweight, Travel: to move between shadowed or dark spaces.

Sta – 9 Will – 10 Lore – 6 Power – 10

NNY’s Kicker: Long trusted to carry out tasks of dubious legality or of urgent necessity, NNY has served many of the rich, powerful, and influential of the city, and has never failed when charged with such a task until now… While delivering a parcel to an important alchemist, an accident happens and the package is dropped just outside the door of the alchemist’s lab and a strange powder is released, showering the character. Putting the parcel back together, the character enters the alchemist’s lab, whose eyes widen when he sees the dust on NNY’s body, and he moves to place the desk between them, his eyes widening, as he looks aghast and yells: “What have you done?!?!?”

I’ve got a few ideas for Bangs, but as this is my first game running Sorcerer, I’d appreciate any comments on characters or in particular, Bangs to get this game rolling. I’ll try and post my own shortly…

Looking forward to your bangs! Thanks in advance!

Scratch,

This stuff is great. I like how their Lore descriptors are all somewhat connected - whispers and visions - and give the Epoch its own distinctive flavor. Was that on purpose? If not, when you write this up for public consumption, your list of Descriptors should definitely be along those lines.

I like the bit about Darius and how it's the most common name in the Empire.

The one thing that jumped out at me was Frost's Need - it doesn't seem very dynamic to me. I'd try to find something that plays off of the character's inherent anger a little differently - a Need that renders it inert, or compromises it somehow, or creates situations that are interesting in play. I have a couple ideas, but I'm not going to throw them out just yet.

More later...now it's off to work.

- Scott

I'm with Moose that Frost's Need is too unconfrontational. The character doesn't have to make any decisions in order to fulfill the need. Now if it were "Needs its possessor to bottle up his anger" or "Needs its possessor to release his anger in violence" or something like that, it would be a different story.

And I'd definitely punch up Darius's kicker a little bit. Right now it seems like the only reasons he has to react to it at all are metagame reasons (must reveal myself or there will be no story). That's unsatisfying. If, on the other hand, somebody attacks the Prince of Praag with weapons that are the twin to Darius's own, and he is the natural fall-guy, that adds some more angles.

So there's my two cents. Hope it helps!

hardcoremoose wrote: Scratch,

This stuff is great. I like how their Lore descriptors are all somewhat connected - whispers and visions - and give the Epoch its own distinctive flavor. Was that on purpose? If not, when you write this up for public consumption, your list of Descriptors should definitely be along those lines.

I like the bit about Darius and how it's the most common name in the Empire.

The one thing that jumped out at me was Frost's Need - it doesn't seem very dynamic to me. I'd try to find something that plays off of the character's inherent anger a little differently - a Need that renders it inert, or compromises it somehow, or creates situations that are interesting in play.

Here are some of the tenative Bangs I brainstormed up this morning. They all need a bit of work and some of them need a bit of setting up, but its a start. Again, any comments or ideas on these, or ideas of your own Bangs are greatly appreciated.

Herr Bukkerot

I think thematically I want to focus on Bukkerot’s adventures on the margins of civilization and the lives of those on the periphery. There’s a lot of opportunity for exploring the tensions existing there – there is the potential to get caught up in the warfare between the church and the people of the forest.

-Arriving at his parent’s homestead (his own father once a scout) he sees the area occupied by Knights Vigilant escort of an Inquisitor who are picking about the ruins of the house. (There are at least two or three different directions this could go – it could have been burned by the Forestfolk, the church, or the local landlord.

-His father is alive and held by those who burned the house – be using him as a hostage and a bargaining chip for the amulet – the amulet itself was that worn by the First High Thearch when he died in battle. It fell off and formed the basis of a secret cult on the periphery – it perhaps allows one to enter the Charnel Fields or perform some ritual such as exorcism with a good chance of success.

-Sees members of his old scouting unit riding down the children of the forest folk, playing with them as a cat plays with a mouse.

-Some of his father’s friends approach him, inviting him to join the Warrior Cult, the Society of Thorns. To formally join the organization, one must offer up a human sacrifice to the archway of thorns which leads on to the otherworld.

-On a cold night, he sees a group of refugees, cold and ragged, attempting to cut down a sacred tree to build a fire to warm themselves. Perhaps it was the tree planted by his father to celebrate his own birth. Only since he has acquired the Fell Weapon has the tree suddenly withered and turned dry and twisted.

-Comes across a band of his own countryfolk holding up a merchants’ caravan, times have turned tough and they have resorted to banditry – a merchant’s caravan that perhaps he has been hired to guard or guide.

-He encounters a mad hermit, roaming the area, and his ears have been cut off. Turns out they were self-inflicted, and the inner ear has been savaged as well – maggots and flies linger about the bleeding wounds. He screams about the voices in his head, the whispering that never ends even though his ears are gone.

-Finds a wolf being tormented in a cage by local people, including children. Despite its tormentors, it raises its head and stares only at Bukkerot.

Darius

It seems like Darius’ character wants to get involved in intrigue between the church and the Prince of Praag – currently he is on the side of the Prince, so I might use him to stress the rift growing between Praag and Aramantheum. Key to the use of this character might be to develop his relationship with his patrons.

The Whispering Lord (the chief agent of the Prince of Praag) what’s Darius to intercept a report from the Tetrarch of Praag’s office to Aramantheum.

Two twin sisters, dressed in black and with black hair and black eyes seem to follow him about. When he approaches them, they try to speak, but their tongues have been cut out.

The Old Voice that was supplanted by the new voices returns, and starts issuing him directions. If he follows them, they lead him to a market where he sees his ex-fiancé at the market with her husband selling beautifully crafted goods. The voice whispers “You know what you must do…”

Darius returns to his abode, to find that his servant is raving mad, armed with two knives, and if unstopped, he will try to impale both through his throat, pinning himself to the cupboards behind.

He is hired to whisper an address into the ear of a nobleman. Hours later, the nobleman is accused of murdering his wife and her lover, another nobleman. In a twist, perhaps he is approached by the dead man’s family to be hired as a champion in the duel of honor that results.

He is hired to abduct the child of a nobleman. When he arrives, he discovers that the child has already been murdered (see arch-enemy below).

Darius sees the most recent Inquisitor to arrive in town, and he is the spitting image of Darius.

Darius’ archenemy is another Fell-Weapon bearer, one who holds a blade that allows the rival to hear anything whispered nearby. The whispering Darius’ blades constantly perform allow this foe to follow and hunt down Darius.

Darius is hired to pull a Guy Fawkes – to smuggle in gun powder beneath the Vigil Cathedral in Praag to blow it sky-high.

I’d also like some sort of Bang involving a Defenestration – someone being thrown out a window – perhaps his employer that he is returning to or a close ally – or maybe he is expected to toss a lady of the court out the window, preferably a beautiful stain glassed one, a shower of color as the body strikes the square below on a crowded day. This might be used for dramatic purpose as the climax of one of the other bangs.

Not Named Yet (NNY)

NNY can be used to explore the themes of everyday life in the world, the lives of those who live in the city and seek out the simple things in life, those most often trampled by the rich and powerful.

First there is the issue of the Kicker – what is the White Dust?
The ground bones of one of the Charnel Gods?
The ground bones of the First Thearch?
An alchemical solution that kills?
The powdered essence of a virulent plague?
Some sort of reactive material that mutates and changes those around?
The powdered ritual material used by the Forest Wildfolk to transform their own into the mindless slaves of the Unnamed?

An old friend of NNY, who housed and cared for NNY asks help – some of the young children have gone missing – their bodies are being used by an alchemist to replace the worn and tired organs of the rich.

That same friend is later accused and whipped publicly by Inquisitors before being marched off to be imprisoned and questioned later.

A close friend of NNY asks her to find him some drugs or medicine to sleep – he’s been having terrible nightmares. Overtime the drugs seem to do little good and the friend disappears, only to return bearing a Fell Weapon and being wholly possessed by it, as the drugs have reduced the friend’s Will Power to naught.

NNY is asked to deliver a package, one that is squirming. If opened, it is the squirming body of a fetus, one who opens its ancient eyes and speaks in an unknown language to NNY.

She delivers a strange parchment to a Theurge, only to discover that the parchment is used in the mouth of a golem that runs amok in the city, killing street children and pregnant mothers (it despises the childhood it never had and its own sterility).

I would like some Bangs that might tie NNY into the local prophets and street preachers that might start a sort of revolution on their own – or scholars and demagogues opposed to the religion.

Again, another plea for Bangs, if any of you have any ideas you want to share.

I'd also like to mention three film inspirations that sort of triangulate where I want the feel of this game to be: City of Lost Children - The Name of the Rose - The Duelists

The City of Lost Children - Mainly because of its strange visuals and wierd science - imagine that film set back four hundred years ago and you've got the sort of wierd science technology feel that I'm aiming for. I want Praag's intellectual community to be full of madmen dreaming the impossible.

The Name of the Rose - no, I haven't read the novel - still trying to get through Foucault's Pendulum, but the strange happenings and suppressed secrets at a distant monastery go a long way towards reflecting the haunted past and religious zealotry going on in this world in the stark contrast to the innovation and wild imaginings within the city of Praag.

The Duellists, a Carradine film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075968/) on two French Duellists during the Napoleonic era gives a feel for the duelling and honor and swordplay that I want imbued in the setting.

I visualize this game fitting somewhere between those three points, and I want my Bangs to be flavored with the essence of these three films.

A couple other things:

I haven't mentioned the Sword Monks yet, but I plan on introducing them later before the Charnel God appears. While they aren't anything compared to the Fell Weapon bearers, I want their imagery to be cool and when they make an appearance, I want the players to still get a chill, to be both elated and saddened after an encounter - sort of Bruce Lee meets Mad Martigan from Willow (I'm saying that partly tongue-in-cheek). If you've seen the Nausicaa anime or manga, I want these Sword Monks, who have devoted their lives to perfecting the use of the weapon that their god introduced to the world to fight like Master Yupa does in Nausicaa - the sort of flashy, but swift and brutal swordplay that appears in the Miyazaki films such as Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke.

I was also thinking of an encounter with a toy maker, and a significant one, but not one where his puppets come alive or that they act as voodoo dolls, but something fresh and original involving one - I mention this because I remember the little puppets and other toys for sale in the alley behind the Prague Castle. So does anyone have any ideas on this sort of thing?

Again, I'm looking forward to any feedback or Bangs you folks may have! Thanks in advance.

Old Scratch,

There is so much setting stuff to sort through that I'm rather dizzied and intimidated to touch these bangs but I want to help and know how much I enjoy hearing other's bangs when I post these threads, so here we go.

Old_Scratch wrote:
Herr Bukkerot’s Kicker: He is working a job as a mercenary within the city of Praag when the window shutters blow open and in flies the family’s pet raven, bearing in its talons Bukkerot’s father’s family heirloom – an amulet prized within the family

Darius’ Kicker: Hired by the Prince of Praag himself to spy upon the Tetrarch’s of Praag’s council, Darius, using the power of his swords conceals himself within the wall and watches the meeting with two acolytes, and then notices a shadowy figure approaching the back of the Tetrarch of Praag with blades drawn…

NNY’s Kicker: Long trusted to carry out tasks of dubious legality or of urgent necessity, NNY has served many of the rich, powerful, and influential of the city, and has never failed when charged with such a task until now… While delivering a parcel to an important alchemist, an accident happens and the package is dropped just outside the door of the alchemist’s lab and a strange powder is released, showering the character. Putting the parcel back together, the character enters the alchemist’s lab, whose eyes widen when he sees the dust on NNY’s body, and he moves to place the desk between them, his eyes widening, as he looks aghast and yells: “What have you done?!?!?”

Paka wrote: Old Scratch,

There is so much setting stuff to sort through that I'm rather dizzied and intimidated to touch these bangs but I want to help and know how much I enjoy hearing other's bangs when I post these threads, so here we go.

Paka wrote:

* Bukkerot comes across a carriage, a church pew or a gallows pole, something made of wood that is a symbol of civlization. The wooden thing seems to reach out to attack him him.

If he hacks the wood apart the attack stops but he has destroyed property and will have to deal with those consequences.

If he stays his hand and uses Lore to carefully assess why he is hallucinating, he will realize that it was his axe that chopped the wood down that created this thing. The tree was a holy and noble thing and now it is a dead tool of the Empire.

* The raven says strange things when the axe is drawn. "Feast!" "God's Meat!" "God's Eyes!"

Paka wrote:

* A child approaches Darius with her last treasure on earth, a lock of hair from her mother, asking him to kill the heartless woman who killed her parents. Her older sister was the culprit, not wanting anyone to know her lowborn birth.

* When Darius kills he discovers that whenever he kills someone with the swords, a double of himself kills someone else in the city who corresponds somehow to his victim. Killing with the swords opens the way for a doppleganger to take his form and spill blood.

The more he kills the more real the doppleganger becomes until it becomes sure that it is the real Darius and the player is the doppleganger.

Paka wrote:
* The dust was said to be able to kill gods. NNY finds that wherever he/she/it goes the faith of those around it erodes. Priests will enter into theological discussions with NNY and eventually question their own faith in the course of seemingly casual conversation, becoming shattered at their own sudden alchemical aetheism.

* The alchemist, distressed that the dust was dropped, demands NNY completes an errand for him. He was going to use the dust to destroy the faith of the high muckety muck of the city. The alchemist is something of an anti-religious anarchist. When the high priest has forsaken his faith, the Alchemist will hire Darius to kill him.

The Puppet Maker
On a winding alley behind Praag Castle and Praag Cathedral stands a small, dark, and crowded small toy-shop and its master craftsman. While a vast array of wooden toys lie on shelves and hang from ceilings, his specialty is a marionettes. Although few know of his shop, many at the court have individually found themselves in the shop, commissioning their own marionettes. Imbued with his Lore, the marionettes have a modest power. When one holds the marionette, with a Lore test they may be able to get a sense of the state of mind of the person the marionette resembles. If the Marionette is crafted after someone who has a Lore skill, a Lore test versus the Humanity +1 of the person the image represents will reveal their level of humanity.

Jaroslav the Toymaker
Sta – 1 (Elderly with a weak heart) Will – 5 (Seeks Perfection in Form) Lore – 1 (Had a Glimpse of Something Greater and More Terrible than Humanity) Livelihood – 5 (Master Toy Craftsman)

The Prinz Josef Bridge
Spanning the river that cuts through Praag are a series of bridges, but one is the most beautiful and prominent of them tall. Crafted from etched red and white bricks is the Prinz Josef bridge which links the city’s main market square on the south-east side with the road that approaches Praag’s main square opposite the hill that Praag Castle stands. Prinz Josef bridge is also known as Princes Bridge, since statues of the city’s princes line bridge at regular intervals, their somber and sorrowful faces silently judging those who walk along the bridge.

Praag Cathedral
Nestled within the walls of Praag Castle are the myriad spires of Praag Cathedral. Some of the city’s more fashionable artists consider this towering, winding, gargoyle-pocked black Cathedral a grotesque testament to religious sentiments. Built as an elaborate monument upon the death of the First Thearch, it is an anguished and imposing building, rivaling only the Hall of Repose in its artistry. It is said that its architect was driven mad upon the death of the First Thearch and lived only long enough to design the cathedral before he committed suicide off of the Prinz Josef bridge.

Praag Castle
In contrast to the cathedral it is embraces, Praag Castle with its white walls and red stone tile roofs is a pleasure to the eyes. Climbing ivy with its stunning blooms creep along its outside, and small angelic figures gilt in gold and silver play along the eaves of the building. For centuries its many rooms lay dormant, but with the rise of the Praag court many nobles and thinkers have arrived, seeking the patronage of the Prince of Praag. It is said that the wonders of the court have no rivals, many amazing inventions have been demonstrated in the court and great poets have performed some of the greatest works before this admiring audience. Yet great conspiracies are afoot here as well, ambitions have awakened and many come to court armed with whispers and intrigues.

The Clock Maker
Praag’s artisans are unrivalled, and it was in Praag that the mechanical clock was first invented and all mechanical clocks within the Empire and out come from Praag, whose Clockwork guild has a monopoly on the clocks. While not the most powerful or influential in the guild, Master Vaclav is certainly the most accomplished of the clockmakers. While famed in skill but modest in ambitions, many of his apprentices have moved beyond the trade and now construct automatika in the court of the Prince, Master Vaclav is content to merely construct the finest clocks imaginable.

There is nothing extraordinary about the clocks, unless a Fell-Weapon Bearer enters the shop. If anyone with less than Humanity 3 enters, the clocks will reflect their entry – they may all chime at the same time, the clocks may freeze up, or the hands may move in reverse, or the broken and half-assembled clocks in the workroom may start function while the Fell Bearer remains.

The Thaumaturge
Jakob Belohlavic is one of the oldest practitioners of “magic” in Praag. While most hail themselves as men of science and adopt the title “alchemist” to demonstrate their new and modern approaches, Jakob adheres to an earlier title, one steeped in mystic traditions, that of “Thaumaturge”. An ancient figure, none alive remember him as a young child. His decaying manor house at the southern edge of the city, next to the river, is feared by many locals. Despite his fearsome reputation, he is not without a sense of civic duty so common in the city now, often giving charitably to a women’s hospital, a nearby orphanage, and to a local group who feeds those less well-off.

The Opium Den
Not far from Aramantheum are the great plantation farms owned by the Emperor, administered by the nobility that cling to the Emperor like leeches. While these provide much of the food demands of the capital, many of the nobles have switched their production over to the bright blue flowers that produce the opium drugs so widely consumed now within the capital. The craving for the “blue emotion” as the drug state is now known is spreading widely through the Empire, and has reached the city of Praag. While many of the mystics and seers of the court partake of the Poppies, the poor indulge in it as well, and there is an increasing number of people with the tell-tale blue-tinted lips, hunched over in alleys or staring numbly in the distance. This community of drug addicts is focused on a riverfront boarding house that has become a drug den in the last year, run by Mother Strognoy, a fierce but calculating woman, this opium den continues to provide its poison to the desperate.

The Asylum
The Vigil has always dealt with those who acted different in a peculiar manner – after being interrogated by the invigilators, they were either executed, imprisoned, or welcomed into the Faith as mystics. As yet another act of resistance to the influence of the Vigil, the enlightened Prince of Praag has insisted that a new and scientific means of caring for the mentally ill be instituted.

So on a nearby hill, in an abandoned monastery of the Vigil, the Praag Asylum has been created to care for unable to do so for themselves. A routine has been instituted, and its well-tended grounds are there to sooth and give peace to the disturbed individuals. While the intentions of all involved were good, recent rumors about the Asylum have proved troubling…

We didn't get around to playing last Sunday, but we did get another character. Hopefully we'll play this weekend...

Herr Grimm (the character hasn’t been named yet – so I’m just making up a suitable placeholder name).

Sta – 4 The Vitality of the Grave
Will – 3 Crossed the line between Genius and Insanity
Lore – 3 The Inner Secrets of the Mind and Body
Cover – 3 Doctor of Internal Alchemy
Price – 1 A Monstrosity, -1 penalty to all casual interactions
Humanity – 3
Appearance – Graveborn, a deathly pallor, lifeless eyes, ragged hair, cold to the touch, with embalming tubes and scientific apparatuses still driven into his flesh and held there by brass rivets
Telltale – Constant presence of flies by day, rats by night

Herr Grimm was a genius if eccentric doctor and experimenter, carrying out a successful practice in his clinic near the river in Praag. Yet his genius and curiosity was not tempered by wisdom or compassion, and he sought the answers in those dying moments, often controlled by him – some would have their deaths prematurely instigated by him and then their demise painfully extended so that he could linger over the processes and experience. When his apprentices objected, they became the next stage in the experiments, the suspension of the death cycle.

As his last apprentice expired, strapped into a baroque chair of brass and steel and pinned there by hoses and valves, Herr Grimm finally triumphed: a second after the last apprentice died, his eyes flicked open. His delight turned to horror however, as the dead apprentice burst forth with unnatural strength, seized the doctor, and pinned him to the chair, driving all manner of probes and hoses into him, nailing him to the chair with spurs and nails without rhyme or reason and then switching the arcane device on, and Herr Grimm watched his own blood and life seeping away through the tubes as a thick concoction of his own making sluggishly pumped into his arteries, until everything went black…

…and he awakened in hell – a land of the dead – where the giant bodies of gods and monsters lay scattered about after some catastrophic melee. His first sense was of something cold passing over him, and he noticed a ghostly shadow drifting past. Numb and confused, he noticed these apparitions floating one after the other, in one particular direction. Picking through the battlefield, Herr Grimm fell in line and marched with them, arriving at some bizarre mausoleum tower that reached up into the clouds, a building comprised of solely of bones bound by preserved entrails and sinew. As the specters entered the building, Herr Grimm sought to follow them, only to be blocked by the two giant guardians wielding axes, two massive skeletons with dog skulls. Discovering that this was not his time to join the dead, he staggered off, wandering, until he was drawn by an emotion, one of despair, which drew him to a fallen body – that of one of the giant dog-skulled skeletons that lay amidst the carnage. Clutched in its hands was the source of the despair – a bone mace whose spikes were the ribs of heroes and villains alike. He reached for the weapon, drawn to it by the sole fact that it was the only source of any kind of emotion in a dead world. Clutching it, he staggered about until he somehow found his way back to Praag.

Now he lurks about in Praag, after dark, in graveyards, sewers, dark alleys, abandoned buildings, seeking to undo what he has done. Yet his genius is gone, and he seems unable to replicate or reverse-engineer his own experiments, and finds himself unable to approach his old clinic, so he creeps about on the margins, torn between the despair of being entombed in his own corpse and his desire to be fully alive again.

The Bone Mace (Player still hasn’t given a name for it yet either…)
Sta – 8
Will – 7
Lore – 6
Power – 8
Type: Bone Mace
Binding Strength: +1 to Herr Grimm’s favor
Telltale: Comprised of inhuman bones
Desire: Hopelessness
Need: Not yet decided (!!!)
Abilities: Boost Stamina, Command (Vermin: Rats, Bats, and the like), Taint, Vitality (unholy vitality, by drawing upon the energies absorbed by the special damage), Special Damage (Devour the Souls of the living), Armor (Unholy vitality and bones of steel – perhaps spurs and ridges also appear while Armor is being used)

Herr Grimm’s Kicker: While Herr Grimm is lurking about the cemetery, seeking out corpses for continued experimentation, he is driven to hiding as some figures appear nearby, tossing a body in the grave that Herr Grimm is hiding in. As the body rolls over, he discovers much to his surprise that the corpse bears the very same experimental tell-tales his own experiments once bore – he realizes that someone else has continued conducting his experiments!

Some Notes: On Resurrection in Charnel Gods
Now about the character, he is neither living nor dead, and again it seems that I have violated one of the precepts of Charnel Gods: “The fact is, though, that much of the game’s power lies in the absolute finality of death. There is no way to commune with the spirits of the dead or to resurrect lost loved ones. A powerful supernatural creature might have some way to animate a corpse for use as a mindless servant, but Necromancy itself simply does not exist in Naur Tier.”

Now I hope Scott will forgive me, but I don’t consider this formal necromancy and I’ll make this the exception to the game. This is the story the character wanted and I think it makes for an epoch defining element – not bringing back the dead to life, but trapping someone through science and alchemy between life and death.

Herr Grimm’s Bangs (again – suggestions are welcome)
I like this character, he’s got a different feel, almost a pulpy feel in some ways and he really plays off the alchemy perspective with a bit of comic book feel, the player has jokingly referred to the character as “FrankenSpawn”. I’ll be using the themes of the dark side of the city and science and the occult to generate this character’s kickers.

-While lurking in the graveyard, Herr Grimm notes some grave robbers sneaking in, and if he approaches closer, discovers that they are not digging up coffins, but putting one in the ground. Getting closer, he will note that the occupant in the coffin is not so keen on this midnight burial, and is banging away, screaming for help

-Herr Grimm approaches his clinic to discover it well-lit and cared for, and apparently still occupied by himself! An impostor has taken over his clinic, pretending to be Herr Grimm and has reintroduced himself into society – the real Herr Grimm will no doubt be surprised to find out that he is in some demand in the social scene right now.

-His rival Archibald has an extensive selection of ingredients and experimental equipment that Herr Grimm could use, and it turns out that Archibald’s patron is having a costume ball at his palatial estate where both Archibald and the patron reside.

-Herr Grimm discovers the younger brother of his murdered apprentices out on the streets begging for money – after the death of his brother, the young boy had no income and had to resort to begging.

-Herr Grimm’s Last Apprentice is still about and quite mad. An alchemically fuelled half living hald dead madmen, he lurks about the darkness as well, seeking to continue Herr Grimm’s experiments on the living and still hates Herr Grimm with an unholy passion.

-Someone else shares the night with Herr Grimm and the Last Apprentice: the Night’s Court, the Praag underworld which deals in many of the illegal substances that the alchemists and theurges of the court crave. Not knowing Grimm’s true state, the Prince of the Night demands an audience with this night-time lurker they think is a burglar or beggar.

On a different note:
Someone noted how the whispers and dream visitations gave the epoch a certain feel (Scott?), and I’ve noticed that the desires of the weapons are somewhat similar: two center on Hopelessness, one on Ruin, and the last on Spitefulness towards Creativity. This seems an interesting counterpoint to the splendors and wonders of the court. There could be a really cool tension there, perhaps the promise of these mechanical and alchemical wonders are superficial, and nothing but mere diversions and distractions for the pampered elite, while the poor choke on the fumes from the furnaces and gag at the river water poisoned by experiments. Or on the other hand, maybe these devices offer a real improvement to the lives of others, but there promise will never be fulfilled due to the activities of the Fell Weapons and their bearers. Thus, I’d like to flavor a few of the bangs to play about with this ennui during an age of wonder.

Problems with the Fell Weapons Needs
Two of my players have had real problems coming up with the needs for their demons/fell-weapons. I’ve offered them ideas, but they haven’t snatched at any of them. This was entirely unexpected. The one person that has NEVER role played came up with a great desire (Spite for the creative process) and a great need that really plays on the “Not can I fulfill its need, but do I want to fulfill its need” with the “Must destroy the creative means”. Has anyone else experienced this problem before?

“It’s a lot of work!”
This surprised me as well – the last player to make Herr Grimm is one of my longest running players, we’re talking well over ten years. The player has made characters for MERP, WFRP, Underground, Conspiracy X, SLA Industries, Chill, D&D 1/2/3, Kult, Call of Cthulhu, Fading Suns, and others… All games which require more time, writing, and book referencing than Sorcerer. Yet for the first time, this player complained that this was really hard and that it’s a lot of work! This totally blew my mind. I guess he felt that the was really forced to think more than he normally is, even though the Sorcerer character sheet is fairly threadbare. And I was really helpful with the character, discussing ideas and speculating with them and really guiding them through the process.

I haven’t really had a chance to unpack this yet, but I think my players have become creatively passive over the last couple of years, relying upon me as the GM to compel them through the plot, and having character driven plots is a challenge to them. I hope they’re up for the challenge…

Yeah, we actually got around to playing! Our first time as a group playing Sorcerer, Sorcerer & Sword, and Charnel Gods. A few changes were made to the characters, and we got underway. The street kid became "Pike" and the scout Bukkerot became a female scout named "Angil". The Darius player didn't make it, and the half-dead experimenter known previously as Herr Grimm is the monster recently called the Hell Gaunt, who once was the Doktor named Albrecht. Here's a bit of the Actual Play...

The story begins with the players in Praag, carrying out their attendant tasks.

Note: the stories do not take place concurrently, they are a day or two off at times.

The Hell Gaunt (formerly the Internal Alchemist and Scientist Albrecht)
Kicker: While the creature once known as Doktor Albrecht is lurking about the cemetery, seeking out corpses for continued experimentation, he is driven to hiding as some figures appear nearby, tossing a body into the cart. The figure gathering the bodies is peculiar, when much to his surprise he notes that the grave robber bears the very same experimental tell-tales his own experiments once bore – he realizes that someone else has continued conducting his experiments! As the last body is thrown in, he notes, beneath the bodies, a young woman, bound and gagged, looking horrified. Their eyes meet for a moment, she is desperately pleading for rescue!

The Monstroust Hell Gaunt/Doktor Albrecht glides through the graveyard, lurking from tombstone to tombstone as the cart with its grisly cargo and driver make exit from the crumbling graveyard. Hell Gaunt watches the cart clatter down the street, pausing at the threshold of cemetery for only a moment, before he springs to the nearest building, digging his pale white fingers, more like talons, into the stone, climbing swiftly to the top with inhuman speed and strength. Once upon the rooftops, he sprints along the tiled slopes, his clattered cloak and clothing trailing about behind. People below turn fitfully as their sleep turns to nightmares, and a small child, seeing his silhouette pass by the moon, rushes up to close the window.

He halts behind a chimney, watching as the living experiments, with tubes and brass rivets and bolts gathers two or three corpses up and heads into the building, leaving the bound woman behind in the back.

Seeing his opportunity, the Hell Gaunt leaps silently off the building, landing on the ground and sprinting low to the cart. He throws back the tarp, and the figure looks relieved for a moment, until she beholds the former docktor’s deathly visage. She backs away, and he reaches out a twisted pale hand and grabs her, throwing her over his shoulder and gets ready to leave…

…when suddenly a shadow appears in the lighted doorway, as the inhuman cart driver returns for the girl…

Pike
Kicker: Long trusted to carry out tasks of dubious legality or of urgent necessity, Pike has served many of the rich, powerful, and influential of the city, and has never failed when charged with such a task until now… While delivering a late-night parcel to an important alchemist, an accident happens and the package is dropped just outside the door of the alchemist’s lab and a strange powder is released, showering Pike in a fine white powder. Putting the parcel back together, the character enters the alchemist’s lab, whose eyes widen when he sees the dust on Pike’s body, and he moves to place the desk between them, his eyes widening, as he looks aghast and yells: “What have you done?!”

Pike is startled, and starts to back away, dropping the parcel on the ground. The alchemist quickly grabs a cloth and covers his mouth with it, and his face twists into a horrified grimace. Pike continues to back away, and the alchemist screams “Thief! Seize the thief!”

At this point, Pike is reaching back for the door, which opens and a servant is standing there in the doorway with a nightcap for his employer. Pike bumps into him and a small cloud of dust rises, and he begins coughing, but throws down the drink and tries to grab at Pike. With the reflexes of a street urchin, Pike dodges the clumsy grasp and throws the servant’s weight, he flies across the room, striking a table and falling senseless – perhaps even dead. Pike rushes out the back door, into the garden of the estate, sprinting down the stepstone path and seeking the back door in the ivy-covered wall. She fumbles with the door before throwing it open. The cries of “Thief!” seem distant, and she begins to lope down the alleyway, when ahead of her the Alchemist appears on a horse, and sighting her, renews his frantic cries! He brings the horse towards her, and windows start to open in the neighborhood and the hue and cry is raised.

Pike stops, grabs her Fell-Blade she wears on her back, and turns running straight into the shadows. As she hits the shadows, she commands her blade to teleport her and she disappears into the shadows. The Alchemist rides up, puzzled, looking about in the darkness for someone who has disappeared into thin air, dissolved into the night.

Angil
Kicker: She was sent forth from her village to seek an audience with the Prince of Praag on behalf of her people, who are sorely beset by a band of wandering nomads known as the Tilter Horde, believed to be operating under the power of a nearby lord who seems intent to do away with her people.

She has just returned from successfully arranging a private audience with the Prince of Praag, when a dark form appears over her, then landing upon her shoulder in the marketplace. It is familiar: the family’s pet raven, her father’s constant companion, bearing in its talons Angil’s father’s family heirloom – an amulet prized within the family, one he would never part with – and one covered in blood – presumably her fathers!

For Angil, there is no dilemma – her family needs her! What good is the word of the Prince of Praag if her family is slain! Setting aside the thoughts of meeting one of the most powerful men in the world tomorrow, she begins to make her way through the crowd to return to the inn she is staying at. She feeds the raven a handful of corn, but many at the marketplace have noted the raven landing on her should and saying “Blood! Blood!”, and begin to hiss at her, for the raven is a sign of ill-omen and death. As the nearby crowd becomes uneasy, Angil flees the market, towards her inn, trying to come up with a means of acquiring a horse.

As she arrives at the inn, a well-dressed nobleman walking by looks at her twice, before approaching her. He hails her as one of the border clans, and greets her, holding out a hand. As he does so, she pulls back from the handshake in surprise, for as they shake hands something upon his wrist pricks her. Looking at his wrist, she sees he is wearing a most unusual piece of decoration, a bracelet of dried thorn-brush weaved together, and beneath that the hint of a tattoo of thorns.

Suspicious, he apologizes, urging Angil to follow him, for the people of the border clans are not without friends in the city. Following carefully, she arrives at Radovic’s manor house, where he offers her wine and chats with her. He listens earnestly and seems genuinely moved by her plight. He suggest that a friend of his, Zitek Nemecek, a merchant, is leaving today for the border clans and would eagerly loan her a horse if she should serve as guide and guard for his cart. Furthermore, he’ll appear tomorrow on her behalf to seek an appointment at a later date and briefly introduce the issues to the Prince of Praag.

Radovic, her new friend, asks only one favor of her. “You see, there is a rare form of plant that grows in your area, and I would beg of nothing in return but a small piece of this thorn. It can be identified by its black and red flowers”. Pike agrees to the bargain, and leaves, joining up with the merchant Zitek for the journey from Praag to the border along the old forest, haunted by the forest folk.

The Hell Gaunt (Once Doktor Albrecht)
…when suddenly a shadow appears in the lighted doorway, as the inhuman cart driver returns for the girl…

Sickly green fluid pumps through the veins of Hell Gaunt, and brass valves open within his body and he springs into action – leaping away from towering figure in the doorway, the young woman thrown over his shoulder insignificant in light of his great strength…

…when with shocking speed the shadowy figure slams into the Hell Gaunt, clutching him in a vise-like grip while screaming in a hoarse voice back towards the house.j

Setting aside his surprise, the thing that once was Doktor Albrecht shakes the grapple of the monster and he reaches up and drawing upon power unknown to mere mortals, rips off the jaw of the experimental human-monster above him, and green fluids comes gushing out of the horrific wound.

Still clutching the girl, Hell Gaunt then spins out from beneath the alchemical fiend and lands on its back, driving his fingers deep into its eye sockets, and the creature feebly spins over, clutching at the dark pits where its eyes once were…

Leaving an opening, and striking a blow with all the power of the pneumatic hammers displayed in the court of the Prince of Praag, the Hell Gaunt drives his fist deep into the brass-laced rib cage of his enemy, tearing out its heart in a shower of green-hued viscera and clutching a heart no longer human, but with brass valves and strange devices embedded within. Yet he has little time to examine it, the light from the doorway has been snuffed out by the shapes crowding at it and still clutching the girl, Hell Gaunt runs off, laughing, and as he looks back, he sees a familiar figure in the doorway, the twisted and transformed face of his last apprentice, the one that strapped the good Doktor to his own device and subjected him to his own experiments.

Uneasy, the Hell Gaunt sprints, and leaps up onto the rooftops using some walls and barrels and disappears into the night with his squirming burden.

Pike
As commanded, Pike’s demon has brought them both to the house of one of Pike’s patrons, a woman of the noble class. She is in the richly decorated bedroom, but her patron is nowhere to be seen, but she does hear voices, raised in argument, outside the doorway – a man and a woman’s.

The voices near! Pike rushes to hide behind the door, just as it is flung open. The voices are raised, screaming. Pike hears a slap, and then a louder blow and she sees her patron land on the bed. A man rises above her, drops down on her sitting on her belly and with a voice mad with rage screams at her and clutches the pearl necklace the noble woman wears, and begins to strangle her with it before it breaks. He rises in disgust, and the woman rolls off the bed, onto the floor, clutching at her throat and weeping. The man rises, still yelling curses at her, and grabs a beautiful painting on the wall, tearing it off the wall and driving it down on a nearby sculpture, wreaking the painting and sculpture both before he turns to a concealed vault on the wall just now revealed, and as he reaches in…

Pike leaps forth from behind, leaping onto his back. He flies into the wall, seems stunned, and then quickly grabs at Pike, throwing her off his back.

He draws forth a knife from his belt and in response, Pike pulls out her bastard sword from behind her back, and the warm seems to warp with energy. The man flees the room, rushing downstairs with Pike in pursuit. As he reaches the ground floor he rushes to his belt and grabs at it, Pike rushes down and halts…

…when the man spins about with a pistol aimed at Pike on the stairway. Pikes ducks as the pistol is fired, smoke fills the stairway and a piece of the ornate handrail explodes in splinters. Pike begins to continue her rush downstairs when she stops…

…Shhiiinnk! The man has just drawn a rapier and assumed a fencing stance at the base of the stairway. Pike turns and runs, rushing towards the window. The man carefully climbs up the stairs, but Pike has disappeared into the gardens below, heading to another alchemist with whom she has worked before, Basilius, hoping that he might be able to tell her something of the powder.

Angil
A day has passed and she nears the land of her people. The merchant Zitek has proven pleasant company and they share a wineskin as they journey through a small bit of woods when the raven takes to the air and Angil quickly dashes off the road into the foliage, while the merchant on his cart looks on in surprise, a wineskin poised to be poured into his mouth.

Five hard, dangerous looking fellows have appeared carrying the intricately carved spears of the Border Clans. They yell for Angil to appear and for the merchant to get off his cart, for his cart and merchandise, as well as both horses are now theirs. Angil emerges, and recognizes one of her cousins, hailing him.

“Let us pass Wulfenar! You know who I am!” Angil demands!

Wulfenar replies with disgust: “You’d rather stand by a leech rather than your own kin! You disgust me Angil!” and he spits in her direction.

The merchant pleads with Angil to do something! To defend them!

Angil replies “Our people are under attack! I have come from my father’s instructions to seek the help of others, and yet we resort to robbery! What have become of my people, no Wulfenar, we will pass”.

The two stare at one another for a few moments, their wills locked in battle, when Wulfenar looks away from a mere girl half his age.

“This is our road. ‘tis the law that you must pay a toll to ensure that the road remains safe and open and accessible. Merchant, you must pay two gold to pass, but Angil, since you are of our own kin, this road is yours too, you may pass for free.” Wulfenar announces, looking down, and then upon concluding staring flinty-eyed at the sweating merchant. The merchant pays the two gold and proceeds on, while Angil stays behind to talk to her kin about the recent occurrences.

She catches up with the merchant, and at a nearby village they part ways. She rides towards her clan’s homestead, and as she nears a rise, she sees smoke coming from the direction of her home. She spurs her horse onwards towards her home, fearing what she may find...

The Hell Gaunt
Again, the Hell Gaunt flees across the rooftops of Praag, skimming the rooftops, his feet barely touching the tiles. In a matter of minutes, he has crossed parts of the city and arrived at the docks to a hideout, a ruined warehouse on a pier. Some of the structures have collapsed and the building hovers dangerously over the water – a lightning strike had destroyed and set fire to one corner of the building, the end he leaps to and lands upon. He drops into the darkness within.

Rats scurry about in the darkness. A low glow comes from one wall were all sorts of pipes and tubing fill giant vessels with experimental material drifting within. All manner of medical instruments hang on one wall, and he hurls her down into a different corner where all manner of corpses and dismembered limbs lay heaped. He turns his back, grabs an instrument and picks her up again…

…and holds up a gleaming scalpel which he holds to her throat…

…and in one quick flash he cuts…

…her gag off. She gasps. She’s young, about 19 years of age. She begs and pleads for her life, assures her that her father is wealthy, and then, looking about the chamber, says he is a powerful alchemist and could offer him many pieces of experimental equipment…

The Hell Gaunt turns… and asks “Just who is your father?”

The young woman replies “The Alchemist Master Archibald!”

Hell Gaunt hisses! This was his chief rival! A man that criticized his work and mocked him in the court, cost him many of his patrons! A plan crystallizes in his twisted mind.

He stuffs a gag back in her mouth, hangs the womans bound arms up on a meat hook, and then pulls on some chains, lifting her up above the floor. He lights some candles, and only then does she see the ring of rats, hundreds of them, that stare greedily up at her.

He pauses to write a note.

He clambers up the burnt and fallen beam that leads up to the hole in the roof and disappears into the night.

Its not long before he reaches the well-lit and impressive mansion of the Master Alchemist Archibold. Lurking about the estate, he hears, despite the late hour, some sort of late-night entertainment, someone is giving a speech of some sort. Hell Gaunt leers about, peeking in through the windows, his clawed hands leaving muddy smears.

Circling about, he hears the sound of vomiting in the garden. He hunches over, and steps quietly forward. A drunk servant is in the garden vomiting, throwing up his insides and the smell of cheap alcohol wafts upon the air. The voluminous shadow that is the Hell Gaunt swoops over him and an arm pierced with the sins of science reaches down, grabs his neck, and breaks it. He produces his note from his body and sticks it in the shirt of the dead servant. He scoops up the dead servant and throws it over his shoulder, and looks up towards the roof of the building and agilely climbs to the roof, drawn by the glow of warm lights emanating from a large sky-light window.

Standing there, looking down on the warm and cozy room below as a storm gathers above him, the Hell Gaunt bides his time…

…Below a young and handsome poet is performing some stirring poem and young women of distinction in the first row seem close to swooning, as they fan themselves and sigh at the beauty of the words. The poet moves from behind the podium, his voice rising as his poem reaches its conclusion, and Master Alchemist Archibald grunts in pleasure at the performance…

…the poet pauses…

…the room is filled with the sound of polite clapping and the sighs of love-struck women…

…the poet smiles…

…and the world explodes! CRASH! Glass showers down from above and a body plummets into the room, smashing to the ground before the shocked poet, his golden face turned to a mask of disgust and horror!

Screams erupt from the room and many an unblemished face is not ruined by glass and blood…

…when laughter explodes from above. The room goes quiet except for that horrible and mocking laughter and everyone looks up to witness a most degenerate sight, that of someone half-human, half-monster, laughing from above. Lightning flashes across the sky, and the figure is gone, but the laughter remains until it fades into nothing.

Then the note is found. It states that if Archibold desires to see his daughter alive again, he will bring a ransom of gold to the cemetery – alone, and will dig up the grave of one former rival of his, Albrecht, and place the gold within the casket. His daughter will then be returned to him.

As the nobility and gentry flee the house, rumors spread of a monster, a gaunt from hell who has come to wreak vengeance upon the people of this fair city.

Pike
Fleeing from the scene of a fight, Pike wanders the city, heading to one of her various bolt-holes throughout the city. It is not long before she arrives near one on the waterfront. Yet as she is getting ready to enter it, she notes the glimmering of light from the old ruined warehouse.

Intrigued by this, Pike heads over. There are no windows, but she carefully climbs over the side and through a hole in the roof, descending through the means of a fallen beam. She cares not for the sound of rats, and starts to explore this realm of the macabre. She peers into strange vials and jars and vessels, until the sound of clinking chains draws her attention, and she discovers a woman or girl hanging in the air. After piling up some corpses, she is able to get the woman down and pulls off her gag and cuts her bindings.

The woman gasps in horror: “We have to leave! It may be back, its one of those monsters, those creatures! Quick, please!”

Pike tries to reassure her, but the girls eyes widen and stare past her and she shakes and Pike turns about to see a large shadow looming over both of them…

Angil
Seeing the smoke rising from the place of her clan homestead, Angil drives her horse onwards and as she nears, she sees the smoking remains of her family home and some figures lying on the ground. Standing amidst them are three figures with three horses.

As she nears, she sees that they are not from the Tilter Horde, but from the church! Two Knight Vigilants and a Vigilator Inquisitor. The Inquisitor, in green and gold robes has stooped down to look at one of the bodies, while the two Knights look on, leaning upon their swords.

Angil thunders down towards them, her axe held aloft, the wind chilling about her and her breath turning to steam in the sudden chill.

She thunders up and the three figures turn in surprise, the Inquisitor rising to stand.

Angil screams out “What are you doing here in my village?!?!”

The Inquisitor, hearing her, calls out: “She must be one of these heretics! Arrest that girl!”

The two Knights, seemingly unburdened by their plate armor easily swing their blades up and advance upon her…

She charges forward, her axe held aloft but the two veterans split, one to each side of her and as she swings her axe…

…one of the knights catches it on his blade and the two weapons meet, muscles shaking and quivering as the weapons lock…

…when the other Knight swings his blade flat and strikes Angil a glancing blow who falls from her horse… only to grab at her axe and swinging from a prone position yet two more blows from the Knights subdue her and her axe flies from her grasp, landing near the Priest.

Having lost her home, her family, her axe, and now the battle for her honor, Angil lies there, as the two Knights, untouched, their faces hidden by their visors, their cold eyes staring, level their sword points at her throat. The Inquisitor, curious, reaches forward towards her axe…

Hell Gaunt (as the good Doktor Albrecht is now known in Praag)
Having left his rival’s party in disarray and horror, Hell Gaunt flees back across the rooftops as bats flutter alongside towards his warehouse. Leaping from one roof onto the destroyed corner of the warehouse, he hears conversation below, one voice frantic. Crawling down the beam on all fours, the Hell Gaunt approaches two figures talking, one of them his hostage, the other a small figure with its back turned.

Drawing upon the power of his unholy weapon, he commands it to swell his body with its foul energies. The hostage sees him, her eyes widen and the other figure spins around…

…and asks “…albrecht?”

Hell Gaunt pauses, doesn’t recognize the figure, but with inhuman strength grabs the intruder and hurls her with remarkable force into the pile of corpses. Before the hostage can react, he snatches her up, dashes up the beam and lands back on the rooftop. Again he flies across the rooftops towards his other hideaway – an abandoned steeple at the church in the graveyard. Ever since his return from the grave, his nocturnal activities have frightened the groundskeeper who now resides outside the cemetery.

Still in control of his hostage, the Hell Gaunt continues with his plans. Gagging the girl again, he hangs his struggling and pleading hostage upside down from the ropes that once held the bell, and he creeps down below into the cemetery, in search of a coffin…

…while in the graveyard, he hears the appearance of a small band carrying a coffin. He ducks behind a gravestone, and nearby a small band of people appear, moving about the cemetery furtively. Digging a grave, they begin to lower it when the Hell Gaunt notes that the occupant inside the grave isn’t so eager to return to the soil. It shakes as someone within struggles and beats against the sides and top, and the Hell Gaunt can hear screams coming from within. The occupants lower the coffin and throw dirt upon it. Their work finished, they grunt and turn, exiting the cemetery.

Hell Gaunt moves forward, and begins to dig up the coffin. After a few minutes it is unearthed and he tears the top off the coffin – inside is a young nobleman. Frantic. His cry of joy turns to horror as he sees the living corpse that was once Doktor Albrecht. The man’s first thoughts is that he is dead and in hell, but the good doctor has little time for this… shaking and threatening the man, Hell Gaunt learns that the man was a member of the Order of the Ivory Sun and that a number of talismans had been thrown into the coffin to see him to the afterworld. What piques Hell Gaunt’s interest is that what seemed to be harmless dabbling in the arts of alchemy have turned much darker – experimenting with a white dust, the Order of the Ivory Sun has been using this material to transform the living into mindless automatons, but their ultimate intention is to somehow extend one’s life through the use of the powder. Abhorring these experiments, the young man was going to report the order’s misdeeds to the civic authorities, but found himself in a coffin being buried instead. The Hell Gaunt demands the location of the order, and it turns out they have been using the large estate of a powerful lord who seems to have gone senile in his old age. The Hell Gaunt lets the man free, but only after informing him that the Hell Gaunt demands a deed in return for the rescue.

Pike
As the girl’s eyes widen in surprise, Pike spins about and sees a terrible figure towering over her… Pike looks at the figure and recognizes it as someone Pike used to deliver goods to…

“…albrecht?” Pike asks in a small voice, but there is no flash of recognition upon the transformed face. Instead the figure, with inhuman strength picks up and hurls Pike across the room, slamming Pike into a pile of corpses, and in the seconds it takes to recover, Pike is alone in a warehouse where the rats begin to creep closer…

Painfully, Pike rises and heads up the beam and exits the building, staggering about the night streets of Praag to another bolt-hole. Its not long before Pike decides to stop by an alchemists and find out about the white powder Pike is covered in. It is dark, so Pike retreats to the cold and wet cellar of a closed business to sleep.

Angil
With the swords of the Knights Vigilant pointed at her throat, Angil desperately reaches out to her weapon with her mind, linking with the blade – commanding it to transform into the Wolf of Winter and she will fulfill its need (to destroy something of importance). As the link is made, the weapons glows from within and the grass below ices over and the Inquisitor reaching for the curious weapon discovers that this is one of those heretical weapons that challenge the Faith. Stopping just short of touching it, the Inquisitor turns around to his Knights Vigilant and commands them: “Bind the heretic! She is the most dangerous of foes!” and turns back to the axe…

…to discover that the axe is missing…

…it its place, towering over the Inquisitor is a giant wolf nearly the size of a horse. Ice crusts its fur and icicles of drool have frozen about its giant gaping maw. It snarls out frozen air and the Inquisitor can only scream as the Wolf of Winter lunges forward, seizing his torso in its great teeth and flinging him about wildly – blood sprays about.

The two Knight Vigilants turn from Angil and look on in horror at the scene of violence. Despite their fear, their training kicks in and both start to back off towards their panicking horses with the stalwart swords held before them.

Angil commands Frost Fang to attack the Knights and in a leap and a bound Frostfang is upon one of them. Yet before Frostfang can strike, one of the Knights, crying out to his god leaps forward and attacks Frostfang, bringing his blade down upon Frostfang’s head and cutting a gash. Enraged, the Wolf attacks, its great teeth punching through and tearing open the armor as if were mere flesh and wildly tears apart at the screaming Knight’s entrails.

The other Knight is upon his horse and fleeing as the Wolf feasts. Looking at the fleeing Knight, Angil tells Frost Fang that his work is complete, but Frostfang nods in the negative – its was promised that its need would be fulfilled. Frostfang looks about…

…and lopes over to where the bodies are. Angil looks over and is horrified. There lie many of her folk, dead. Her father and twin sister are absent, but her beloved mother and younger sister lie there dead. Frostfang, desiring to destroy something valuable to the living, looks over the bodies, and begins to drag off the corpse of Angil’s mother and younger sister, and devours both of them while Angil looks on in horror.

Angil grapples within over the horror she has unleashed on the world, but recognizes that her mother and sister are dead and have passed on…

Turning to examine the corpses, she notes that those menfolk with the tattoos of thorns about their wrists and arms have been dragged aside by the knights and Inquisitor. Looking closer, she realizes that the body the Inquisitor was examining was her uncle’s – and he is still breathing! Apparently the Inquisitor was speaking with him when she rode up. Turning to him, she offers him water and questions him.

She learns that her village was not attacked by the three whom she assaulted – they arrived later, but were attacked by the Tilter Horde whom she had been sent to Praag to seek aid against. Angil’s father and twin-sister were taken away by the horde, towards the east, in the direction of the local lord’s keep. Her uncle dies, and Angil picks up Frost Fang who has resumed the shape of an axe and rides off to the east, her axe in hand and the grass coated in frost in her wake.

Hell Gaunt / Doktor Albrecht
Having slept through the day, Hell Gaunt awakens as the sun sets and begins his task for the evening.

Three hours before midnight he heads down to his grave and digs up his grave (for the second time!). The note said to dig up the grave, place the money in the coffin, and the girl will be returned to her father. Yet now we learn that Hell Gaunt may be less human than we even imagined…

He gathers up a coffin, places the girl in the coffin, and buries her alive! He knows that in three hours, her father, his rival, will come to dig up a coffin to place within a bag of gold and will discover the body of his own daughter – long expired from suffocation! Ignoring the young woman’s banging on the coffin, Hell Gaunt carries out this terrible deed, and leaves the cemetery, seeking out the abode of this senile old man who harbors the Order of the Ivory Sun.

Pike
Pike awakens, damp and cold, to the smell of fresh baked bread. Awakening, Pike heads over to the bakery across the street, buys a fresh roll and begins to enjoy it. Before long, a close friend of Pike’s, a young street orphan named Dobrin arrives, and they share a bite the bread in the street. After washing it down with some juice, Pike and Dobrin part ways and Pike heads over to Pike’s alchemist friend – curious about the powder that Pike had been covered in. However, the damp cold of the morning had done something to the powder, and it was no longer visible or seemingly present.

As Pike arrives, the alchemist is overjoyed to see Pike. Before Pike can inquire about the powder, the alchemist asks if Pike will pick something up and deliver it back to the alchemists. Pike acquiesces and heads out, pleased at the opportunity to make some money. Its not long before Pike arrives at the place: The Theurge. A man with a black reputation and considerable powers, Pike is a little daunted by entering this business of ill repute. Pike enters into a room with a high ceiling and a large U shaped counter. Behind on countless shelves reaching up the ceiling are all manner of ingredients in jars, boxes, and brass containers. Three overworked apprentices are carrying out tasks.

One of the apprentices looks askance at Pike’s appearance, but Pike convinces them to give over the delivery. It’s a paper-box parcel that they stress should be carefully handled. Pike carries it out the door with exaggerated precaution and once the door is closed, drops it in Pike’s sack.

Pike continues along the way, but then notes that the pack seems to be shifting… as if something were alive in the rucksack. Pike pauses, looks at the bag, and panics. Pike sprints to the shadows and then uses her sword’s ability to teleport through shadows – Pike pops into one shadow and arrives in the shadows of the square that the alchemist-friend lives at. Pike begins to trot to the door, rucksack in hand when Pike notices that a small hand is reaching out of the rucksack. Pike runs to the door, drops the rucksack on the ground, bangs loudly on the door and runs away!

Its not long before Pike returns back to the market where the bread was purchased earlier, but there’s some sort of activity going on, a crowd has gathered. Near the ancient clock and old woman rushes up to Pike, telling Pike that dear young Dobrin is in some sort of trouble! Both rush forward to discover as the crowds part that Dobrin is in the hands of an Inquisitor.

The Inquisitor has Dobrin tied up to a stake, has torn the child’s shirt off, and is lashing the child with a scourge! The hooded inquisitor is screaming questions at the child and Pike turns to a neighboring person in the crowd. Pike asks: “What has Dobrin done to deserve this?”

The neighbor replies: “Dobrin? Apparently this Dobrin is consorting with heretics! Why just this morning Dobrin was seen feasting with a heretic, a young man or woman… the stories are unclear, who not only has the affront to wear a sword which only those of the church may wear, but apparently assaulted one of the faithful last night!” The woman begins to turn away but then notes, in surprise, the sword that this street kid is wearing! Pike notes the woman’s glance and gets ready to act but the woman opens her mouth and screams: “Here! Here is the heretic! Right here amongst us!!!”

The crowd gasps and parts, and the Inquisitor spins around, sees Pike and the pommel of the sword, points with one hand and commands “Seize the heretic!” The other hand still holds the scourge, and Dobrin’s blood drips down onto the cobblestones of the square.

Angil
Enraged Angil rides across the countryside but pulls up when she notes some of her kinfolk in pursuit. Riding up, she hails them. Bearing spears, they wave their spears and encourage her to join their pursuit. They’re hunting a wolf bitch and cubs from the forest! They launch down into the gully and Angil rides ahead to the end of the gully, and begins riding up it…

…only to encounter a woman of the forest folk with her three children! This is the “wolf bitch and cubs”! The woman is holding a shaking blade of bronze at Angil. Angil reassures them, urges them onwards, but before leaving, the woman presses into Angil’s hand a pendant, one of an ebony half-moon.

Angil rides up and encounters the three Clans folk. They seem startled at her appearance and the disappearance of the children, but Angil suggests they must have hidden and backtracked, and three men turn about and begin retracing the trail. After a few minutes, Angil bids them goodbye and continues upon her way.

Angil feels positive about her act of compassion, but her axe grumbles discontentedly on her back, unnoticed by Angil.

There doesn't seem to be much here in the way of unifying action. That is, are you using a Relationship Map or anything as the center of activity? Pike, for instance, seems to only have met one of the other PCs by accident (which has lead to a fight between them).

I'm not suggesting that you should be playing party play or anything. But what you have here seems to be several unconnected stories. Is there something going on that will provide the means for the PCs to plausibly interact more in the future?

Also, some of what I think are your bangs don't seem very "bangy." That is, following Pike again, where were the players moments of decision? In the first part, could she have stuck around to ask questions? Was fleeing her idea? In the second part, why did she flee from the guy with the rapier? Seems like potentially a very narrativist decision given the fact that it seems likely that she could have wiped the floor with the character in question. It's just seems rather implausible. She wants to chase him, until he has a rapier in his hand? And that changes her mind? Hmm.

Then finding he hanging woman - what choices there? Also was it Albrecht's player who ended up deciding to attack? Did that seem like the player considered the decision? It certainly didn't leave Pike's player with many decisions.

I'm probably missing the decision points because of your narrative presentation. Could you cut through the recap, and just tell us where the players made interesting decisions?

Mike

Mike Holmes wrote: There doesn't seem to be much here in the way of unifying action. That is, are you using a Relationship Map or anything as the center of activity? Pike, for instance, seems to only have met one of the other PCs by accident (which has lead to a fight between them).

Mike Holmes wrote:
I'm not suggesting that you should be playing party play or anything. But what you have here seems to be several unconnected stories. Is there something going on that will provide the means for the PCs to plausibly interact more in the future?

Mike Holmes wrote:
Also, some of what I think are your bangs don't seem very "bangy."

Mike Holmes wrote:
That is, following Pike again, where were the players moments of decision? In the first part, could she have stuck around to ask questions? Was fleeing her idea?

Mike Holmes wrote:
In the second part, why did she flee from the guy with the rapier? Seems like potentially a very narrativist decision given the fact that it seems likely that she could have wiped the floor with the character in question.

Mike Holmes wrote:
It's just seems rather implausible. She wants to chase him, until he has a rapier in his hand? And that changes her mind? Hmm.

Mike Holmes wrote:
Then finding he hanging woman - what choices there?

Mike Holmes wrote:
Also was it Albrecht's player who ended up deciding to attack?

Mike Holmes wrote:
Did that seem like the player considered the decision? It certainly didn't leave Pike's player with many decisions.

Mike Holmes wrote:
I'm probably missing the decision points because of your narrative presentation. Could you cut through the recap, and just tell us where the players made interesting decisions?

The last session post! Phew!

Hell Gaunt
Leaving the site of his grave and his latest atrocity, the Hell Gaunt/Doktor Albrecht leaves the graveyard and his ghastly gift to his former rival. Mulling over the words of the man he’d rescued the night before, he decides to venture forth towards this manse.

Climbing down into the sewers, the Hell Gaunt lands amidst a swarm of rats, who all bow down before him and begin to follow him quietly. Passing a body floating in the sewer, he rises from the sewer as he nears the mansion.

Seeing the mansion of the patron of the Order of the Ivory Sun, he climbs up its wall, perching atop and looking for any guards. A few rats scurry over the wall, and after a moment, a large mastiff appears, but sighting the rats it begins to chase the rats all about the yard.

Hell Gaunt leaps down and glides through the yard, looking up to see the silhouette of an elderly gentleman smoking a pipe in the window. Moving in the shadows, he ventures into the back where a number of low brick buildings have been constructed. Nearly hermetically sealed, with no windows and thick doors, Hell Gaunt toys with the doors, but leaves them, and having satiated his curiosity for the nonce, he slips away, over the walls, and creeps about the streets of the city.

By some quirk of fate or chance, he finds himself before Praag’s famed astrological clock, and looks up at its face, noting that as it tolls, the time has struck midnight! Elsewhere in the city, a father is digging up the grave of his daughter! The bell tolls mournfully and the storm above suddenly breaks and lightning comes streaking down, one bolt striking the clock and arcs of light and energy play across its surface and its orreys suddenly shift into an ill-omened position before the Hell Gaunt’s eyes. Lighting pours down like rain! A bolt strikes a carriage, frying the occupants and lighting it while other bolts pelt rooftops, blowing off tiles and starting fires! As the winds increase, the heavens roar in shame, and people cower in their beds as the skies rage. Madmen have heralded the coming of the end, and most people scoff… but tonight, for a few hours at least, some fear within Praag fear they speak the truth!

Pike
…a drop of blood strikes the pavement, and the crowd surges forth towards Pike, attempting to seize the heretic! Enraged, Pike draws forth the Fell-Weapon bastard sword and swings wildly. With ease the swing cuts through bone and gristle and muscle and the head of one of the crowd flies off as the trunk sprays blood over the crowd – many are shocked and horrified, but the momentum of others brings Pike down.

Pike struggles to attack again but the mob is pressing in close, and the Inquisitor and his dripping scourge come ever closer…

Hands grab at Pike’s fingers, in an effort to disarm, and Pike desperately cries out to the blade, commanding it to summon forth the birds about the square. In seconds, hundred of frenzied birds, heeding the call of the blade, turn from passively pecking at the ground or roosting on walls and roofs, to swooping down at the crowd and pecking at eyes and ears and pates. The crowd panics and a great buzzard swoops down upon the Inquisitor. As people turn and panic as more and more birds descend, Pike slips free and begins crawling under the legs, watching the interplay of shadows between the people and birds. Crawling into a shadow, Pike disappears just as the Inquisitor slips down to follow Pike. Pike’s weapon teleports her from the scene of chaos…

[If you’re wondering, the player changed their ability from “cloak” to “command” – forgot to change that in the original write up!]

Angil
Angil continues riding across the slope, nearing the castle that the Tilter Horde have harbored, when she notes the craggy outcropping, home to a reputed hermit and seer. Turning her horse to seek out the hermit, she is startled when a figure leaps out of the tall-grass about her, brandishing a rusty, blood-crusted dagger…

…kicking the figure away, Angil readies her axe. Then her face convulses in disgust, this figure, in rough worn clothing is revolting! There are bloody stumps where the ears once were. Pus drips from the holes, and maggots swarm in the rotting meat…

The figure speaks! “It was the voices, the whispering voices! They offered wisdom and power, but they were naught but lies! What else could I do? I couldn’t stop the voices, my only option… was to cut them off!” He brandishes the knife, and then points it at where the ears once were.

“But that alone hasn’t been sufficient I’m afraid. The voices remain on the wind. Others can hear it, I can see that you have heard them as well! Come hither, I’ll cure you and I have cured myself!” He again brandishes the nocked and rusty blade. Angil pulls back from him, urging her horse to take a step aside.

The hermit’s eyes rise, finally noticing the axe held aloft, a gleam comes to his eyes! “Aye, there is such a whisperer! It offered all to me, but I rejected it… It was within my clutches where the dead lie, and I spurned it! Spurn it too! It will be your end! It may be the end of us all!” He utters, pointing at the axe with his knife.

Angil turns and bolts, kicking at the sides of her horse, and as she leaves the mad hermit behind, she sees a towering castle up ahead, the prison of her father and twin sister.

-=END OF SESSION=- -=End of Typing!!!=-

As Mike requested...

The Session Summarized by Bangs

The Hell Gaunt (formerly the Internal Alchemist and Scientist Albrecht)
The Monstrous Hell Gaunt/Doktor Albrecht glides through the graveyard, lurking from tombstone to tombstone as the cart with its grisly cargo and driver make exit from the crumbling graveyard.

Kicker Inspired: Confronted by the knowledge of someone conducting his own experiments, he sets off in pursuit. In a seemingly display of still being in touch with his humanity, Albrecht leaps down and attempts to rescue the woman. A few low dice rolls in the ensuing combat are turned around through gory description and action and the player flees into the night with the fair maiden, but not before the player decides that one of his pursuers is/was his last apprentice responsible for his transformation.

Pike
Pike is startled, and starts to back away, dropping the parcel on the ground.

Kicker Inspired: After the accident, the character flees, and in the first (of many uses) the character flees the pursuit. This seems in hindsight a weak Kicker, something aggravated by my mishandling of it, giving the player very little option once he screamed “thief!”. But we both figured that spilling the powder was BIG TROUBLE, so I’m not sure how to have better handled it…

Angil
For Angil, there is no dilemma – her family needs her!

Kicker Inspired + Bang: Choosing to go home rather than stay another day for the audience, the PC makes a bargain with a stranger. Again, a sort of weak Kicker, but we tried to make it stronger by having the audience already arranged – do you rush home right away, and still too late or follow instructions and make a more convincing presentation with your father’s bloody talisman. But it seems that the player had already decided…

Pike
As commanded, Pike’s demon has brought them both to the house of one of Pike’s patrons, a woman of the noble class.

Spur of the Moment Bang! Appearing uninvited at her patron’s, the player hides while the patron and another argue, eventually turning to violence. Pike finally intervenes, only to be taken aback by the strength of the opposition and a series of losing rolls! Drawing upon her weapon, she follows the man until he arms himself with pistols and rapiers, and appearing cowardly yet again, Pike flees into the night.

Angil
A day has passed and she nears the land of her people.

Bang! When the merchant she is guarding is robbed by her own people, she is faced with a decision – but instead of resorting to violence in the face of insults, Angil manages to use diplomacy to sort the situation out, aided by a will test against the bandit leader.


The Hell Gaunt
Again, the Hell Gaunt flees across the rooftops of Praag, skimming the rooftops, his feet barely touching the tiles.

Bang + Player Motivated Scene: When Albrecht learns that the woman he just rescued is the daughter of his rival (Bang!), Albrecht decides rather than free her to engage in further crimes. Writing a ransom note, he engages in murder as a means of delivering the note, lingering long enough to taunt the audience below. This would have been a good time for a Humanity check, but I spaced… it caught up with the player later anyways…

Pike
Fleeing from the scene of a fight, Pike wanders the city, heading to one of her various bolt-holes throughout the city.

Player Motivated Scene: The Player grabs the reins and narrates that she is near Albrecht’s warehouse, and finds his captive, only to be present when he arrives. This was an effort by the player to bring the two stories together, but the effort was repulsed by the other player!!!

Angil
Seeing the smoke rising from the place of her clan homestead, Angil drives her horse onwards and as she nears, she sees the smoking remains of her family home and some figures lying on the ground.

Bang: Arriving home, she finds three soldiers of the church present in the ruins and battles them. A series of humiliating and punishing dice rolls ensue where the superior powers of the player are overcome… making a bargain with the weapon (finally!), the PC manages to overcome, but at the cost of watching loved ones devoured by the demon. Player makes a Humanity test but passes.

Hell Gaunt (as the good Doktor Albrecht is now known in Praag)
Having left his rival’s party in disarray and horror, Hell Gaunt flees back across the rooftops as bats flutter alongside towards his warehouse.

Multi-Player Encounter (Player Inspired): Returning home, Albrecht finds someone interacting with his hostage. While an effort is made to parley, the player brushes it aside, boosts Stamina (12 dice!), beats the other player to the punch and hurls the other player across the warehouse and absconds with the hostage.

Bang! After dropping off the hostage, the player sees someone being buried alive and saves them, only after menacing them and threatening to put them back in the ground. He then demands repayment at a future date – I decline to give the player a Humanity raise check.

Pike
As the girl’s eyes widen in surprise, Pike spins about and sees a terrible figure towering over her…

Multi-Player Encounter (Player Inspired): After encountering Albrecht and before barely being able to act, the player is subject to a dramatic display of violence, and hobbles away quickly.

Hell Gaunt-Once-Doktor-Albrecht
Having slept through the day, Hell Gaunt awakens as the sun sets and begins his task for the evening.

Player Motivated Scene: Having arranged a ransom, the player decides that money isn’t important, and buries the girl in the grave, and then sets off to sort out some more details about this Order of the Ivory Sun.

Pike
Pike awakens, damp and cold, to the smell of fresh baked bread.

Bang: Player delivers a package which seems to be alive. The player freaked out, wanted nothing to do with the package, draws upon the sword to teleport and then dumps the package off. I’m still trying to find a way to reuse this, but I consider this a bang that didn’t fully develop – still mulling over this one.

Bang: Upon returning, she finds that her association with a boy has resulted in him being tortured and tormented publicly. While she gathers information, she draws attention to herself and comes to the attention of the Inquisitor and the mob.

Angil
Enraged Angil rides across the countryside but pulls up when she notes some of her kinfolk in pursuit.

Bang! She finds that her kinsfolk are hunting down a woman and her children. Rather than participating, she distracts her own people and allows the barbarians to flee. Player made a humanity roll and gained a point! Woo hoo!

Hell Gaunt
By some quirk of fate or chance, he finds himself before Praag’s famed astrological clock, and looks up at its face, noting that as it tolls, the time has struck midnight!

Not really a Bang, more of a Horror Revealed Scene! The PC was wandering about, so I had them end up in front of the astrological clock at midnight, just as his rival is digging up the grave. Since everyone knew what was happening, I deemed this the time to carry out the Humanity test for the act of burying another person alive! Player fails, loses a point of humanity, and I’m going to try and carry out the consequences of this in later bangs, as noted in Charnel Gods. This character looks to be on the fast track to becoming a Charnel God himself…

Pike
…a drop of blood strikes the pavement, and the crowd surges forth towards Pike, attempting to seize the heretic!

Continuation of above Bang!: When confronted by the mob, PC goes berserk, pulls out the blade, urges the weapon to do lethal damage, and tries to cut their way out of the crowd. One great roll followed by a series of bad rolls resulted in the character in near-dire circumstances. Again, the character, for the fourth time, evokes the power of the weapon and draws upon the birds to effect an escape, and then for the fifth time, shadow jumps out. Pike has made the most use of the weapon, and now that she’s come to rely upon it, I think it really is time to start focusing on the weapon and her relationship with it… its going to get very demanding, very quickly.

Angil
Angil continues riding across the slope, nearing the castle that the Tilter Horde have harbored, when she notes the craggy outcropping, home to a reputed hermit and seer.

Bang! Angil encounters a hermit who has heard the same whisperings as her, and has cut his ears off in an effort to silence them and claims to know Angil’s weapon. Rather than stay and chat though, Angil turns and leaves the beggar screaming.

Cool, now that I can get into. :-)

With your background info, it seems a lot cooler.

Mike

Well, I thought the mini-campaign would last for more than two rounds before someone’s humanity bottomed out and the endgame began… but alas… after over a month of preparation, the world is going to end after two sessions! Two!

Angil: Player-inspired Scene – Angil arrives at the home of one of her young friends near the castle where her twin sister and father are held hostage. After a bit of convincing, her and her friend sneak out at night from the house for a midnight assault upon the castle. Prying their way up the sewage chute into a garderobe, the two end up in a running battle and cat and mouse chase through the halls of the castle, freeing her family and friends and causing a few casualties.

Pike: Bang (Pike used a lot of the sword’s powers last session – more than anybody else so I decided to draw upon his/her (?) relationship with the weapon) Pike had fled a mob scene started by a religious zealot, teleporting to an abandoned school house. The character is paranoid to leave and fearful, but her weapon is needing and acting petulant. Pike notices that a number of birds seem to have gathered around the schoolhouse, and over an hour or so, the schoolhouse and its grounds are packed thick with them and its drawing the attention of the neighboring community. Pike realizes that the sword is still summoning birds to Pike’s presence and the blade itself refuses to unsheathe. Pike then decides to meet its need – to destroy the creative means.

So scurrying about from rooftop to rooftop, Pike decides to “visit” a young man that had ripped Pike off during some sort of sexual exchange – those of us at the table are waiting to find out what Pike’s ambiguous sex really is! So Pike arrives at his place and sneaks into his room. Emboldened by Pike’s arrival, the young male prostitute asserts that “See! You came back! Best damn thing you ever had – I was worth every cent I took from you and more...” At this point the male prostitute pushes Pike down towards the bed and begins tugging at his trousers and Pike’s. Pike then draws the blade…

…well… there’s no need to go into what happens next, other than to say that blood was spilt, Pike met his or her weapon’s need and incurred a Humanity Loss roll which Pike successfully coped with. Leaving the man screaming and bleeding to death, Pike once again runs across the rooftops of Praag to a new hiding place.

Hell Gaunt (The Fiendish Doktor Albrecht) Bang: While gathering materials at the asylum outside of the city, he hears a name calling him, and it is Voloshinov, one of his early assistants that he fired. Turned out that after electro shock therapy, Voloshinov died but is still alive, none at the asylum have noticed it. A side-effect of the experiments inflicted upon him are that he sometimes channels the voices of the dead – including his own former Assistant and Walking Corpse and his colleagues. Figuring this might be useful, he keeps Voloshinov around for a short time.

Angil: Player-Inspired Scene – Fleeing the castle with the refugees, Angil and her family arrive at an old crone’s house, where the old crone notes that Angil has fulfilled a number of prophesies, bearing the weapon of winter and the talisman of the Fellowship of Thorns (her father’s talisman delivered by the Raven) and that she is to be the first woman initiated into the Fellowship of Thorns.

Pike: Player-Inspired Scene – Pike likewise is seeing out wisdom, and heads to the old woman who warned her earlier of her friend’s persecution. Arriving at the old woman’s tent at the Square of Princes just near the Clock, she receives a bizarre tarot card reading with the last two cards being The Tower (struck by lightning and falling – the figure in the picture is her) and The Fool walking off a cliff with a sword on his back – again with her features. The woman staggers out of the tent, leaving the cards behind and weeping. Pike asks if she wants her cards back, but the old woman says – “No, they’re the only cards I’ve used for fifty years, and I will never touch them again…”

Hell Gaunt (The Inhuman Creature Once Known as Doktor Albrecht) Player-Inspired Scene: Apparently still driven by an intense hatred toward his rival, Hell Gaunt has conceived of yet another twist in the torments inflicted upon the family. He returns to the house of his rival, Archibald, whose daughter he rescued and then buried alive in some sick prank. The body has been exhumed and is being prepared for the funeral in a room in the house, a house aswarm with activity as nobility and priests come to pay their respects to the grieving family. Three old women are attending the body as it lays in state.

Hell Gaunt bursts through the bay window of the room the body is lying, ripping at the curtains and their bar and hurling it towards the door! One of the old women has a heart attack. Hell Gaunt scoops up some candles and hurls them on the drapes and the doorway is ablaze! He then grabs up the body and disappears into the night, returning back to his base where he attempts to reanimate her. His efforts fail, something is wrong with the heart, and he surmises that he needs the heart of a young woman, roughly her age… a fresh heart…

While leaving the warehouse, his new minion Voloshinov starts talking in an inhuman voice, saying "He's in the warehouse" and moments later some Zombie Automatons like he created burst in, searching for their hated "father". A big battle breaks out with the two Steam-Zombies getting trashed left and right and Hell Gaunt fleeing with all his necessary equipment to a new laboratory location.

Angil: Bang – She is the first woman initiated into the Fellowship of Thorns, and as she is lead to the Briar where the ritual is to be conducted, her father reveals that their Clan once fought beside the First Thearch and guarded the Thorn Gate at his command – but since then their folk traditions of her Clan have been viewed as blasphemous and hostility between the Vigil (the religion) and their own traditional practices have increased dramatically.

Crawling into the heart of a giant briar dome, led by men with thorns tattooed up their arms, each pricks themselves on a thorn at intervals, and their blood remains there, hanging, and the blood of every person ever shed still lingers precariously on the thorns, even after centuries. Angil follows them, arriving at an ornate gate of woven thorns. As she pricks her forefinger, this time the blood drops and is suddenly sucked into a void that has appeared in the intricate archway. The black and red leaves blossoming here within the plant shudder at the charnel winds blowing through. The men of the Fellowship are awed that the gate has opened again, and Angil steps through…

..and enters the Carrion Fields, and decides that she is going to seek out a second weapon. It is not long before she finds a large two handed sword in the arms of a mummified woman, a wicked barbed sword with vine and thorn designs running up the blade, one that drips blood…

Pike: Player-Inspired Scene – Fleeing the inauspicious augury, Pike hurries across the square (it is now midnight – at the same time of last session when Hell Gaunt / Albrecht lost his first point of humanity. The storm gathers, lightning strikes, and the Clock Keeper comes out, to stare in horror at the omens the clock gives. Him and Pike begin talking and he gives Pike spiel about the history of the clock and his role in it, and with a slip of the tongue Pike discovers that he is at least 250 years old… Pike leaves and outside meets a shadowy figure who convinces Pike to enter a rich coach.

The coach takes Pike high up the Hill that Praag Castle is on and she soon meets a Merchant Prince, a woman, one Mira Radozic, one of the anti-Vigil pro-commerce and progress factions of the ruling council. She reveals that other Bearers of Fell Weapons have appeared in the city, many have been hired or used by others, and that Mira will see that Pike’s needs are met as long as Pike can provide the power of the sword to Mira’s faction. Pike agrees, now entering the dark and seedy underside of Praag’s politics.

Hell Gaunt / Albrecht, Internal Alchemist: Player-Inspired Scene, needing a heart of a young woman, Hell Gaunt ventures forth towards the redlight district when he notices a woman walking alone down the street quickly. When he discovers she is wearing rouge, he assumes she is a prostitute and summons forth his rats. They scurry down the building and pursue her into the alley – and jumping down from the roof, Hell Gautn snaps her neck and runs off with her body. It is only then that he realizes that she is richly dressed and looks familiar, turns out she is one of the Prince of Praag’s mistresses. He is seen fleeing when a young nobleman hears her screams about the rats, sees the Hell Gaunt sneak off with her body, and discovers her necklace that fell off when her neck was getting snapped.

The cold blooded murder of yet another young woman earned Hell Gaunt another potential Humanity Loss roll – and he loses his second consecutive roll. Again, lightning strikes as he’s racing across the roof-top and word spreads throughout the city of his other heinous act.

Returning to his laboratory, he spends the next couple of hours completing the reanimation ritual, and brings the daughter of his rival Archibald back to life. She awakens, and he commands her…

…to return to her home to give her family and his rival his apologies for her premature death. As she returns, he follows her to her house to watch the resulting turmoil. I figure that the false rescue, mock ransom, burial of a daughter, theft of her body, and resulting reanimation to taunt and mock an academic and political rival is deserving of yet another humanity loss roll. Third failed roll. Character bottoms out at zero humanity. The End Game has been triggered.

None of the players knew what happened at zero humanity, about the endgame, or the cycle of apocalypse cosmology.

I then inform them that at that moment, the whole world seems to quiver and they sense the presence of the Charnel God and their weapons now reveal to them the cosmic horror of their very existence, that the weapons were created to ensure that their world would be destroyed, collapsing reality and piling their bodies into the Charnel Fields to block the void from with the Nameless seek to burst forth and destroy all of reality.

I figure we’ve got a session or two left to wrap up this game. It was very successful, keeping the players in the dark and the big secret revealed seemed particularly dramatic to them. I highly recommend keeping them in the dark for at least the first game. I’ve also asked them to not mention this to other players who may join in to later games.

However, I’m a little bummed that two games in the campaign has already swung into Ragnarok phase. The Charnel God, Hell Gaunt / Albrecht never made a single successful Humanity Roll but failed them all. Did I make the rolls too frequently? It seemed to me that each of them was called for? Should I have given the player more opportunities to make Humanity Gain rolls? Finally, how much worse can this be if players know what happens when humanity bottoms out? There’s the potential for a race to zero humanity, and it seems to me, in hindsight, that in Charnel Gods its extremely important to tie the players into society or make their bonds to humanity important so that they’re not prone to charging headlong down the road to damnation.

Any feedback or ideas of how this could have been handled better? Or did it work out fine? After all, the destruction of the world is inevitable…

...but after two sessions?!?!?!

I have to say, reading your world building posts early on, my thought was "such a lovely thing, and it's all going to get blowed up!" Two sessions is perhaps agressive, but my experience with Charnel Gods is that when the humanity goes, it goes fast.

While the idea of the dramatic reveal is cool, I actually wonder if letting the players in on the secret might have allowed things to drag out a little more. Even those players that revel in hellfire and damnation, as the Hell Gaunt has done, often want a little more time to strut their stuff upon the stage, and so may temper their evil deeds with humanity gaining actions in order to stave off the inevitable, which of course just makes the saga that much richer.

On the other hand, that player seems to be an excellent choice for the harbinger, and I'm sure they are going to have a ball heralding the end of the world. I have this vision of the dead gods of the carrion fields "revived" by the hellish science of the mad Dr. Albrecht.

rafial wrote: I have to say, reading your world building posts early on, my thought was "such a lovely thing, and it's all going to get blowed up!" Two sessions is perhaps agressive, but my experience with Charnel Gods is that when the humanity goes, it goes fast.

While the idea of the dramatic reveal is cool, I actually wonder if letting the players in on the secret might have allowed things to drag out a little more. Even those players that revel in hellfire and damnation, as the Hell Gaunt has done, often want a little more time to strut their stuff upon the stage, and so may temper their evil deeds with humanity gaining actions in order to stave off the inevitable, which of course just makes the saga that much richer.

On the other hand, that player seems to be an excellent choice for the harbinger, and I'm sure they are going to have a ball heralding the end of the world. I have this vision of the dead gods of the carrion fields "revived" by the hellish science of the mad Dr. Albrecht.

Wait - am I understanding correctly that you were running the game without the players knowing that Humanity = 0 spelled the end of the world?

Best,
Ron

Ron Edwards wrote: Wait - am I understanding correctly that you were running the game without the players knowing that Humanity = 0 spelled the end of the world?

Best,
Ron

Critical. Keep other stuff secret, but humanity makes the whole system work right. If the players don't know that they're taking a step towards the end of the world with each bad act, then it's not the same game at all.

Mike

Mike Holmes wrote: Critical. Keep other stuff secret, but humanity makes the whole system work right. If the players don't know that they're taking a step towards the end of the world with each bad act, then it's not the same game at all.

Mike

Old_Scratch wrote:
Why are the nitty-gritty details of Humanity Zero necessary for a Sorcerer game. I mean, often in fiction and films, much of the dread and anticipation is a murky sense of damnation without the particulars completely outlined.

What Raf said.

When the player decides to do something that might lower his humanity, he does it in the context of what's being traded. "What would you do for power?"

Would you risk your own life?

and

Would you risk everybody's lives?

are two very different questions. The game is about the players (not the characters) answering that question.

In any case, there's loads of things that you can keep secret that don't impact the mechanics thusly. So you really don't have to give anything up.

Mike

Hey there...sorry to have been so absent the last week or so.

Mike and Raf covered the first point well, so I'll leave it at that.

As for whether Charnel Gods is a different game than Sorcerer...I don't think so. Ron has often gone on about how zero Humanity can mean all sorts of different things, both to the characters and to the players. Charnel Gods takes advantage of that, but I don't think it breaks Sorcerer or makes it something different. Yeah, I cold see a "race towards the finish" scenario arising, but hopefully Charnel Gods is robust enough that story would emerge anyway. My experience with the game suggests that's true.

I just want to say, your game sounds great. Two sessions? Oh well, that's the beauty and the pain of Charnel Gods. And like you said...the game's not over, it's just changed from now until everyone gets their Kickers resolved.

Best,
Scott

Well, thanks for some very thoughtful replies, I have a lot to mull over.

And I realize that we're talking about the preferred method of play, and I've been thinking about it alot, but if I were going to do it over again, I'd do it just the same as I did this time.

I've been friends with each of these people for over ten years, and I made a decision based upon my knowledge of the group, and I think, based upon the discussion with them, that they were much happier not knowing and the in-game revelation of their consequences was much more interesting for them as players. It was a one-time thing, the cat is out of the bag, the genie is out of the bottle, and I know that I wanted them to have a little bit of a surprise, as much as this is about their story, I think they definitely enjoy a little twist, inevitably cosmological. Just happens to be their preference.

In future play, they'll know, and yes Raf, we do plan on playing the game over again, in a different epoch, and it should be interesting to see how the game differs from the knowledge than in the earlier (current) game where they did not have the knowledge.

Since Charnel Gods is a game with high replay value in my opinion, I can't help but feel that due to the role of the Charnel God, that it might actually be better for players to play the game first without knowing that, to concentrate on telling their character's story rather than getting wrapped up at how close somebody is to triggering the end game. In this case, the meta-endgame mechanic would have actually distracted by my incipient narrative play than aiding in it, I feel. In essence, not keeping an eye on the clock but having fun with the characters and playing about in the system and the world, and drifting the game to more narrative play. Knowing they would have had the power I think would have been seriously distracting. Now that we've established the style of the game and are familiar with it, it seems they're more relaxed about this approach to gaming.

Has anyone else ever done this? What were there consequences? Is this a case of conventional wisdom needing to be challenged? Or an eccentricity of my group? Or did I wrong my players or compromise play by not discussing this initially?

Old_Scratch wrote: Has anyone else ever done this? What were there consequences? Is this a case of conventional wisdom needing to be challenged? Or an eccentricity of my group? Or did I wrong my players or compromise play by not discussing this initially?

I guess as an experiment, it makes sense to have played the way you did. Just as long as you realize that you were altering how Sorcerer plays by doing so, and that future games will be different.

I most wholeheartedly disagree that letting them know the full humanity definition would have hampered any narrativism (note, all play is "narrative", narrativism is something else - I hope I'm reading you correctly). The game is designed to support narrativism, and one of the things that does this is by encourging sharing of information OOC. Again, that doesn't mean that you can't have any secrets, just that there's nothing ever about sharing information OOC that damages narrativism. Narrativism is not soley sxploring characters without considering the ramifications of setting (it could be, but is not neccessarily).

What you're describing sounds more like "Immersionism" than narrativism.

Mike

Nothing, ever? That's an awfully broad and sweeping statement.

Personally, I think that sharing OOC information is one of the specific mechanisms that Sorcerer uses to achieve a system that supports Narrativism. But I don't see that it's always an appropriate component for any system that is meant to encourage narrativism, any more than levels and armor classes are appropriate for any system that is meant to encourage gamism.

If you'd like, I could start off another thread on "OOC communication and narrativism", and we could discuss whether it's an unalloyed good for the CA or just a tool that will fit in some toolboxes and not in others. I think that would be an engrossing topic.

EDIT: Grammar corrections and slight clarification.

My, that auto-erotic asphyxiation metaphor above (witholding oxygen for the bigger bang/witholding game info for the bigger bang) seemed really clever when I wrote it at 2 in the morning. Now, the next day, it just sounds a little creepy.

And it's too late to edit the post. *sigh*. Sorry if I disturbed anyone. :D

-Andy

Tony, I'm not saying that it's always neccessary to share information, I just can't think of a situation where it makes a player less able to make a decision for his character. So, I'm not saying do it all the time, I'm saying never assume that you're going to damage the player's ability to decide (or rather to decide in context, which is what counts) by giving him more information. The only considerations would be ones of drama and such.

Mike