Bible Black: Epistles (Noncon System)

[The Great Triangle]

You never know where you're going to find it.  The bible black is everwhere.  Nestled in the back of an occult bookstore, lying between dewey decimal points in the library, even sitting in the back seat of your car.  It's a plague hopping from wherever the hell it comes from to our dimension, and there are those who answer its siren call. 

The bible black promises power, glory, wealth beyond your wildest dreams.  In exchange, one only has to perform the rituals.  Disturbing orgiastic rites from an alien morality.  I'm looking to run a game for 3-6 players playing characters who have discovered some part of the bible black, and formed a magic circle to investigate its uses. 

The game will be using the cinematic unisystem and the Buffy RPG rules, with all the PCs as white hats.  All characters must have an occult library trait of at least 1.  Wacky characters like robots and slayers are permitted, but not necessarily recommended.

[Creeper]

I voice interest! I only have access to Army of Darkness though. Same basic system, but there might be mechanical differences. Is that okay?

[The Great Triangle]

That should be fine.  Army of darkness has essentially the same punishment based magic system, right?

(Spells are almost impossible to get off correctly, take a long time, and often go wrong in amusing ways)

[Strangelildedgrl]

I am very intrigued by the story...yet, I am not familiar with the system...are you only looking for those who have experience?

[The Great Triangle]

I am very intrigued by the story...yet, I am not familiar with the system...are you only looking for those who have experience?

Nope!  Complete system newbies are perfectly fine.  The purpose of using a game system is to provide some guidance and structure to the game and to prevent godmoding.  A game about a bunch of cultists can quickly devolve into the characters attempting to rape each other, or otherwise engage in conflict.

The system defines your characters in three main ways.  The first way is attributes, which define how strong/fast/smart your character is. 

The second way is skills, which define how much your character knows, whether about obscure Sumerian languages, magical rituals, or how to break someone's arm. 

Finally, the third way is qualities and drawbacks, which define both special things about your character (being good looking, owning an occult library, being the chosen demonslayer ect.) and bad things about your character (having mental problems, being a teenager, being a werewolf in the worst way etc.)


The simplest way to create a character is simply to define your character qualitatively, then let someone familiar with the system define the character quantitatively.  The system can then be explained to you from there.  The general idea is that to be exceptional at something, you'll have to be weak in something else.  So to be extremely smart, you'll have to be weak or clumsy, or perhaps be a head in the clouds sort of individual.  (low perception)  This is especially true if you want to be "world class" in any particular trait.

[RubySlippers]

Bible Black? If I recall that is the Hentai series full of occult powers, innocent women getting ravished my pretty much everyone and big battles against them from time to time. Yummy ...

System game is nice but I never played it or own the rules. But I could go for the the system playing the uber-adorable dabbler in the occult that is a virgin and about to get in wayyyyyy over her head.

[The Great Triangle]

Bible Black? If I recall that is the Hentai series full of occult powers, innocent women getting ravished my pretty much everyone and big battles against them from time to time. Yummy ...

System game is nice but I never played it or own the rules. But I could go for the the system playing the uber-adorable dabbler in the occult that is a virgin and about to get in wayyyyyy over her head.

That's not too hard to arrange.  I'll post some character creation information when I have time.  Depending on what players want to do, I'll either have players design their own magic spells, or simply give each player a (possibly secret) set of magical rituals they can use to various effects.  I'm planning on each player starting with one ritual for each rank of occultism they have, plus one additional spell for each point of occult library they have.  (A character must have occult library 1 to be able to have any rituals at all)

[Creeper]

Coolies. I hold off making a character until you've got the rules up.

Also, is a White Hat similar to a Primitive Screwhead or a Hero?

[Elohim]

Count me in.

[The Great Triangle]

Coolies. I hold off making a character until you've got the rules up.

Also, is a White Hat similar to a Primitive Screwhead or a Hero?

More similar to a primitive screwhead.  15 attribute points, 10 quality points, 15 skill points, and 20 drama points.  The drama points can also be called "cast spells correctly" points.  (they're also useful for coming back from the dead, healing, and kicking ass in combat)

The sorcery trait and the occult library trait are among the most important, although the magical rituals the players get will help drive the plot.  (often requiring players to interact and forge alliances to get magical materials.)

[Myrleena]

Thought I'd actually put in my interest.  :P

[Creeper]

I looked through my book and there is no rules for spellcasting :(. Will that be a problem?

[The Great Triangle]

Character Creation Information:


List of Attributes:  (15 points, each stat has a maximum of 6, the 6th point costs 3 points, so having a 6 in a stat costs 8 points)

Strength
Dexterity
Stamina
Intelligence
Perception
Will


List of Skills:  (15 points, skills over level 5 cost 3 points per rank)

Acrobatics (dodge)
Art
Computers
Crime
Doctor
Driving
Getting Medieval (melee weapons and crossbows)
Gun Fu
Influence (socialization)
Knowledge
Kung Fu (unarmed combat)
Languages
Mr. Fix-It
Notice
Occultism  (All PCs smust have at least one rank)
Science
Sports
Wild Card (other)



List of qualities:  (10 points) (package qualities in italic, mandatory qualities in bold)

Acute Senses 2pts.
Artist 2pts.
Attractiveness 1pt./rank max 5
Commando 4 points
Contacts 1-5 points
Eidetic Memory 2 points
Empathy 2 points
Enchanted/Superscience Item 2 points/rank
Fast Reaction Time 2 points
Good Luck 1 point/rank
Hard to Kill 1-5 points
Jock 3 points
Natural Toughness 2 points
Nerd 3 points
Nerves of Steel 3 points
Occult Investigator 3 points
Occult Library 1-5 points
Psychic Visions 1 point
Rank 1-9 points
Resistance 1 point/level.  Can apply to pain, poison, or magical influence.
Resources 1-5 points
Robot 5 points
Situational Awareness 2 points
Slayer 16 points
Sorcery 5 points/rank
Telepathy 5 points
The Sight 3 points
Vampire 15 points
Werewolf 6 points (full moon) 12 points (full lycanthrope)


List of Drawbacks:  (give you points, up to 10 points can be gained, then spent in any category, even drama points)

Addiction (Smoking: 1-2 points. Drinking: 1-4 points. Marijuana/Ecstasy: 2-3 points.  Cocaine/Methamphetamine: 4-5 points  Heroin: 5-6 points)
Adversary 1-6 points
Bad Luck 1-5 points
Clown  1 point
Covetous 1-3 points.  Can apply to sex, money, or fame/attention
Curse 1-10 points
Dependent (someone who needs you) 2 points
Emotional Problems 1-2 points, can apply to depression, codependency, fear of commitment, fear of rejection, insecurity, or loner
Honorable 1-3 points
Humorless 1 point
Impaired Senses 1-2 points
Lack of Resources 1-5 points, may not be combined with teenager
Love 2-4 points
Mental Problems 1-3, (can apply to cowardice, cruelty, delusions, obsession, paranoia, phobia, recklessness, or zealotry)
Minority 1 point
Misfit 2 points
Obligation 1-3 points
Physical Disability 1-8 points, 8 being quadriplegic
Recurring Nightmares does not exist.  Don't try.
Screwed-up Adolescent 3 points
Secret 1-3 points
Talentless 2 points
Teenager 2 points
Werewolf 3 points

[The Great Triangle]

I looked through my book and there is no rules for spellcasting :(. Will that be a problem?

Not likely.  Spellcasting is fairly simple.  You'll have a set of magical rituals.  If you've got the sorcery trait, you might even have one or two spells you can use without a 20 minute ritual beforehand. 

Spellcasting is a delicate business.  When you complete a ritual, you roll Intelligence + Occultism + Sorcery.  If the result is less than nine, you botched the ritual and nothing happens.  Lucky you.  If you succeed, your success level is compared to the level of the spell.  If it's not higher, than the spell goes wrong.  This can be damned dangerous. 

[dataviper]

I'm a big fan of Bible Black and would like to join in.

I don't have any of the rulebooks, but I can learn quickly

[The Great Triangle]

I'm a big fan of Bible Black and would like to join in.

I don't have any of the rulebooks, but I can learn quickly

You'll need to fill out the questionnaire and get approved before joining in, but I appreciate your enthusiasm.  :-)  (a mod will likely be along soon to explain further)

[Thorn14]

I might be interested as well!

Since we are going to be investigating, will we be playing Dommy characters?

[The Great Triangle]

Dominants are perfectly fine.  I'll give such characters more rapey spells than the investigator sorts.  (who will often have detection spells, and counterspells, if they're very very lucky)

[Creeper]

Aww, just detection and countermagic? I thought we were going to be messing around with the Bible Black and play with forces beyond our control to fulfill selfish wishes.

[The Great Triangle]

Aww, just detection and countermagic? I thought we were going to be messing around with the Bible Black and play with forces beyond our control to fulfill selfish wishes.

*giggles*  Be careful what you ask for.  ;) 

But yes, every player will have at least one spell to rape people with if they have a decent selection of spells.

[RubySlippers]

What no summoning uber-powerful sex fiends that are impossible to control what kind of Hentai game is this!?!?

:o

[The Great Triangle]

That's actually a level 1 spell.  (Don't trust demon summoning spells.  It's probably the last mistake you'll ever make)

[Myrleena]

Heh.  I already got my spell list.  Unfortunately for me, that was on it.  Now to figure out if my character is too curious for her own good...

[RubySlippers]

Can Occult Library be underground comic books? My character is going to be from a lack of other words a dumb but under-sexy and socialable woman I got an idea she learned her one spell from a comic book, off a Bible Black for inspiration. A really nice collection ...

Anything more complicated might hurt her head.  ;D

[The Great Triangle]

Can Occult Library be underground comic books? My character is going to be from a lack of other words a dumb but under-sexy and socialable woman I got an idea she learned her one spell from a comic book, off a Bible Black for inspiration. A really nice collection ...

Anything more complicated might hurt her head.  ;D

That's perfectly fine, and actually quite a creative use of the setting.  I think I'll be setting the game in Seattle, although I'm also leaning towards London.  :-)

[RubySlippers]

Oh so my model concept will work that was the Wild Skill I was considering. So she will be a typical stupid hot looking model that reads underground comics and well learned one spell she shouldn't have. I might give her sorcery making her do a pact with the mighty sex demon-god (insert name) for fun and well is now a witch. And learned one spell summoning said Demon-God's servants come on it can't really work can it .... its just a comic ...

:D

[The Great Triangle]

Oh so my model concept will work that was the Wild Skill I was considering. So she will be a typical stupid hot looking model that reads underground comics and well learned one spell she shouldn't have. I might give her sorcery making her do a pact with the mighty sex demon-god (insert name) for fun and well is now a witch. And learned one spell summoning said Demon-God's servants come on it can't really work can it .... its just a comic ...

I've already got your character's spell down.  Technically two spells, although I'm not sure your character is smart enough to use them right.  ;)

[RubySlippers]

I'll give her an Intelligence 2 and an appropriate flaw to be the dumb part. So she will know magic and have a "pact" so can do the spell but on everything else is kind of dense. lol

Here is a draft she can take pain, take damage, is hot, is well off, is not without some other assets but boy is she going to get shafted (pun intended) she has a major pact with a sex demon-god and he can order her about once she summons her power and gets sacrificed of her virginity to him.

I figure she can summon some demonic creatures his servants but has zip control save they might be nice and do favors for her if she is really nice to them. (If that is the spell most others would be kind of pointless.)

Malory Crowley

Attributes: 

Strength 1
Dexterity 3
Stamina 5
Intelligence 2
Perception 1
Will 1

Skills:

Computers 1
Driving 1
Influence (socialization) 5
Notice 2
Occultism 1
Wild Card (modeling) 5

Qualities:

Atrractiveness 5
Occult Library (underground occult comics) 1
Resistence to Pain 5
Resources 3
Sorcery 1

Drawbacks:

Addiction (marijuana) 2
Mental Problems (really dumb) 3
Minority (lesbian) 1
Obligation (witch pact to a sex demon-god, doesn't know its real but boy is she screwed) 3

[Myrleena]

Here's my character.  She's so doomed, and doesn't even know it yet.

   Jasmine Winford is a typical teenager.  Well, that's what she thinks, anyway.  Her mother, Merry Winford, died when she was 6 years old, and her father, Derik Winford owner of a consulting company, threw himself into his work out of grief.  Since she didn't know how to deal with it, she retreated into herself instead.  She had few friends growing up, and that became worse when she realized she was attracted to girls, and admitted it to one of her few friends.  Lindsey Owen is no longer a friend, as she spread the news about the school, alienating Jasmine even more.  Things wouldn't have changed much if she hadn't found the room.

   Jasmine's house is old, and too large for her.  She keeps her room in blacks, reds, and whites, and wears goth clothing in the same colors.  She doesn't even realize that she's a stunning beauty, due to her poor self image.  The old house has many mysteries, and one of them that she discovered was a secret passage that led from her room into a sealed portion of the basement.  There she found a library of ancient occult tomes and a disturbing room with chains on the walls, and an altar set up so one could be chained to it.  Her first impulse was to tell her father, but she resisted, being too curious about the books.  The books caught her attention, teaching her how to open her mind, of things that were not mortal.  By the time she found the Bible Black, she was too far into it, ready for the knowledge it would give her.  Now she's practicing, wondering when she should use her newfound powers.

Skirt and top: http://www.blackrose.co.uk/index.php?leaf=PLSKGY01


Str: 1
Dex: 3
Con: 1
Int: 5
Per: 2
Will: 3

LP: 18

Qualities:
Occult Library 5
Sorcery 1
Attractiveness 5

Drawbacks:
Bad Luck 5
Minority (Lesbian) 1
Teenager 2
Love 2

Skills:
Occultism 6
Art 4
Computers 2
Knowledge 3
Influence(Socialization) 3

[The Great Triangle]

Yay!  Characters!   And, some setting to help people out:

Solomon's Bookshelf:

Located below street level in downtown Seattle, this little bookshop is a hole in the wall, filled with odd curios and a tiny coffee shop in the back.  Owned by an ancient man often simply called "Oldguy" or "The Elder", the shop deals in a wide variety of occult books, and is a place where people can meet to discuss magic without being laughed at.  For those with eyes to see, the shop is also a hub of local vampire activity, even during the day, as it makes a popular place for vampires pulling all nighters.  (being underground, comfortable, and easily accessed from the sewers)

In addition to its business trading in occult tomes, the shop has gradually begun trading in increasing numbers of comic books, trading cards, cereal boxes, and other random bits of text that integrate passages of the bible black.  The Elder pays well for any such things, and there are rumors in the shop that he has a collection of strange bits of occult detritus in the back room of the shop.

[Hikari]

This is relevant to my interests.  Are you looking for more players, or pretty much set?

[The Great Triangle]

This is relevant to my interests.  Are you looking for more players, or pretty much set?

We can take more players.  :-)  Switches are ideal for this game, but doms and subs come in handy too.  Off the top of my head we've got

Seraph (Mysterious girl)
Myrleena (Beautiful virgin switch)
Rubyslippers (Dumb model sub)
Creeper (Criminal Dom)

Plus a couple of other players that have expressed interest.

[The Great Triangle]

Here's the character sheet thread hooray!

[The Great Triangle]

I need a few more people to post character sheets before I can get going.  Anybody having trouble with character design and such?

[Hikari]

First draft-ish.


Ophelia Morgan

Ophelia is kind of a bitch.  Okay, according to the other kids at school, she's kind of the Queen Bitch--not that they'd ever say it within earshot of her, not after what happened to that one girl that was probably all entirely coincidental because street violence really isn't that unusual even though this is the nice part of town, right?--but everyone's got their foibles.  Or derangements.  Whatev.

Morgan's father is an investment banker and power broker who fed like a lamprey with a tapeworm off the bright-eyed idealism and limited fiscal sensibilities of the Silicon Valley bubble-and-bust, turning a lot of people's optimistic lending and ultimate corporate dissolutions into a mountain of money a mile high; unlike most of the other sharks who showed for the chum party, though, he stuck around Redmond after the fact to channel his new-found profits into the few survivors of the dot-com crash who were desperate for venture capital in the trigger-shy investment aftermath.  The result?  The Morgans are noveau-rich proto-aristocracy in Seattle, with financial hooks (and nooses) everywhere from Starbucks to Microsoft.

And Ophelia is so daddy's girl.  She knows money.  She likes money.  But what she loves is the thing money is a cheap stand-in for: influence.  The scraps of paper are just points on the scoreboard, the power's the thing.  Even at the 'tender' young age of sixteen, she's already become the little robber-baron of her high school, leveraging her money and (bought) good-looks to set herself up as the Alpha--the student council president, the head cheerleader, the commander of Clique-Force Uberbitch--and de facto Ice Queen of the school.

Enough?  Hardly.  High school is just training wheels for real life, everyone knows that.  Now that she's aced the practice test, it's time to get out and start working on the practical exam.  The real world is an ocean compared to her little pond, though; there are hundreds of people who are richer, thousands who have ingrained themselves more deeply into the circles of powerful people, and maybe even a few who are genuinely more cunning.  That doesn't mean she gives up, of course, it just means she needs an edge...

A little black book.  A lackey of hers from school--a bookish girl willing to sell out just about everything she was to get the looks and popularity to snag her basketball-team infatuation--was only too happy to relinquish the morbid little curio.  Not that Ophelia was one to believe in witches and wizards or what-have-you, but the wild-eyed look in the girl's eyes when she insisted it worked, but was too much for her to handle...  anything that can inspire that sort of primal fear is an object of power, even if it's all delusional.

Naturally, since it does work, Ophelia wants the one thing she always wants, the only thing worth anything at all: more.  More little black books.  More spells.  More knowledge of the occult.  It's not that she hasn't seen the warning signs; she's smart enough to realize this stuff has been around since the dawn of time, and couldn't have stayed hidden this deep in the shadows unless everyone who'd found it before her ended up dead or worse.  No, she's not ignorant, she's demented: she really believes she can be the one to tame the vast howling darkness beyond the stars.

Hey, it beats blue-collar work.

26 Life Points
20 Drama Points

Strength 2
Dexterity 3
COnstitution 2
Intelligence 5
Perception 3
Willpower 3

Artist +2
Attractiveness +5
Nerves of Steel +3
Occult Library +1
Resources, Wealthy +3

Covetous, Ambitious -2
Mental Problems, Cruelty -2
Paranoid -2
Showoff -2
Teenager -2

Acrobatics 2
Art 4
Crime 1
Gun Fu 2
Influence 5
Knowledge 2
Notice 2
Occultism 3

[RubySlippers]

I'll not be playing, I have found two games one here and another on RolePlay I'm getting into and don't want to be overextended.

[The Great Triangle]

Hikari's character is approved! 

I've gone and created two game threads.

If nobody has major objections, I've gone and assigned all the characters as students in Nova High School, an unusual alternative school in which students engage in a "democratic learning community" with teachers.   (this seems to be the kind of school where all of the characters in the game would most likely all fit) 

Additionally, I created a thread for Solomon's Bookshelf.  If anybody would like additional threads, ask for them.  :-)  (or just make them, if you'd like to)

Solomon's Bookshelf

Nova High School