In Search of a GM and Players for a weird little indie game about demons...

Started by MadPanda, September 02, 2010, 11:07:37 PM

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MadPanda

It isn't just my anima who wants to come out and play!

Ron Edwards' Sorcerer now adorns my bookshelf, and it's cool.

"Know this: all the traditions, cultures, rituals, and bodies of knowledge surrounding what we call magic and the occult are wrong.  It is hogwash, flimflam, swindlery, and lies.  But even so, here and now in the modern world, there are perhaps several dozen sorcerors in existence.  They do summon demons and bind them to their will.  They do have an inkling, although no surety, about the unnatural laws.

You are one of them."

I'm particularly interested in a variation available for free through this link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~glepper/sleepofreason.pdf

"The House of Gloaming draws upon the more fanciful works of Clive Barker, Lord Dunsany, and Neil Gaiman, a baroque world where our dreams are mystical places shaped by our dreaming minds: our Demons are creatures of this chaotic and strange world, our nighttime companions who can be both beguiling and cruel."

Alice in Wonderland meets Hellraiser with a sidetrip through the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus on the way.

Some assembly would be required...
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Starlequin

You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

MadPanda

I almost forgot.

This isn't quite so useful if you don't already have the rules, but since getting the idea of Sorcerer is a bit like drinking from a fire hose, it helps.

http://random-average.com/Sorcerer/HomePage
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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Remiel

This certainly seems interesting (and I'd certainly like to join a MadPanda game!) but I'll have to peruse the system guide in greater depth before committing.

MadPanda

Well, if I'm running it, it'd be House of Gloaming all the way--I was introduced to this by someone on RPOL, who talked me into trying a one-on-one with Sorcerer, and unfortunately she vanished after a couple of weeks.  My next two attempts to jump start the game met with little success.  (She's also the person who told me about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which is now on my Absolutely Must See list.)

If I'm not the person who ends up running it, I'm open to just about anything--the rules are like the old black box for Traveler.  They give you the framework, and you get to set up the world to suit your group's tastes and interests.  Demons, for example, are not defined in the rules beyond a few mechanics...
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Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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Kaizen

I am exteremely interested.  I will need a little time to familiarize myself with the system. 

bookmarked   ;D

MadPanda

Another useful link!  Way back when, long before I ever tried to run or play this, I stumbled across this: it's the 'apprentice' version of the rules, which was (at the time) released for free.  I have been unable to find it again, and there's no link to it on the Adept Press website, but it'll give you a framework to go with what's on that wiki.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9AQJVUJY
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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Starlequin

The rules system seems simple enough so far (which means I've probably missed the really important parts). I'm definitely interested now, even though I've never actually played a system game before. I think I can pick it up quickly enough, though.
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

MadPanda

That's three, maybe four players if we can find a GM...or two, maybe three if I run this myself.  :-)

Feel free to ask questions in the meantime and I'll help as best I can.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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Starlequin

Okay, I've got a question: Can I/will I be able to play if I don't actually own any of the books? I've been looking at the links you provided and I'm pretty sure I've got a decent handle on things, but is there more pertinent/in-depth information in the books that's not in the links? (I'm sure there probably is, but I'd like to know if it's the kind of stuff that's absolutely need-to-know, or just filler.)
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

Kaizen

Quote from: Starlequin on September 07, 2010, 01:27:03 AM
Can I/will I be able to play if I don't actually own any of the books?

I'd like to know the answer to Quin's questrion as well.

I've looked over the first link you've posted and I like the concept very much.  I have always been interested in lucid dreaming and near death experiences/out of body experiences.  This game seems to parallel those interests to a degree.  I have a concept for a character that I think will be appropriate.  However, my vernacular and writing ability is no where near that of Remiel or Starlequin's, and I still have some uncertainties about how this game is meant to be and it's mechanics.  With that said, I would very much like to participate.

MadPanda

There is more pertinent information in the books, but as far as I can tell if all you have is the apprentice rules and the playtest PDF you should be fine.  Big difference in character generation is that you have ten points to spread between Stamina, Will, and Lore, with at least one point in each.

The important bit of the Apprentice document is the rules for dice, and they're almost all there.  The exceptions are GM--side stuff.

Most of what's missing is the detailed stuff on Demons, but you can 'borrow' one of the starter demons in Apprentice easily enough.  Just ignore all that stuff about the various 'flavors' of Sorcerer, 'cause they wouldn't apply.

There are a couple of bits out of one of the supplements that are important for the dream setting, but those are mostly on the GM's side of things.
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Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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JadeCore

Seems interesting! I would be interested though I still need to read through the material a bit more.

MadPanda

I get a real indication of GMly duties about to land on my furry shoulders...   ;D

So, things to think about:

What size of die shall we use?  The d10 seems to be standard, but I'm open to either the d8 or the d12.  Key point to consider is that the larger the die, the more sweeping success is likely to become.

Do we want separate tales for our protagonists, or one big story, or a mix?

Where do we want this game to go: Light, Bondage, Non-Con...Extreme?  (I usually stop at Bondage, but this is the sort of game that might go waaaaay over the top, all things considered.)
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Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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Kaizen

I'm fine with bondage & NC

I'll stay away from the more extreme avenues though.

I have another question:  Will we be playing our demons as well, or will they be NPC'd?

MadPanda

Demons are always NPCs, except in a few very unusual circumstances (like a 'naive passer', which is a demon that thinks it's human...)

And for your entertainment, here's the very first setting post I used in that other attempt.  Our PC was a somewhat scatter-brained Poet motivated by his romantic attachment for his muse, a beautiful woman who was (alas) also utterly mad...and thus unto the Dreaming in search of her...

"It is every city and none, vaguely Victorian and possibly Edwardian, too vague and fogbound to be clearly labeled by even the most precise of chroniclers.  Here there are fairy-tale castles built by the eccentric and mighty, palaces to their own egos and lust for distraction from the cold and growing anger of the underclass bent to labor in the dark and forbidding mills just across the river.  Here, also, there are mazes of alleyways surrounded by grim and joyless tenements.  Here a park, open and green; there a cobbled street where a thousand souls pass by every hour, shoulder to shoulder, and above it all a castle on a high hilltop that oversees all as if brooding over the press of humanity along the banks of the icy river far below.

The city is many things to all hearts--the jewel of the realm, a wretched heap of misery and despair, a vast market of possibility, a vague and dreamlike place where a soul can lose the past and be remade whole to order, a shoal that breaks all vessels that come too near.

This is the city of winter."
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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Starlequin

Thoughts from the system newbie:

If higher die mean easier victories, maybe we should use either d8 or d10 to ensure that little extra bit of tension.
I suppose I could handle an 'extreme' game, but I think I'd rather top out at bondage or non-con if it's alright with the rest of you.
And personally, I'm more in favor of doing one large story; doing separate tales for each PC seems, to me, like asking a little too much of our GM. Of course, that's just my opinion, and I'm cool with whatever the group decides.

BTW, what kind of setting are we going to use? MP's looks tres cool to start, but I've sort of been building my character for a modern/urban style setting. I can rework him to fit whatever, though, so it's not like I wrote it in stone.
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

MadPanda

That little bit was just for fun, 'cause the person who intro'd me to Sleep of Reason wanted something vaguely Edwardian.  I confess to stealing a gimmick shamelessly from a certain movie franchise about a boy wizard in the process.

Modern Urban is just fine with me.
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JadeCore

Having just played the demo for Solium Infernum, I could probably be coerced into co-GMing. The game sort of got the imagery going.

MadPanda

When I think up a title, I'll be putting this baby up...NC/Exotic/Small Games (for safety).

Feel free to carry on char-gen discussions here for the time being: concepts, possible Kickers, and so on.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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Starlequin

<claps and rubs his hands> Alrighty, I've got (most of) a character sheet prepped (for a Sorcerer; I haven't done a Demon's yet), but I wasn't sure if it should be posted here or if we're going to make a new OOC thread in the game's main board, or if this one will just be moved there when appropriate.

Also, a quick question about descriptors: can/do we just make up our own, or should we go by one of the lists (the ones I've found seem a little scarce, but I'm sure there are probably better ones out there). Same question sort of applies to Cover (even though I've already got one set up, I figured I should ask before I post it).

You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

MadPanda

Descriptors would be my job...and there are a few more options listed in the Sleep of Reason.   :-)

Cover is up to you--the main question is whether it's Will or Stamina based.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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MadPanda

Char-gen and Cast thread is here.
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=82099.0

OOC and technical discussions happen here.
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=82100.0

The title may change soonish if I think of something cooler.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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Kaizen

I wrote up a character and his demon this morning.  I still have some uncertainties about character generation - I can edit, modify, add, remove, etc... whatever it takes to make it work, just let me know what needs to be done.   I do plan to flesh out the description / background some more if necessary.  Here is my character's first draft:

Character Name: Linwood Echard
Description & Background:  Drifting from town to town in a clunker pick-up truck, Linwood’s world is comprised of truck stops, sleezy motels, and the highways.  Linwood is in his early 30’s and appears to be nothing more than average.  Blue eyes, brown hair, at 6’1” he is slightly tall and at 180 lbs paired with his height, his frame can be labeled as slim.

When he was a child, Linwood watched a demon pull his older sister into the Dream.  Thinking it was a kidnapping, his parents expended every resource they could to locate their missing daughter with no success.  When he was old enough to leave home, he took to the road and has been on the move ever since. 

Stamina: 3
Will: 5
Lore: 2
Cover: 5 (will based) Drifter
Price: -1
Humanity: 5
Telltale: Somiloquy – sleeptalking.  Having a strong connection to its consciousness, the character’s body is prone to sleep-talking while in the Dream. 


Demon: Fix
Stamina: 4
Will:5
Lore:3
Power:5

Fix is a Passer type Demon.  He is drawn to crossroads and bridges and can usually be found near them in the Dream.

Desire – drugs or liquor.  Nicotine and beer are not sufficient.

Powers:
Cover – hitchhiker
Perception – can determine origin and intended destination of any person or object as well as the places they have been to.
Travel – can teleport to any bridge or crossroads.

MadPanda

I suspect Drifter is more likely to require Stamina as a basis--he'll be out in the cold a lot, and the elements, and probably need to bruise his knuckles against some other guy's ugly mug a few times to keep body and soul together.

Just so I understand what you intended, Linwood has brought his dream friend through to the Waking World, yes?  I may have to add a couple of Powers to ensure that this could happen, but for starters Fix looks okay.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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