The Campaign Builder's Guild

[ic=Showdown at Seafloor]It is a good cloak, the agent muses.

He crouches in a corner, checking the hallways for patrols. He needn't have bothered. The guards at this facility are very good-- among the best in Asia, perhaps the entire world-- but they look past the agent as if he were not there.

The agent pulls the cloak tighter around his particle-weave armored vest, fighting an unnatural chill. He steps silently through a doorway and into the Research and Testing Laboratory Wing of the facility, bypassing half a dozen sentinels that stand like statues as he passes. Statues that check their rifles, shift on tired feet, speak tersely to one another in irritated Korean, and completely fail to notice the presence of the agent.

His mission here is straightforward: infiltrate the undersea facility, steal the fusion core prototype, and escape. For any typical individual, robbing a top-secret technoindustrial facility in the heart of the Korean Empire would be impossible, but this agent is hardly typical.

There-- up ahead, beneath that transparent polymer case-- that's the prototype! The agent accelerates, striding into the cavernous factory room, grey cloak billowing behind him like the wings of night. He is examining the case, preparing to carefully open it and seize its contents, when something impossible happens.

"Stop."

The agent does so.

"Turn around. Slowly."

The agent faces his foe. The man is Korean, but his words are English-- unaccented. He wears a dark blue suit with a grey necktie, hair well-groomed, face expressionless. His outstretched arm points at the agent with a compact energy pistol. "Who are you?"

The agent does not answer him. Can not answer him.

The man in the blue suit remains motionless, pistol pointed unwaveringly at the agent's throat. "You are Anointed," says the man in the blue suit calmly. It is not a question.

The agent studies him. The man in the blue suit seems unreal, somehow. Too composed. Too serene. The man in the blue suit appears to be the only creature in this facility, man or robot, who can see the agent in his long, grey cloak. The agent thinks quickly. "As are you." The agent notes that the man in the blue suit has not blinked at all during this confrontation, nor does his chest appear to rise and fall in the rhythm of human breathing.

The agent flexes a hand almost imperceptibly; suddenly two small, glass darts are held between his fingertips. He waits.

"The hand of Ataraxia is upon me," says the man in the blue suit idly, as if discussing the weather. "And She will soon claim you as well. Tell me, before her fingers close around your throat, whom do you serve?"

The man in the blue suit regards the agent with a stare as unwavering and free of malice as the force of gravity. The agent returns the stare, without a word.

"As I thought," says the main in the blue suit. "Of course you know what this means." The agent perceives that the man in the blue suit is tightening his fingers around the trigger of the energy pistol, a split-second introduction to a subtle motion that ends lives. This is the last possible moment.

A sideways dive. The energy pistol melts through the fusion core prototype's polymer case with a bright beam, as the intended target smashes a control panel with a fist. Darkness asserts itself.

Two more shots splash momentary light across the dark room, just enough to sear and blind the eyes. There is a sound of rustling fabric and a scrape of metal. The whisper of air, parting to let pass a swift-thrown object. A breathless gasp. The two-part thud of an unconscious body: knees on the floor, now torso.

Now, the sound of footsteps. One of the two men runs from darkened room to darkened corridor.[/ic]

Quote from: What is Meta-Realm?Meta-Realm is not a place, not in any conventional sense. It has no size, no landscape, and no geology. It cannot be mapped, because its surging pathways writhe and twist at seeming whim, shriveling away or sprouting new runners, forming new connections.

Few people are aware of Meta-Realm's existence. Fewer still are privy to its secrets, and the Lords prefer to keep it that way, securing their power by restricting mortal access to knowledge that may potentially overthrow them. Therefore, only the Lords of Meta-Realm themselves are aware of the true nature of their governance: Meta-Realm is a mindscape, the collective subconscious of the human race.

As such, large alterations in human thought and belief can affect Meta-Realm just as certainly (though more rarely) as the deliberate actions of its Lords. It is theorized by some among the Lords that some among them could even be slain by humanity, should humanity engage in a deliberate and coordinated effort to do so. This is not typically cause for concern, as erasing a Lord would involve all of humanity to change its nature through a massive act of will, and those who know the human mind and heart with the familiarity of a Lord of Meta-Realm consider this possibility to be comfortably and vanishingly remote.

Lords of Meta-Realm exist solely in their domain. They are beings of thought and will, without physical form or location. Consequently, their ability to interact with the physical world is limited.

It is easy to theorize that as significant constructs within the thoughtscape of humanity's collective unconscious, any given Lord of Meta-Realm is no different than an idea held in common by many human individuals. However, multiple evidences suggest that this is not the case. The primary distinction between, for example, Ataraxia and Sherlock Holmes, is that while both are ideas of personalities known to many humans, only one the ability to affect humans directly in tangible and empirically observable ways.[/quote]

Ascended Characters

Each player takes on the role of a Lord of Meta-Realm: once a mere mortal, now an immortal, intangible being climbing the dizzying heights of power. In mechanical terms, a Lord of Meta-Realm is described with three statistics: Stature and Mettle, which are number values, and Focus, which describes the flavor of a Lord's power.

Stature is a relative measure of a Lord's might: in general, a Lord with Stature 6 is roughly twice as powerful as a Lord with Stature 3. However, Stature is not simply a raw number; players fill their Stature values with characteristics that give them special powers. Characteristics may cost 1 to 3 points, and a player may select a number of characteristics with a total cost equal to his Stature. Therefore, a Lord with a great Stature will tend to have more varied and potent powers at his disposal than a Lord with mediocre Stature.

Mettle represents a Lord's resevoir of attention, and determines how much a Lord can accomplish in one turn of play (which generally lasts one week.) Most actions occupy 1 to 3 points of Mettle, so a Lord with great Mettle can do more at once than a Lord with unimpressive Mettle.

Base stats for a newly-ascended Lord of Meta-Realm are Stature 3 and Mettle 3; these stats come from the Lord's ascended status and the mass mental resonance of the Focus, and cannot be lost or taken away. A Lord may increase his Stature and Mettle by finding and controlling nodes, but nodes are vulnerable to sabotage or capture by rival Lords.

A node is typically a person, thing, or place that holds an abnormally high concentration of potential power. Since the Stature and Mettle of the Lords of Meta-Realm is directly related to power derived from nodes, control of nodes is both the objective and the method of conflict for almost all power struggles between various Lords. Lords gain Stature and Mettle by gaining control of nodes and making use of their latent power, but the increased Stature or Mettle vanish when the node providing it is destroyed, taken by a rival, or otherwise rendered unusable to the Lord who had been benefitting from its energies.

A given node may be flavored or unflavored. A flavored node is directly related to the Focus of Lords who can benefit from its power, and are therefore not usable by all Lords. The site of a particularly bloody battle might be a flavored node useful to a Lord of aggression, while the mind of a great poet might be a flavored node useful to a Lord of creativity, but neither of these Lords would benefit directly from having control over the other's node. A Lord's Focus can be thought of as a key for unlocking the power of flavored nodes, but only certain keys will allow access to a particular node's power. As a result, flavored nodes are most often the targets of attempted destruction or subversion by rivaled Lords rather than capture, since it is rare for an aggressor Lord to find control of a rival's flavored nodes useful.

By contrast, unflavored nodes are wellsprings of raw power with no relation to any Focus. Because any Lord can access an unflavored node's power (and because unflavored nodes are often nearly impossible to destroy,) they are tempting targets for capture and often change hands repeatedly. When a Lord wins a dispute over a flavored node, he has usually done little more than deny a resource to his enemy. When a Lord captures an unflavored node, he has denied a resource to his enemy and gained one for himself. Unflavored nodes typically take the form of convergences of ley lines, objects of unusual power or history (for example, the Hope Diamond is commonly thought to be a node), or other abstract or undifferentiated resevoirs of energy.

Standard Powers of Lords
[note=Powers]One day I will finish these!

They need more descriptions, more variety, and a little bit of detail about how they actually work. And better names. And balanced and playtested costs. Okay, they need a lot of things.[/note]
Communicate with Mortals (1 Mettle per person spoken to) - You always communicate with all mortals, insofar as your Focus is always a part of humanity's collective subconscious. Speaking deliberately and directly with a specific person is more difficult, but it can be done. For the expenditure of one point of Mettle, you may speak freely with any mortal for the duration of the turn. The mortal hears you as a voice in his head, and may respond to you mentally or aloud. You may not communicate with another Lord's Anointed in this way.

Communicate with Lords (no cost) - You may communicate with other Lords of Meta-Realm at any time, although the intended target of your communication may always refuse to converse with you. When you attempt to speak with another Lord, that Lord is aware of your attempt and your identity, and may decide to hear your words or to ignore you. If you are being ignored, you are aware that you cannot make any sort of mental contact, and your words are not even heard by their intended recipient.

Anoint a Servant (1 Mettle - see description) - You may deputize a willing mortal with a portion of your power. Your Anointed servant gains superhuman ability, and may be perceived as mundanely but exceptionally gifted, or as a prophet and miracle worker. You spend one point of Mettle when Anointing a servant, and do not recover this point of Mettle in subsequent turns until your Anointed is killed our you withdraw your power from him-- in a sense, you "invest" a point of Mettle in your servant. While under your power, your Anointed trumps all normal humans in conflicts, and gains a limited measure of immunity from the powers of rival Lords. In addition, you may communicate with your Anointed without spending the additional Mettle usually required to converse with mortals. Anointed servants are most Lords' preferred method of interacting with the mortal world, and are useful for capturing nodes. Mortals who are nodes themselves are particularly coveted as Anointed, since their Mettle generation pays for their own Mettle cost. The only limit to the number of Anointed a Lord of Meta-Realm may have at one time is Mettle cost.

Search for Nodes (1 to 3 Mettle) - You focus your attention on detecting the pulses of thought-energy that indicate a node. Additional Mettle invested in this concentration increases your chances of locating a node successfully. Optionally, you may narrow your search to a particular type of node (such as flavored nodes, human nodes, object nodes, etc.) Searching exclusively for a particular type of node is one point less effective than an inclusive search (an exclusive search for 3 Mettle has the same chance of success as an inclusive search for 2 Mettle), but if successful, the node you find is always of the specified type. Searching unsuccessfully is not completely fruitless, as the progress made in an unsuccessful search increases the chance of success for a search made the following turn.

Claim a Node

Spy Upon Rivals (1 to 3 Mettle) - You cast your senses adrift on the currents of Meta-Realm, in an attempt to discover information about your rivals. Increased investiture of Mettle yields increased chances to identify one or more nodes or Anointed under the control of other Lords.

Protect Your Secrecy (1 to 3 Mettle) - Focusing on your vital secrets can shroud your nodes and your Anointed in mystery, reducing rival Lords' chances of discovering useful information about your resources.

Observe the Mortal World (1 Mettle)

Nudge a Mortal (1 Mettle)

Special Capabilities of Lords
These are optional additional powers that may be purchased with points of Stature.

Secrecy (1 to 3 Stature) - Your true motives and plans remain hidden from the searching gaze of your peers. Without this capability, your name and Focus are public knowledge to all other Lords of Meta-Realm. With one point of Secrecy, you are not obligated to share your Focus. With two points, you are not obligated to share your name. With three points, your very existence is a secret to your peers, allowing you to act with greatest possible subtlety. Acquiring this capability does not cause people to forget about you, nor does it prevent you or your information from being discovered, but it is the only way to withold information at the outset.

Subtlety (1 Stature) - What you lack in raw power, you compensate for with the intricacy of your machinations. You gain an additional point of Mettle. You may gain this ability multiple times, effectively trading Stature for Mettle at a 1:1 ratio.

Mortal Memory (2 Stature)

Manifestation (2 Stature)

Mantle of Power

Manifold Eyes (1 Stature)

Cult Following (1 to 3 Stature) - You enjoy the devotion of a group of mortal supplicants who work to further your cause. Your devout followers number approximately one dozen (for one point), one hundred (for two points), or one thousand (for three points,) and function as useful infrastructure. They are useful for affecting nodes, meddling with the assets and Focii of other Lords, and hindering rival Anointed, even should the effort require the sacrifice of their own lives in your name. You may select your Anointed from among their number, but without such attention, cultists are notably fragile; their strength lies in numbers rather than individual prowess.

Artifact (3 Stature) - In your possession is an artifact of staggering power, which you may bestow upon (or take from) one of your Anointed at your discretion. Like you, your artifact has no physical form or location; you "give" it to your Anointed by bestowing its essence. For example, if your artifact is the Seven-League Boots, you could cause your chosen Anointed servant's sneakers to take on the properties of the Seven-League Boots. An Anointed bearing an artifact always trumps a rival Anointed without an artifact when the two conflict, and the artifact may also give its bearer additional pwers (such as faster travel, in the case of the Seven-League Boots.) However, you may have only one "copy" of your artifact in play at any time.

Emotional Surge (2 Stature)

[ooc]Reserved?[/ooc]

[ooc]Reserved![/ooc]

[ooc]Preserved[/ooc]

[ooc]Reversed[/ooc]

[ooc]Reservoired[/ooc]

[ooc]Film Noir'ed[/ooc]

[ooc]Sports Carred[/ooc]

[ooc]Bizarred[/ooc]

[ooc]What was I talking about, again?[/ooc]

Here's a bit of an update: the first in several months. This has been a back-burner project, but still one I've been giving thought to, and now it ought to be possible to start getting an idea of what the gameplay might eventually be like.

Wh-

Why didn't I see this before?  And why has no-one else posted in it?

It's AWESOME!!!

And it was posted on my 18th Birthday!

Ahem.  I'll have something a little more coherent to say when I've composed myself.

EDIT: What if there was a 4-point Secrecy Stature that did cause people to forget about you?

Agreed that this is a very cool idea. It has some of the 'meta' things I like about Nobilis or Whispering Vault, but wrapped up differently with a whole new twist. I would love to see more info on the Mettle and Stature powers and everything in general.

You mentioned an Anointed could also be a Node. What type of person would that be? A great artist or writer? Or how about committed atrocious acts that become infused with the power of those acts. Wow! A serial killer and saint could both be nodes and once Anointed they would become even more powerful, thus possibly gaining more Mettle.

Is this how mortals become Lords?

Great idea!

Quote from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_gameARG[/url], so I'm trying to avoid making players keep track of in-character and out-of-character knowledge separately. I can't make a game mechanic that would cause a player to forget anything, so my instinct is to avoid issues of "Well, we know Frank is playing, but he took this characteristic so we're supposed to pretend we don't know about his character." That's a little silly.

The considerable power of Secrecy is that a player who buys it up with starting Stature never has to reveal his Focus, or name, or even the fact that he's playing, to the other players. Secrecy keeps your opponents guessing about what you're up to, what flavored nodes you want, who does what when acting anonymously, and so on. 3-point Secrecy would allow you to play without other players even realizing you're the cause of all their "bad luck", which is wicked in many ways.

This is one of the more amusing perks of a game system specifically designed to be played by email correspondence between each player and a GM.

Also, happy belated birthday!

Quote from: RavenspathI would love to see more info on the Mettle and Stature powers and everything in general.

You mentioned an Anointed could also be a Node. What type of person would that be? A great artist or writer? Or how about committed atrocious acts that become infused with the power of those acts. Wow! A serial killer and saint could both be nodes and once Anointed they would become even more powerful, thus possibly gaining more Mettle.

un[/u]flavored nodes.) Also, to clarify, human nodes do not have Mettle scores of their own; like all nodes, they merely add to the stats of the Lord who controls them.

When a Lord finds a human node, Anointing that individual is one way to make sure you keep them under control and gain their power. If I'm playing a Lord whose Focus is obsession, and I learn about paper-clip-node-guy, I might prefer to get control of that node more subtly (maybe by nudging him a little farther into obsessive collecting habits, and thus more fully epitomizing my Focus.) Paper-clip-guy never even has to realize I exist, and I can still use him as a node.

Anointing a human node helps protect that resource by giving him some ability to protect himself, and some innate resistance to the meddling of rival Lords. Deciding not to Anoint a human node helps protect that resource by making it much less likely for rival Lords to learn of his existence.

That's the theory, anyway.

QuoteIs this how mortals become Lords?

That's the big MacGuffin of the whole idea, really. Lords who know the secrets of Ascension guard it carefully, because more Lords just means more rivals. Many Lords don't know about Ascension the way they pretend to, because Ascension tends to wipe out a Lord's memories of his or her previous mortal life (including, presumably, how to Ascend in the first place.) So "how to Ascend" is not really a mechanic I'll need, I think. Though time may always prove me wrong, I suppose.

What's that in the briefcase, you ask? Damned if I know!