Sisters of Paradox

Sisters of Paradox

Note: This one is for my friend Robert Black. He was one of the ones that got me into Charmed, Hex and renewed my love for Doctor Who. He is also an unabashed Willow and Tara fan and fellow Kitten. Bob is now a successful novelist and I proudly own an autographed copy of his first book Liberty Girl. Paradox Willow was his idea originally and I am gleefully stealing her for this. Paradox Phoebe is my own, but I am sure he would have developed it too. 

Faction Paradox

The Doctor Who novels and audio plays featuring the 8th Doctor introduced a new enemy to the Doctors rogues gallery, Faction Paradox. This voodoo cult/criminal organization delights in causing temporal paradoxes, including replacing people with their alternates or who they could have been born as. A person and their alternatives are entirely different people, they can look different and act different but are not evil twins. Genetically they are siblings. For this reason, I call them Paradox Siblings.

Using Paradox Siblings in Your Game

Paradox Siblings, even if you never use Faction Paradox, can bring an interesting twist to a game. They are not evil twins or alternate-universe versions of the character. They are this universes version, different at the moment of conception. They are different yes, but not alternates (say from The Wish or Centennial Charmed). Thus the paradox.

They can be used to cause confusion, erase someone from history, or even supplant someone with nefarious means. Think of the ultimate version of The Manchurian Candidate or the situation Spock faced in Yesteryear from the Star Trek Animated Series. This is especially useful when you need a character replaced for a brief period of time (say due to the absence of a player) or removing someone when killing them outright will not serve the purpose (as with Willow and Phoebe in Semi-Charmed Life). Paradox siblings are also useful if someone needed something that only a particular genetic code or family line good provide. Cant get the hero to give up her blood and she has no living relatives? No problem, yank one out of time and you are good to go.

Ok, so you have you nice new Paradox sibling, what do you do with her? You can go one of two ways. First, everyone but the Paradox Sibling remembers things are they were (are) and can go about their business, the Paradox Sibling remembers something completely different and is the confused one. This the method used by Robert Black in his Sisters of Paradox. The other characters except for the original sibling have vague memories that are the same as the Paradox Sibling. This can be their clue as to what is going on. Directors could apply a Perception Test (maybe Perception + Willpower) to determine what is going on. Characters with Eidetic or Photographic Memory would have two complete and conflicting set of memories. Directors might have them go into some sort of psychogenic fugue state for dramatic purposes.

Another possibility (and I think the more fun one!) is to have the Paradox Sibling replace the original sibling/character and everyone thinks they are the normal one (with altered memories) and the original one is the one that is the outsider. In Semi-Charmed Life it was Tara that finally discovered the difference when Paradox Willow was revealed to be straight.

Paradox Willow and Paradox Phoebe
Canon note: Screw canon. These characters all came from my alternate 8th Season (Season 1 of Willow and Tara the Series: Season of the Witch) adventure Semi-Charmed Life which is as you can guess a Charmed-crossover.

Synopsis: DHoffryn goes to Kira the Seer to gain knowledge on how to become the next Source. Kira tells him the only way to do it is to neutralize the Charmed Ones. Adding to his complications Willow and Tara are visiting San Francisco and are looking forward to meeting the Charmed Ones (Leo and Tara know each other). Knowing he cant out right kill them, he manipulates time to remove one of the Charmed Ones and one of the anamchara witches from history. With the girls connections to their powers lost DHoffryn claims his prize.

First off, why Willow and Phoebe? Easy, both have something in common other than being witches. Both were originally played by different actresses in their respective shows pilots. Willow was originally played by Riff Regan and Phoebe by Lori Rom. For their Paradox versions I have used these actresses and removed their spellcasting ability. That was the key in breaking the characters powers. Willow and Tara are stronger together than separate unless of course Willow doesnt have magic or love for Tara. The Charmed Ones are much more powerful together, and in Something Wicca this Way Comes it is Phoebe that discovers their magical heritage. Remove those elements and we have some seriously de-powered witches. In the Charmed universe rules if Phoebe had been killed, then Paradox Phoebe could have claimed her powers (again in Centennial Charmed Paige did something similar), which would not have removed the problem only displaced it and pissed off the Charmed Ones in the process (a mistake the former Source had made, only once). So for a temporal demon like DHoffryn, removing someone from a time stream and replacing them with a Paradox Sibling is easy, wellmuch easier than killing them.

Paradox Willow

This is the Original Willow. Thats right, this is the Willow (the girl with brown curly hair) that happened first, but the world was changed to allow the other Willow (the one with straight red hair and likes girls) to exist. So in a way the Willow we all know is really Paradox Willow. But for the sake of argument lets continue calling this girl Paradox Willow.

Use Willow's stats from Season 5. Drop the magic completely, Paradox Willow has no magical ability. Increase her Art and Computers and give her the Artist Quality. Paradox Willow is a very fine hacker but an even better Jazz singer. She plays and sings in Ozs band and dated Jonathan before he was killed by Cordelia the Vampire. She looks a lot like her mother's sister Esther. Paradox Willow is played by Riff Regan.

Willow Rosenberg

Character Type: Mundane Human White Hat (with lots of experience)
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 3
Intelligence 6
Perception 3
Willpower 5

Qualities
Artist (Singer and Keyboards)
Nerd

Drawbacks
Adversary (Assorted, Vampire Cordy and wicked Witch Amy in particular) (4)
Love-Tragic (Jonathan)
Minority (Jewish)

Skills
Acrobatics 3
Art 5
Computers 7
Crime 1
Doctor 2
Driving 0
Kung Fu 3
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu 0
Knowledge 6
Languages 4
Mr. Fix-It 4
Notice 4
Influence 2
Occultism 4
Science 6
Sports 0
Wild Card 0

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Dodge 5 None Defensive Move
Punch 4 4
Stake 3 4

Paradox Phoebe
This is a true Paradox. Phoebe was never supposed to be born in the first place. All of Patty's doctors told her she would never have children again. In fact she was having marriage troubles with Victor (played James Read) and he was not really around enough to conceive another child (he did of course; make-up sex maybe after one of their fights). How was this change brought about? In this case the change came with not replacing Phoebe but replacing her father at the right moment. A Paradox Victor was created (played by Tony Denison) to conceive Paradox Phoebe. This Phoebe had no magic from her mother (thus paving the way for Pru, Piper and Paige to be the Charmed Ones, except Pru was killed before Paige was found).

Paradox Phoebe was then not a witch and was more dedicated to her career in New York. She is more financially secure and mature and thus consider herself to be the serious sister (a role Pru played in the normal continuity). She frequently distanced herself from her mother and sisters, preferring to live with her father. She even went as far as to use her fathers name instead of her mothers like her other sisters. Phoebe Bennett is now a successful writer for a fashion magazine. She continued the martial arts training she had in high school, but only to stay in shape.

Paradox Phoebe is played by Lori Rom and her father Paradox Victor is played by Tony Denison. (as opposed to Allysa Milano and James Read)

Phoebe Bennett

Character Type: Mundane Human
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 5

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 4
Constitution 3
Intelligence 3
Perception 3
Willpower 2

Qualities
Attractiveness +2
Resources 5

Drawbacks
Addiction (Mild) Smoking
Covetous (Mild) Greed

Skills
Acrobatics 3
Art 1
Computers 1
Crime 0
Doctor 0
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 0
Gun Fu 0
Influence 4
Knowledge 2
Kung Fu 4
Languages 0
Mr. Fix-It 0
Notice 2
Occultism 0
Science 1
Sports 0
Wild Card (Fashion) 4

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Dodge 9 None Defensive Move
Punch 8 4

RPG Net Discussions; Pirates and Witches

So there are two threads I am currently actively following on RPG.Net.


Normally I don’t air the dirty laundry on other sites, but the issues of these two discussions need a wider audience.

The first is something that I think more people need to know about.

Outlaw Press, known for selling Tunnels and Trolls products, has been stealing art and publishing material they do not own.

It is worth reading for a few reasons. One, to know if anything you have done might be there (though I think all the artists have been identified). Two, as a cautionary tale, if you steal someone else's work you will get caught.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=483885 but also discussed in my T&T centric places, http://trollbridge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1163

The other is a discussion on Princess Lucinda Nightbane from Witch Girls Adventures.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=484151

That one has to be read to be believed. But I do find it a tad hypocritical that people playing games about their characters killing things and taking their stuff can get so bent out of shape when it is a little girl doing the exact same things.

The Selfish Succubus

I picked up a copy of "Instant Antagonist: The Selfish Succubus" last week. Instant Antagonists is a new product line from Flames Rising. Now full disclaimer here, I know Matt McElroy and I am a fan of his site and his work. IF you are a horror gamer you really can't help but be a fan really. Horror news, gaming news, interviews and now products like IA.

What is IA? Well it is actually a very cool idea. They spend a few pages to fully develop a character to use in any system. This is quite a good idea really. Most often you get character stats, but not much in the way of background or story. The IA aims to change that. So how do they do? Well I have the first one here.
Lily Sinclaire is a succubus. Not in the metaphorical sense, but a really honest-to-the-devil succubus and for whatever reason she is out of Hell and here to have a good time. In "Instant Antagonist: The Selfish Succubus" we are introduced to Lily, also known as Lilis, through some fiction and a description. She is beautiful, looks and sounds exotic and has a prehensile tail. Yeah a tail. She has to cut it off every night, but otherwise it is a tail. In what might be a preview of how future Instant Antagonists might be like, we are given descriptions of how she looks, about how smart she might be. WE are also given insight to what they might be like, powerwise, through their systemless system of Mind, Body and Spirit. Things like "she thinks quickly on her feet", or "she knows a lot about ancient history". I found this to be a very effective way to describe the character. So I have an idea of what she might be like in say Tri-Stat or Unisystem, stats wise.
Multiple origins are given for her to help place her in your favorite system better. Or even as rumors about her. Despite the fact that the book is all fluff, there is no waste.
And finally there are story hooks, ways you can pull her into your game. Either as the titular antagonist or as someone the characters are likely to interact with. Though given how detailed Lily is, she likely to be elevated to the level of "Guest Star" and not "Monster of the Week". So all the plot hooks can be used one way or the other.
I think that the idea behind Instant Antagonists is a great one. Often times it is too easy to come up with stats and forget the character they are supposed to represent. Lily is the opposite. By presenting her as a character, sans stats, you are forced to think of her as a character, with background and motivations, first and not a collection of numbers.
So what would Lily look like. Mind you here is the other plus of this. I can make as powerful or as weak as I need her to be. Given this background I see Lily as a fringe player in the supernatural world. Yes she is evil, and yes she will need to be stopped sometime, but her introduction will be one of a succubus, freed from Hell making her way in the world. Like a demonic Mary Tyler Moore.
So let's build a Lily Sinclaire using Ghosts of Albion/Angel. Using the Mind-Body-Spirit guide in the book lets convert her to some stats. Her Mind says she knows a lot about ancient history, can manipulate others, has a lot of occult contacts. Ok, so To me that says a better than average Intelligence, say 3 or maybe 4, but maybe a higher Willpower and Perception. I would give her a higher level in some skills and maybe keep her Intelligence at 3. Body says she is very attractive, so Appearance 3, a good dexterity 3, but maybe only a 2 in strength. She has a high tolerance for drugs and alcohol (party girl) so a 4 in Constitution. Her Spirit supports a higher Willpower and even some obsessions or mental problems. She is a succubus, so she gets some demonic powers too. So where does that leave us? I fill in the rest with my own guesses and what I need her to do.

Name: Lily Sinclaire

Motivation: To get what she wants
Creature Type: Succubus (demon)
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Constitution 4, Intelligence 3, Perception 4, Willpower 4
Life Points: 37
Drama Points: 15
Qualities and Drawbacks: Addictions (Sex 2), Adversaries (anyone that knows her true nature), Attractive 2, Contacts (Supernatural 3), Covetous (lecherous 2), Emotional Problems (Cruel 3, Arrogance 2), Hard to Kill 1, Immortal, Innate Magic, Regeneration, Resources (Well off), Secrets (3, many), Supernatural Form (1, has a tail)
Skills: Armed Mayhem 1, Art 2, Athletics 3, Crime 3, Driving/Riding 1, Engineering 1, Fisticuffs 2, Influence 4, Knowledge 5, Languages 4 (English, Latin, Sumerian, Greek), Marksmanship 0, Notice 4, Occultism 4, Physician 1, Science 1.
Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes
Dodge +5 Defense action
Grapple +7 Resisted by Dodge
Punch +5 4 Bash


We can also do her up for Witch Girls Adventures using the same guidelines, though I am going to have to guess about her magic and what powers succubi have in this world.

Lily Sinclair, Succubus
Rank: 3
Body: d6 Mind: d6 Senses: d8
Will: d8 Social: d8 Magic: d6
Life Points: 12 Reflex: 9
Resist Magic: 9 Zap Points: 12
Skills: Athletics +2, Basics +2, Dancing +4, Fighting +1, Hear +1, Leader +3, Look +2, Magic Etiquette +2, Mundane Etiquette +3, Mysticism +2, Mythology +4, Streetwise +3
Abilities: Beautiful, Mysterious
Heritage: Demon
Spells: Lily does not know any spells save those magics all Succubi can use.

Looking forward to more.

The City Built around a Tarrasque!

There is a really interesting thread about a (D&D) city built around a tarrasque.
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=261519 and
http://waelfwulf.wordpress.com/

For those that don't know, in D&D the tarrasque is an immortal killing machine related to the dragons.  It's immune to magic and all sorts of things that make it so it just can't be killed.  It's a DM's way of ridding the world of unneeded PCs really.

But this concept is so cool that I feel the need to adopt it.  It would make sense to me, since I have never used the tarrasque in any of my games even when it first appeared in the MM2 for 1st Edition.  Though I have used the Piasa bird, a similar creature from my neck of the woods.

The idea behind this city is they have captured and immobilized it. Now they are feeding off of it's meat and blood which regenerates all the time. There is a corrupting power to this, plus the moral corruption of keeping a live beast chained up while you continously hack bits of it off.  Something we saw in the Torchwood episode Meat.

Plus it is the type fantastical, out of this world crazieness that I love to have in my games.  Cities built on the corpses of dead gods; Elven nations of thousands living in the trees and a city built around a Tarrasque.

Eldritch Witchery, Back to Basics

I am returning to work on Eldritch Witchery, my guide to witches and warlocks for the Spellcraft & Swordplay RPG. The idea is simple really; make a witch class for the game. But I want to do this class justice and not just do a retread of the material I have written for other games.


So I am going back to school.

I have been rereading old Dragon and White Dwarf magazines from the 70s to the early 80s to get a proper feel for the game as it was then. What were people talking about and doing in their games. I have also been going over my basic assumptions. Why is a witch needed if we already have Clerics and Wizards? What niche does a witch fill in a Sword and Sorcerery game? For this I am indebted to Jason Vey who has been giving me a crash course in all things Pulp related. Conan (whom I never really read and now understand I know next to nothing about), the works of Robert Howard and how they relate to Lovecraft. Plus I have been thinking a lot about my own influences for D&D. Clark Ashton Smith is a big one for me. I have been rereading all my old D&D books and notes. My first witch character was made in October of 1986, I wrote my first set of rules (20 pages) around her.

What has this done for me?

Well I have a pretty good idea what I want to do and how I want to do it and it is different than say my d20 version of the witch, or even the magic I wrote about in Ghosts of Albion. What does a witch do in the world of Spellcraft & Swordplay. Well the witch is more connected to the primal nature of magic. I hesitate to say “beyond good and evil” but maybe before good and evil. She is like nature. I also want to incorporate a lot of what is old folklore and fairy tales about witches. So these are defiantly more Baba Yaga than Sabrina.

What do Witches Do?

In any game you need to figure out where a character’s niche will be. What is it that the character will do, what can she do and what will she bring to the adventuring party. Where does she fit in this world organically. I also want keep in mind the classical or stereotypical powers of the witch; casting spells, making potions, the evil eye, curses, charms, turning people into animals, flying on brooms, consulting with familiar spirits. The witch then for me needs to provide that air of mystery in a world already full of magic and magical-using characters. She needs to have something special about her, I want the other characters in the group to say, “We need her, she is a witch!”

Hopefully players will say the same thing.

Next time, more on the occult powers of the witch class.

Blackmoor, no more for 4e?

I have blogged about Blackmoor in the past and was very excited to have picked up the 4e version of the Blackmoor book.

Well I have learned from Mystara expert Havard that there may not be any more Blackmoor for 4e.
http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/  and http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/11/blackmoor-news.html for the Grognardia viewpoint.

This is a disapointment, but not a suprise really.  I guess this leaves me to do my own thing in my world.  I am planning on keeping the Docrae race (off shoot of halflings) and keeping the unique classes to give the area a very different feel, the Wokan(i) in particular.   It will be interesting to see where CMP goes from here, but I am likely to go backwards with my Blackmoor and hit the orignal books again and build up my Shangri-La like area somewhere north of the Black Ice where even Dragons dare not fly.

Google Wave

I am now on Google Wave!  Not yet sure what I will do with it but there are plenty of things I can do with my day job for it and I have heard of plenty of RPG applications.

I'll keep you all posted.  Maybe I'll run some Ghosts of Albion games on it.