Qualities and Impediments -- Corruption

Age : 31 Posts : 299

So this is also based off of another RP game i play and DM for.

The principle is simple you're character is allowed Qualities [Good things] and Impediments [Bad Things] off the start. However since Special Characteristics have mostly taken up the role Qualities did, there shall be no need for them. However there are certain aspects that should definitely be added to the list of Special characteristic's or a section for "Qualities"

Qualities are not so much as the "Super-natural" abilities that Special Characteristic's give you, they are traits of your character, social, physical and mental traits.

Some examples of Each

Social:
Business [Your character is owner/member of a business]
Believed Dead [For one reason or another, everyone thinks that you're dead.[No, not the walking dead, the "I now have a completely different identity type of dead]]
Estate [Your character own's a large plot of land/building]
Reputation - Street [People know you on the streets and respect you]

Physical
Ambidextrous [Fluent in both hands]
Gigantism [Your character is abnormally large]
Immunity [Your character is immune to --something, one single thing--]
Light Sleeper [Your character sleeps so light that no one can sneak up on him while he's sleeping]

Mental
Resolve [The character has an amazing will and is not afraid of most anything!]
Synaesthesia [Mental Condition where one sense is replaced with by another, I.E you see sound, the show "Heroes" has a good description of this]
Savant [Your unnaturally smart]
Time Sense [You know what time it is, and have a good knowledge of time]

Now said qualities could have a number of "Points"
I'll take Business for example.

Business

3-Point Quality
You're a member of a business, you can get around most of the businesses zone without a problem, however you are still a low level member and may be kicked out for snooping around

5 Point Quality
Your the owner of a small shop or store, this gives you access to valuable assets in the business market, as well as assets to the things happening around the world.

7 Point Quality
Your a high ranking member of a large business this makes it easy to maneuver through any area of the business and are well respected, you may have things paid for you or given to you as gifts, transportation and other worldly things come as convenience to you.

9 Point Quality
You're the owner of a large business, you get whatever you want, whenever you want it. You have a number of people working for you, including personal body-guards. However since you're so well known, you are easily picked out in a crowd and cannot take the "Nondescript Quality" [Sure, i didn't list Nondescript, but its pretty self-explanatory]

Now obviously these points would coincide with impediments, for the number of points in Qualities you take, you must take half the points in Impediments. So if you took a 7 point quality, you'd have to take 4 points of an impediment.

Impediments are simple, they can range from blindness to protestic legs and random fits of insanity! They should be made a list for.

Moving On

Corruption

A character's "Corruption" is their physical, social or mental attributes that make you're character a little "Worse off" Moreso then an impediment, everyone in the world has a tick, a problem. No one is so pure that death does not afflict them, no person is so clean that the streets have not dirtied them. Corruption is the basic manifestation of your character's real problems. Yes an impediment could be a real problem but corruption is so much more then that. Corruption makes the world an easier place to live.

Here's how i want you to look at Corruption, your character is doomed. One day he will die, and if not he will become a monster and become completely unplayable, at this point you will have to make a new character. But your path is not limited! You can do many a great thing before his end ceases. You want to sell your soul as little as possible before the end is up.

Corruption represents a contract between your character and his inner demons. You will think that temptation will be easy to resist, at this point you will think "NO!" As you scream and hold onto your character's hand for dear life hoping this is some kind of bad joke. But its not like that, when corruption calls, it doesn't call you like you think bad things would. It gives you a good way, a better way, that good people, people just like you! Right there, right now need. This manifests as 'second chances'

Second Chances are the ability to avoid what may have been a completely unavoidable attack by some odd stroke of luck. This will keep your character alive! However with each point that you make a second chance, your corruption raises, and you become more a slave to your own demons. The number of second chances you have is strictly limited and depends on the amount of corruption you have.

..but worry not, you always have another chance, just take another step into the darkness.

---

Second Chances and The Devils Luck

Second chances allow your character to "Recover" from things that would otherwise disable him. This would be any sort of thing, mainly based off of "Chance Occurances" for instance, if your character is walking over a bridge and it suddenly collapses, they may use a second chance to hold onto the rope bridge and pull themselves back up. Or if a moderator deems that the wall is too high to climb, the character may figure out how to run up the wall and grab the top of it to pull himself up. Second chances may be used in Battle, however are limited to things that aren't "not-avoidable" for instance, if your character is about to be spewed with a fireball from behind and he doesn't realize it, he may use a second chance, however if a character is tied down, has all his chakra points gone and is about to be dealt a death blow, they may not, however they may of course use The Devils Luck.

Second chances come at a cost, for every 3 attempts at using a second chance, the character must add 1 point of corruption to his character. Rules should be added to limit the amount of second chances per topic to three, in battle topics to one.

The Devils Luck

Sometimes, you may need even more help then a second chance. You might have the odds stacked against you or that sword may really have your name on it. Whatever it may be, you can always use the devils luck to get out of it. A character may use the devils luck whenever they so choose, even if its before they use a second chance. When a character calls upon the devils luck, a moderator must come and step in to make the situation realistically lucky, however the devils luck comes at a cost. It can only be used once per character. And if it successfully gets them out of the situation [yes! There is a chance it will fail!] they must add 3 points of corruption to their character.

---

Original Sin

Every character would have to start with 1 point of corruption in one of the three paths. Any character with 1 or more point of corruption must choose an affliction for that path. An affliction does not effect every character in the same way, you should be looking to identify your own style of affliction, from a basic outline.

---

Going "Beyond the Pale"

When a character reaches a number of corruption [the number of second chances the staff would determine as the maximum amount] past the amount of second chances allowed, they go "Beyond the Pale." This is the end. Your character will soon hear the closing measures of his life: one last doom to stand against and then finally, to fall. A role playing moderator would then assume complete control of your character and decide what happens to him. You may even get your final second chance and save the princess! But now you will have to create a new character.

---
The Paths of Corruption

There should be a limited number of paths, I was thinking three; these would be "Physical, Desire, and Drive"

Physical would be problems with your character physically, Desire would be what your character wants, and drive would be what your character is willing to risk to get what they want.

Some Examples

Physical
Aura of Deformity [Your character has an aura of deformity which entices hatred and loathing in others]
Illness [You have a terrible Illness]
Monstrous [Your character's appearance has become monsterous because of his corruption]

Desire
Addiction [You have an addiction, whether it be to Opium or Sex, you're an addict.]
Anhedonia [You can no longer find pleasure in life, joy has lost its meaning]
Hedonist [Your life is controlled by the pursuit of pleasure]

Drive
Consumed [Your life is simply a vessel for your creations]
Killer Instinct [People are merely obstacles in your path, their lives are meaningless]
Twisted [Your methodology betrays your burgeoning inhumanity]

Then there would be levels of how screwed up your character would be which i will put into example here:

Illness
Your impending death bas been a constant companion since the day you were born. Something moves in your veins, and someday it will kill you. If you're lucky, it's something mundane - a cancer, a poison, a wasting disease. You may keep a stiff upper lip and appear healthy, calm, and collected, but it is an illusion. When they aren't looking, you spit up blood or are wracked with uncontrollable tremors that can leave you weak and bedridden for days at a time.
Rating 1 You are prone to bouts of illness. Despite dressing as warmly as possibly, you complain of chills. If your character had the "Immunity" quality, he now loses it.
Rating 2 You have grown pale in appearance, you catch cold easily and require ample sleep to remain healthy.
Rating 3 You have begun to show signs of long-term illness. You suffer symptoms like coughing up blood and vomiting. However any medical practitioner will remain dumbfounded at the cause. The best and only advise to be given is to keep their affairs in order.
Rating 4 Your illness has taken hold. Your movements have slowed and your breathing has become pained and raspy. Your illness is immediately apparent to anyone who sees you. Unless your character remains bedridden for half a day everyday, he suffers severe consequences to his body. If your character had the "Speed" special characteristic, he now loses it.
Rating 5 Your days are numbered, the good days are fewer and further apart. The cough that labors your breathing is ever apparent now, worsening and causing you to double over in fits of breathless agony. The character is only allowed out of his home once every 3 days. If your character had the "Strength" special characteristic, he now loses it.
Beyond the Pale A character who has gone beyond the pale quickly expires from his Illness.

So this is just a basic outline. The ratings of the Illness should be determined by the player himself, obviously we don't want everyone to have the same exact disease, or the same exact desire and etc, that would make it purposeless. So yeah, i gave it a basic "5" rating.

---

Summation

Your character is fucked, at one point he is going to die. You take corruption in order to prolong his death. As you take corruption your character becomes more and more deformed and messed up.

So I'll put it in basic basic terms.

Start of Character: 1 Point of corruption.
-Illness
Rating 1.

3 Weeks later, you need quite a few second chances and now have 6 points in Corruption.
-Illness
Rating 3
-Anhedonia
Rating 2
-Aura of Deformity
Rating 1

So in theory you could have every single affliction at rating 5.... however you'd be MAJORLY fucked.

Questions?

Age : 31 Posts : 299

You know what this means [;

bump

Subject: Re: Qualities and Impediments -- Corruption Thu 11 Aug 2011, 5:10 pm

Update:

This idea has been decided to be moved to the Staff Lounge for discussion and evaluation.

Age : 29 Posts : 4301

Solved.
Being sorted out within the Staff Lounge.