Chat and Doom

ShadowBright · Jan 13 '12, 8:39am

Good :-)

End of the month seems pretty fair. It is two weeks on top of the time we've already had. I'll go find my books :-)

laiced · 10:34pm

I had a pic here that I was worried about being too sci-fi looking, but it seems as though the effect will work nicely with his background, so I am going to use it regardless.

I am trying to finish the background and all of that good stuff this afternoon. The crunch was done but I am going to revisit it today or tomorrow hopefully.

pink peril · Jan 14 '12, 10:03pm

End of the month! Can't wait! Eeeeeeeeeeee! :-)

Like SB, I welcome feedback from the boss on my chara concept. Thx. <3

laiced · Jan 16 '12, 4:56am

I am going to be generating my StatBlock now....should be up pretty soon for review, Ruben.

Ruben · Jan 17 '12, 5:31am

A couple of things.

For you mages/technomancers, I'll let you take the discounts for submersion/initiation if you detail the network/group and task you performed for the bonus. Keep in mind that there are groups that form simply for the purpose of initiation, so you don't even have to be tied to them. The basic idea is that if you tell me what happened and give me a plot hook or two I'll give you the bonus.

Also, if you guys could list bp and karma expenditures in the threads that would really help me make sure all the totals are right. At the very least telling me what you spent your karma on will help me double check your work.

edubs · Jan 20 '12, 1:23am

I might rework my Karma/BPs to take a group initiation. Just to check. It's 5 Karma to join the group, plus 11 for the initiation for a total of 16 Karma? I was also thinking of making the Oath ordeal compulsory for the group, which would knock the initiation down to 8 Karma for a total of 13.

Also, I'm helping laiced rework his PC a bit and we were thinking about making a Vanatru group that initiates both magicians and technomancers. Is that OK with you?

If so, can technomancers take Oath as a submersion task? I don't see it in Unwired, but they also note that submersion tasks are still developing. Maybe we can think of a digital twist to that.

Ruben · Jan 20 '12, 3:29am

Quote:

Originally Posted by edubs

I might rework my Karma/BPs to take a group initiation. Just to check. It's 5 Karma to join the group, plus 11 for the initiation for a total of 16 Karma? I was also thinking of making the Oath ordeal compulsory for the group, which would knock the initiation down to 8 Karma for a total of 13.

Also, I'm helping laiced rework his PC a bit and we were thinking about making a Vanatru group that initiates both magicians and technomancers. Is that OK with you?

If so, can technomancers take Oath as a submersion task? I don't see it in Unwired, but they also note that submersion tasks are still developing. Maybe we can think of a digital twist to that.

If you can do as good a job with the group as you did with the magical background, I'll waive the 5 karma initiation fee.

And yeah, it's totally fine if you make a group that combines both Technomancy and Magic into one harmonious whole. Frankly that makes things easier on me, so that's good with me.

I don't see a major problem with taking Oath as a submersion task, though I'd ask if it's really necessary when the book offers a lot of other good choices.

edubs · 3:36am

This is what we have so far:

Ratatoskthingi (aka Ratatoskr Society)
Members: 18 (slowly growing)
Resources: Low
Strictures: Oath, Fraternity, Secrecy/Privacy, Material Link

The Ratatoskthingi is a recently formed secret society of Vanatru magicians and technomancers that formed for the purpose of investigating links between the phenomena of mana and data, i.e. Essence and Resonance. Named for the squirrel that climbs the World-Tree, the ash Yggdrasil, carrying insults from the eagle atop the tree to the serpent Nidhogg at its roots, the Ratatoskthingi is both a fraternal organization focused on research and a network for creative solutions to problems not easily solved with a single approach. Current members live in many places, including Seattle, Stockholm-Uppsala, London, San Francisco, Hannover, Vilnius and New York. Message nodes are maintained by Technomancer members, who regularly change their virtual addresses, while meetings among the Awakened members often occur in astral space where travel over thousands of kilometers can easily be accomplished in an hour or two.

While freedom of thought is encouraged and the specific theories of data and mana are as numerous as the members, there are Three Beliefs that all members must accept to join: (1) Essence represents the power of life that nourishes the World-Tree (and therefore metahumanity) and the natural order of the world must be maintained to keep it from corrupting into a Toxic form, (2) Resonance represents an order produced by metahumanity and the freedom of information flowing through the matrix must be preserved to keep Dissonance from spreading by the distortion of chaotic forces, (3) understanding the connections between Essence and Resonance is essential for the maintenance and progression of metahuman society into a harmonious ideal. The symbology of the group often depicts mana flowing up the World-Tree through its xylem, nourishing living being's Essence (often depicted a leaves on the tree) and data flowing (as sugar would) through its xylem, as a network of Resonance that nourishes and preserves the tree.

These belief strictures are philosophically flexible insofar that (1) is not construed to entail pacifism (the natural order is full of predators and prey), but does strictly prohibit unnecessary killing and especially the cruelty and destruction of nature that can taint astral space and the mana flowing within it. It is also generally recognized that in accordance with all three beliefs, AIs, spirits and other denizens of the Matrix and astral realms are to be treated with the same reverence and respect as living things. While many of the technomancers take (1) in a more metaphorical sense than the magicians, both are quite serious about (2) insofar that their research must be available to all others in the group and others that may benefit from it. This does not mean that members must share it with parties that will use it to destructive ends, nor must they divulge all details of their personal lives. Furthermore, being a secret society, members clearly feel that such matters are within the private realm. This secrecy is deemed necessary in the light of megacorporations' recent predations upon technomancers, as well as their past (in some cases, continuing) transgressions against the Awakened.

Members are recruited when they have been searching for answers to difficult questions for a long period and have begun looking into Vanatru groups, in the real world or the virtual, yet have not found any answers. For each member, this personal quest is open knowledge to the other members who are sworn to assist one another in their quests. During the first initiation/submersion in the society, marking the joining of the member with the Society, the member must divulge their personal quest and swear an Oath to the Three Beliefs. All members provide the group with a master thesis or source code upon their second initiation in the group, which serves to secure the group against the betrayal of members, but also as a magical/technological link in case they experience trouble and need the Society's assistance.

Ruben · Jan 20 '12, 7:43pm

That looks really, really solid ebuds. In fact, I really dig it and the blending of the two traditions has tons of story potential. It even has me thinking about quests to merge the two, creating a couple of new Positive Qualities that allow magicians to learn complex forms as spells and technomancers to view the astral plane via a special complex form. But that needs more thought and it would be the focus of a few runs.

Good work so far!

edubs · Jan 23 '12, 8:46pm

Great! Glad to contribute some color to the game and double glad if it inspires some plotlines.