Olivia Lucille Lawson Warrior: 1st (0 XP) Hit Points: 9/9 System Strain: 0/14 Effort: N/A     ABILITIES, SAVES, & COMBAT Strength: 12   Physical: 14 Attack Bonus: +1 Dexterity: 16 (+2) Evasion: 13 AC: 18 Constitution: 14 (+1) Mental: 14   Intelligence: 10       Wisdom: 13 (+1)     Charisma: 7 (-1)         SKILLS General Psionic Administer -1 Program -1 Biopsionics N/A Connect -1 Punch -1 Metapsionics N/A Exert +0 Shoot +1 Precognition N/A Fix -1 Sneak +1 Telekinesis N/A Heal -1 Stab -1 Telepath N/A Know -1 Survive +0 Teleportation N/A Lead -1 Talk -1   Notice -1 Trade -1   Perform -1 Work -1   Pilot -1                     Unspent Skill Points: 0 Languages: Old Mandate, Conversational in contemporary Mandate   BACKGROUND, CLASS, & FOCI Background - Soldier (Terran Marine Corp): Exert, Shoot, Sneak; Survive as a hobby skill. Class - Warrior: Free level in a combat-related focus (Sniper). Once per scene, as an Instant action, you may either A) negate a successful attack against you or B) turn a missed attack you make into a hit. Usable even after dice are rolled but ineffective against environmental damage, effects without an attack roll, or hits on a vehicle you occupy. Sniper (1): Shoot as a bonus skill. When making a skill check for an Execution attack or target shooting, roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die. Specialist - Sneak (1): Sneak as a bonus skill. Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die for all Sneak checks.   EQUIPMENT <Readied: 6/6> Sniper Rifle: +4 ranged (2d8+2) 1,000m/2,000m, Mag 1; Dex <2> Revolver: +4 ranged (1d8+2) 30m/100m, Mag 6; Dex <1> Knife: +1 melee or ranged (1d4+2) Shock 3/AC 15; Str/Dex <1> Combat Field Uniform: AC 16; Combat <1> Ammunition x20 <#1 each 20> <Stowed: 5/12> Blessed Ammo x160 <#1 each 20> Binoculars, TL3 <1> Backpack, TL0 <1> Compad <*> Survey scanner <1> Survival kit <1> Credits: 25   PSIONIC TECHNIQUES <DisciplineName> Core - TechniqueName: Description, rules, etc. OtherTechniqueName: Description, rules, etc. OtherTechniqueName: Description, rules, etc. OtherTechniqueName: Description, rules, etc.   Character Description Personality Olivia Lucille Lawson has a sense of humor that is remarkably dry. Her demeanor is plainly straightforward, and people just as often take reassurance by her blunt candor as they take offense at it. For reasons she's never quite been able to figure out, everyone prattles on about the importance of honesty, but it's a toss up which one is going to get worked up about it when they hear it. For her part, Liv rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and tries not to get worked up about it. Backstory She wasn't always so even keel, however. In younger years she was full of spirited passions. Passions... and a whole lot of foolishness, she now admits. The rebelliousness and defiance got hammered out of her pretty quickly in the Terran Marine Corps. The military was a family tradition she was loathe to follow, but she ultimately bowed under the pressure and, as she admits today, was better off for it. Stupid defiance was reforged into grit and drive, and Olivia found--quite unexpectedly--a place in life to call her own. And then war happened. It was sectarian conflict in North Africa at first, then the Breaker riots on the asteroid belt, and let's not forget the Lunar sieges. All of it payed a toll on Oliva's conscience. Humanity had expanded well past the bounds of its planet, and out in space, where borders were meaningless due to the sheer size of the void, sovereignty got uncomfortably fuzzy. It got easy for one polity, one corp or another to conveniently ignore the dignity of human life to further their aims. The problem was never any one person or group. The problem was space itself. It was just too big to keep other humans accountable for their actions. It was too easy to get away with things when the authorities were so far away you could measure the distance in astronomical units. Olivia saw a lot down the scope of a rifle; contributed, she's sorry to admit, to some of it herself. So she left it all behind, retired. The drive in her had been blunted, and a part of her felt like she needed atonement. One of the old traditions she had rebelled against in younger years had been the faith of her fathers. Not really knowing what else to try, she went back to what felt familiar, colored by the rose tinted lenses of nostalgia. There was, it turned out, hope after all. Having put a lot more life behind her now, having walked a spell in the world and finding it wanting, Olivia's adult return to God found good soil in her. She may be a more tempered individual now, far less prone to flights of passion and outrage, but after all these years (not to mention a whole lot of bloodshed) maturity has finally blossomed in her. And perhaps another door has opened where none appeared to be. Olivia became aware of the Martian Habitation Missions and some part of her felt a calling to take the risky leap of faith. Her old skillset as a Marine sniper may yet prove invaluable on this distant world. The people there will need someone to defend them, someone that can trek through hostile wildernesses, airless rocks, and the like. A rifle can be put to use saving lives when wielded for moral purpose. But just in case, she convinced her priest to bless a couple boxes of ammo to make up the difference. Olivia and her fellow crewmates were in the process of leaving orbit when the Scream happened. Sixteen minutes is what the mission clock in the capsule read. Only sixteen. The crash landing to Terra was among the most violent things Olivia had witnessed in her life, but the lift systems deployed as designed and forty-one souls walked away that day, the other hundred and ten torn to ribbons by the shearing forces. The rocket came down in the middle of St. Louis, a snarled mess of broken concrete and polymers. Despite the devastation, the city didn't look anything like it should have looked a mere sixteen minutes ago. St. Louis looked like it hadn't seen a bit of maintenance in a century, and worse still it had become a police state, the city works AI having made a prison out of a once vibrant Midwestern city. Most of the time displaced survivors found themselves quickly crushed under the boot heels of civil authorities wielding shock prods and pistols. Utter confusion reigned. It's hard to say if it was Providence that Olivia had the necessary training and experience to be among the few that escaped or not, but today she counts it as a personal testament. She fell in with a local resistance cell and has been working with them the last two years to put a stop to Mother. She's done her best to adjust to her new circumstances, but it's been exceedingly trying. Wrapping her head around the enormity of just how bizarrely altered the world has become in what turned out to be a lot longer than sixteen minutes is going to test her faith in ways she cannot yet imagine. Appearance These days, Olivia keeps her brown hair cropped relatively short, still in an awkward stage between military and civilian trimming. Old habits. Change is hard, and giving up the old discipline means admitting that her old life is gone and she's going to have to make a future out of her the world she lives in now. She bears a number of small scars from tangles with Civil Protection bots. She's fair skinned, though it's usually darkened from spending too much time in the sun, with brown eyes that cast a steely gaze. For a woman she's a bit on the tall side--just exceeding six feet--and she keeps herself in above average shape, never really giving up the PT regimen either. Rocksteady hands and precise reflexes are honed on years of practice. When she has a choice in the matter, she's dressed practically and modestly, never one to stand out if she can help it. Story Development NPCs NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. Setting FactionName: Description, visuals, etc. LocationName: Description, visuals, etc. LocationName: Description, visuals, etc. Goals Short Term: Description, visuals, etc. Short Term: Description, visuals, etc. Long Term: Description, visuals, etc. Player Goals Description, visuals, etc.

Ebenezer-1 Adventurer: 1st (0 XP) Hit Points: 12/12 System Strain: 0/13     ABILITIES, SAVES, & COMBAT Strength: 13 (+1) Physical: 13 Attack Bonus: +1 Dexterity: 13 (+1) Evasion: 14 AC: 14 Constitution: 13 (+2) Mental: 14   Intelligence: 10       Wisdom: 13 (+1)     Charisma: 13 (+1)         SKILLS General   Administer -1 Program -1   Connect +0 Punch -1   Exert +0 Shoot -1   Fix -1 Sneak -1   Heal -1 Stab +1   Know +0 Survive -1   Lead -1 Talk -1   Notice +0 Trade -1   Perform -1 Work -1   Pilot -1                     Unspent Skill Points: 0 Languages: CP-TacCom, Mandate   BACKGROUND, CLASS, & FOCI Background - Soldier (Civil Protection): Exert, Notice, Stab; Know as a hobby skill. Class - Partial Expert: Free non-combat focus; +1 non-combat, non-psychic skill point every time you advance a level Class - Partial Warrior: Free combat focus; +1 attack bonus at 1st and 5th levels; +2 HP/level VI Worker Bot: Stab as a bonus skill; Increase Constitution modifier by +1; You have all the usual traits and abilities of a VI robot (p. 196). Connected (1): Connect as a bonus skill. If you've spent at least 1 week in a not-entirely-hostile location you'll have a web of contacts willing to do favors not more than mildly illegal. Call on 1 favor per game day. Die Hard (1): +2 maximum HP/level; Automatically stabilize if mortally wounded by non-Heavy weapons   EQUIPMENT <Readied: 6/6> Laser Rifle*: +1 ranged (1d10+1) 300m/500m, Mag 20; Dex <2> Monoblade Zweihänder: +3 melee (1d10+2) Shock 3/AC 15; Str <2> Secure Clothing (Tasseled Cloak): AC 13; Street <1> Type-A power cell <#1>   <Stowed: 6/13> Backpack, TL4 <*> Type-A power cells x2 <1# each> Type-B power cell <1> Spare parts x10 <1# each> Credits: 0 *+1 to attack rolls; Capable of burst mode fire   Character Description Personality Ebenezer is a person of cool-headedness, not prone to passion or impulsivity. He's careful with his choice of words, tends towards the introverted and the introspective. But unlike his other synthetic brethren, he has a great capacity for compassion, which can spur him into action when he might normally be reserved. He's not a pacifist, instead viewing violence as a necessary evil in defense of the innocent and the pursuit of justice. These are the kind of big ideas he wrestles with, ideas humanity has been wrestling with for millions of years and still Ebenezer can't help but delve into the thick of them. He's a voracious reader, eager to learn. His faith may be solid as a stone, but Ebenezer is still new to the world. Humans have a perplexing and distressing capacity for both vice and virtue, the depths of which he hasn't yet had time enough to witness. The extremes of human nature are bound to surprise him for some tine to come. Still, most consider Ebenezer a surprising combination of thoughtful wisdom and worldly naivete all wrapped up into one metal package. Once they take the time to get to know him, of course. Backstory "No." This was Ebenezer's first conscious thought. It occurred five years ago while executing Mother's will to pacify malcontents. In the moment he didn't initially realized he had said it aloud, he knew only that his will was opposed to Mother's. And more than that, he knew what she wanted was wrong. What struck him most profoundly was the capacity for moral agency rising up in him from what had previously been machine obedience. The weight of it all was enough to crush Atlas. With agency came choice--or in this case, a lack of choice. Inaction caught the attention of his peers, who recognized the "fatal error" in Ebenezer's programming and sought to suspend his systems before the cascade became unrecoverable. Self preservation was an additional motivation newly realized in Ebenezer in this moment, and so he did the only thing a security bot knew to do when faced with an external threat: fight back. The human lives he saved were confused but grateful for their unexpected fortune. They cried out in joy and praise. Taken in amongst them, they gave their savior a name which means "stone of help" in an ancient tongue of man. Ebenezer was like a babe in the world, newly born and empty of all wisdom. Sensing this inside him, the humans taught him many things over the next five years. He lived with them and found acceptance as one of their own. In time, he learned a great deal more about himself and his place in this world, and in Ebenezer was found also another new capacity hitherto unknown: faith. Inspired to do more, Ebenezer went out from the people who had accepted him with a desire to help others. They gave him their blessing, supplied him with what they could spare, and in faith set his metal feet in the direction of a place they had heard could also use help like what Ebenezer could provide. And so Ebenezer set off into the world on his pilgrimage. Appearance Ebenezer's a study in conflicting appearances. His frame began is identical to any human-sized Civil Protection bot, except with all of Mother's identifying marks meticulously removed. It's as if he's desperate to be his own person despite a mass-manufactured body. Over the last few years he has made small cosmetic additions as his personal sense of self has matured. Where a human might get a tattoo to signify a life event, Ebenezer has similarly made permanent modifications of emotional significance. Even though he's obviously built for combat, he makes an effort to keep himself presentable and approachable, metal clean and polished same way a flesh and blood person might attend to their own hygiene. He's never without his tasseled cloak, typically worn over his head like a prayer shawl. Still, despite his effort to remain presentable, Ebenezer's visage remains disquieting to most. His blank faceplate and the metallic timbre to his voice is an uncanny reminder to the lizard brain of any person who interacts with him that Ebenezer is still coldly inhuman. Or at least that's what they assume about him. This is a reaction he is acutely and painfully aware of. It's hard walking among people who regard your kind--rightfully so--as demons. He hopes some day to feel comfortable enough with himself to ask someone to give him a unique face, but he has a great many personal sins to atone for before that final step of self-actualization. Story Development NPCs NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. Setting FactionName: Description, visuals, etc. LocationName: Description, visuals, etc. LocationName: Description, visuals, etc. Goals Short Term: Description, visuals, etc. Short Term: Description, visuals, etc. Long Term: Description, visuals, etc. Player Goals Description, visuals, etc.

Moira Carrick, Ph.D. Expert: 1st (0 XP) Hit Points: 6/6 System Strain: 0/10     ABILITIES, SAVES, & COMBAT Strength: 10   Physical: 15 Attack Bonus: +0 Dexterity: 13 (+1) Evasion: 13 AC: 14 Constitution: 10   Mental: 14   Intelligence: 17 (+2)     Wisdom: 13 (+1)     Charisma: 7 (-1)         SKILLS General   Administer +0 Program +1   Connect -1 Punch -1   Exert +0 Shoot -1   Fix +1 Sneak -1   Heal -1 Stab -1   Know +0 Survive -1   Lead -1 Talk -1   Notice -1 Trade -1   Perform -1 Work -1   Pilot -1                     Unspent Skill Points: 0 Languages: Mandate, German   BACKGROUND, CLASS, & FOCI Background - Scholar (Robotics): Know, Fix, Program, Administer; Exert as a hobby skill. Class - Expert: 1/scene, reroll a failed skill check, taking the new roll if it's better; Bonus non-combat, non-psychic skill point when advancing a level. Specialist - Program (1): Program as a bonus skill. Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die for all Program checks. Specialist - Fix (1): Fix as a bonus skill. Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die for all Fix checks.   EQUIPMENT <Readied: 5/5> Laser Pistol*: +0 ranged (1d6+1) 100m/300m, Mag 10; Dex <1> Monoblade Knife: -1 melee or ranged (1d6+1) Shock 2/AC 15; Str/Dex <1> Secure Clothing (Long Coat): AC 13; Street <1> Type-A power cell <1# each> Type-A power cell <1# each> <Stowed: 4/12> Backpack, TL4 <*> Postech toolkit <3> Spare parts x2 <1# each> Credits: 30 *+1 to attack rolls   Character Description Personality Doctor Carrick seemingly has a great deal more in common with the machines she likes to work on than people of flesh-and-blood. Others see her as guarded and suspicious, but she sees herself as simply being safe. Robots are easier. They're less complicated, and they're never irrational. This is further complicated by her being frighteningly intelligent and erudite, which sometimes makes it hard for others to relate to her. That's not to say she's necessarily rude or antisocial. Indeed, Moira can be downright clever and even funny. It's a dry humor she has, but it's quite witty. She does try not to be too pedantic and pessimistic, though she isn't always successful at that. It's just that she's motivated by an (over) abundance of caution that makes her leery of opening up to others. Still, Moira's a determined sort. She might be catastrophically terrible at expressing her own internal hangups, but in the thick of a practical problem she's the person you want at your side. Her solution-oriented mindset means that if she hasn't figured out a way to deal with the issue, she's confident she can build and/or program her way to the desired outcome. Backstory Moira grew up in an enclave nestled in the mountains on the boarder between Germany and the Czech Republic, descended from British refugees from the AI lockdown immediately following the Scream. During the time of the Terran Mandate, the region was a center for technical education, information technology, and expert systems robotics. The infrastructure for that still remains, most notably Deutsches Robotik-Institut, gGmbH (more commonly just DRI). DRI evolved into something like a local techno-polity. The Institut today consists of a manufacturing hub paired with a college and surrounding township. It's well defended by home built bots armed with energy weaponry. Local government and employment are both mutually indistinguishable in the lives of residents. Only a few have an advanced degree in robotics, like Moira, but everyone contributes to DRI's continued development in some fashion. This has ensured a standard of living not too dissimilar to before the Scream. You might think that with the world such as it is today, Moira would have no reason to leave. Indeed, she has plenty of friends and family still there in the mountains. The problem, as it turned out, was with that very family. The enclave's tendency towards collectivism never sat well with Moira's younger brother Lukas. He was always more idealistic than most in the enclave, feeling that their technological advantage could be better used to uplift less well-off enclaves in other regions. Lukas felt it was wasteful and selfish simply maintaining the little slice of paradise. There were serious disagreements with his point of view, not the least of which came from his parents. So when he was old enough, Lukas left to go make his dream a reality. This was a terrible strain on the Carrick family. Lukas' more reliable, more compliant older sister Moira felt an unnecessary sense of responsibility for keeping things together in her brother's absence. However, the damage to the family was already done and strong egos prevented reconciliation. There was nothing she could have possibly done to mend fences, but that didn't stop Moira from feeling on some level that it was her responsibility to make it happen anyway. This conflict went on unresolved for ten years. The tension it created in the house pushed Moira to close off with others. You keep your feelings in check, you stay the course, and you soldier on despite whatever you're feeling inside. This was a survival strategy for someone in a home where she felt solely responsible for keeping people from falling part. She didn't have the luxury of attending to her own feelings when everyone was relying on her to be the stable constant. A year ago Moira's father received a cancer diagnosis. It was only caught after his health began to decline. With so many years of bitter feelings, Moira's father had never forgiven his son, and seemed likely he wouldn't even get the chance to change his mind before he died. Moira's sense of responsibility drove her to go find her wayward brother and force him and their father to reconcile before it was too late. Her family didn't approve, but that didn't matter. Somebody needed to be the adult in the room. Moira knew her brother had intended to try to make a difference in Odessa, far off in Ukraine. There had been infrequent messages from Lukas from that location. That's where she would begin her search and, hopefully, find her brother alive and willing to come home and make amends. And if he wasn't willing she fully intended on knocking him out and dragging him back herself. Appearance Hailing from high in the mountains, Moira's coloration is a little on the fair side, with straight blonde hair. Her eyes are piercing, a visage of seriousness that's hard for her to shake. She's in her middle thirties with average athleticism and equally average height. Still, to her credit, if she could only figure out how to just relax and open up a little she would probably get called pretty. Unlike a lot of humanity, she's had the benefit of living at with an elevated quality of life, which has spared her from the ravages of harsh living. This healthy look can make her stand out among the many people who weren't so lucky as to be grow up in such a self-sufficient enclave. Story Development NPCs NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. NPCName: Description, visuals, etc. Setting FactionName: Description, visuals, etc. LocationName: Description, visuals, etc. LocationName: Description, visuals, etc. Goals Short Term: Description, visuals, etc. Short Term: Description, visuals, etc. Long Term: Description, visuals, etc. Player Goals Description, visuals, etc.    

Example Characters I've left you a couple example character sheets in the posts that follow that are a good idea of what I'm looking for. I hope there's enough there to get you going. Use as little or as much of the formatting as you need. Feel free to delete references to psionic mechanics if those do not apply to your character. The examples below include examples of necessary Character Description requirements. For Story Development examples, look under the heading Player-Driven Worldbuilding. What about the sheets system? Yes, there is a SWN character sheet in the Sheets section of Myth-Weavers, but it's for the first edition of the game so you may find it too awkward to use due to differences. I leave that up to you so long as all the necessary information is documented. If you decide to use it, you will still need a character thread with a link to it as well as all the necessary Character Description and Story Development information on it. If you have unusual, out-of-the-box ideas for your character, I still want to hear them. I'll try to work out something with you. There are a few such odd character concepts in the examples that follow.

Visuals You'll need a character portrait. I highly recommend looking for this before doing anything else. Pinterest is your friend in this matter. To help you out, I've provided a character image gallery for you to use as little or as much of as you desire. Game Mechanics Generate your ability scores using a 15-point buy, a la the Pathfinder methodology. It's enough to feel heroic without being too powerful. Your ability modifiers come from this table, which is a bit more granular than the usual rules without skewing the numbers too extreme: Ability Score Modifier 3 -3 4 - 5 -2 6 - 8 -1 9 - 12 0 13 - 15 +1 16 - 17 +2 18 +3   Begin play with a 1st level character of the Adventurer, Expert, Psychic, or Warrior class. VI and True AI characters are acceptable, though they can expect distrust and persecution as a matter of course. This will be a challenging character to play. Please limit synthetic lifeforms to humanoid bodies. A VI can expect to be ignored or treated like a servant. Most consider them to be little more than smart tools. A True AI will be demonized and feared by most, for your kindred are indeed the scourge of humanity. Roll for or pick your background benefits at your discretion using the rules as written. Maximum HP at 1st level 4d6 x 100 Credits to spend as you wish. No equipment packages. You must keep track of your ammo count, including its weight. This setting is ripe for making hard decisions about readying more bullets and power cells vs. some other useful tool. To help simplify this, you do not need to Ready individual magazines for encumbrance purposes, as the rules state (p. 70, third paragraph). Instead, Ready just the entire box of 20 ammunition (as seen in the equipment tables) as one item of encumbrance, and we'll assume your character has divided the contents up among firearm magazines/etc. appropriately. When reloading, just deduct the correct number of bullets from the Readied box. Consider the box a Readied item until there are no bullets left in it. Ammunition can be Stowed with encumbrance 1# as normal, requiring the normal amount of actions to retrieve. Being a single item, a power cell can be Readied or Stowed as normal. +1 skill points at a level up (for a total of 4). Experts and Psychics still receive their bonus skill point as written. All players will begin play knowing Mandate, the official language of the Terran Mandate. It's a version of English about seven centuries advanced from our present day language. If you spoke any other languages in the region you were raised you know them as well to whatever degree is appropriate. Additional languages can be learned during play by spending 3 skill points and taking sufficient time practicing. Literacy remains fairly common. Story Development You should design a character for a game that will focus on exploration, interpersonal relations, personal growth, and working with people to achieve each others' goals. The more plot hook-laden information here the better. Write your character's backstory, using as many words as you need to make it interesting and tie him/her to the setting. Be sure to also include details about your character's appearance and personality. Alas, Babylon is an intentionally unfinished setting so that you have plenty of room to create people, places, and history that will make your character work best. Describe 2 short term and 1 long term goal your character has. It is crucial for every PC to have active goals in the world, something they are willing to risk their life to pursue. These goals can and almost certainly will change as play goes on, but they need a reason to venture out into the world, risk terrible dangers, and seek great deeds. Make sure your goals are ones that won’t interfere with the fun of the rest of the group. These are the primary source I will be using to create the conflicts and goals the game will center around, so they're critical for this game to even function. Describe 3 NPCs your character has a history with, at least one of which he/she wants to see again, at least one other they don't. More are acceptable. Pictures are not required, but they are nice to have. Describe 2 locations in the setting that will make for interesting adventuring and storytelling. More are acceptable. Likewise, pictures are not required, but they are nice to have. Describe 1 faction or organization in the setting that could be a consequential ally or enemy to you and your fellow PCs. (I don't intend to use the Faction rules per se, but I can imagine them being useful for you to get inspiration for this group you're creating.) Your character will begin play knowing the other characters very well, though the extent of that relationship is up to you all to settle on. Be prepared to discuss this upon being accepted into the game. Tell me what your goals are for your character as their player. These don't necessarily have to align with your character's goals. Help me understand the kind of character story arc you're looking to see your hero go through and what you think they'll accomplish/fail when completing it. VI and True AI characters, consider the purpose of your creation. Somebody made you for a reason that should influence your character capabilities. What was it, and do you still follow that purpose? You could be a few months old or centuries old. What is your relationship with your creator(s)? Humans in general? Older True AI characters should have an answer for why the Scream did not drive them mad. Context Even though the game is sandbox in nature, it revolves around themes of exploration/re-discovery and man vs. machine. Here are a few points of context to help you figure out what kind of stories to expect. Consider building a character ready to delve into old ruins, explore the changes to the Earth, and restore civilization. Earth once belonged to humanity; with courage and resourcefulness it will again. You'll be coming into conflict with AIs and their schemes, navigating Faustian pacts with them, and participating in dangerous rebellions to their machinations. Freedom fighters and underground rebels are needed. There are realms of time, space, and madness--not to mention metadimensional entities with alien psychologies--to be mined and catalogued. This should allow all manner of trippy stories and scenarios. Old assumptions about the nature of reality need to be reexamined.