WickedThought

My new group just put the Seasons chapter through the ringer in a very good way.

They asked hard questions, making me come up with hard answers. They found mistakes, they found inconsistencies, they found loopholes. They showed me how to make the game better.

A lot better.

I’m very excited for one of the most underlooked elements of the game. The part of the game that I was actually most excited about. I can’t wait to write up all the changes. I’ll be posting them as well.

Soon. Now, it’s time for sleep.

One of my players has begun an online journal of the playtest sessions.

Actually, she’s been keeping these journals from the beginning. Fun, quick reads. You can read them here.

Most ven seek Artifacts from the ruins of the sorcerer-kings. Such items give a ven power, prestige and influence. The noble caste finances groups of ven brave enough to dare the ork-haunted ruins, hoping they’ll return with such items.

Not all return.

A small party of ven crawling through an ancient ruin. The smell of ork everywhere. Darkness. Stench.

But the torches reveal a glimmer on the wall. An ancient sword, covered in dust and cobwebs. A blackglass mirror, miraculously intact. Tylvarae. These are Artifacts, pieces of history thought long buried with the secrets of the sorcerer-kings, recovered by the ven. In ven literature, these things are spoken of with awe and reverence. And more than a little fear. Artifacts are not things to be trifled with.

Consider stumbling across an atomic bomb. You don’t know how it works. You don’t know what might set it off. You don’t know if the shielding leaks. You don’t know anything. Sure, you now have access to power—unspeakable power—but you really don’t know what to do with it. How it works. What you shouldn’t do. No clue at all. This is the sensation the ven feel coming across the Artifacts of the sorcerer-kings. Objects of power great and terrible. Unknown.
After all, one of these things blew up the world.

These rules present you with the ability to build your own Artifacts. Some of them are simple things. Magical tools left behind by their enigmatic creators. But others… who knows what they may be.

These Artifacts are all different. Different qualities, different shapes, different capabilities. Each is a puzzle, waiting to be unlocked. Some are traps.

Scratch that. Most are traps.

Many Artifacts also seem to have minds of their own, whispering to the ven who holds them. And no matter the ven, using an Artifact always—always—brings ruin to the hand that wields it.

Values & “DOOM!”
Finding an Artifact calls for a Wisdom risk. The usual target number and wagers. Success indicates you have found an Artifact. Each wager allows you to assign a Value to your Artifact. Values equal power. Each Value listed below increases the potency of your Artifact… but also increases the danger. 

Each Artifact also has at least one rank of Doom. When a ven finds an Artifact, the GM rolls one die. Secretly. The roll equals the Doom of the Artifact. 

Doom represents the inevitable ruin that follows those using the Artifacts of the sorcerer-kings. In all the stories, anyone who picks up one of these things gets whacked by the fate hammer. Even the ven recognize hubris, and in ven literature, meddling in the affairs of the sorcerer-kings is the very definition of dangerous pride. 

At his own discretion, the GM may, at any time, declare “DOOM!” He does so after a roll. After Doom has been declared, the player in question automatically rolls 9, regardless of his true roll or any other bonuses. Comes up just a little short. Just not enough. 

(I recommend pointing at the doomed individual and in your scariest voice, declare the “DOOOOOOOM!”) 

Any Artifact only has so much Doom. When the GM uses the last Doom, the Artifact in question shatters, breaks or otherwise becomes useless.

One of the most common forms of murder in ven opera and pillow books is poison. The temptation to create an elaborate system for venoms is tempting… 

Actually, it isn’t. Not even in the slightest. 

Poison kills you. That’s what it does. No risk. No rolling dice. If you ingest it, if it’s injected into your system, you are going to die. Nobody makes a “saving throw” against arsenic. Or cyanide. A drop of mercury. Or a particularly nasty spider venom. Nobody. 

In ven literature, this is particularly true. Poison spells death. In all the reference materials I have, there is not a single mention of any hero or heroine who survives poison. Not one. It may take them a week to die, but they die. 

Poison has an intention. That intention is to kill you. So, here’s the game system. 

If you get poisoned, you die. 

Poison for Wimps
Okay, so you’re not that ruthless. You’re not that cruel. 

(Why are you playing this game?) 

Here’s Poison for Wimps. Enjoy.
___
The ven know five poisons. Well, they know and trust five poisons. They don’t fiddle with venoms or toxins that just make you sick. Poison is for murder. Not sickness. 

With that in mind, let’s spend a moment talking about how to make and use poisons. 

Making a poison is a Season action. The ven know many kinds of poison, but the “big five” are the ones we’ll be using in the game. Other poisons just aren’t toxic enough to affect ven biology. 

Making poison costs a Season action. You’ll read about that in the forthcoming Seasons chapter. Using poison is usually pretty risky. After all, getting caught means you get killed—unless you are under the shadow of revenge, of course. 

Dropping poison into a cup, without being seen, isn’t covered by any of the Virtues. Waiting for the precise moment to drop a venomous liquid into your enemy’s cup, just at that right moment when nobody is looking. Waiting… waiting… 

If only there was some kind of “patience” Virtue. That would cover it nicely. Unfortunately, the ven don’t have that Virtue, so any ven undertaking a risk involving using poison cannot call upon any Virtues for that risk. Unless she sweet talks an enemy into drinking the poison. That would be Beauty. Or perhaps throwing the poison into someone’s eyes. That would be Strength. I’m sure some clever player could also come up with a valid reason why Prowess would be an appropriate Virtue. Even Courage. But sneaking poison into a cup isn’t Cunning or Beauty or Strength. It would require some other Virtue not listed in this book. 

Other Chapters
Chapter Two covers the five kinds of poison available to the ven. 

Chapter Nine talks about how to make poison as a Season action and how to make yourself immune to poison in the same manner. 

Poison Actions
Making yourself immune to a particular kind of poison… the ven immune system is pretty remarkable. You’ll have to spend a Season action making yourself immune to one of the five different poisons. 

Arsenic
Cyanide
Hemlock
Oleander
Strychnine 

Immunity costs you a Season action. If you are immune to a particular poison, you are immune to it. No risk, no dice. Immunity. If you aren’t immune to a poison, you die. No risk, no dice. Death. 

Immunity only lasts for one Season. You can only be immune to three of the five poisons; the ven can’t sustain more than that.