IsabellaRose

My bad, I forgot... looks like you're all updated. You just need specialties for Otis as a 2d4 Resource (Extra). Oh, and @WickedCadrach, you need specialties for Holland Buck.

I figured we would just include it as part of her "Elixirs and Tonics" unless you can think of any cool SFX or limits you'd want to attach to it.

I think I caught up! So current state: @Chiyako - Alicia is all set for Step 5! @AsBloodTurnsEverCold - Kojo is all set for Step 5! @WickedCadrach - just need to change Holland to a Resource and select a different Relationship to Step Up, then verify your last two steps (in case you wanted to use a chance to step up a Resource to step up Holland) @MagnificentBastard - just need to verify if you wanted to keep "Magical Legacy" or switch to "Esoteric Sex Mage", and what you think about the "blast" ability I mentioned a few posts back as well as make sure we're all one the same page with magic. @StarlitSiren - still need to begin Step 5. @DreamsnThings - still need to begin Step 5.

Requiring "the blood of others" is creepy and will definitely spread her rumor. I'd be happiest if it were "scientifically based" and she needs an infusion or injection of some sort rather than drinking it. Given her specialties, it seems like needing fresh blood as the final ingredient in some infusion before being able to regenerate would make it seem more vampiric and immediate but also still "scientific" and based on her alchemical inventions/discoveries. As an aside and only partially related, I could imagine her having a "port" installed somewhere on her body that allows for quick injections, sort of like a permanent IV cannula, but made specifically for her use. If that were the case, she wouldn't need to carry needles and no one else could try to use her elixirs and tonics as she would carry them in custom vials made specifically for use with her built-in cannula.

Okay, so per the updates I posted here a earlier... let me find a link. Here. A day after you wrote this... sorry Holland is a Resource until another PC connects to him. SO... you'll need to step up a different Relationship, and I'm pausing on updating your sheet there in case you want to use one of the next two steps to step up Holland instead.

...and then I read everything else in the thread (I should know by now to not respond until I'm caught up) and I forgot about the point that @WickedCadrach brought up. This IS meant to be a low magic setting. Blast seems out of line for magic. Maybe for a steampunk rifle or weird tech, but magic IS meant to be quiet, slow build, more ritual than spellcasting, more let's take the time to collect hair and craft a vodoo doll than "BANG! I zapped you!" I was picturing the esoteric sex mage as the kind of guy who's gather riches, power and authority, collecting strings tied to everyone around town, and using his magic to further his ambitions, not to blast his way out of a saloon fight. BUT... I do like my players to be able to do what they want. So... what if we just define what his blast is, and make it something related to being an esoteric sex magician? Rather than a "flaming fingertip of doom" maybe he has a "eros blast" that can inflict Aroused stress on its target...? It's nothing flashy, invisible to the naked eye, but the end result is the same as if you hit someone with a weapon - disabling erotic sensation instead of pain. It seems more in line with the kind of magician Edmund is. I'm not big on the super speed aspect, either, tbh. The list of abilities is straight from a superhero game, and half of me thought I should edit it heavily before posting, but I figured if I put that stuff in there so we had a point of reference. It definitely feels more like D&D in the wild west the more superhuman abilities we add, especially with the magical aspects. But Super Speed is already something Alicia has with a tonic, so I we'll make it work. I guess I was hoping to keep the abilities tied thematically to the type of character. AND LASTLY, the briefly mentioned point WickedCadrach made. This is not the kind of game where combat abilities matter at all. It's a dramatic roleplaying game. It's designed to have scenes where Lois Lane's skill as an investigative journalist has the same mechanical weight as ALL of Superman's powers, where the trick arrows of Green Arrow can be as mechanically impactful as all the powers of Brainiac, where Lana Lang with zero powers can have as much mechanical impact by arguing with Lex Luthor as Lex can have using his genius to invent a new way to stop Superman... so... yeah. Combat is absolutely NOT important. You don't have hit points. Death is only on the table when it's narratively interesting. This game is zero simulation and 100% narrative. We're telling a story more than playing a game, although our story telling has been gamified. I don't know if that makes sense. I always have a hard time explaining it to people who are coming in from D&D and other simulationist games. Hell, I had a hard time adjusting my playstyle at first. The narrative style TTRPGs are nothing like other TTRPGs I've played. You could play the average guy who mucks out the stalls in the stables and have just as much mechanical effect on the game as a guy buttoned up in a steampunk Iron Man suit with heavy armor and bristling with weapons.

Those connected abilities work for me! Remember that you can always use any SFX from ANY ability once you bump your heritage up to d8.

We need to define what that arrow is - I think you mentioned "owns the deed to the property" or something like that, but I don't want to put words in your mouth. I also need you to draw an arrow back from an NPC or Location to a Player Character. I adjusted "Esoteric Sex Magician" to be more generic in the use of power, but specific to your actual limits (mute seemed like a weird limit for a sex magician, but abstinence makes a whole lotta sense!) See what you think and change Magical Legacy to Esoteric Sex Magician if you want. I think it fits a lot better, based on our discussions. We could always just adjust the Limits on your Magical Legacy instead. I just think the flavor text sounds better. Heritage Distinction: Esoteric Sex Magician: You draw your power from desire itself... lust, devotion, and the charged spaces where the body meets the spirit. Whether a disciple of forbidden texts, a practitioner of occult tantra, or a devotee of Crowley’s new Aeon, your very heritage is steeped in sex magic. This power is potent but perilous: as intoxicating to you as it is to those who cross your path. Connected Abilities: Illusion, Persuasion, Hypnosis, Precognition, Healing (through intimacy) Limits: Abstinence: If you are denied intimacy, desire, or indulgence for too long, your Abilities are Shutdown until you indulge again; Sanctified Wards: Your Abilities can be Shutdown in the presence of wards, relics, or holy symbols that suppress lust or bind desire. d4: Add a d6 to Trouble to Reroll any die due to your magical “luck.” d8: Add a d10 to Trouble to use a Special Effect from an Ability you do not have, connected or not. d12: Add a d10 to Trouble to Reveal that you know a spirit, demon, or sorcerer with information you need. Otherwise, all set!!

bodyguard/assistance works for me. You could even list it as "butler" or "manservant" and it would just cover any assistance that might reasonably be performed by a butler.

I added him as a 2d4 Resource*. See my note in the previous post. You are correct - I changed the original rules from Duty to Honor. It seemed more fitting for a wild west themed game. But I keep referencing the original rules and missing some of my little changes like that. Alicia was already stepped up to d6 during Step 3 Focus, so you can either step her up to d8 or step someone else up to d6.

Something I have been doing wrong... When you add a new NPC to the board, they're supposed to start as a 2d4 Extra under Resources. Then if another PC links themselves to your NPC, the two of you discuss if you want to bump them up to being a Relationship or not. SO... Make no changes to old stuff unless you want to, BUT... going forward, any new NPCs will be Resources instead of Relationships and I'll add them to your sheets that way. ALSO, since most of you will be or already have added an NPC this round, you'll need to add their specialties like we did for locations. BUT... You can also feel free to change your NPC Relationships to Resources if you want. If you do, you can look back through the Pathways steps - I have them all listed in the My Copies of Steampunk characters at the bottom of each sheet. You'll be able to see where an NPC was added as well as how often you stepped them up. If you want to change them to a Resource, do so, and use the Relationship step ups you used for them to step up other Relationships instead. Just let me know which steps you changed so I can update my copy of your sheet. Questions? Ask me! Sorry for the secondary confusion.

Guilty every year until this year. I just didn't end up doing it for some reason. The next person celebrates an obscure holiday that nobody else they know celebrates.

Not guilty, but my mother has told me repeatedly that I need to get my head screwed on straight, so maybe it's time? The next person wants something they should know better than to want.

We can change those SFX for Alchemical Elixirs and Tonics if you want. It's a custom Ability, so I may have cheated and stolen SFX from other Abilities. If you see something that you think fits better, or if you'd like me to brainstorm some possible new SFX, let me know. Because I'm me, I thought of a few that might be interesting, like you could spend a Plot Point to... Push your body past its limits. Add any size die to one roll involving brute strength or endurance, then Step Up your Exhausted or Injured Stress by the same die size as the crash hits. (Adrenal Draught) Briefly perceive the invisible - see ghosts, residual energy, or aetheric fields for one exchange. (Aetheric Distillate) Radiate vitality and allure - Step Up any die in a contest where the flush of health and glow of charm could help. The effect lasts until the end of the scene. (Potion of the Peacock) Subtly twist a small factor of your biology momentarily - alter eye color, heal a scar, or mimic another person’s scent or voice for one scene. (Mercurial Serum)

I think you could make The Invention be that after years of experimentation, she finally uses her tonics and elixirs on herself and feels the changes wrought within her own body. Sticking with your vampiric theme, I think the Abilities that fit best (in order) are: Super-Senses Invulnerability Super-Speed Regeneration Super-Strength And she could easily work Poison in thematically as her tonics could also be toxins. That's just my two cents, so take it for what it's worth. You don't need specific spells. Look at the SFX for Magical Heritage. At d8 you get: d8: Add a d10 to Trouble to use a Special Effect from an Ability you do not have, connected or not. You get any SFX from any ability to use as a "magical effect". That's one of the most powerful abilities in the entire game. Granted, it comes with a pretty big cost, giving me an extra d10 in Trouble to mess with you, but it leaves things pretty wide open as far as what you can do.

Yes, a Heritage is a special kind of Distinction, and begins rated at d4 just like all other Distinctions. Your Magical Heritage is listed under the spoiler for Distinctions, then under the spoiler for Heritage Distinctions, then under the spoiler for Sample Steampunk / Weird West Heritage Distinctions along with its details and relevant SFX.

Don't be sorry. That's why you have the ability to mess up other player's connections, and it's one of the things that makes this game so amazingly fun!

You create a new NPC or Location linked to you... THEN connect ANY NPC or Location to any OTHER player character. It can be the one you just created, or any one already on the map.

Kill, because I don't believe in marriage and I don't want to spend all of eternity with only one person.

STEP 5 is posted! ...and it's a BIG one. Lots going on here. The Pathways map gets changed as follows: Draw an arrow from your square to a new or existing circle (NEW Extra) or diamond (NEW Location). Draw an arrow back to a Lead square. Additionally, if you feel like maybe you have a Relationship, Extra, or Location that just doesn't seem to fit anymore after others have linked or changed, you can remove up to 2 of them with these optional map options! Optional: Switch out any Relationship or Resource currently on your sheet for a new Relationship or Resource at the same die rating and draw an arrow to a new or existing circle or diamond as appropriate. Optional: Remove any d4 Relationship or 2d4 Resource and step up another Relationship or Resource. Just do me a favor and don't delete the line from the map - click each end of it and just drag the ends off the square or circle, then drag the whole line to the side. That way if we decide to undo/redo it later, we'll remember what it was.

Fuck because I'm just an ageless, undead fuckdoll now.

Fuck with my reborn (undead?) and ageless body.

Everyone is all caught up, so we're ready to proceed with Step 5 as soon as I get it posted!

I must have seen something else. I have you down as: Step 2 Youth: Apprentice Draw an arrow from your square to a new diamond (NEW Location). Label the connection (line) to define it. Added Kyles Cure All's Pharmacy at d4 Draw an arrow from a circle or diamond that you added to any another circle or diamond. Label the connection to define it. Mr. Kay > why is my sister in this town? > Red Jenny Add or Step Up a Distinction. Honeypot to d6 Step Up a Resource. Kyles Cure All's Pharmacy to 2d6 Step up a Relationship, Distinction, Ability, or Resource. Honeypot to d8 If you want to see what I have written down for each of your steps, check the thread MY Copies of Steampunk Characters. Your character sheet is here, and if you expand the spoiler under Pathways, you'll see what I have marked down for each step of the process. There are a lot of steps and a lot of variables, so I find it easier to track everything this way. Then we can go back at the end and make sure nobody missed anything and everything was stepped up appropriately. We can put Mr. Kay up another notch, but we'll have to bump Honeypot down to d8 from where it is now at d10. Totally up to you.

Got it! Thank you! Out of curiosity, how do your Loyal Servants help with charm? I imagined them to be something like a household staff with specialties more along the lines of discretion, maintenance, rumors, organization, hospitality or the like. I must be picturing something different lol