IsabellaRose

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That's exactly correct. I kind of made it a two-pronged use. Both are "oops, too much" but I figured it could be used more ways that one. How does this sound: d4 Honeypot: You know how to make people want you and how to turn that desire into opportunity. Whether through calculated charm, feigned affection, or dangerous intimacy, you lure others into vulnerability and extract what you need: secrets, access, or obedience. You can fake love, but the danger lies in sometimes feeling it for real. Roll this Distinction’s die when romantic, sexual, or emotional manipulation could give you an advantage. d4: Earn a Plot Point when your false relationship becomes emotionally complicated for you OR when someone discovers your deception and turns your tactics against you. d8: Spend a Plot Point to Reveal (or begin without resistance) a romantic or sexual connection (past or present) with an NPC, granting you temporary leverage or access. d12: Add a d8 to Trouble to Step up your Effect die when manipulating a target who already desires or trusts you. This is absolutely correct! You don't need to ask anyone's permission to step up the relationship with them. You could step up your relationship with someone to d12 "Soon he'll love me as much as I love him" and they could have a d4 "She can't be trusted" relationship with you. It's all about your perspective on that character. You'll have plenty of chances to step up your Relationships. Based on the Umbracite angle and your "agent for some group/office" status, you could really step any relationship up at this point.

I added the rules for "Growth" and the "Growth Pool" to the Rules Reference. This should give you an idea of why you want to take Stress and challenge your Value and Relationship statements. It's the way you add dice to your "Growth Pool", which is what you use at the end of the session to add or step up Relationships, Distinctions, Abilities, and Resources and grow your character.

Mechanically, when you try to do anything in the game, you won't roll Ability + Skill to see if you're strong and skilled enough to succeed, you'll roll Value + Relationship to see why your relationship and the things you believe are important enough to make you succeed. So your two most important traits to increase are Relationships and Values. You start with all the Value at d4 and a relationship with every other PC at d4. Die ratings "Step Up" from d4 to d6 to d8 to d10 to d12. Values will be automatically stepped up throughout the process, but you will need to choose to increase your Relationships over Abilities and Distinctions (a catch all category for personality traits and skills) at each step of the process. So the things you need to do are: 1. Step either Up Glory or Truth twice, or step them each up once. I pasted some details about values below. 2. Add a Distinction OR add a new Ability. I would use this to add this custom Ability based on your idea for pheromone based powers: d4 Pherotech: Through a blend of alchemy, bio-mechanical glands, and/or chemistry, you can exude a subtle haze of engineered pheromones that tweak emotions and instincts. Whether through perfume atomizers, implanted diffusers, or cleverly disguised gadgets, your presence can shift a room’s mood from dread to desire, from unease to trust. The effect is invisible, almost imperceptible… until it’s far too late. You may roll Pherotech to sway emotions, charm, or manipulate others through scent and chemical suggestion. The effect can’t work on targets without biological olfactory response (automatons, corpses, spirits). Masks, filters, or strong wind can negate it. Effect: Influence. Descriptors: chemical, scent, alchemy, manipulation. Limits: Gear, Supply. SFX d4: Earn a Plot Point when your unique chemical signature gives you away and someone recognizes or tracks you by scent. OR d4: Earn a Plot Point when your pheromones affect someone you didn’t intend (an ally, a bystander, or even yourself) or your charm, allure, or influence causes someone to become dangerously obsessed or jealous. (Pick one of these two effects) d8: Spend a Plot Point to Step Up your Effect die in a contest when you rely on scent rather than words. d12: Add a d8 to Trouble to Step Down one of your own Stress dice or a social complication by self-administering a stabilizing dose. 3. Add another Distinction or Step Up a Distinction You could add any of these Distinctions, or pick another you like: CORSET TEASE: You weaponize clothing, posture, and innuendo. Roll when charm and suggestion sway others. DARING: You sometimes cross the line between brave and foolish, but you’ll try almost anything once. Roll the Distinction’s die when recklessness or boldness helps you. FEMME FATALE: Mystery and allure are your sharpest tools. Roll when seduction or intrigue is in play. 4. Step up a Relationship, Asset, or Resource. I would use this to Step Up a relationship with one of the other PCs.

@DreamsnThings - start with Step 1 in Pathways. You have a square representing you on the Miro board and a circle representing your first related NPC. Add your character name to the square and your NPC name to the circle and then click on the line linking them and add your relationship to the NPC. Add all the other PCs to the Relationship section of your character sheet at d4 rating as below d4 Alicia von Vulf d4 Edmund Blackwood d4 Kojo Amankona d4 Millie Gearhart d4 Missy Fisher Add your NPC from the Miro board to the Relationships section of your character sheet at d4 rating just like the other PCs. Start with Step 1: Origin in the Pathways section of the rules. Select from Privileged, Common-born, Prodigy, Outlandish, or Constructed/Touched. Once you select one, Add or Step up the listed items. If you have questions, ask here.

That's probably not a bad idea... maybe I'll change them up at the end so everything from each PC/NPC matches the source color. It shouldn't matter then who did what anymore.

There's no need to lock items on the Miro board. I sometimes move stuff around a bit to make lines more readable, and I just have to unlock them. Also, please don't change colors of lines; it's how I track who finished their steps, so if you change a line color I think someone still needs to complete a step they already did, or they did a step twice when they didn't. Thanks!

Call them Silver Mines since that's what they started as. Umbracite is something new. I think you just found out about it within the past few weeks, along with the rest of the town.

I have ideas. I was already kicking around the idea of finding something unique in a mine at some point, a resource that might be beyond the "blue coal" we already discussed. So, here's my proposition: What if the family mines, worked for a few years now, are silver mines. Everything there is fine and business as usual until very recently, when the miners reporting something new, veins of a strange ore running alongside, sometimes together with, the veins of silver. The ore veins are razor-edged, cutting tools and flesh alike. Sparks from pick strikes cause unnatural fires that burn without consuming fuel. One batch of ore hauled out of the shafts crumbled into worthless black dust under daylight, and miners have report hearing their own voices echo back from the dark saying phrases they never uttered. This new metal, several samples of which have been returned to town, has been coined "Umbracite". Testing reveals that not only is it a perfect conductor of galvanic currents, but that ground Umbracite catalyzes alchemical brews, especially elixirs tied to speed, clairvoyance, and vitality.

I missed this somehow. Yes, you all still need to add a new NPC or Location! For the Elixir... This game doesn't have typical move or initiative rules, so I'm going to suggest some modifications that are more in line with the way the game works. I tried to capture the spirit of what you were going for, but with SFX costs and benefits that fit within the standard framework. d4 Elixir of Savitar: A bottle of glowing elixir easily mistaken to be liquid sunlight, this creation floods the central nervous system with a concoction of stimulating chemicals designed to increase the speed of nerve impulses. It simultaneously introduces chemicals within the body's muscle cells designed to allow the fibers to contract with greater speed and force. All of this is perfect for running away from one's problems, although it does incur its own set of side effects. Drink the Elixir of Savitar and roll when speed, agility, or rapid reaction could give you the advantage. Effect: Movement Descriptors: alchemy, elixir, heightened reflexes, speed, stimulant. Limits: Gear, Supply SFX: d4 Earn a Plot Point when the elixir wears off at the worst moment, leaving you shaky, exhausted, or in withdrawal. d8 Spend a Plot Point to perform multiple (non-Test or non-Contest) activities in the time it takes others to perform a single activity. d12 Add a d6 to Trouble to Reroll a die in a Contest or Test where speed or reaction time gives you the advantage.

You did indeed read that correctly!

I feel like this is a variation on The Other Theory and the two might overlap too much and leave you with less abilities. So... A Heritage distinction is really about being part of a group or species that have a set of predefined abilities and limits from a single source: Vampire, Kryptonian, Atlantean, Lycanthrope, Skrull, Cybernetic System, etc. I stretched it a bit for the Vampire by Science. I think we can cover the effects of the Other World with abilities without a Heritage Distinction. For this specific ability, I would like to define a couple more SFX, maybe flesh it out a bit more. It seems like this one is sensory? Maybe I'm off on my assessment. d4 Cursed by Cacophony: You’ve read the ebon pages and heard the aberrant strain. You’ve sung peculiar arias and played forbidden tones. Your study of the music of the world beyond has given you the ability to open minds with your song, but in turn, your own was wrenched open, never to be shut again. Your head is filled with a constant chorus you can never escape, only drown out with more sound. Your new eyes mark you as forever changed, a vessel for the sacred cacophony forced to see and hear the Other World always. You are, forever, a servant of the Noise. Effect: Sensory Descriptors: Haunted, discordant, visionary, marked SFX: d4: Earn a plot point when resisting possession by The Noise causes you pain, makes you collapse, or retreat. d8: Spend a Plot Point to let the Noise speak through you, creating a d8 Complication (Unnerved, Confused, Fearful) on a listener. d12: Add a d6 to Trouble to Reroll a die when your visions or sounds from the Other World grant uncanny insight. Something like that? Let me know what you think or if I'm way off base.

There are up to 9 steps. It depends on how far we want to take it. We have to do at least the first 5: Origin, Youth, Focus, Road, and Life Changing Event. That will give you a character with an entry level amount of Distinctions, Abilities, Relationships, etc. Ideally, we'd complete the last 4 steps (Priority, Modus Operandi, Motivation, and Identity) as well to get us all up to fully fleshed out characters, but I might try to find a way to just step some stuff up for each of you if we're getting "Pathways Fatigue"... the process runs a lot quicker around a table.

Plus, you'll have more opportunities to step stuff up in the rest of Pathways.

You would need to step it up to d8 to get the second SFX, and then step it up again to d12 to unlock the third SFX. It's sort of designed to mimic the way superheroes discover and think of new ways to use their powers as they get more experienced with them.

I'm still catching up on everyone's Step 3, but I wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that Game 2 has been cancelled, so this is the only Cortex Wild West / Steampunk / Weird West game that I'm running. With that being said, I'd like to Welcome @DreamsnThings to our game! I'll be adding her to the Pathways map and we'll get her caught up to the rest of you. Thanks for your patience and continued interest, everyone!

The Exchange and Edmund are both good. For the Ferroburst Pistol, I'd like to keep it as close to the original "magnetism" as possible. I wouldn't limit it to a single shot, but maybe it needs to be reloaded. You might also want to replace one of the SFX with "d4 Earn a Plot Point when you run out of ammo" and move the others left up one. For the Alchemascope, I'd suggest something more like: I think those align better with the rules of the game and will be more universal, but let me know what you think. IF you like them, Millie is good to go for Step 3!

Missy is all set for Step 3!

We would need to define the reason for his extended lifespan. Why is he so old? why hasn’t he died? what keeps him alive? what problems has this caused for him? what happens if someone tries to kill him? what price does he pay for this extended lifespan? I'm not sure it fits 100%, especially after having kicked the idea of a vampire out for Chiyako. I’m not 100% against it, either, but I feel like there’s going to put Edmund at a level far above everyone else. I’d like to put it out to the group. Is an immortal character okay with you? Do you feel like it will create too much of an imbalance? If you’re not comfortable voicing your concerns here, feel free to message me privately.

I don’t want to add pressure or stress to anyone. I think I’m going to cancel this game. My apologies for pushing too hard. Thank you for your initial interest.

Actually, you're all set. Setting up the character, connecting them to the world, and giving them their distinctions and abilities is all done during Pathways.

We're just waiting on SataiRolePlayingGuy and Warning to tell us they have solid character concepts. Everything so far has been maybe, kind of, I'm waiting to see what everyone else does... it feels very noncommittal and like there's lack of interest from where I'm sitting. And that's fine. I'm not here to force anyone to play my kind of game my way. If the wind has been knocked out of anyone's sails, they don't need to play this game. This is meant to be fun, so if it's not anymore, then there's no need to continue. I also don't want to rush anyone, but stepping through the Pathways process is difficult and time consuming and I really wanted to keep these two games in sync through character creation so it's easier for me to manage. The other group is getting really far ahead. I don't mind if the two games play at difference paces, but if they get much further ahead I'm not going to be able to run through both Pathways at the same time. It's a lot more online that it is in person around a table. I've had to do a lot more explaining, which is a lot more typing, which is sucking a lot more time than I expected.

Kojo is all set for Step 3!

Abilities Distinctions Heritage Distinctions Let me know if you need me to clarify beyond what's written in the rules. Side note: I went back to double-check because I thought I missed something, and your original character concept didn't have anything about being immortal, which is definitely an Ability. It might be based on a heritage, depending on why you're immortal. Either way, we need to define how and why you're immortal, and what the limitation is to your immortality. "I weirdly lived a really long time" might be how it comes across to the people in town if they find out, but there's a reason for it and if you want it to matter in gameplay, we need to tie to to a mechanic and a limitation.

Every separate ability you have counts as a new Ability on your sheet. We could call them Inhuman Speed or Strength. When you count them as "Gear" that means they're not an inherent part of you and what you do. Think of it as Spider-man's "spider sense" which is part of him, vs. his web shooters, which are gear he wears. The big difference is that gear, or in our case, mad science, has limitations. It can break, you can run out of "ammo" or "doses" etc. That's why "Gear" or "Mad Science" are limits. Does that make sense?