GM Advice - Family problems

In a lot of games where you can take various 'handicaps' for characters most players will take advantage of these to no end. One common I have seen a lot of is games consider having a family or dependent to take care of is a handicap or something bad. That or they write up a character background where they have a family and then forget they even exist once play starts. This is a bit assbackwards in my mind but it seems to be the way a lot of games and players go. Well if they want to take them as a disadvantage or completely ignore them then by all means make them the biggest problem in their ass that you can.

Never ever kill the family. I know for some folks running games out there this is going to be really hard. It flies in the face of tradition of killing off the PC's beloved by the players. Problem is it is usually only effective for one game session and then it's blown off. Don't do that, keep them alive, that way they can continue to be a problem to be dealt with.

Now with that first bit out of the way lets look at a bunch of basic ways to aggravate.

Old debts come calling. Somebody owes somebody else a lot of money and they want that money now. Debt collectors come in many forms and sizes, from collection agencies calling up people related to (or responsible for) the debtor to more aggressive tactics like showing up at their front doors. Times this by ten if the person they owe money to is a criminal organization or massive gambling debts. Easiest way out of this is simply paying them what is owed... if they can. Otherwise it may build up to actual physical conflicts to be endured.

If their dependent is a child well then those cost money... trust me I have a couple. So be sure to hit them up for cash spent between game sessions. Food, clothing, school costs, toys, games, etc. This creates a constant drain to the pocket book and we Gamemasters know how important it is to separate a character from their money. Failure to provide a safe and healthy home is considered negligence in the eyes of the law in most civilized places.

If the character has a wife well then those cost money also... trust me I have plenty of broke friends to testify to this. Be sure to have them spending it for them as often as possible. New clothes, a car and all it's costs, etc. It doesn't have to be the rude stereotype of a 'money spending woman' either, but if they aren't bringing in income they have to be given something to survive on also.

Kids are a never ending source of headaches, some being worse than others. Make your PC's kids part of the 'worse' section. Calls from the police if they get caught shoplifting an angry shop owner if it's a fantasy world. Running away from home in the middle of the night. Having to go pick them up in east jesus when they are tired, cold and hungry. Be sure a lot of this suddenly pops up in the middle of the game so they have to take care of it right then.

Tag along. You can't always leave them at home and sometimes they just utterly refuse to stay there. Be it a baby sitter canceling at the last minute or a wife who thinks her riding along won't be any problem. Just put them there beside them for the entire game... talking... asking questions... doing the wrong things at the wrong time. You get the idea.

The borrowers. You get out on the adventure just to discover some of your rations are gone and that extra lamp oil is missing. Well you know, somebody back at home needed that, they just didn't bother to tell you. Same goes for finding your hard drive space filled up with downloaded movies or the extra fuel can being empty. Or when they do return something they took without telling you it's because there is now something wrong with them. The IR goggles are on the fritz (because IR goggles are damn cool to any kid out there), that computer has a virus from the downloaded movies or scope on the rifle is knocked out of line.

Poor choice in friends. Your daughter is hooked up with a sleazebag who has a tendency to steal anything left out... and he's at your house when the adventure is on. Your wife has a friend who is constant trouble with the law... and your wife is always trying to help bail her out of trouble. Your son has been hanging out with some vandals... and they've all been picked up by the police.

Don't forget the old standby use of a family member in a game. Kidnap them so you have to rush to the rescue.

There is just so much you could use to stick it to your players with their family. Make that disadvantage one hell of a disadvantage. If you do it right they won't look at it as a fast way to get some extra character points next time. Just remember to keep them alive so they can be a pain over and over again.

Spam is bleeding through.

Well as much as I hate to do this it has to be done.  Going to stop allowing anonymous comments on the posts here.  Granted most of the comments are by people who sign in there are a few that weren't.  But the amount of spam getting through has gotten really high.  The Blogger spam filter is catching a lot (it allows me to see what it blocked) but there is still plenty getting through.  In just the last twenty four hours I had eight more to delete myself.

So it's time to flick that switch for logged in users only.  Sorry if this is an inconvenience for anybody.

Rules for Asshole Gamemasters number one.

 
Rules of the table for asshole gamemasters.  


Or...


Necessary rules to keep your sanity and your stuff. Number One. When they forget to bring a freaking pencil. You have this nice little stash of mechanical pencils in your bag. Because, as a GM, you are never unprepared. Problem is your players also know you have that stash of mechanical pencils and somehow seem to think that it falls into the category of 'Community Property'. So here they show up for the games without anything to write with and look to you as if you are the responsible party for them being ready to play the game. With a sigh you hand them one and another to the guy over there who evidently realize that writing shit down was something that happened in an activity involving dice, paper, books, etc.   But then when it's all over for the night you find the stash to be short a couple.


 Now most of the time they didn't up and steal them on purpose, it just slipped their mind when they were packing up. But you can almost bet that next weekend nobody will be showing up going “Oh here is that pencil you loaned me last week, sorry about that.”. Nope they are now lost to the world or claimed as the sole property of the person you lent it to. Now what's the rule for this? You see this pencil right here? You need this pencil? Okay then give me your car keys. Yeah that's right, give me the ring that has the keys to your car, house, whatever on it. I don't get my pencil you don't get these keys.


 This way I'm absolutely freaking sure that the usual 'slip of the mind' will be quickly remembered when you try to leave. If we're at a shop you better hope you remember before I load up and drive away. I mean your keys in my bag of stuff must have simply slipped my mind. For the record.


 Yes, I DO use this rule.

Digesting various mechanics - Wordrunes

Going through the game that is much the talk of rumors and jokes among gamers. Dragonraid, the Christian Adventure Learning System.... yeah retitle it all they want but it actually is a roleplaying game. I picked up out of sheer curiosity a year or so back. Finally getting around to digging into the books (there are many) that they packed into that big ass red box (damn big box).

First thing I'm going to talk about are the Wordrunes. These are basically spells with a very specific twist on them. In order to cast them you must repeat, outloud, a specific passage from the Bible. If you can do it from memory then you can put points towards raising your both your ability to use Wordrunes but also to another attribute that it is specific to. I'm guessing this is the learning part as it requires you to commit these passages to memory.

All in all it's kind of a neat idea also these seem to be the main way of raising your characters abilities. There are a ton of these in the players guide and a bunch more in each of the adventures they tossed in the box as well. I'm wondering how well one could rewrite it using phrases specific to their game worlds, fictional religions or even the history of their game world. The asshole in me almost wants to go pick up a copy of the Satanic Bible and use stuff from it just to piss people off... but I think I'll skip that idea.

But reciting a bit of the world history involving a defender of an old king who stood his ground against many which gives you a combat bonus does sound neat. A quick two line prayer of the Goddess of Life that works as a healing spell. This has potential but I'm not sure how many players out there would be into committing all this to memory. In Dragonraid these can be used by reading them from the card but you don't gain any of their version of experience when you do this. Maybe an alternative could be a reduced gain if not recited from memory.

Also there is a Difficulty Level as well. These work a bit like spell levels in most other games. Your ability (Sword of Spirit in this game) has to be equal to or higher than the level. Along with a connected attribute that also has to be equal to or higher. They provide a little chart showing how they come up with the DL which is based upon the number of words you must recite. More words mean a higher DL. One odd bit is once you get so high in your Sword of Spirit level you can no longer cast the lower level Wordrunes. Doesn't really explain why this is either, although an alternative could be you can cast them but gain no experience for doing so. They've become to easy.

Other bits. The number of Wordrunes that may be read is limited to three per adventure. However the number they may use from memory is unlimited. You must begin and end the wordrune with the Scripture reference. There are also team runes which the entire group must say in unison.

So some of the ideas could be used in other games. Basing wordrunes off a fictional religion and it's tomes could really add some flavor to a game. It could also raise some eyebrows on people who still cling onto the 'gaming is evil' mode of thought.

Six Pack - A small selection of Magical Items

This six pack contains six odd magic items for use in most fantasy era roleplaying games. These are presenting without any system mechanics what so ever. Hopefully you will find some use in them and your players find much delight.

Skulls of Light – Basically they looks pretty much like you would think. It's a polished black human skull, minus the lower jaw, placed on top of a stick. However it also acts like a light source with the light shining from within the skull and out through the eye sockets. Some claim this is actually a trapped soul slowly being burned off causing the light which is why they never seem to dim go out.

 

Rumors say these are left over artifacts from a kingdom ruled by necromancers and dark magicians. In the stories they used many of these 'torches' to light the hallways of their castles and keeps and were made from the heads of dispatched enemies. Some even say the soul trapped inside is fully aware of it's surroundings.

Poison detector cups – These range from very simple metal drinking cups to a few very expensive goblets made of rare metals and ornately decorated. They do one thing and they do it well. Whenever a poison is put into the cup it turns the liquid into vinegar immediately. So when you raise it up close to your nose there is no doubt that it is unsafe to drink.

These are said to be left from a noble family who made such cups for many of their lineage. The ornate ones for those who held lofty positions and then the simple ones for those who did not have as much prestige. There is no difference in their effectiveness though.

Copy cat Quills – A set of seven quills displaying exceptional quality and craftsmanship. Six of them are done with a silver tip that blends in with the shaft of the feather seamlessly. The feathers are almost perfectly identical and are crisp with a color that starts as white and then goes black at the tips. The remaining one is done with gold instead of silver but is otherwise completely identical.

 

To use them you lay each of the silver quills down on a piece of parchment with an ink bottle along side. Place them as identical to each other as possible. Then the person would use the gold one on a separate piece of parchment (ink bottle in the same place). When they are writing the other quills will raise up and move along the same lines, effectively making six copies of the work.

Combs of Grooming – Rather nice looking combs made out of various semiprecious metals, some even have a few gem stones placed in them. The craftsmanship is of great quality so without knowing their enchantment they would appear to be of value. The enchantments make them worth even more to the right people. Each is made to help keep your hair in a specific style. Whenever one is ran through your hair it automatically trims it off to a specific length, causing it to go straight or curled and whatever else is necessary to make the hair take the appropriate shape.

 

This rather large set is scattered out among the world. Believed to have once belonged to the royal family of a kingdom that has long since vanished nobody knows how to duplicate their ability. From estimates there are around a hundred of these combs each with it's own style, some for men and others for women.

Circlets of Social Circles – These are thin silver circlets worn on the head. Each is very exquisite design, inlaid with diamonds and other fine gems, very feminine in appearance. Those wearing one gain a significant bonus on any rolls involving social situations along with a resistance to anybody trying to use social actions against them such as seduction or persuasion. After being worn for five hours they begin to cause a headache that becomes steadily worse until removed.

Message in a bottle – This is a pair of identical matched bottles. Each is very well made, long necked wine style with a dark smoked color. A dark colored cork is stuck in the tip, the top of which has an unknown symbol burned into it. Each bottle is kept in it's own wooden box made specially just to hold them stationary wrapped in velvet so they don't break during travels. A brass latch is along the side of the lid to keep it shut.

 

To use these one simply writes a message onto a sheet of parchment, rolls it up and places it inside the bottle. Making sure to replace the cork and to latch it shut. Whenever the person with the other box opens it up the letter will now be in their bottle. The actual transfer of the parchment does not happen until the other person opens their box and then only if the other box is latched shut as well. There does not seem to be any limitation in distance but all it will send is the parchment, anything else placed inside stays in the original bottle.

Screams From the Outhouse - Skinners

Skinners - Rough draft
A terrifying new creature for use in most horror themed modern role playing games.
By: Peter Amthor Hiding in the dark of those abandoned places that so few ever venture to explore. Watching and waiting for a lone victim to wander in to close. Razor like claws itch for flesh to sink into while their minds crave the euphoria that your terror provides them. Wanting two things above all else, your skin and your screams.
“I can't even close my eyes at night without seeing them. Those bodies, four or five of them, it was hard to tell. Piled in a corner with their skin gone. Two of them were smaller I remember that, they were probably children. There was blood everywhere. It was all over the room upstairs, practically soaking in it. Then the trails of it where I guess the thing drug them downstairs to the... pile. What? Yeah I saw it. Some kind of dead thing I think, still walking around, God it stank. It had knives or something and it tried cutting me from behind. But I had my vest on and it stopped most of it... still got twenty stitches out of it though. It was on me fast, but then the back up I called came running in the other door and it shrieked and ran off. I'll never forget that night. Or that two of them were children.” Officer Donald Haskins, Transea PD.

• Appearance Bearing an uncanny resemblance to humans in both height, proportion and general body movements they are anything but human. Residing a rung above us in the food chain we are what they prey on. The differences in appearance set them apart if seen uncovered. Thinner limbs and center mass they look built like somebody with an eating disorder in that regard. With skin that is almost blood red, with a raw look covered in hundreds of small thorn like extrusions. Possessing no body hair, ears or lips they have a slit for a mouth and a row of jagged sharp teeth behind it. Their fingers end in claws that are flat, almost like double edged razors, and roughly two to three inches long.
  
• Behavior Sunlight is a bane to these creatures when they are uncovered. With skin that is easily burned they hide out in abandoned buildings and subterranean locations that still have a chance of humans making their way into (old subway tunnels, large storm drain systems, etc). Hiding in the shadows and watching from a distance when they spot a potential target you rarely see them unless they want to be seen. If there are out numbered they are rarely attacked, but then again they also don't more in groups very often. Most encounters reported are of the one on one type. It is very obvious that they possess an almost human level of intelligence and are capable of using just about any weapon to some degree.
  
• Attack Even when possessing a strength and speed greater than that of a typical human they still prefer a sneak attack. Everything from a straight forward hit from behind to some sort of trap, anything they can think of. Only one catch, they do not kill outright and intend to make the target suffer as much as possible before ending their life. One of the most reported methods is to immobilize the person through stunning or just by over powering them and then using some sort of restraints on them (ropes, handcuffs from previous victims, etc). Once they are unable to fight back their claws are used to slice open a long stretch of skin, then to work them up under the flesh and slowly skin the victim alive.
  
• Emotional Feeding The skinners feed off the pain they cause in others. A necessary part of their mental nourishment. Without it they will eventually grow delusional, with emotional out of control fits of anger and an inability to sleep. At some point this will cause them to either grow bolder when searching for victims or, in most cases, to become even more seclusive until they suffer a brain aneurism which will kill them. When receiving the emotional rush of the pain they have created it acts like a drug, euphoric and never enough, leading them to drag out the tortures for as long as possible.
  There is, however, one very unique and strange weakness to this. It only works when they are the cause of the pain. If someone or something else that they had nothing to do with causes the pain then there is a severe mental backlash causing a great deal of pain. The greater the pain the more it forces them back. This is also the believed reason as to why they are rarely found in groups as the attack of one would drive the others away.
  
• Physical Feeding This is where the skinning part comes into more importance. Those thorn like things on their skin are actually part of their digestive system. Once a person has expired they finish removing the layers of skin and then cover their body with the pieces. The thorns hold them in place like hundreds of small hooks while they also release a digestive enzyme which breaks the flesh down. This is then absorbed through pores in the skin providing the creature with substance. The process may take weeks to finish leading to encounters where people think they are being attacked by something undead as the layer of skin is rotting on the outside.
  
• Afterwards Once they are finished and their meal is dead they will generally drag it off to some other section of their chosen lair. Usually the furthest point away from where people usually enter from. They are absolutely not interested in doing any other kind of clean up at all. Blood is left where ever it hit the floor and even bits and pieces are left lying about. They simply wait for their next food source as they soak the in warm feeling of their emotional feeding for several days.
  

Sla Industries - Stormer Shivers

“You know I've said this before and I'll say it again, I'm just sick an tired of dealin' with Shivers every time I turn around. Always askin' for your identification to get through gates, your BPN reference number when askin' for support and so on and so on. No matter where you go, all the damn Shivers are just the same... just the freakin' same.” Corgo Stern – Human Kick Murder – SCL 8 – Squad: Red Stars.

Stormer Variant 001 – Designation: Shiver

Genetic Origins

When the Stormer idea was first formed it was still unclear on what Mr. Slayer had in mind for them. Therefore the first goal of the project was simple duplication of the DNA, successful cloning of the subject to an advanced age and implantation of knowledge an experience so they would be fully capable almost immediately after leaving the tanks. To this end Phantom Pregnancy accomplished their goals with perfection. However once they had reached this pinnacle they were given their next set of goals updating their physical structure and more defined memory implants. So they moved on to the next level and left the 001 model behind.

This left a few hundred of this first batch behind. All of them already trained through memory implants and loyal to the company. In order to see that they didn't go to waste the entire group was placed on guard duty for the nearby facilities and plants which they performed exactly as ordered. But were pretty much also forgotten about. Until the Malice was finished.

 

A handful of years later when the Malice model was debuted and showcased to the public a very observant corporate executive noticed something. While people were awe inspired by the new Stormer they still treated it as an alien object, keeping their distance and acting quite different in front of it. But around the security detail they simply acted normal even though they were all perfect duplicates of each other. When confronted with something as inhuman as the Malice they stopped noticing the differences between anything else that appeared human. A completely loyal security team that, now, nobody even suspected as being abnormal because the definition of normal had just been changed.

 

The order was given to restart the 001 model on a smaller level than before along with trying out a few new ideas into their cloning process. A random trait matrix was put in place to generate the appearance of the newer versions. Things like hair and eye color, nose structure, jaw line and other cosmetic traits would be randomly assigned when grown. Now given their own unique look among each other they would blend in even more with regular humans. It was during this time that they were also given the designation of 'Shiver' by an unknown genetic engineer.

 

Throughout the Big Picture they continued to see an increased demand and a ramp up in production. Becoming popular in the corporate and upper management areas since they were not nearly as foreboding as the Malice. They were also much easier to grow and took less resources to make or maintain. Which is what led to their expansion into an actual public security force on Mort. Phantom Pregnancy sat up three production plants on Mort with the sole operation of producing Shivers and nothing else.

 

It was during this time that a new and much expanded memory implant matrix was put into place. One that would generate an entire, but basic, past history for each Shiver. Along with a new trigger that would activate their memory capabilities. Once fully formed they would be cleaned up, tested, equipped and assigned housing, they would not remember any of this as their short term memory was locked at this point. Once in their homes the trigger was used and their stored memories would activate and their short term memory would begin working as well. In short it was at this point that the Shivers were never told of their actual origins and began to believe that they were humans.

Over the centuries the memory processor has become even more developed and detailed. They would blend memories together between various individuals so they were 'know' that they had been friends since childhood and had decided to join the Shiver forces together. Complex relationships were formed and the perfection rate skyrocketed. Thus giving us the Shivers that are now in place today on the surface of Mort.

The Carrien Connection

“I've been in the cannibal sectors, lower downtown and every other hell hole in this city. I've seen more Carrien than most folks have seen people. Let's not even talk about how many I've killed in that time. One thing always bugged me... I've never seen a baby, or even very young, one.” Jackal MacDonald – Frother Strike Squad – SCL 6A – Squad: Endangering Species

Once there were three facilities that produced Shivers on Mort. Then came the fall and thus one of them took the drop with everything else that was lost. Except the plant was built a little to well. After the dust had settled the fully automated machines inside kicked back on and attempted to start production again. There was quite a bit of damage though, even part of the complete DNA coding was lost. So the computers AI simply started using other sources of DNA to fill in the gaps and once that new sequence was finished the production lines started up again.

Thus was born the first of the Carrien. Although nearly all of them suffered from various defects the AI didn't give up. Instead it began working on the DNA again until it created a more stable form. For more organic material to grow with it sent out the robotic service drones to come back with whatever they could find, at the time this consisted of a large amount of dead bodies from the collapse. Then production started back up and to this day it hasn't stopped. Generation after generation is produced and released upon the world of Mort at a much faster rate than normal production because the Carrien are even easier to produce than the Shivers.

Although the facility has had to improvise quite often. It now draws up the waste that seeps down to it's location for raw material, collected by Carrien with special memory implants just for that purpose. Some tanks became corrupted but still produced, it simply gave those implants to urge them to go as far away as possible to avoid damage to the plant. Thus giving rise to the mutant and advanced Carrien. Not to mention others specifically done just to guard the location to protect it from anybody trying to destroy it.

 

Black Units

Buried deep inside the mind of each Shiver is something called the 'Black Program'. Activated by a very specific signal that only a few in Cloak Division, Stigmartyr and some very specific people know about. It immediately turns off their short term memory and implanted false personality, then activates another implanted memory and enhanced skill sets. This is usually done while a unit of Shivers is inside an APC so they can then immediately drive to wherever they need to be. The signal also causes all armor and weapons to change to a flat black color while a fast moving drone is sent to their location. Upon arriving the drone will open revealing whatever armaments the trigger activator requested.

While under this memory they will do anything asked of them without remorse or pity. From killing off an entire building full of civilians to strapping explosives to themselves and doing a suicide charges into an enemy position. They simply exist at this point to do whatever they are told as effectively as possible. Once finished with their tasks they are returned to their point of origin and the trigger is reset and the Shivers 'wake up'. Time loss and disorientation will be explained off as being hit by a nerve gas or bio weapon fired by Dark Night agents the same excuse will be used for any casualties as well.

Notes to Remember

While the Shivers are loyal to SLA Industries there is a bit of low level disloyalty built into some of the personalities. Those who will take a bribe to look the other way, steal a few things during searches and even some that will abuse citizens who aren't direct employees of SLA. This is done in part to make them more 'genuine' and less likely to attract attention for being to perfect. But if the company is ever under threat they will stand up to defend without fail.

 

Nothing is perfect. There are those cases where something goes wrong. The few who remember coming out of the vats, those who remember what they did when their Black Program was triggered, glitched up memories and so on. This has led to some rogue Shivers who break their programming and have gone off to try to figure out what, exactly, they are. Of course when this happens there are extermination warrants issued post haste.