Every character has an obvious identity to
everyone else in the room. Some
character might have secret identities that few (if any) know about.
Characters each have a unique character
number between 1 and 100 that represents (roughly) their age and power. The lower numbers go to the oldest / most
powerful. This is not an exact science,
and the only thing that relates to this is the highly unlikely event of enormous
group combats.
Every character has a number of Health
Points that represent their vitality. This is an expendable resource. That is, if you lose any of it, it stays
lost. You must keep track of your
current Health throughout the game.
Every character has one or more goals that they are trying to achieve. It is our intention to make it possible for each character to achieve ANY of their goals. However, since other players may have conflicting goals, it will NOT be possible for every player to achieve ALL of their goals.
Some characters have Secrets. A secret is simply a goal to keep some bit of
information from reaching one or more other characters. These may be facts about themselves that they
do not want everyone to know, they may be details regarding their own goals,
and they may be information some other aspect of the game.
Abilities are all represented and detailed
on the character’s sheet: the requirements for activating the ability, and then
the results for a successful use.
Defensive
Abilities
A Player might have an ability that defends
him against certain types of attack. For
example, Loki the Trickster probably has a “Secretive” Ability that allows him
to hide the items he is carrying. This
would be represented by an Ability Level of bonus of 1 to 3 to his defense
against any kind of ‘sense item’ ability.
Mars - the God of War - might have an Ability tied to an armor item that
reduces any damage against him by 1 per round.
Active
Abilities (most are attacks)
An offensive ability is one that allows one
player-character to do something to character.
It might be to do more damage with a single attack, it might be to read
the victim's mind and learn one of his goals, it may be to steal an item,
etc. Each offensive Ability (attack
power) will describe the effects of a successful use. The Level of the Ability gives you better
chance of overcoming the victim's defenses by granting a +1 to +5 to the
attacker’s drawn card.
Everyone ALWAYS has the Ability “Throw a
Punch”, which is a Level 0 Ability and does a single point of damage if
successful.
Non-Combat
Abilities
Some abilities aren't designed to be used
in against another character (or in defense against another character's
attacks). These Abilities might allow
you to do things like open locked doors, fly over hazards, improve someone
else's ability, or grant an ability, etc.
These can be used anytime EXCEPT when in the heat of combat. There may be a card draw required in which
the Level of Ability and the number on the drawn card must equal or exceed a
difficulty number.
Items are represented by an Item Card.
Items generally confer upon the owner some Ability. For example, the Sword of Michael might give
the owner a Level 2 Ability to do 2 points of damage with each successful
attack. Items may confer some extra
Ability to certain characters as well. The Sword of Michael might ALSO confer
upon Angels a Level 2 Physical Defense Ability.
Some items may ONLY confer their Abilities to a specific owner: like Thor’s hammer.
Some items may be needed for certain
Missions, like a special key for a specific door.
Items are either 'Concealable' or
'Un-concealable'. Un-concealable Items
will probably have some kind of real-world prop that goes with them. Concealable in this sense means 'on your
person'; you may not hide items anywhere in Litharge. Some players may have an ability that allows
them to conceal un-concealable Items, or make concealable items even harder to
discover.
Some people may have an ability called
“Access to a Realm” which allows them to store an Item in a non-game location,
but anyone else with access to the Realm will easily find it. (Find the stationary GM to store / retrieve
Items from your Realm.)
Items can be stolen by certain abilities
while you are alive / conscious. Most
Items can be taken from your corpse / sleeping form. Items that cannot be taken will be marked as
such on their Card.
There are several decks of 9 cards around
the game area, and each of the GM’s carries one. Nearly every Ability requires the player to
draw a card and add the card number to the Level of the Ability they are
using.
The Attacker or otherwise active user of
the Ability draws a card and uses the BLUE NUMBER at the top of the card. The Defender (if any) uses the GOLD NUMBER at
the bottom right of the card. If the
Attacker’s Card+Level is greater than the Defender’s, the attack is
successful. Sometimes, instead of a
defender, the ‘attacker’ compares his total to a pre-determined Difficulty
Number.
If a player draws the DELIRIUM card, he
draws again and totals the two smallest numbers (regardless of color) from his
card and his opponent’s card and then adds his Ability Level for his own
total. In cases where there is no
defender, draw two more cards instead of one.
After a DELIRIUM or DELIGHT card is drawn
for any reason, inform a GM. These two
cards affect other aspects of the game!
NEVER may any Player Vs. Player interaction
be started during the Witnessing (the presentation sections of the game.)
Combat starts with one player announcing an
attack against another player. The Victim must stop whatever he's doing and
deal with the attacker.
The Attacker then tells the Victim (and
whoever else around that cares) what he’s trying to do and describes the
Ability he’s using. THIS COMMITS HIM TO
THE ACTION. Then the Victim describes
any Defensive Abilities he might have that apply. Lastly each player draws a Card from the closest
Card Deck and adds to this number any bonus he has from his Abilities. The attacker must BEAT the Victim’s number
for the attack to be successful.
Combat
in Litharge
Combat is strictly forbidden within the
Necropolis Litharge. The magic of the
place prevents combat from continuing past the first ‘round’ which is a single
attacker’s attack and then the victim’s counterattack, if any. Payback can be a bitch. The initial victim actually has time to use
any single Ability before another player can make an attack. This generally gives him time to flee further
attacks if he can.
After that first round, any beings who have
used any kind of attack power are magically moved to the ‘Penalty Box’ where
they are safely stored away from the other guests (and each other) for a period
of about 5 minutes, after which they will be released back into the Necropolis
with the admonition not to start combat again for at least another 10 minutes.
Combat
outside of Litharge
Outside of the Necropolis, there is no
limit to the length of time a combat can occur.
Each player involved can use one Active Ability (most are attacks) per
round until he or she has escaped, is defeated, or all parties have decided to
call it quits.
Group
Combat
There is NO GROUP COMBAT within
Litharge. However, if you can catch an
enemy outside of the Necropolis, you can do your worst. After any one player
makes an attack and the Victim counterattacks, everyone ELSE who wishes to be
involved gets to take an action, in character number order. The ‘round’ ends when everyone who wants or
is able to has made an attack. Then the
whole thing starts over. Since group combat can only happen outside of
Litharge, it can only happen during a mission, and therefore, a GM will be
present to try to maintain order.
Almost all attack Abilities reduce the victim’s
Health. This Health loss is PERMANENT.
If you have been reduced to 0 (or lower) Health, you are dying. You may gasp out your dying words until Death
(or one of the Death Gods) comes to claim you, but you can do nothing else.
As soon as someone dies, Death should be notified immediately. She can then come to collect the person herself, or send one of the other Death Gods to do it. The other Death Gods are obliged to do this duty as soon as they know that someone has died.
Death can take you to any single Realm you request.
After that, you will have a few choices regarding what you do during the
rest of the game. You might be asked to
play in the CAST, or be offered a new character. If your character has any Items, they are
left at the scene when you leave for an afterlife.
Oh, Yes. Not only is there a character named “Desire” in the game, but it is also a bit of a Sandman Tradition...
If two (or more) people feel the need, link pinkies for at least 2 minutes (!) to simulate ‘it’ happening. Then, once ‘it’ has occurred, you can determine if a child will be born of the union.
If everyone involved wishes the union to be fruitful, then it is. If there is disagreement, then Draw For It! (The person who wishes a fertile union is the ‘attacker’) Some people might have Abilities that might add to their card.
A fertile union means that one (or more!)
of the participants is preggers. In
order to actually HAVE the child within the period of the game, you’ll need to
go to a Realm in which time is faster.
(Faerie has been used like this in the past.)
Some Player Vs. Player interactions require
that the victim don't know who the attacker is, or in some cases, that they have
even been attacked. Certain abilities
will be noted as 'Covert' and may be used that way (or may be used directly, if
you don't care if the victim knows about it.)
To use a Covert ability, just tell a GM
what it is you intend to do. You are
deputizing the GM to take this action for you, while keeping your identity
secret. He or she will then go and make
the attack against the victim, using any abilities you might want him to
use. If there is something gained from
this, the GM will find you presently after the attack and give you the results.
For example, you might have a 'Pick Pocket'
ability and want to grab a Concealed Item from your victim without the victim
noticing. Tell the GM what you intend to
do, show him any ability you are using, then give the GM time to go and do
it. Once the GM reports back, he'll tell
you whether the theft was successful or not.
There are a small number of Missions that
might be attempted during the game by any NON-ENDLESS players. These Missions are specific and come on
Mission Cards. The character with the
Details of Missions might also be Secrets
that can be stolen from a player mentally – in which case the victim of the
theft tells the stealer the
Each
Players attempting a
Each
Depending on the nature of the mission,
some other players might be pulled in unwillingly to aid or interfere. Sometimes, they might even have a choice!
Missions can and should be extremely dangerous to ill-prepared parties, so players need a way to prepare for missions. Other characters may have specific information that they could find out, AND there should be plenty of Information-Gathering powers out there to fill in the rest of the blanks. The Mission Cards will state any specific Item or Ability that is absolutely required. Missions should be attempted by no fewer than 3 characters.
Due to space limitations, only one mission
can be active at any given time. Please
be patient! The missions are designed
not to take too much time.
Each Endless has a number of Tasks and
Responsibilities that he or she is responsible for. It is up to each of the Endless to find other
players willing and able to take on these Tasks and Responsibilities should he
or she be the Dearly Departed. Various
and generally unpleasant things can happen when a T&R goes un-claimed. It might simply cease to be, it might go out
of all control, or it might further un-ravel the fabric of the Universe.
The Endless will have a sign-up sheet for their Tasks and Responsibilities. They also have a more complete set of the rules for this element of the game that they need to comply with.
What the rest of the mourners need to know is
this: the Endless and their heirs must agree on which tasks they accept. Once an heir signs his or her name to an
Endless’ task-list, he or she MUST accept the T&R if that Endless should
die. The Endless, however, can strike an
heir from the list if he or she wants (see below).
Each of the eight Endless has 5 Endless
Points to use over the course of the game.
Each Endless Point can be used in the following ways:
Any Endless that has been added to the
“Safe List” can spend a point to remove his or her name from that list. That can be done at any time, instantly
allowing players to vote on his or her death.
An Endless can increase the Power Potential
of any other character that has not previously accepted any Task and
Responsibility from that Endless. For
each Endless Point spent, the character has his Power Potential increased by 1. (The Endless know the Power Potential and Availability
of each of the other characters in the game.)
The Endless have some of the most powerful Abilities in the game. These very powerful Abilities require one or more Endless Points be used each time the Ability is used. The Ability will explicitly state this cost, if it applies.
An Endless can spend 3 Endless Points to
raise an heir. The heir-apparent must
have a total of 12 Power Potential and Availability in order for this ability
to be used. (The Endless have a list of those numbers.)
Using this Ability INSTANTLY replaces the original Endless with the new Endless.
Each of the players will have three chances
over the course of the game to cast votes regarding which of the Endless is ultimately
the one to die. During each of the three
voting periods, there is a different type of ballot. There is a “Voting Booth” table where a
Necropolitan will explain the rules if you have questions and accept your
ballots.
All the voting is cumulative. The Denial votes cast at the beginning affect
the outcome of the Bargaining vote and of the Acceptance (final) vote. NO ABILITY in the game except for Desire's
and Despair's Endless Powers can force you to give up your vote, or vote for
someone you don't mean to.
DENIAL
BALLOTS
Each (non-Endless) guest at the Wake has
one (1) Denial Ballot. On this ballot mark the Endless that you are most
sure is NOT having their wake celebrated this evening. That is, note which Endless you DON’T want to
see dead. These ballots show your character’s name. They
are non-transferable, and cannot be stolen.
Denial Ballots must be submitted during the first voting period or they will not be counted.
After the Denial Ballots are counted there will be an announcement about which
of Endless will NOT die at the end of the evening. That Endless’ name is added to a “Safe List”
at the Voting Booth. It will not be
possible to cast further votes for Endless on the “Safe List” in subsequent
voting periods.
BARGAINING
BALLOTS
Each (non-Endless) guest is given one or more (1+) Bargaining
Ballots. These Ballots differ from the Denial Ballots in two ways.
First, they can be TRADED to other players
during the game. To transfer your ballot, simply initial by your name and write
the name of the character to whom it is being transferred. (Using the
back of the ballot, this process may continue if you need to transfer an
already transferred ballot). Ballots may be transferred to Endless or
Non-Endless players, but they cannot be stolen.
Secondly, they can be cast either FOR or
AGAINST an Endless’ death. As you come
to terms with your grief, please indicate if you are casting a vote for the
chosen Endless to LIVE or to DIE. These
Ballots may be cast at any time during the second
and third voting periods. You may only cast a ballot if it is yours or has
been properly transferred to you. You may not cast a ballot (for or against)
anyone on the Safe List.
After each of the two Voting Periods, the
Bargaining Ballots will be counted and one more of the Endless will be added to
the “Safe List”.
ACCEPTANCE
BALLOTS
ALL Players will get one (1) Acceptance Ballot to cast during the final voting period. These votes can only be cast to ACCEPT one of the Endless as dead. These ballots are not transferable, and cannot be stolen. As with the other ballots, these ballots cannot be cast for an Endless that is on the Safe List when you vote.
The Endless, being the dearly departed’s
family, will be able to cast their votes from the Endless Room (and not have to
go to the Voting Booth.) Finally, at the
end of the game, the players (family first) will be able to view the
deceased.
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