Cortex Options II: DH Traits
Jun. 12th, 2008 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rockwoodThis series of articles, the first of which can be found here, will cover my own new, unofficial ideas for Cortex RPG games, optional rules, and similar.
This article is a small collection of new Traits for the Demon Hunters Role Playing Game. Two of them, notably Who Gave Him Sugar? and Sniffin' It Out, were first invented byleeflower, so I can't really claim credit for those ideas; I just wrote them up and balanced their die costs.
Disclaimer and notice: If I ever get around to writing my own Cortex sourcebook, I might include some of the ideas from these articles, but I put them up here for free in the hopes that they'll see use by other folk, too. Please feel free to link to them or use them yourself. If you want to repost them elsewhere, or you draw heavily on them for your own freely available work, I would both love to hear about your project and would also appreciate being given credit for whatever inspiration I provided, but don't worry about it too much. My only restriction is that you do not publish my writing for profit, or put it into something which requires a subscription or purchase to view, such as a commercial e-zine or similar.
Read on for the Traits!
Asset: Iota Initiative [d6]
You're a member of the Brotherhood, but you aren't in a Chapter like most field operatives. Instead, you work for Internal Affairs---or the Iota Initiative, as it's called. The machinations of the Iotas are almost as mysterious as those of Him upstairs, since they're the ones tasked with the difficult job of watching the watchers, so even most of their agents aren't clued in to the bigger picture. Don't expect to learn a whole lot about your superiors.
As an active Demon Hunter, you're most likely a lower-tier member of the Initiative, sent out to work with an individual Chapter (the other Demon Hunters in your group probably aren't also Iotas) in order to gain experience, assess their loyalty and efficiency, and maybe accomplish a secret mission or two. The benefits of this Trait can be fairly nebulous, but they might include: access to information gathered by Internal Affairs, access to special equipment as necessary, having your own loyalty to the Brotherhood go unquestioned, and being treated as a social outcast at poker night. And the GM might find a way to use this as a plot hook, of course, but don't hold out hopes for backup in a tight spot---the Iotas are stretched thin as it is.
You should check with your GM before taking this Asset, to be sure it'll be both appropriate and useful in your game.
Asset: Sniffin' It Out [d4]
As a seasoned member of the Brotherhood, you've developed your own method of sniffin' out the nearest door to the Warehouse. How, exactly, is up to you; a werewolf might literally be able to smell the doors, a practitioner of the mystic arts might know an extremely easy ritual that points them in the right direction, a 'mundane' Demon Hunter might have a bewitched compass to lead them, and so on. Come up with something appropriate to your Hunter and clear it with your GM. As long as you can employ your trick, you can find a door to the Warehouse in under five minutes, no matter where you are. Well, most of the time, anyway. Probably.
Complication: Unwanted Attention [d8]
Uncle Sam (Hell) wants YOU....to go over to the dark side.
Unfortunately for you, you've been noticed by the Order of the Infernal Scepter. Maybe you seem like an easy mark, a malcontent they could buy with promises of wealth and power, or someone in a vulnerable position (got any dirty secrets they could blackmail you with?). Or maybe they think you might actually be worth something. Either way, though, they're hounding you---and if they can't have you, they'll try to kill you.
This Complication makes you a target, and not just for physical assault. Order agents will try to tempt you, bribe you, or force you to join them. They might try to make you feel isolated, alone, or in danger from the Brotherhood themselves before making their offer, or they might just send one of their more attractive agents to literally seduce you. And even if you resist them AND survive, their activities might draw down the suspicions of Brotherhood Internal Affairs upon you---and if you thought the Order was tough, you've never had to fill out a 10-4400-42B and get a body cavity/morality cavity search.
You should check with your GM before taking this Complication. The GM has to be willing to incorporate the Order's interest in a way that threatens the Demon Hunter, the possibility that the Brotherhood becomes suspicious of the Demon Hunter, and the associated dangers into their game.
Complication: Who Gave Him Sugar? [d2-d6]
When it comes to emotional and social maturity, you're a lot like an undergraduate student---which is to say, a toddler hopped up on sugar (or meth, depending on the level of this Trait). You can't resist the urge to chime in with a comment, question, or request, which may be inappropriate or simply ill-timed. You also can't resist your desire to consume sugary treats. In fact, it might be fair to say you have trouble resisting almost anything childish act.
This Complication destroys your impulse control. While this will come up primarily through your roleplaying (saying something horribly inappropriate while negotiating with a powerful entity, hogging the break room's donuts), the GM may also choose to add your Complication die to the Difficulty of rolls you make to resist compulsions that target or take advantage of your weaknesses. For example, if you were a eunuch with this Trait, a succubus wouldn't be able to break your will with her feminine wiles in the... traditional manner, but when she waves a plate of cookies under your nose, you're toast anyway.
Well, it's only 4 Traits, but I hope they prove useful! They aren't in any way official, but they occured to me as ones that I probably would've put in the DH rulebook if I'd thought of them before... thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?
Blessed be,
~Nathan
This article is a small collection of new Traits for the Demon Hunters Role Playing Game. Two of them, notably Who Gave Him Sugar? and Sniffin' It Out, were first invented by
leeflower, so I can't really claim credit for those ideas; I just wrote them up and balanced their die costs. Disclaimer and notice: If I ever get around to writing my own Cortex sourcebook, I might include some of the ideas from these articles, but I put them up here for free in the hopes that they'll see use by other folk, too. Please feel free to link to them or use them yourself. If you want to repost them elsewhere, or you draw heavily on them for your own freely available work, I would both love to hear about your project and would also appreciate being given credit for whatever inspiration I provided, but don't worry about it too much. My only restriction is that you do not publish my writing for profit, or put it into something which requires a subscription or purchase to view, such as a commercial e-zine or similar.
Read on for the Traits!
Asset: Iota Initiative [d6]
You're a member of the Brotherhood, but you aren't in a Chapter like most field operatives. Instead, you work for Internal Affairs---or the Iota Initiative, as it's called. The machinations of the Iotas are almost as mysterious as those of Him upstairs, since they're the ones tasked with the difficult job of watching the watchers, so even most of their agents aren't clued in to the bigger picture. Don't expect to learn a whole lot about your superiors.
As an active Demon Hunter, you're most likely a lower-tier member of the Initiative, sent out to work with an individual Chapter (the other Demon Hunters in your group probably aren't also Iotas) in order to gain experience, assess their loyalty and efficiency, and maybe accomplish a secret mission or two. The benefits of this Trait can be fairly nebulous, but they might include: access to information gathered by Internal Affairs, access to special equipment as necessary, having your own loyalty to the Brotherhood go unquestioned, and being treated as a social outcast at poker night. And the GM might find a way to use this as a plot hook, of course, but don't hold out hopes for backup in a tight spot---the Iotas are stretched thin as it is.
You should check with your GM before taking this Asset, to be sure it'll be both appropriate and useful in your game.
Asset: Sniffin' It Out [d4]
As a seasoned member of the Brotherhood, you've developed your own method of sniffin' out the nearest door to the Warehouse. How, exactly, is up to you; a werewolf might literally be able to smell the doors, a practitioner of the mystic arts might know an extremely easy ritual that points them in the right direction, a 'mundane' Demon Hunter might have a bewitched compass to lead them, and so on. Come up with something appropriate to your Hunter and clear it with your GM. As long as you can employ your trick, you can find a door to the Warehouse in under five minutes, no matter where you are. Well, most of the time, anyway. Probably.
Complication: Unwanted Attention [d8]
Uncle Sam (Hell) wants YOU....to go over to the dark side.
Unfortunately for you, you've been noticed by the Order of the Infernal Scepter. Maybe you seem like an easy mark, a malcontent they could buy with promises of wealth and power, or someone in a vulnerable position (got any dirty secrets they could blackmail you with?). Or maybe they think you might actually be worth something. Either way, though, they're hounding you---and if they can't have you, they'll try to kill you.
This Complication makes you a target, and not just for physical assault. Order agents will try to tempt you, bribe you, or force you to join them. They might try to make you feel isolated, alone, or in danger from the Brotherhood themselves before making their offer, or they might just send one of their more attractive agents to literally seduce you. And even if you resist them AND survive, their activities might draw down the suspicions of Brotherhood Internal Affairs upon you---and if you thought the Order was tough, you've never had to fill out a 10-4400-42B and get a body cavity/morality cavity search.
You should check with your GM before taking this Complication. The GM has to be willing to incorporate the Order's interest in a way that threatens the Demon Hunter, the possibility that the Brotherhood becomes suspicious of the Demon Hunter, and the associated dangers into their game.
Complication: Who Gave Him Sugar? [d2-d6]
When it comes to emotional and social maturity, you're a lot like an undergraduate student---which is to say, a toddler hopped up on sugar (or meth, depending on the level of this Trait). You can't resist the urge to chime in with a comment, question, or request, which may be inappropriate or simply ill-timed. You also can't resist your desire to consume sugary treats. In fact, it might be fair to say you have trouble resisting almost anything childish act.
This Complication destroys your impulse control. While this will come up primarily through your roleplaying (saying something horribly inappropriate while negotiating with a powerful entity, hogging the break room's donuts), the GM may also choose to add your Complication die to the Difficulty of rolls you make to resist compulsions that target or take advantage of your weaknesses. For example, if you were a eunuch with this Trait, a succubus wouldn't be able to break your will with her feminine wiles in the... traditional manner, but when she waves a plate of cookies under your nose, you're toast anyway.
Well, it's only 4 Traits, but I hope they prove useful! They aren't in any way official, but they occured to me as ones that I probably would've put in the DH rulebook if I'd thought of them before... thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?
Blessed be,
~Nathan
