Dreamers
(For Changeling: The Dreaming and Mage: The Assension)
Pushing the envelope
"Of dreams no-one dared dream before..."
"Dreamers are mostly helping fight banality on a passive level, many don't realize the huge
weight they carry upon themselves, if they did it would crush them almost starving them
of the fickle energies that they so rarely produce from being creative.
Our kind and the Mages need the dreamers as without them neither glamour nor Magickal
Quintessence could be obtained.
Yet after a degree of study and being with several more potent dreamers I have found
that not all dreamers are passive in their battle with banality, several of the most
potent dreamers lash out themselves against the web of stasis, buffeting it with a
quasi-mystical force and still producing the precious fuel that they do.
Amongst other mortals they are considered freaks and weirdos, many of them appear to
have transcended Bedlam falling further then I would have know possible and now living
inside a sheltered world that can but only brush against reality. Strangely they
seem unaffected by this state, able to hop back and forth between insanity and mundane
as if they were but the same.
A few even know what they do, seeing visions of places and powers that legends speak of
and I have had confirmed by some magical friends of mine adaept in Spiritual ways.
Lashing out against creatures of banality and stasis.
These dreamers stand out against the night, shining brightly shattering the darkness and
allowing everyone that can to see clearly." - Recovered potion of Lady Sierra's letters.
Background
-==-==-==-
In the time before the shattering everyone believed in faeries and magic but then everything
changed, or so everyone thought. People still believe they are just few and far between
now and finding one is not all that easy. However in modern times when reality crushes
all of us just as much dreams have become even more important and there are those with
dreams so potent they can physically weaken banality in the local area, these are the
heart dreamers.
There are others, so so rare that not only have powerful dreams but have the vision to
see what there dreams do these are the paladins against banality, smashing the web of
the weaver itself into a myraid of sparkling colours.
Heart Dreamers
-=-=- -==--==-
Heart dreamers are not always that easy to spot, sometimes they stand out from the mundanes
but most of the time it takes magick or kenning to find them.
Finding a heart dreamer with Magick requires a concidental Prime effect and you have to
know what you are looking for.
Using Kenning it's not as easy and needs a Wits+Kenning roll (Diff 6 to 8) and for the
person using kenning to know what they are looking for.
There are a varitey of Heart Dreamers; Furry, Trekkers, X-philes and others which will show
how to "make" other Heart Dreamers.
Furry
-----
Prehaps created by a Pooka at one stage, these Heart Dreamers normally have an afiliation
with an animal of sorts sometimes to the extreme of having a costume resembling that Animal.
Furries are one of the most powerful Heart Dreamers, reality tends to warp slightly around
them and everything blurs slightly, this is espically true on the various places on the
internet set up for Furry fans.
However furry is kept in check very well by a large group of unknown individuals that
have managed to shatter the reputation of furries.
Because of this finding a heart dreamer in furry is harder then normal very few have not
been turned by what ever is infesting the group.
Furry has been known about since the time of the Egyptians but has enjoyed a revival with
the introduction of the Internet and has even spread further around the world.
Furries do for the most part either blend in perfectly with the mundane or stick out at
a 180 degree angle however most furries choose to hide themselves due to the bad
reputation, furries do also have a organisational advantage over other heart dreamers in
that when large groups of them meet reality does really almost disintigrate and the
reality of furry is imposed instead.
Apperance:
Most furries choose to have some clothing affiliated with an animal of kinds, this can be
from a simple t-shirt with a animal print on it, to having a tail to the extreme of having
what is known as a fursuit (a large costume totally disguising the human form.) In WOD
terms all furries will have some animal affilated clothing of types.
The "avatar" or chimerical apperance of a furry always tends towards the animal they are
affliated with in some way. In extreme cases the supernatural from of a furry may be
totally indistingusiable from the real animal.
Abilities:
Furries individually produce twice as much glamour as normal when creating glamour
(and from the amount of furry artists and writers around this is a consderiable amount.)
They also individually posess the following abilities:
Suspend belief - By sacrifcing a point of willpower and finding an appropriate outlet
(any internet MU* or chat room would suffice or alternativly by doning a fursuit.) the user
of this can totally suspend belief in humanity for a short amount of time. This in effect
enables the user to hide completly and totally from reality, safe in a world outside this
one. The effect lasts as long as the user is connected or wearing the costume.
Rally to the cause - This is a really odd ability, it enables furries everywhere no matter
what (or who) they are into by using this (which costs nothing) the user can make any
furries meeting them "cool" about the other fur. (Cool means they are no longer agressive
towards that other person) It lasts for as long as the conversation remains netural and
ameniable to both sides.
Additionally by spending a point of willpower it can "squick" anyone into also being "cool"
about the situation, an effect that most furs find not only amusing but very uesful.
Strength of numbers - When more then ten furs gather the power of suspend belif happens
automatically and for every 50 furs there the power of this suspension of reality becomes
more powerful. It's been suggested that at one huge meeting of furs sometime it may be
possible that reality has so little hold the atendees would become anthropomorphic creatures
for the duration.
Taints:
Reputation - Furry does have a SERIOUSLY bad reputation as well as any normal taunts, there
is the additional disadvantage that most furs are seen as "perverted skunk fu*%rs" and well
that's enough on that. When ever trying to deal with someone that knows the individual is
furry, social attributes tends towards automatic double botching.
Mini geek - Most furs are into computers, not as much as some other heart dreamers but it's
true that as well as being mostly computer orientated furries often into sci-fi and other
"typically geeky" (yet often cool) subjects. Because of this mini-geekdom most furs suffer
a -1 charisma when meeting anyone that's non furry or non geek for the first time.
Furries on:
...Trekkers "Hey ya know I remeber this really neat episode of Star Trek where there was a
30% anthrop. cat!"
...X-Philes "Fox..." (normally followed by the words "Yiff! Yiff! Yiff!!" and manic laughing)
...RPGers "... ... So I can play a dragon hunh? Wellllllll how about this instead...."
Trekkers
--------
Possibly the most popular heart dreamers around, certainly one of the largest these heart
dreamers "live" in the universe of Star Trek(tm Paramount Pictures)
The adventures of either Kirk, Picard, Sisko or Janeway has inspired these heart dreamers
to recreate and sometimes even re-inact that world and adventures. On the most part
trekkers are kept back by reality, it's a shame but the fact that most belive in the science
of the show yet know it can not be just yet might have something to contribute to this.
Trekkers also suffer a minor organisation problem with (in the WOD) the trekker community
being split into Federation and Alien races with the two opposing races having a great
emnity against each other.
Trekkers do however blend in the best with reality's image, most virtually unidentifable from
"normal" people however some do dress up in full uniform. For the most part only the Aliens
really stand out at all even then.
Apperance:
Joe Bloggs with a cornish pasty stuck on his forehead (?!) even alien trekkers rarely are
noticed and stand out. Trekkers in the WOD do just stand out and no more, it's very hard
to spot them in the mundane world as they almost fit in.
Magically however their chimerical or avatar form will stand out against the norm, most
trekkers have a shining bright chimerical/magical uniform or alien form.
Abilities:
Trekkers may not be quite as powerfull as Furries but there are more of them, they are also a
lot easier to find. In fact there's around 10 trekkers for every single furry there are that
many of them! Since trekkers are mostly "accepted" it's also not that difficult to get in
contact with one.
Additionally Trekkers have the following abilities:
Quote - Not the most incredible power but Trekkers find it great to quote facts and lines
from the show at each other. This requires a Int. roll to use correctly but any detail
about Star Trek can be recalled instantly and completly accuratly.
On the good side this ability can be used to distract an opponent quite well.
"I remeber this from..." - Is a more potent (and useful ?) form of Quote, by expending one
point of willpower any event that may (or may not have) happened in the Star Trek series can
be recalled, examples of this are remebering when a car had to be hotwired, remebering the
manual deactivation sequence of a self-destruct system and other such events.
Slightly illogical - The trekker using this ability can by using slightly illogical pure
logic completly bamboozle the person this is used on. It can be an opposed contest of
Charisma+Accademics vs Willpower or may be pre-empted by the trekker whom spends
2 willpower points.
Taints:
Geek - See mini-geek in Furry, however the effect is much more pronounced here and trekkers
are at -2 charisma when meeting new non trekker or non geek's.
"Your powers are weak..." - Trekkers are often misclassified in people's sterotyping section
of the brain as Star Wars fans, Babylon 5 fans and all sorts of anything but Star Trek fans,
this is highly annoying to the trekker and can cause high level of animosty between the
trekker and the person intating contact.
Trekkers on...
...Furry "What? With a animal?!?! Please tell me you're joking........"
...X-Philes "Ooooh look at how dark and scary it is, oh *hide* *hide* *pretention* *agnst*"
...RPGers "Not a bad sort really, met a few in my times and some even know about Star Trek
games!"
X-Philes
--------
A realtivly new group but with quite a following already, bascially like the Trekkers
but don't say that to their face...) they live in the world that was created by Fox Mulder
and Dana Scully in the X-Files(Tm Fox) X-Philes do have a liking to trechcoats which does
not really stand out (unless yer at a convention with 30 people in nothing but
trenchcoats....) and for the most part X-Philes have a fairly easy time, trouble is their
paranoid tendences do make them not only quite hard to find but on the up side means they
are quite likely to have a chimerical possesion or a slightly magical talisman, they are of
course weak but with the truth being out there and the world as you know it but a blanket
covering the truth they do have them.
Appearance:
Nothing but a trenchcoat seperates these individuals from the rest of the world, and the
fact is it's dark and cold in the WOD so lots of folks wear trenchcoats anywho.
Viewed chimerical or magically however they positivly shine against the darkness, beacons of
truth and hope, 90% of the time carrying (normally unknowingly) a chimerical or magical
object.
Abilities:
90% (1 - 9 on a d10) of X-Philes have a chimerical or magical object (depends on what you
need really, no point in a game of Mage to have chimerical objects and in Changeling to have
magical objects) attached to them, often this takes the form of the "itty bitty 6 shooter" a
gun which has 6 shots in it a day (fire 6 shots, have to wait until the next day...) or the
"rather worrying portfolio", a document full of secrets in some code that will take
a major part of a chronicle to decode.
As well as this many X-Philes have a chimera or spirit following them, whispering dirty
little secrets about what is really out there to the X-Phile.
Blend - The ability most detectives seem to have is a strange cross between the Eshu
birthright and Obfuscate it allows the individual to (unknowingly) be in the right place at
the right time, without anyone seeing them get there AND enables them to escape as well.
This is really powerful, no?? Well that's why it only kicks in when the ST wants it....
"Trust no 1" - A very obscure ability that enables the X-Phile to cut through even the
toughest buraucratic nightmare, slicing red tape left, right and centre. This in itself
seems rather inocculus, what use is that you say? Wellllll not only does this work on any
permit or form (time taken for this form to be filled out and processed is 3/4 of what it
normally would be.) but it can even be used against technocratic and autumn people to stop
them from being jobsworths, effectivly reduing paradox or banality level by up to 4!!
Again this only happens when the ST wants it (but the player is encouraged to goad the ST
into making this one work)
Taints:
Belief - The truth is out there, somewhere, possibly, probably... Or actually not, X-Philes
have the extremly crippling taint of beliving some supernatural event is gospel (for example
Area 51 is an Alien outpost.)
This will be a major basis of their life and the x-phile in question will go out of their
way to prove that this belief is correct. This will place them right in the tiger's den
and in some major danger.
Merchandising - Most of the X-Phile lifestyle is unfortunatly cluttered with mass media goop, any "supernatural"
or "alien artefact" that may be put on the market will attempted to be snapped up by an X-Phile fan.
Normally (fortunatly) these artefacts are fakes but they are always exspensive nether the less which is why
most X-Philes will not have resources more then 2. However there are the off times when these artefacts are
actually what they are advertised at, then "THEY" will come and try and take it away.
Who are "THEY"? Well that's up to your ST.....
X-Philes on....
...Furry "Who, what?? Excuse me but I just ate...."
...Trekkers "Excuse me but your dilithum crystal appears to be outdated...."
...RPGers "I suppose they at least try from time to time. I think they even have an X-file
game of sorts."
RPGers
------
Started back in the 80's and still to this day full of demon worshipping paganistic
illeterate corrupt and well yes you know the gumph. Fact is most RPGers are quite boring
and wouldn't even know how to summon a demon or whatever if they had full instructions
handed to them.
That's not to say that people think that, reputations as we have seen are so hard to break.
Fortunatly most roleplayers don't care one way or another what folks think which is what
makes them heart dreamers one supposes.
RPGers blend in perfectly to the WOD, it's impossible to even notice them unless of course
it's a live action game and there are folks hitting each other with swords because that sort
of thing never happens in the WOD of course....
Yes anywho RPGers are quite plentiful and it's not that difficult to find them using even
mundane methods.
Apperance:
The only way you can tell a RPGer from Bob or James is that RPGers sometimes have bags of
dice or cards on them.
That is it, nothing else can differantiate a RPGer from anyone else in the WOD most times.
Abilities:
Play the game - All RPGers have some minor training in Brawl and Melee so they know how to
do it safely, most will also have at least 3 dots in Occult so they know what NOT to do.
Better safe then sorry...) As well as this if they meet a supernatural being there's a 10%
chance that it will be instantly recognised for what it is.
(of course reconginsing it correctly is another matter....)
"...And you fall down!" - All RPGers also have the ability to apparently summon glamour
around them, when in or running a game glamour does quite literally gather in globules
around the group (if playing mage then this has the effect of magick one step less sevre
(so Vulgar, witness with no Foci would be vulgar witness with foci.))
You're my bestest friend... - Well not quite but most folks like RPGers they have a certain
likeablity to them, it's the rougish lifestyle I tell ya. Ahh whatever it is RPGers gain
a -1 difficulty to social first contact situations.
Taints:
DEMON!! - Yes well no actually, the "only" taint RPGers face is perscution from various
fundamentalist groups, this does however have no real effect except animosty from those
"in the know"
RPGers on
... Furry "Forget about looking but not touching, don't even look!!"
... Trekkers "Ah yes, Warp factor 12 Mr Scott. Yeah I watched that as a kid."
... X-Philes "You know, most of them actually believe."
Paladins
========
Paladins are rare, very very very very very very very very very ... you get the idea.
There are probably 4 in the world just now and they are rather hard to find either mundanly
or magickally. Fact is they choose not to be, happy and content
in their little sphere of reality from time to time hitting out against evil forces.
If you wanna include a paladin in your game go ahead, I don't really care but here's who
they are just now (in my games) they are given on "weird" sheets, you should be able to
work out what everything is, if ya can't drop one a line.
And don't give me no hassle saying "But s/he's got to many points" or crap like that,
you don't like it change it.
Type: Furry
Name: "Runt" (A.K.A Anthony Dursen)
Nature: Caregiver
Demeanor: Child
Physical: Str 1 Dex 3 Sta 2
Social: Cha 4 Man 4 App 3
Mental: Per 3 Int 4 Wit 4
Talents: Acting 3, Empathy 4, Leadership 2, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 4
Skills: Animal Ken 2, Drive 1, Crafts 2, Music 2, Survival 2
Knowledges: Computer 4, Lingustics 2 (French, German), Occult 1, Science 2
Backgrounds: Resources 2, Allies 2, Contacts 1
Glamour/Quintesence: 5
Willpower: 6
Background: Up until he was 15 Runt (as he now calls himself, taken from the television
show Animaniacs.) was a pretty normal average guy, he was doing well at school having just
graduated from high school (Well actually it was Academy but that's a British thing so one
will say high school) and was taking part in a local production of a play.
That's when everything fell apart. Whilst outside getting some air something happened to him
that he's never talked about to anyone but whatever it was changed him so much the next day
he started wearing a dog collar around all the time and well things just went from there.
It only took him around ten minutes on the internet to find out about himself and now
alone and diffrent from "the rest of the world" he fights the forces of the weaver quite
actively.
Unique abilities:
Spirit sight - As per Auspex 2 (See Vampire: The Masqurade, but to be brief this enables you
to see aura's.)
Personify - Quite simply the ability to using the above (Spirit sight) and some
interpretation Runt can draw what someone he is looking at would be in "animal form"
(mostly Anthropomorphical furries.) This does produce "intresting"
results. (It can basically show you what someone's rough nature is.)
Type: Trekker
Name: David Presswell
Nature: Conniver
Demeanor: Trader
Physical: Str 1 Dex 1 Sta 2
Social: Cha 4 Man 2 App 3
Mental: Per 3 Int 5 Wit 4
Talents: Acting 2, Alertness 1, Brawl 1, Empathy 2, Intimidation 1, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 2
Skills: Drive 2, Etiqutte 2, Repair 1, Security 2
Knowledges: Computer 5, Enigmas 3, Investigation 2, Science 4
Backgrounds: Resources 4, Allies 2
Glamour/Quintesence: 5
Willpower: 5
Background: Probably born a Trekker, David has always looked to Star Trek as a guiding light
(he is a federation peeb)
taking it's honorable principles into reality and following many of them strictly.
David has set up a small shop for other trekkers that sells all sorts of Star Trek
collectables, hence his slightly higher resources, this does of course take quite a bit of
time from David but he enjoys his work (and even get's to meet some of the stars of the show
from time to time.)
Unique Abilities:
Beam me up - Basically a wayfare/correspondance effect, Daivd has no idea he can do this
(yet) or how he can do this (yet) but it's the ability to transport/teleport from one spot
on the planet to another. (If the characters meet him then they might be able to awaken this
ability.)
Sample template (I ran out of time, so sue me.)
Type:
Name:
Nature
Demeanor:
Physical: Str Dex Sta
Social: Cha Man App
Mental: Per Int Wit
Talents:
Skills:
Knowledges:
Backgrounds:
Glamour/Quintescence:
Willpower:
Background:
Unique Abilities:
Almost everything here is TM of White Wolf inc, deal with it.