Affinity (Cybertronics)

A friend asked me to create spells for hacking, I think it was a joke since hes trying to convert Shadowrun, but what the heck - Challenge accepted! 

He is going to have to read his players copy of the rules to see the details (such as FP cost) and a few of those would require a bit of fiddilng since I hadn't thought of this application for my homebrew magic system. For most readers this is not useful info, but consider it a teaser for a possible upcoming project.

Affinity (Cybertronics)

This affinity includes all electronics and computer technology, including software.

Flash Sale!

Mandala (Allure) Affinity-5

Creates a flashy banner or ad that lures those nearby into the data node.  Handy for getting visitors to your website.

Awaken A.I.!

Mandala (Awaken Spirit)

Cyber Trap

Mandala (Binding) Affinity-5

Traps an A.I. or hacker for the duration.

Hackers Helper

Mandala (Bonus) Affinity-4

Grants a bonus to Computer Hacking for the duration.

Cyberlink

Mandala (Communication) Affinity-4

Allows the subject to communicate via network interface with another user or system.

Covered Tracks

Mandala (Concealment) Affinity-4

Hides the subjects electronic signature, making them harder to spot.

Control Computer

Mandala (Control Machine) Affinity-4

Hadnt gotten around to writing this one up yet, but M2 sounds right.

This would be pretty much the bulk of what a hacker would use and is basically M9ind Control for machines. Handy if I wanted magical hacking to be as simple as casting a couple of spells but if I wanted hacking to be a minigame I would need to do more with this technique.

Counter Hack!

Mandala (Counter Magic) Affinity-4

A blocking spell to counter a hackers spells, such as Control Computer.

Create Program

Mandala (Create) Affinity-5

Commonly learned for a few specific programs, though it can create any program the caster can fully visualize and code.

Create Daemon

Mandala (Creation) Affinity-6

Creates a simple specific volitional program that can act on its own. Examples include spiders that search a database, collate the desired info, and then go copy it somewhere for later review.

Heal Data

Mandala (Healling) Affinity-5

Heals a program or database from damage and degradation, though it wont repair a destroyed program or recover lost data.

Excellent Search

Mandala (Information) Affinity-3

Preforms a quick but widespread search for information.

Afterwards

Ok, that took about 30 minutes and admittedly not all of those techniques are written up enough or in a manner that would clearly apply to this application but not too bad for an improvisational system.

RPM would have taken me longer for similar results.

ATTG Session 1 The Gathering

 GM Recap

Casting

• Adelphin "Adel" Jean-Baptiste (Laurie) Domains (Death and Magic), child of  Werethekau and Baron Samedi. Machiavellian meddler. Power unto herself. Adelphin can kill with a glance, manipulate magic as if she were born to it (she was), and doesn't seem to be able to actually die. Tagline: "I'm not the devil, but betray me and I will show you hell".
• Liam O'Shea (Randy) Domain (Strength) and child of Dagda. A huge, powerful, and deadly warrior. A druid and generally a likeable guy. Taught the old ways but is comfortable with the modern. He's traveled much of the world and is looking to see even more. Tagline: "I told you I wouldn't fit."
• Mitzidu Ito (Rory) Domains (Business, Hearth/kitchen), child of Inari and Kojin. The teams business guru, event planner and entertainer. Taglines: "Life never tasted this good before!" and "The Hearth is the heart of the home, but food is the soul of a community"
• Suveer Patel (Christian) Domain (Clearing Obstructions), child of Ganesh.  Martial artist and student of a thousand styles, Suveer is one of the teams upfront fighters with fists or his gauda (mace). He can get past any obstacle put before him. Tagline: "You are in front of me and no obstacle can stop me. Find a better place to be."
• Yannis Papadopoulos aka The Courier (Chris D.) Domains (Communication, Secrets, Rainbows), child of Harpocrates and Arke. Team sneaker and postman. If you see him, its already too late, your package has been delivered. Tagline: "The thirty minutes or less policy is for those that like to live dangerously."

This was the first game in the new campaign and I felt it went pretty well. Think of Highlander, except the contestants are children of deities (or theogenic buds) and every hundred years or so there is a culling called a harrowing and every thousand years or so a great harrowing.  This campaign starts off just before a great harrowing and all have received the call and are congregating in 

Los Vegas, Nevada where it will take place. A feature of a great harrowing is that gods come down in avatar form and are also vulnerable, though still substantially harder to kill than others.

As godlings start to congregate one of the characters (Adelphin) who owns a hotel that is neutral ground decides to host a party for the players to meet and look each other over. This session was that party.

Notable Highlights

• Adelphin was the hostess of the party and if it wasn't clear before it was much more so afterwards that shes someone to be careful of. She is pretty much a god in her own pantheon, though has alliances with several others such as the Loa and Celtic pantheons
• Ares: An early arrival who complained rather boisterously that there was no bacon, though he ate the cajun food that was the menu provided. Mitzidu, the head chef popped into the kitchen and created a plate of ground beef in the shape of a warriors helmet and laid out on a bacon pizza with bacon tator tots made to look like skulls to molify him.  Then told the staff to keep the tator tots coming, though they didn't need to carve them into skulls. The gift was gratefully accepted and Ares stopped fussing as much as he dove in.
• Poseidon: Sidled up to Yannis as he was waiting to deliver a package and informed he knew what was in it and that Yannis was a blood traitor. Yannis did deliver the packet later to an unknown woman and helped her avoid being accosted outside the hotel on her way to the MGM Grand.
• Maki Enko: A 9 tail kitsune delivered a gift to Mitzidu from his mother - a finely crafted silver ring of a fox chasing its own tail. Unfortunately his mother (Inari) could not make it.
• Angus Ho, kind of the ill reputed hanger on in Liams extended family was seen making side eyes at Liam much of the evening.  He have nothing better to do at a party? No wonder he is a loser!
• Medusa showed up in shades and dressed quite elegantly.
• Suveer got to spend some quality time with his father Ganesh, though perhaps not as much as he wanted.
• Ganesh enjoyed the party and hobnobbed with quite a few, but the highlight was an eating contest ...
• Liam mingled then went out and danced before going over to Ares and sitting down for a plate.  Sensing a challenge Ganesh joined them and Mitzidu quickly headed to the kitchen where he spent an athera point on his domain (Hearth) to create 3 sides of beef, well prepared and seasoned for the three to eat their fill. Liam (a big man at 7 foot five inches) was the first out but made a very impressive showing - earning points with Ganesh and perhaps Ares.  Ganesh handily won the contest and Mitzidu was pleased they all enjoyed the meal.  Also, he organized a side bet on Ganesh and won a decent amount, despite giving good odds. Calypso was impressed with Liams stature and prowress and they later had a pleasant conversation. However upon findiing out she was with the Greek pantheon he demured, feeling that lot is too kinky for him.
• Goose made side eyes at Adelphin and later complained to Mitzidu about how she ignored him - suggesting alternate approaches like changing into a shower of gold. Mitzidu remarked "Doesn't Poseidon have the hots for her?"  Instead of being deterred his eyes glittered and it appears he took it as a challenge. If Los Vegas turns into the next battle of Troy, he wont accept the blame!
• Loki showed up with a godling for Adelphin to babysit and protect through the harrowing.  Apparently the child of Odin (Or Odins avatar, he does like his little games).
• Dionysus made a spectacle of himself, finally ending up dancing naked on a table.
• About 200 other demigods were present and other notables such as Anansi and Huse.

Liam is the only one on the team new to Los Vegas and Mitzidu, having just met him in Mexico got him a room in the hotel for the moment.  They hit it on well to start and, both being children of gods with agriculture in their portfolio appreciate good food.

Suveer and Yannis both work (at least part time) for Adelphin and everyone has a place at the hotel, though Mitzidu also has a mansion in Sumerland a Los Vegas suberb.

Afterthoughts

We had a fair amount of cross talk during the session and some reverb and background noise that made it hard at times to hear what was going on. A common disadvantage of online gaming. However, everyone seemed to have fun and everyone had some meaningful interactions.

At least two of the highlights are clear future plot threads, and hopefully more of the interactions will bear later fruit.  This is supposed to be primarily a social campaign with lots of intrigue and of course the occasional beheading. Everyone has some Charisma as part of the godling template and most have additional social skills and advantages, there is no single "face" on the team.

TTJP Episode 28-29 The 2nd and 3rd Gate to Hell

 

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly descended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

Jing Man Steals the Day

After the prior episode where we picked up a bunch of Shenshou and closed a portal to hell the group goes out looking for more trouble.  This time we opt to check out the nobility and the GM had a bunch of social stuff planned. Jing Min (the only one who bought up his Sense Chi power) crits his roll and leads us directly to a 2nd portal to hell.  We quickly kill or capture the few cultists and head in to close the portal from the inside.  This one requiring blood to do so.

Zhige stayed behind with Rang to analyze the Shenshou to determine who should get what, if anything. Shang Yi tries to knock out one of the cultists (we wanted prisoners) with a bodkin arrow to the head - instantly killing him of course.  We otherwise made short work of the cultists and demons.

Players Notes: Zhige was on study detail because the player was out sick, though I was still a bit salty and disappointed that the mage was assigned to figure them out over my shaman since they are spirit artifacts (plus he has decent Empire History and Research skills, but mostly it was the niche takeover). We all had a good laugh (and fun harassing him) over Shing Yi's player not knowing what a bodkin arrow was when he picked that arrow to use. The GM is learning to plan backup plots for us shortcutting things.  A good die roll or unexpected creativity can derail a game session but its far better when the GM rolls with it than arbitrarily declaring it failed.  Let the players have their moment, through luck or ingenuity - it makes for a better story and memory than implausible, or plausible but still obvious countermoves to keep things in line with the GMs plan

The Third Gate to Hell and a Plot Revealed!

After capturing a few cultists we interrogate them. Chushi is lead interrogator since he has Talker! and his default is pretty high, plus he has Detect Lies at a good level. We learn that there are 3 gates to hell and that they likely all have been opened already. Bones, Blood, and the final Flesh.  Also the end goal is to get parts of an Orierary  that can send one to any place or time.  Also a 4th portal to heaven will open up. Details a bit fuzzy.

We head just out of town to seal the 3rd portal, cultists all gone but a dead family is in the barn with the skin all flayed off.  These demons are tougher than the rest as they are big and strong with a flaming aura. Ting opts to slam one anyhow but his new shenshou protects him. We target the joints as they are made of stone and magma and take them down without serious injury. Chushi has to have the skin peeled off his arm to close the portal.  A couple of others volunteer but he argues he has less need of the arm than anyone else in the upcoming fight and demands everyone stop arguing and get it over with before he loses his courage.  Zhige numbs his nerves and bandages him but it has to heal naturally (no magic) so he will lose the use of it for about a month.

The group rests the night away on our return. Jing Min goes to pay off his debt by dating the Bunny Prince and Chushi distracts himself making a tassel for his spear with his spirit hands.

The Final Battle?

The third session we started an hour late than the GM lost his power so even though we all got an experience point for showing up I'm not calling an episode - GM may adjust the session count anyhow though.  We made some basic plans and as far as I know the following shenshou have been handed out.

• Ting got a cestus that has some kind of protection aura.
• Jing Min has his spear.  It is the only awakened item so far and declares its unimpressed with its bearer.  So far it hasn't been dropped in a volcano though...
• Shang Yi got a bow
• Ren got a sword
• Rang and Zhige got some jewelry.

The character's dont know what the items do yet. The GM did retcon things and said Chushi can talk to the sentient ones and wake them up from their dormancy.  The nonsentient ones he cant really talk to but Spirit Empathy will help him determine their impressions of potential bearers. So he will get a chance to use spirit communication, at least in the background.

Pyramid Scheme Pyramid #4/3 Sci Fi Issue

 

Putting Science in Your Fiction

Interesting article. Its very niche in that its for scientific discoverers rather than inventions. So it is useful for survey missions, background character goals and campaigns where such development is desired. Included is advice on getting others involved, a very useful addition.

The Divine Pacific Republic of Datastan

A location that is a tiny remote island. Basically its for Cyberpunk.

More Options for Metatronic Generators

Expands on an article from Pyramid #3/46 Weird Science. Basically a way to handle powers as gadgets that have a monetary cost instead of a point cost.

Space Zombies

A colony ship with a zombie problem!

Lord Kelvin's Icebox

An Infinite Worlds setting, this one is a dying earth that is entering an Ice Age, Infinite Worlds is really an under exposed setting for world hopping that is rich in adventure possibilities. In fact it can also dovetail with Kromm's Putting Science in Your Fiction article above.

Mind Over Time

Psychic powers to manipulate time.  This is done in the format introduced in GURPS Psionic Powers and has a good breadth of abilities and a few novel ones.

Ghost Planets

Three abandoned worlds for GURPS Space.

Reign of Action

This one provides detail to adapt GURPS Action! to the Reign of Steel setting.

The Toughest Race in the Solar System

An interesting idea is the exotic race. Includes examples, suggestions, and rules for a variety of tough races in the marathon variety.

The Murrinres Portals

A weird portal or gate system between worlds or even different dimensions.  Interesting plot ideas here.

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

A grab bag of ideas and rule options for some rather extreme sports.

Random Thought Table: Gone But Not Forgotten

Thoughts on exploring known or misunderstood locations.

Other Reviews

Mailanka's Musings

Dungeon Fantastic

TTJP Season 1 Episode 27 Off We go to Hell!

 Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly descended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

To Hell and Back!

So having rested up and gathered some materials to help us we head back to the cave entrance.  The shadow prince has had his troops remove the rubble and are waiting for us. Shang Yi's player is absent so we have him anchor the portal on this side and the rest of us head in.  Once we cross we see the portal as a gaping tear in the air and surrounded by a bunch of bones with runes on them. Our three experts on Occultism and Hidden Lore (Demons) (Rang, Chushi, and Zhige) compare notes and declare that we have to find a missing skull to complete the pattern before we can destroy it. We see a stairway down and follow it to a lava filled cavern with 7 spine demons.  We quickly finish them off, Wu taking out three by himself, Ren another, and the rest ganged up on by several of the rest of us. We then search the area and find 17 sarcophagi which Chushi and Zhige open up to look inside. Wu and Jing Min watch over Chushi as he opens his with his spirit powers and he discovers a glowing spear that crackles with lightning and looks like its made of clouds. He picks it up and it screams silently into his head "You are not Worthy!"   Chushi politely points out to it that its rather rude and aks if it would prefer to be put back in the coffin and left or taken to the real world to find someone who is worthy. It grudgingly admits assent and he hands it to Jing Min who is staring at it and asks if its magical*. While Jing Min stares lovingly at it the spear tells him "Meh, you'll do" Chushi checks out the rest and before picking each up politely tells them that he is not trying to possess them but to rescue them and take them back to earth if they want. This seems to be received well and he gets nor more headaches or quick judgements as he gathers the powerful shenshou (spirit artifacts) and he wraps them in Wus cloak to carry them back. Zhige and Ren discovered a fancy sword sheath in their sarcophagus and headed back to join the rest of the group.  On the way she comes across a big door with an illusionary mural tellin the tail of the17 fallen warriors - she takes notes.

As we enter the last room we see a sword stuck in a skull floating in the air. Zhige immediately has Ren pull the sword and runs it back to the sarcophagus she found which had a skeleton with a missing head and as its placed the cavern starts to fall apart and we run to the top.  Sure enough, the skull joining the rest and the tear is closing.  We all run back home, carrying a kingdoms ransom hidden in a huge cloak.

* To be fair the GM hadn't described it yet, but too good a moment to pass up recording it.

The Heroes Return

We leave the cave and advise the Prince the portal has been closed but that their is dangerous spirit eating moss all over and he decides to bury it again. He eyes a distracted Jing Min (still entranced by that spear -sheesh get a room!) and we promise to get with him later but that we need to take some of what we found back to the order for study. On our return our new trainer seems impressed with our success and treasure, though declines to try and take it from us.  Its generally a bad idea to try and confiscate spirit artifacts as they prefer to do their own choosing.

Aftermath

The Shenshou gathered were a plot device that several had been saving up points for as we prepare for the end of our training period.  Chushi as a shaman with Medium and Spirit Empathy can sense their feelings, even i they are not sapient and will help them find someone hey deem worthy. Not sure what or how he will do that with the ones not going to the characters but looking forward to finding out.  Possibly the Order will send someone to collect any not immediately disbursed.

Pyramid Scheme Modern Action Issue

Issue 2 of the latest GURPS Kickstarter is aimed at modern day adventuring. Lets see what we have...

Into The Forbidden Zone

This article describes three real world locations that were abandoned during modern times. Its a departure from the author wo is best known for his fictional mini-settings. He briefly describes each location and has a few extra paragraphs of inspiration for running them in various genres.

The Phoenix Program

This describes the counterinsurgency portion of the Vietnam war. It is well researched and includes rules for the PC's to run their own operations.

Phoenix: Birds of Prey

This companion article describes various military units and how characters can be modeled.

Three Steampunk Monsters

Three interesting takes on old classics and suitable for most horror campaigns.

Secret Masters

This was my article and I will have some designers notes up that incudes material cut for space, primarily examples. GURPS has several conspiracy settings and solid rules for trying to uncover conspiracies, or even keep them hidden. What I felt was lacking was a simple way to actually run o be in charge of a conspiracy. This was my way to allow behind the scenes manipulation of organizations.

The Checkpoint

A very useful and fairly generic article describing a road based checkpoint and how its run. One of the more broadly useful articles as it covers temporary and permanent checkpoints with enough detail and explanation that it can be easily adapted.

The Company

A covert organization from the authors old Action! campaign this worked example of a modern day adventuring company can be dropped into most Action and Monster Hunter settings.

Derelicts on Ice

An interesting adventure exploring a ships graveyard off the coast of Greenland.

The Hunter's Reliquary II

Some items for a Monster Hunter campaign, includes the usual magical weapons but also some interesting choices for utility items.

El Rancho Fin Del Camino

An interesting location entry. This is a remote ranch house.

Highway Stars

A bunch of modern day vehicles all statted up and ready to go.

Random Thought Table: Get Paid, Heroically

Goes over the idea and troubles of making money in a modern day setting as an adventurer. Some useful material here for those not working for a regular job, and even those that are.

Other Reviews

Malianka's Musings

 

TTJP Session, Episode 26 The Shadow Prince

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly decended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).

We gather together after searching the complex for information and head to meet the Shadow Prince who runs this place. Chushi greets the guards who of course refuse admittance, saying the prince is busy and we need appointments. Chushi determines he means a bribe is required and passes this along to the group who debate what to do.  The head guard then points at Zhige and offers to let us pass for a few minutes with her.  Surprisingly she accepts.  They go just out of sight where she uses Pressure Points to give him a memorable experience, just not the kind he was hoping for! Barely managing to walk back he tells the others to let us pass.

Dinner and a Show

Were ushered in and it turns out Prince Ming May is a rabbit person. We briefly chat and inform him of our purpose here, finding and rooting out Black Silk cultists.  He wishes us good luck as they are a dangerous nuisance and offers dinner to talk it over. He seems besotted with Ling Min (what is with this guy and rabbits?) though Jing Min tries to remain politely disinterested. The meal goes well and we learn a bit, though most of the conversation is flirting. After awhile though the prince figures out Jing Min is not into him and changes gender intoa very beautiful female with bunny ears.  Things get much more accommodating and the aide gets some scrolls and maps for us to look over. There is a cave where a bunch of cultists have been trapped and the cave walled off but it potentially has a demon portal in it. We offer to investigate.

No Cultists Here!

Chushi explores the cave in astral form and notes the cave walls are covered in a toxic moss that extends into the spirit world. Thankfully the fresh rubble blocking the entrance is not yet contaminated and he gets in safely. All the cultists have vanished or died, but they did complete the portal and it is surrounded by bones.  Chushi memorizes the symbols all over the place and heads back out to tell the others what he found.  We send a message to Rang and the Green Seer and its determined that the portal has to be closed as quickly as possible but that it has to be closed from the other side. We head back to get some gear and rest up.  Pai Mei is informed by Zhige using a messenger spell and he agrees it must be done but that she is not to die, hes put too much work into her - oh and save the cook too. Thanks Pai Mei! I knew you loved my cooking!