[Sorcerer] Fullmetal Alchemist and Modern Necromancy
angelfromanotherpin:
Frank, that's a really good idea, and I like it a lot. The thing is, I'm not sure the group is ready to handle a plural Humanity.
As for concrete examples, hmmm...
Loss Checks:
• Killing in cold blood.
• Putting the memory of a dead person ahead of the interests of living people.
• Taking deadly risks lightly.
• I assume how the Contact/Summon/Bind rituals inherently transgress is obvious.
Gain Rolls:
• Saving a life.
• Removing the undue influence of a dead person.
I always find that this sort of thing is like porn: far easier to recognize in the moment than to define on a page.
Ron Edwards:
Hi Jules,
It's true that coming up with an exhaustive do's and don't's list for Humanity rolls doesn't work well. But it's also true that imagining instances which you, at this point, consider to be nearly-unequivocal is very helpful. So your answer has served its purpose well, I think.
It may be interesting in your setting to note that killing one person to save another might merit both a check and a gain roll, at least sometimes.
Best, Ron
angelfromanotherpin:
Oh it was definitely helpful, and I'll put the list on a handout. I just had to think long and hard about most of those, while in actual play there's almost never any need to.
My first response to the 'kill one to save another' scenario is that it would almost always be a one-or-the-other check or gain situation, but the more I think about it, the more ways I can see that working. Which is cool, because
Something that interests me is that in the Fullmetal Alchemist source material, while Banishments have the usual connotations, actually killing a Bound Demon seems to be as Humanity-threatening as killing a human. I think that plays into the deliberate indeterminacy of whether or not the Demons actually are the dead person come back, and I like it, but the connotations are a little weird.
angelfromanotherpin:
Had a character creation session on Sunday. I'm very pleased with the results.
Okada Shigeru was an up-and-coming salaryman in Japan, the son of Okada Ogai, who owned the company. Then Ogai did a questionable business favor for an old friend, Abe Kosho, who turned out not to be trustworthy. The deal went bad, and the Okadas were reduced to poverty while Kosho became wealthy and powerful. Ogai committed suicide in despair; Ayano, Ogai's wife, went mad with grief; and the family of Kaede, Shigeru's arranged (but still loved) fiancee, called off the engagement.
And Shigeru? Shigeru went into the basement of the Okada Corporate building and, reading from the Okada Scroll of Ancestry backwards, cut out his own heart with the ancestral Wakizashi and promised to take revenge and rebuild the family's reputation and wealth. (Usually, role-playing dice aren't granted for the initial Binding, but I had to give it up for this guy).
Shigeru's circulatory system seems to have 'somehow adjusted' for his lack of a heart, and the motions of his breathing and other muscle action serve to push the blood around in his body, but it's just not as good. Shigeru was trying to summon the soul of a great warrior of the Okada line into the Wakizashi to help him take vengeance, but what he doesn't know is that he got Ogai's soul (the player knows, but Shigeru doesn't). Ogai was an excellent strategist and swordsman, though, so he's not far short.
Okada Shigeru
Stamina: 2 (Trained to Kill)
Will: 6 (Heartless Bargainer)
Lore: 2 (Blood Ties)
Cover: 6 (Corporate Officer)
Humanity: 6
Price: -1 (Missing Heart; applies to rolls involving physical exertion)
Telltale: No heartbeat/pulse
Kicker: Shigeru's low blood pressure has made coitus problematic since the Binding, and the Okada family needs an heir. He has just received a letter from Kaede, saying that she's pregnant with his child... and that her marriage has been rearranged, to Abe Kosho.
The Okada Wakizashi (Object)
Stamina: 4
Will: 5
Lore: 4
Power: 5
Abilities: Cover (Swordsman), Perception (Danger), Perception (Deception), Special Damage (Lethal)
Need: Cruelty
Desire: Revenge
Telltale: A blood seal etched on the underside of the tsuba
Bound: 2 (Shigeru's favor)
Nasty! I'll post the other PCs when I have more time.
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