Shadow Angelus

[watson]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

All of this stuff looks absolutely fantastic.

 

I'll add to Michael's comments that yes, I was a bit "fuzzy" on the city's size and exact shape/map. I really like what you guys have come up with, and I think you should go full steam ahead with your interpretation of Angelus. I'm excited about all the possibilities!

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I have been trying to figure out if there were any special rules or concepts that were used for magic in the original SA campaigns. Of course I have examined Jama's character sheet, her spells an the session story "All In The Family."

 

Jama calls upon the spirits (Hantu) that dwell in all things. But she also states that that is how all magic works. All sorcerers, regardless of their tradition, call call on or borrow powers from spirits of one sort or another. Being primarily an Animist Jama calls upon nature spirits. She says that Hermetic magicians borrow the power of the "Celestial Angels." I'd like to know how that worked, if it ever came up in any of your games. I am assuming that this would be a classical western world wizard. If so, what sorts of game stipulations were made regarding how their magic worked?

 

My guess is that our sorcerer player will be likely to go the Hermetic route, if I am understanding all of this Juju stuff correctly. I am going to have to set forth some guidelines for how to do that sort of magic once he starts asking.

 

How did the Power Armor Blue Steel Special work in SA as compared to the rules in Kazei-5? Should it be simple powered armor or should it be built as a vehicle? Personally I am leaning toward the latter.

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

We always seem to have the most interesting posts just when I should be trying to get some sleep. I gotta be up for work in 7-hours. I'll have to digest the city design and post when I have more time for coherent thinking.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I'm sure you read this but... Silent Mobius Magic

 

From the Introduction to Magic

As mentioned before, the Western Sorcery used in Silent Mobius looks to be modeled off of the concepts of Hermetic magic, Cabalistic magic and Thaumaturgy. These three magical styles are discussed at length in The Ultimate Supermage, which is where a good deal of the information in this section come from. Note that almost all of the spells given for these styles of magic would be very fitting for use in Silent Mobius

 

I went and looked these up. Together they seem to work pretty well.

[watson]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

In-game, magic worked simply as a variable power pool with gestures and incantations.

 

Jama's theory on how magic works fit very well into the campaign story I was telling, but there ARE other forms of manipulating magic in the world. For instance, there are mages who gain power through sacrifice and blood rituals, and the entities themselves manipulate magic through unknown means.

 

In many ways I liken it to 3rd edition Shadowrun's magic overview, in that there's lots of different ways to make magic work, but they all share certain "rules" in that verbal and somatic components are required.

 

The blue steel special was built as a vehicle, although the way power armor works in Shadows Angelus is a bit different. Most powered frames that are NOT for military or security use have simple analog control systems, meaning that they are powerful but slow and often clumsy.

 

Security and military sets of powered armor clone a section of the pilot's spinal cord and extend it into the armor's control systems. The pilot essentially "plugs in" via this cloned nervous system and thus is controlling the armor like it is his own body, making those powered armor suits far more agile and quick to respond. The downside to this system is that the suits are more "sensitive" to damage, meaning that the pilot takes a portion of the STUN damage inflicted.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Note -- Jama's words aren't law. Ross let me state stuff about how magic worked based on how Jama felt it worked. However, the Celestial Angels stuff is right out of Silent Mobius. Katsumi calls upon the spirits within the celestial bodies to cast spells (Selene = moon, Gaea = Earth, Helios = the Sun, and so on). Not sure if the TV show uses those sorts of incantations, but the movies and the manga sure did.

 

The special rule for magic is all of Jama's defenses were automatically Hardened (and were the esper's). Cyborgs received x1 1/2 KB on STR for free, and... uhm... dunno what other people got.

 

As for the mecha... you need to talk to Ross, I don't quite recall how that worked out.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

We always seem to have the most interesting posts just when I should be trying to get some sleep. I gotta be up for work in 7-hours. I'll have to digest the city design and post when I have more time for coherent thinking.

 

Ha, I am at the gym in 6 hours and then on to work.

[watson]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

When Mike says "defenses" he means force fields and force walls, specifically.

 

Note that Entities take x2 damage from holy weapons.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Important setting rule: Take 20 STUN in one lump sum, take 1 BODY. Doesn't matter how you took that 20 STUN, could have been an NND or an Ego Attack, but you're taking 1 BODY. That rule nearly killed Jama once... or was it twice?

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Can we all post any faster?

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

The special rule for magic is all of Jama's defenses were automatically Hardened (and were the esper's). Cyborgs received x1 1/2 KB on STR for free' date=' and... uhm... dunno what other people got.[/quote']

 

I like that rule and the TK rule you imposed. Too bad I am playing a normal.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Can we all post any faster?

 

apparently not.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I have been trying to figure out if there were any special rules or concepts that were used for magic in the original SA campaigns. Of course I have examined Jama's character sheet, her spells an the session story "All In The Family."

 

Jama calls upon the spirits (Hantu) that dwell in all things.

 

Yeah, and she ended up calling upon spirits that existed because people believed in them. Uhm, in other words, she could summon and/or call upon the spirit of an "idea." This let her summon the Spirit of Angelus and powered her "Spirits of the Silver Screen" spell.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

HAHAHAha!

 

I just re-read All in the Family, and had to shake my head at Jama's "Am I a good cop?" line? Ahh... if she only knew how it all turned out!

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

The blue steel special was built as a vehicle, although the way power armor works in Shadows Angelus is a bit different. Most powered frames that are NOT for military or security use have simple analog control systems, meaning that they are powerful but slow and often clumsy.

 

Security and military sets of powered armor clone a section of the pilot's spinal cord and extend it into the armor's control systems. The pilot essentially "plugs in" via this cloned nervous system and thus is controlling the armor like it is his own body, making those powered armor suits far more agile and quick to respond. The downside to this system is that the suits are more "sensitive" to damage, meaning that the pilot takes a portion of the STUN damage inflicted.

 

So since the armor was specifically "wired" for a particular pilot does this mean that any sort of Perk or Talent was required to hop in a suit of armor and go? I have looked over Tyger's character sheet and it doesn't seem so.

 

 

Important setting rule: Take 20 STUN in one lump sum' date=' take 1 BODY. Doesn't matter how you took that 20 STU, could have been an NND or an Ego Attack, but you're taking 1 BODY. That rule nearly killed Jama once... or was it twice?[/quote']

 

I have already decided to use this one.

 

I like that rule and the TK rule you imposed. Too bad I am playing a normal.

 

What TK rule? What did I miss?

[watson]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I did not require a particular talent to represent the power armor-to-pilot connection, although you will notice that Tyger has a lot of skills and talents for his armor anyways.

 

I think the TK rule he means is that for force fields and force walls generated by Espers or Mages, they gain the Hardened Advantage for free.

[NestorDRod]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

 

One thing that has amazed me is how some of the characters my players are planning have remarkable similarities to some of the characters from the original campaign. The closest is probably a female Crusader who is actually sounding very similar to Carpenter (aside from the gender issue). Eosin is basically running a highly talented normal with some interesting things I can exploit in his background. I need to work with the player who is wanting to be the Esper since it sounds like our views on how one should work are not jiving too well. The player in question is pretty new to the Hero System so I need to have a discussion with her about her character. One character will be a male sorcerer, another is likely going to be a male cyborg.

 

Just sticking myself in on the post storm long enough to engage in some character geekery.

 

The idea I had for creating Carpenter was to finally try out a paradigm that, due to my aversion to the fantasy genre, I hadn't had the chance to before: a paladin that wasn't either of the standard stereotypes: Dudley Do-Right or the intolerant heathen-slaughterer. Carpenter was truly a man on a mission from God, and I enjoyed being able to explore the aspects of his personality.

 

His philosophy could be summed up in a quote of his: "Faith is no more the absence of doubt than courage is the absence of fear."

 

Good luck, man! Enjoy the ride!

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

A few comments on the map. I am coming around to Eosin's way of thinking on it. In the original campaign the timeline lists a completion date for Angelus. This makes it sound like the "platform" for the city was created as a single massive unit and then the city was built atop it. Over the years more "urbanization" has been added as additional population and industry move in.

 

A more realistic model would be that the original platform was built, which probably is the nucleus of the city that exists in 2112. As the city needed to expand, the platform was probably extended as needed. In this theory a circular shape would not be very realistic. Where an expansion takes place would define the shape of the city.

 

"We need to expand. We'll have to buy out the docks in sector 23 since we can get them for the lowesrt cost. Then we'll add another 180 acre expansion in that area."

 

The city ends up being a hodge-podge assembly. Not ugly by any means, but probably of a non-geometric and somewhat random footprint.

 

Eosin I like your map design pretty good. I think that almost all of the outer perimeter of the city would still be docks and the like. The section you have ear-marked as the Omega Sector makes since. It was a suburban area at the time of the event, so likely near the edge. After the event nobody wants to build adjacent to it so it remains on the edge to this day.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Just sticking myself in on the post storm long enough to engage in some character geekery.

 

The idea I had for creating Carpenter was to finally try out a paradigm that, due to my aversion to the fantasy genre, I hadn't had the chance to before: a paladin that wasn't either of the standard stereotypes: Dudley Do-Right or the intolerant heathen-slaughterer. Carpenter was truly a man on a mission from God, and I enjoyed being able to explore the aspects of his personality.

 

His philosophy could be summed up in a quote of his: "Faith is no more the absence of doubt than courage is the absence of fear."

 

Good luck, man! Enjoy the ride!

 

I think having Michael Carpenter (Dresden Files) as a role model helped. I also recall people saying Nathan was the best paladin they'd ever seen.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

It strikes me, that considering Eosin's RL job, one could have an interesting campaign of Angelus EMT.

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

It strikes me' date=' that considering Eosin's RL job, one could have an interesting campaign of Angelus EMT.[/quote']

 

I never play the healer... too much like work. I am always happy to comment on them and provide jargon for the other players.

 

The TK rules was from the Silent Mobius page on Susano's site. Cost = 1 point for 1 STR of TK.

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I never play the healer... too much like work. I am always happy to comment on them and provide jargon for the other players.

 

The TK rules was from the Silent Mobius page on Susano's site. Cost = 1 point for 1 STR of TK.

 

Yeah, good point. Why go to a game to play what you do for real? And SA: EMT sounds like it would be a better show than a campaign.

 

As for the TK rule... I think I used that in K5 1.0... but won't be using it in K5 2.0 (unless Steve changes something in 6th Edition).

[Eosin]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Man, these magic and paladin posts are killing me.

 

I see people popping in but I have no idea what they are talking about. I've gleaned Susano's rules from the Silent Mobius site but don't really know jack about the Angelus game. The paladin sounds wicked cool.

 

It also means that I might take the city design a little away from the original since I have little knowledge save for the sectors and what each contains.

 

Speaking of the city - I am going to try and vector map it sometime this week. One of the other players is going to overlay a street system. I hope to get a bunch of it done Wednesday but that day keeps getting more and more full. I still have some reading to do before I fully commit to a plan - with Edsel's blessing.

 

If Watson or Susano have suggestions - let them rip. I have no issue with you guys using whatever we come up with (on the city and the map).

 

Oh yeah, I'd advocate for Edsel to bless Shadow Angelus III on Susano's Website. The characters will be different and our stuff will be different. We, as a group, are obviously going to run in a different path than Watson's group. SA III could provide exactly what some other GM needs to yoink the setting for their game and the cycle continues.... It is like a circle... the circle of life. Seriously, I think we will add enough to the game that if Susano wants to make a page for it then we (Edsel) should bless it.

 

[Susano]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I'll try and add the page this week.

[Edsel]

Re: Shadow Angelus

 

A couple of questions to those involved in the original Shadows Angelus I and II campaigns, I am pretty sure these can be answered without giving my potential player's any spoilers:

 

1. Were there any rules, like the resource pool rules, from Dark Champions for equipping the characters, or was it just handled at the discretion of the GM? Personally I am leaning toward the latter.

 

2. Were there any particular Damage Class, Active Point, Combat Value limits, etc. Imposed during character creation? Did these values change during the course of the campaign?

 

3. What were the Lace & Steel games all about? Was this some sort of gladitorial combat?