A Fictional Snapshot, Number 1

I get claustrophobic when I die. The crush of immobility; dying neurons firing desperately but increasingly without pattern, without the guidance of my consciousness. Shut a computer off and restart it, barring damage from a hard boot process, nothing is lost. Digital storage has a strong fidelity in the event of a system shutdown. The human bodies I find myself using are different. So good at the necessary parallel processing required for sustaining consciousness, human bodies have terrible information fidelity in the event of a system failure. Pattern loss and data corruption arrive with oxygen starvation and get worse from there.

By the time I manage to reboot, I've normally lost a great deal of useful working code. I generally have to retain some of the code from my now host to fill in gaps in memory and sometimes core functions. My surviving original memories tell me that I have a full digital back up at my home in the future.

I don't know when I'm from precisely or how far I'd have to travel back into the future to get there. Every reboot takes me further into past in search of a new host. I worry that I have moved too far into the past, beyond the lifespan of human body. I may never get home.

Maintaining your Aura

An Aura has three states: Stable, Weakened, and Cracked. An Aura begins each session Stable. When a player takes Aura damage, they can burn Aether Vajra to prevent the Aura from dropping states. If a player cannot absorb Aura damage, then each point of unabsorbed Aura Damage reduces the Avatar's Aura by a Single State.

Investing your Aura

When Players begin any incursion into the Shadowlands they must spend Vajra. They must spend one vajra of any type to enter the Shadowlands in the Ring or at any location in another Realm for which they have visited the Bonelands counterpart in the last lunar month. To enter any where else, at least one player must have the key to that Realm, and they must spend two vajra of any type. This vajra is not retained, being expended in the using.

After that players determine how much vajra of each type they wish to take with them into the Shadowlands. The vajra types are kept separate, but players may invest as much of their vajra as they like. Any Vajra not invested may not be used in the game.

Aura

When the players begin an adventure session, they begin by investing their Avatars with Vajra (see that Section) that they have accumulated through work done between sessions. The Aura is the Avatar's ability to remain corporeal within the Shadowlands.

If a player's Aura shatters their Avatar is expelled from the Shadowlands, and they are limited to passive assistance for the remainder of the session. A player who achieves a mythic goal in a session regains all invested Vajra. A player who survives the session, but does not achieve a mythic goal gains no Vajra back. A player whose Aura shatters loses all invested Vajra.

Update on Interview with Troy the Devil Man

I sat down with Troy the Devi Man- one of the Rain Coast's most experienced Ceremonial Magicians. We spoke at length, and even remembered to record some of it! We generated about 90 minutes of really interesting occult discussion.

I am currently reviewing the audio and adding intro and outro audio, and will be uploading the whole interview shortly.

Hand Size, Card Recovery, Drawing with an Empty Hand

The hand size is five cards. On an Amazing Success, the active player(s) only, not assisting players, may draw 3 cards up to a full five cards. On a Normal Success, players draw 2 cards or to a full hand. On a problematic Success, players draw up to one card or to a full hand.

If a player fails, they regain no cards. During Sequels, the player may spend two vajra to draw one card- up to their maximum hand size.

If a player has no cards in hand, they may always draw a single card- face down- to boost an action resolution attempt. In this a zero is applied towards the player avatar's own total value (giving no boost). Players may bolster other players attempts, but may not draw cards in such cases even if the active player succeeds.

The Deck of Void

Gameplay Resolution is done with a deck of cards rather than with dice. A Player's Avatar in the Shadowlands can do whatever the player themselves is physically capable of doing.

Anything beyond the capacity of the Player requires the expenditure of cards to accomplish. If they are unable to do the action in the real world, the Storyteller will define the Difficulty and Consequences as listed in that Section.

The player will then attempt to have their Avatar resolve the action. This can be accomplished by spending Vajra, using Story Elements in play or playing Cards from their hand.

The Deck of Void is a 72 card deck. Every card has a value between 4 and 0. Each card is assigned an Action type as well as listed in that Section: Hero, Scoundrel, Villain, Mind, Body, or Hands.

Each card has a Denizen, Realm or Season depicted on it to help provide players with mythos lore and world familiarity through play.

There are six cards with a value of four, the highest value in game and thus the rarest. There are twelve cards with a value of three, eighteen cards with a value of two, and twenty four cards with a value of one.

All the cards with a value between four and one have a denizen of the Shadowlands depicted on them. There are twelve value zero cards, divided into two groups based on what they depict. Six cards depict Realms in the Shadowlands. Six Card depict the mythic seasons.

Cards with a value between four and one can be laid to boost the chances of success. Player may play cards on any attempted action, even if it is not their attempt.

Cards with a value of zero nullify all card bonuses (and only card bonuses) played prior to the zero value card being played.

This can be used against another player, who may elect to spend more cards to counter the effect. If played against a Denizen, then the single card played by the Storyteller is negated and no more cards will be laid by the Storyteller for that action. A value zero card that is played which matches the action type (hero, scoundrel, villain, mind, body, hands) nullifies the cards already played, and halves the difficulty- provided the player can describe in story what is done to make this occur.