Promethean: the Created

[Dawngreeter]

[edit] Debil. Zaboravih da je vec postojao thread o Promethen: the Created. Pod moderatorskim opcijama mi ne daje opcije za merge tako da... eto. [/edit]

Dugo nesto konstruktivno na ovom delu foruma nisam radio, pa k'o reko' da ispravim stvari. Promethean je vec odavno potvrdjen, i od prosle nedelje polako izbacuju 'sneak peek' komadice. Imamo simbol, logo i izgled korica za sada. Pa, tim redom, eve ih:

[Dawngreeter]

My creator theorized that constructing me, her first and only progeny, was a final task that would bring her Saturnine Night to a close. I don’t know if her supposition proved correct; after tutoring me in the basic facts of my existence, she exited for parts unknown. She did bequeath me considerable wealth and resources. It’s her insight that I’m most lacking.

The first time I performed a Transmutation, I felt disoriented and sick to my stomach. For that brief moment, I apprehended that everything, that anything, can change. Nothing is permanent. Not life. Not death. Not self. I think that this is why the mortals suffer Disquiet in our presence. The flame we carry is one of change and transformation, and an intuitively perceived threat to the illusion of stability that they hold so dear.

Is it possible to enlighten them, then, and take away this fear of change? I made several halfhearted attempts, but it never worked. I could never overcome their fear.

AND THEN THEY KILLED ME.

When I came back, I knew I’d found the transformative experience I’d been seeking. Immersion in the great river that flows between the life and death gives one a new perspective. I became interested in mapping out the arteries of that black watercourse, that torrent of light, to make its navigation less traumatic. I’ve sent many an explorer to scout the way. They always return transformed somehow, and reluctant to speak of what they saw. But I usually can glean some useful bit of data.

I choose my scouts carefully and prepare them diligently. To date, none have gained sufficient insight from the experience to overcome the Disquiet and understand that I am not so different from them. But one day my map will be complete.

AND EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.

PROMETHEAN: THE CREATED WWP60000
ISBN: 1-58846-606-X $34.99 U.S.

[Slartibartfast]

Logo deluje ruznjikavo, mada se lepo uklopio u korice knjige.

[Dawngreeter]

Poceli su da zibacuju za White Wolf vec klasicne tidbit-e informacija o Promethean svetu kroz daily lexcon.

[edit] Promace mi prethodni update [/edit]

Promethean: A being animated by Azoth as a result of a unique alchemical process. The Promethean's body always comes from a dismembered and reassembled corpse (or corpses).

Azoth: Azoth is the amount of purified Pyros the Promethean has within him. It is what animates him and gives him the potential (the promise) of becoming mortal, or truly alive. Azoth is often associated with the alchemical principle of coagulation.

[Dawngreeter]

Pyros: The Divine Fire. Prometheans generate fluid Pyros from their Azoth (their store of purified Pyros). Pyros is expended to power Transmutations.

[Awakened]

a jer potrebno skupiti znanje iz Jevrejskih, Hriscanskih i Islamskih izvora kako bi napravi Adama? 8)

[Dawngreeter]

Mislim da su dovoljne kvalifikacije da dobijes dozvolu za vrsenje funkcije mesara.

[Awakened]

Auh, a glavni negativci u sistemu su sanitarni inspektori? 8)

[Dawngreeter]

Sa laserskim krstovima.

[Awakened]

Tjah, sta znam. Bojim se da je neko opet napravio sistem koji bi on hteo da igra, i da ciljaju neku jako, jako usku nisu trzista. Iako je rano pricati o svemu, izgleda pokusavaju da naprave nesto novo i istraze neke nove ideje, kako bi nekako sacuvali relativno bedno RPG trziste.

[Dawngreeter]

Govoris da je RPG trziste generalno bedno, ili WW-ov udeo u njemu? Ako je ovo drugo, nije da je udeo u trzistu neka garancija za kvalitet (evo WotC na primer) ali WW je i dalje na drugom mestu.

Sto se tice ideje iza Promethean-a, nije nesto posebno nova. Samo koriste malo drugaciji aspekt i pokusavaju da istraze novu vrstu 'monstruma'. Sama tema je otprilike ista kao kod prvobitnog Wraith-a - sta cini coveka covekom, posmatrano iz ugla nekoga ko vise nije covek, a to zeli da postane (ili ostane).

U pocetku sam bio malo skeptican da ce biti zanimljiva nova ideja bez stvarne 'gaming' vrednosti. U smislu da cu hteti da procitam knjige ali ne i da igram. Sada sam vec prilicno siguran da to nije tako, sve indicira d ace igra biti srazmerno zanimljiva. Naravno, jos uvek se veoma malo zna, ali ko je pratio sve sta WW-ovi pisci pricaju o razvoju igre, izgleda da ce biti cool.

[Slartibartfast]

Deluje bolje od npr. Orpheus -a onoliko koliko novi WoD deluje bolje od starog. A to nije bas malo.

[Dawngreeter]

To je otprilike i moj utisak. Jedino sto 'toolbox' orjentisani pristup novog WoD-a cini metaplot kakav smo u Orpheusu videli malo verovatnim. A ja se istinski, iskreno nadam da ce metaplot-a biti. Ipak je ovo limited run igra koja ce imati samo pet ili sest knjiga, a metaplot je ono sto je Orpheus nacinilo tako neverovatno cool igrom.

[Awakened]

Govoris da je RPG trziste generalno bedno, ili WW-ov udeo u njemu? Ako je ovo drugo, nije da je udeo u trzistu neka garancija za kvalitet (evo WotC na primer) ali WW je i dalje na drugom mestu.

RPG trziste generalno.

U pocetku sam bio malo skeptican da ce biti zanimljiva nova ideja bez stvarne 'gaming' vrednosti. U smislu da cu hteti da procitam knjige ali ne i da igram. Sada sam vec prilicno siguran da to nije tako, sve indicira d ace igra biti srazmerno zanimljiva.

Sta znam. Treba videti ceo sistem, al' plasim se da je za jednokratnu upotrebu.

[Dawngreeter]

Slusao sam snimak radio intervjua sa Matt McFarland-om (Promethean developer; mozda poznat ljudima po tome sto je bio i Dark Ages developer) i evo jos nekih zanimljivih podataka.

'Kategorije' Promethena su Lineage i Refinement (i 5x5 su, kao sto je standard novog WoD-a). Lineage nose imena tvoraca ili prvog Promethen-a iz njega. Za sada znamo da postoje Galatean i Frankenstein Lineage, ostala tri su nepoznata. Frankenstein bi trebalo da su physical-heavy a Galatean su pretty people.

Refinement nije social splat, kao sto do sada WoD standard nalaze, iz prostog razloga sto ih nema dovoljno da bi imali neku veliku zajednicu. Tako da je Refinement u stvari filozofski pogled Prometheana na svoje postojanje. Imena jos nisu poznata, ali ce biti prema alhemicarskim elementma.

Po combat snazi, Matt kaze da su izmedju vampira i vukodlaka, uz napomenu da combat snaga mnogo zavisi od raspodele poena. Za razliku od vukodlaka, Promethean bez combat fokusa ce biti veoma beskoristan u fajtu.

Jedna zanimljiva stvar, posto se Prometheans u glavnom kriju, je da su razvil isvoje pismo. Posto ih ima malo, to pismo ne mora obavezno svako da zna, ali kako postoji mogucnost da jedan Promethean pravi drugog Promethean-a, u igri je prenosenje pisma sa kolena na koleno i slicno. Pismo je simbolicko, i Matt kaze da pomalo podseca na Hunterske simbole. Svrha im je da jednostavno oznaci bezbedne i opsane lokacije, i tome slicno.

I na kraju, Matt je potvrdio hipotezu da je Promethean igra o stvorenjima koja su stvorena takva kakva su, znaci nikada nisu ni bili ljudi, i pokusavaju da shvate sta je to toliko posebno kod ljudi, da bi mogli i sami to da postanu.

Za sada ce definitivno biti samo 5 knjiga. Osnovna je vec gotova izgleda, Matt radi na jos cetri. Kada su ga pitali da li ce biti samo tih 5 knjiga i gotovo, rekao je da mu ljudi iz White Wolf-a nisu hteli reci. Znaci, za sada se pravi samo 5 knjiga i mozda ostane na tome, a mozda se i nastavi dalje. Pretpostavka je da jeste u pitanju limited run igra od svega 5 knjiga, sa opcijom za nastavak ako odjednom postane super-seller hit.

Prva knjiga je Pandora's Book (ili tako nekako) i bavi se antagonistima specificnim za Promethean likove, mada je Matt rekao da je na kraju ispalo da ima mnogo vece koristi i za igrace nego sto je u startu mislio da ce biti. Druga knjiga ce se baviti Promethean likovima u grupi Vampire, Werewolf ili Mage likova. Posto ih stvarno nema mnogo, po svemu sudeci je validna opcija ubaciti jednog Promethean-a u tako neku crossover pricu, i hteli su taj aspekat do detalja da razrade.

[Dawngreeter]

Transmutation: A Promethean or Pandoran power.

Alchemicus: A class of Transmutations. The alteration or transformation of material substances, from mystically identifying them to molding their shape and function like clay.

Mislim da je ovo dobra indikacija da ce postojati mirror image stvorenja koja odgovaraju Promethean-ima. 'Pandoran' se uklapa u Matt McFarland-ovu najavu da ce prva knjiga posle osnovne imati naziv Pandora's Book (ili mozda Pandoran Book? ima smisla u ovom kontekstu...)

[Dawngreeter]

Corporeum: A class of Transmutations. Control or transformation of the body’s physical functions, from the regeneration of wounded flesh to hardening the skin against damage.

For me, conceiving of the Pandorans was tough. I mean, we're basically creating a whole new strange critter specifically for this game - unlike so many other World of Darkness games, there was no real legend or bit of mythology upon which the Pandorans were based (though they were inspired by a variety of things, particularly the Bad Things that emerged from Pandora's Box).
Bill was fantastic, though, in helping me get some solid ideas about them, helping me prune away things that were just not going to work or would work against the game. He has a tremendous eye for making a game not only very thematic and filled with mood, but also distinctly *playable*.
– Joseph D. Carriker, Jr

[Dawngreeter]

Deception: A class of Transmutations. Supernatural means of confusing or evading opponents, from changing one’s skin color to altering one’s facial features.

[Dawngreeter]

Prvi report sa prvog session-a Promethen-a koji je bio otvoren za javnost. Matt McFarland je bio ST, logicno. Malo duzi tekst, ali vredan citanja.

It's getting pretty late/early but I'll write down what I can remember before going to bed and answer as many questions as I can tomorrow/today. Quick caveat: I played the demo to have fun, not to suck up as much info as I could. Except for the stuff that's on my character sheet, everything I'm writing here is based on my sleep-deprived memory.

The game opened with our characters awakening in small clearing in a pine forest underneath a sky that seemed to burn with blue fire. We had no knowledge of who or what we were or much understanding of the world around us. We spent most of the game trying to become a little less ignorant. This worked well because nearly all the players knew as little about what it meant to be a Promethean as our characters did.

Here's some of what we managed to find out:

1) Our kind normally look like typical humans. When we use pyros or get zapped with electricity we change -or appear to change? -or reveal our true form? and look VERY inhuman. My character, of the Frankenstein lineage, looked like it had been sewn together from several corpses. The Galatean (sp?) characters looked waxy or pastic. The Golems (who weren't actually called golems, it was something starting with 'R' and ending with 'Z' I think) appeared as clay creatures.

2) It takes a LOT to put down a Promthean! The pain from wounds doesn't slow us down and even when all our health levels are filled with lethal we don't start bleeding aggravated damage or fall unconscious. For example, one our party got his guts ripped out (storyteller getting creative with agg. damage) but he was able to keep fighting. Presumably we'd die if all our health boxes got filled with agg. but even that might be the end. Near the end of the story we found out our characters had lost all their memories because we'd "died" (as Prometheans) and come back.

3) Prometheans can be healed by electricity! My character quite enjoyed getting struck by lighting and we all were later able to "juice up" by sticking our fingers into lightbulb sockets. This even healed the nasty agg. damage mentioned above. That character got his guts back! Very Happy However, lost limbs apparently can't be regrown in this fashion and that character needed to use a Transmutation to reattach the fingers that had been bitten off of him.

4) Each Promethean can pursue a Refinement. This is a sort of philosophy that can allow a character to become something more human than they currently are. In our story, we each started out without any Refinement and our storyteller (Matt McFarland) gave us one depending on how we were playing our characters. Apparently the Refinement "paths" are quite loose and characters can follow them without being consciously aware of doing so and switch from one to another without much difficulty. My character got the Ferrum Refinement which is associated with Iron and focuses on honing a perfect body to better house a perfect soul. Other Refinements were also tied to metals, I can remember Mercurim (sp?) associated with mercury and inquisitiveness and another Refinement associated with copper. When we got our Refinement we also got a third Transmutation.

5) Transmutations: My character started with two levels of Might. This Transmutation let my character spend a point of Pyros to get two extra dots of strength for the scene -in other words just like Vigor except for the jumping bonus. After picking up my Refinement I got Shoulders of Atlas which let me spend one Pyros to double my strength for lifting purposes for one turn.

I can also remember several other players had Transmutations that let them grow claws and fangs granting them a +1 bonus die and lethal damage on brawl attacks. Another character had a Transmutation I think was called Fist of Clay that reduced the effective durability of physical objects she hit. Color of Man allowed a Promethean to look appropriate for the company they were in -not quite sure how this works since it wasn't used in game. Another character had Mask of Medusa that scared away stuff.

As for sensory stuff. One character had a Transmutation that let them read any language. Another could analyze any nonliving (non-Promethean) substance. One could sense the flow of Pyros... and Flux. That became quite important in the story's climax.

6) Weird stuff my character didn't understand and I don't either:

In the clearing where our characters awakened we encountered an eyeless serpent the size of a boa constrictor. It slithered out from underneath a tree my character uprooted (don't ask why). The serpent coiled up and became an eyeless man who told us... something to do with regaining our memories I think. It referred to our characters by the concepts written on our character sheets ie "Lover", "Child", "Aftermath" -the last one was me.

Afterward we encountered some horrible froglike things in a river nearby. Each was about the size of a dog had had sharp nasty teeth. These were the things that eviscerated one of our company as described above. Once we managed to kill the things by pretty much tearing them appart, they turned into inert and unexceptional pieces of wood. Matt said these things would show up in a supplement rather than the corebook.

We eventually tracked down a strange source of pyros and found Eve. She was a Galatean who had created the Lover and the Child to be her family but things hadn't worked out. The faces of the "good doctor", creator of us Frankensteins and the Golem's creator also appeared in her chest occasionally. They were with her because they "didn't want to leave".

The serpent showed up again, I don't think he and Eve were on very good terms. Some of us chose to got some memories back of our lives as Prometheans before we'd died. I'd been made from six men who attacked the good doctor. Other characters also got some of their backstories. We still didn't knew anything about the events immediately preceding our decent death. I think Eve killed us (maybe by sending the toothy frog things?) so she could start a new throng with us and wouldn't be alone anymore.

Here's where things get even more metaphysical: Eve radiated Flux, that's apparently sort of anti-Pyros that destroys instead of creates. The serpent radiated Pyros and when he opened his eyes he died and Pros left his body going up into the blue fire in the sky.

After all that, we decided not to kill Eve (her creations forgave her) and merely left her alone again. We headed out for the lights of the city hopefully with enough knowlegde to survive.

7) Other Odds & Ends

Pyros can be spend to increase any attribute on a 1 for 1 basis. This effect lasts for a full turn. All the characters had Azoth 1, a max pool of 10 pyros and could spend 1 pyros per turn. We never figured out how to replenish spent pyros but the storyteller hinted the method involved giving each lineage what it lacked (blood for Frankensteins?) -I might be way off base here.

Speaking of blood, none of the Prometheans bleed. We do need to breathe (to feed the fire of Azoth) and our hearts do beat. We can eat anything organic (candybars and dead frogs go great together!) but its unclear if we really need to do so. Also, consumption seems to be somewhat mystical, the eviscerated Promethean could consume food without difficulty.

Each Promethean starts the game with a bestowment -and apparently can get more fairly cheaply. My character had Unholy Strength, that gave him 9-again on non-combat strength rolls. Other characters had Unholy Stamina and other similar variations with similar effects. The Bestowment is also listed as a "Lineage Bestowment" at the bottom of the sheet.

My character had two dots in the Residual Memory merit. That gave him 4 dice to spread out over a stroy to give bonuses on two specific skills: firearms and academics. If I spent all 4 dice I'd need to roll for a Derangement. Also, even though I didn't have any dots in Academics, I wouldn't get the typical -3 unskilled penalty if I tossed in at least one Residual Memory die into an Academics roll.

Another character had a merit that works something like the Dream merit from Mage. I forget what it was called.

Prometheans have Humanity as their Morality stat. Nobody had to make a check in our game but I apparently came close when I attacked Eve. However, characters often had to use Humanity as a dice pool when using Transmutations - I particularly remember it being used for the pyros sensing Transmutation. This seems similar to Gnosis dice pools for rituals in Werewolf.

We ran into a bunch of normal guys out on the river sitting around a campfire and getting drunk. We really weirded them out. This was after the fight but we managed to hide most of our injuries. For Disquiet, the Storyteller had us each roll two dice. One character got three successes and the campers seemed particularly wary of him. Even so, we left after getting some useful directions without any conflict.

Prometheans don't appear to get any +1 Attribute bonuses like Vampires or Mages. They don't get any Skill or specialty bonuses either. Virtue & Vice, Merit dots, Health and Willpower are the same as for other WW characters. Starting Humanity is 7 and starting Pyros is normally equal to your Humanity -although ours started at a full 10. Azoth starts at 1 but the character sheet says it can be increased with merit points. The sheet also says starting characters get 3 Transmutations, one of which must be a Refinement Transmutation.

Hmm... that's all I can think of. Oh wait, Matt mentioned there are only about 100 Prometheans in the whole world. That'd make it tough to do a LARP Very Happy .

All in all I had a great time and will definately pick up the game when it comes out in August. Way to go Matt for runnig/writing/developing a great game!

Oh yeah a few other tiny little things before I forget:

Prometheans seem to instinctively be able to recognize each other.

The Lineages have a few particular traits that might distinguish them as odd even in "human form". My character had different body pigments in different areas due to the different ethinicities of the corpses used to make him. Another Frankenstain still had the blue tattoo of a medical cadaver. The Galatean's skin looked alomst too perfect. Totally free of any blemish. I can't remember it there was anything distinctive about the Golems.

Matt mentioned that "Fires start when Frankensteins stay in the same place too long". Other lineages have different problems I can't remember.

And thats really it until I get some sleep! Very Happy

[Dawngreeter]

Promethean Storyteller's Screen:

[Awakened]

Promethean: The Trazenje Stekera U Svakoj Sobi 8)

[Dawngreeter]

Frankenstein — The Wretched

What makes a man? What are the components of a human being? Is a human being more than the sum of the parts that make the whole?

The children of Frankenstein embody these questions. Possessed of great strength and wild feeling, yet ill made and unfinished, their condition makes them personifications of the conundrum. They reflect the question literally, too, consisting of a mishmash of human parts sewn together and animated by harnessed lightning — wielding great power but still not fully men.

For all the Disquiet they cause, the other Promethean Lineages are still the intended results of the dark miracles that brought them into being. Not so the descendants of Frankenstein’s monster. Their Progenitor was a mistake, a nightmare mishmash of a dozen corpses.

Although a few of these patchwork people over the last two centuries have not necessarily been hideous, they all share the same curse: They are separated from humanity, and they know it. Members of the family Frankenstein are forced to confront this every day of their lives.

Shambling creatures whose limbs and organs were culled from multiple bodies. They were given life by the element of fire in the form of lightning, and they suffer from an excess of choleric humour. Their Progenitor was the famous Frankenstein's monster, and their Bestowment is Unholy Strength.

Lineage: A type of Promethean, determined by the Lineage of the Promethean's creator (who is himself a Promethean). The popular conception of a Promethean being created by a mortal refers to a demiurge.

Frankenstein: A Promethean Lineage. Shambling creatures whose limbs and organs were culled from multiple bodies. They were given life by the element of fire in the form of lightning, and they suffer from an excess of choleric humour. Their Progenitor was Dr. Victor Frankenstein's famous monster.

[Dawngreeter]

Malo sam zapostavio temu pola godine, al' tokom kratkog boravka u zemlji Londoniji dokopah se sve tri do sada izasle knjige, pa k'o reko' da prosledim utiske. Nisam stigao nista vise od letimicnog pregledavanja knjiga do sada da postignem, ali igra izgleda vrlo impresivno.

Za pocetak, uvek volim da vidim igru koja odmah u paketu dolazi sa hiper-ociglednim razlogo mzasto su likovi zajedno i zasto zajednicki rade sta god da rade. Ovde je to ocigledno jer Prometheana ima neverovatno malo u svetu, i mahom imaju slican cilj. 'Prirodni' antagonisti su veoma zanimljivi, i konceptualno i sistemski (kazem da su 'prirodni' jer Promethen se mogu i gotovo sigurno hoce sukobiti sa kojecim sto WoD ima u svojoj paleti natprirodnih karakondzula i fenomena, ali ove konkretne natprirodne karakondzule su posebne za Promethean paradigmu).

Neko se dosetio da bi sistem simbola koje su Hunteri koristili u starom WoD-u mogao lepo da se uklopi u 'labavo' drustvo malobrojnih Promethean stvorova, pa se u osnovnoj knjizi moze naci recnik simbola koji tu i tamo podsecaju na Hunterovske.

Po sposobnostima, Promethean-i mogu da budu jako dobri u bilo koje od tri kategorije (social, physical, mental). Frankenstein ce moci bez problema da se sukobi sa vukodlakom istog ranga, dok ce nadigrati jednog Galatean-a u privlacenju paznje u bilo kom nocnom klubu biti izazov cak i za Daeva vampire. Versatilnost je, daklem, veca nego kod 'standardne' tri WoD igre, sto se uklapa u pricu o Promethean stvorenjima kao malobrojnima i posebnima. Po forumima se mogu naci Werewolf igraci koji jadikuju sto njihovi cupavci vise nisu ekskluzivni utepavaci svega sto se mrda, no meni se ne cini da je Promethean igra posebno disbalansirana. Svakom svoje, valjda.

Sledi malo detaljniji raport kad protresem knjige do kraja.

[Slartibartfast]

Knjiga, i setting generalno, su sjajni. Da ne ponavljam ono sto si vec rekao, antagonisti su takodje jedni od najboljih dosad. Definitivno vredi probati, pa onda dati 'iscrpnije' komentare.