Appendix 1: Multiverser interfacing rules
Appendix 1: Multiverser Conversion Notes
By M. Joseph Young and Seth Ben-Ezra
(A note from Seth: many moons ago I emailed M.J. Young with a question about dice probabilities. This was the first in a long correspondence. I have been a co-moderator of a gaming email list with him. We have both written columns for the Gaming Outpost. We have interacted on the Forge. Sadly, I have never met him. However, for quite some time we have been planning these cross-over rules. M.J.'s game, Multiverser, is a game starring "versers" who leap from world to world, unable to die. As a result, they are able to explore a broad variety of worlds, bringing their experience, training, and equipment from world to world. Of course, there's no guarantee that any of it will work on your next world, but finding that out is part of the fun. Although Multiverser is administered by a corporation, Multiverser is actually owned by its creators (E.R. Jones and M.J. Young), so it lands well within the pale of independent roleplaying games. And, even if it did not, it is good to help your friends. It is our hope that this ruleset would allow for entirely new kinds of stories to be told in both Legends of Alyria and Multiverser.)
Multiverser is a game of many worlds, in which player characters travel from universe to universe. It is one of the stated objectives of the game to make possible play in other game worlds governed by other game systems, in such a manner that the integrity of the Multiverser player character is maintained, but the integrity, both feeling and system, of the other game is also preserved.
Legends of Alyria is a fantasy game providing a world and system targeted to promoting narrativist play. The game excels at creating stories built on personal and moral conflicts and issues. It breaks many conventions both of traditional role playing games and of familiar fantasy settings.
These rules are designed to enable Multiverser player characters to enter the world of Legends of Alyria, have adventures within it of the sort for which Legends of Alyria is designed, and take skills and equipment from that world into other universes beyond. It is expected that the referee will have the rules of both Legends of Alyria and Multiverser to utilize this material. These rules will give information in the order deemed most useful for bringing Multiverser characters into Legends of Alyria, facilitating play consistent with that game, and continuing into the multiverse beyond. As part of that, treatment of bias, skills, attributes, and equipment will all be addressed, as well as converting Legends of Alyria characters and creatures to Multiverser terms, and understanding which Multiverser rules do and do not apply while in Legends of Alyria.
Note: to minimize confusion in what follows, these conventions will be used. Alyria will mean the world, while Legends of Alyria refers to the Legends of Alyria game or game system. Character will mean any creature from either game system. Alyrian or indig will be used to distinguish aspects that apply only to characters or objects native to Alyria, and verser will be used for Multiverser player and non-player characters visiting this world and any objects or abilities they bring with them. Multiverser mechanics may sometimes be indicated by the letters MV in front of them.
The Darkship: A Tale of Alyria
Written by M. Joseph Young
It had been like the fulfillment of a dream. When he first found the spaceship–the darkship, as the indigs called it–it looked like an impossible task, a fixer-upper for a rocket scientist half-buried in the wilderness of a world that had fallen into primitive superstition. Its technology was unlike anything he had seen, with nanite systems analysis, antimatter power supply, and an interstellar drive whose function was still unclear to him despite having learned to repair and operate it. He had watched a generation of Alyrians grow old while he worked on making it functional, but eventually he believed it spaceworthy.
Getting a crew had been an even greater challenge. Columbus thought he had the dregs, with a crew of debtors and criminals. The gang he had raised had few humans, with several of the mutants they called Misbegotten, a couple of those Restored walking dead, and that psionic Blessed girl who made everyone nervous. They spoke in terms of crossing the Sea of Darkness or flying into Deep Heaven, unable to grasp simple ideas of space flight as just another form of travel. They did not trust or like each other, and he had spent much of his time maintaining peace (order would be too strong a word) among his misfit crew. But they had the skills he needed to make this trip, and had been willing— for their own unspoken reasons— to go with him.
He could not count the tense moments along the way. Would the ship get off the ground, escape the gravity well, hold together under those stresses? He could easily avoid the Weeping Moon, but had worried how long or wide a trail of Outsiders might drag behind it, and whether they would infect the ship.
Engaging the interstellar drive–well, he put it off for three days for no better reason than that he wanted to run the tests once more, once more, before taking that risk.
Now here they were in orbit above another planet. Systems indicated radio frequency broadcasts, although they had not yet deciphered the transmission encoding. Something intelligent was down there, and whether it was human, alien, or machine, long-cherished beliefs of his Alyrian crew were about to be challenged yet again.
Tech Bias
Setting the tech bias in Alyria is particularly difficult. The vast majority of Alyrians have a bias around 4@1; they would understand the concept of tossing a rope over a beam to help lift a load, but would not understand how to use a pulley for the same function. However, as in most worlds, there are many indigs whose abilities are well above this mark. More complicating, this is a type of post-apocalyptic world, in which more advanced but forgotten technology from an earlier age exists and operates, but is not understood by the current indigs.
The referee could decide that the bias in the universe has fallen, such that no one anywhere understands any of the technology which existed prior to the calamity, but automated @0 control systems allow specially trained individuals with superior ability to learn to operate these devices by "pushing the right buttons", as it were. This would place the bias at perhaps 9@8, for those rare individuals who understand how to work in electricity. 9@8 is the level for primitive radio systems, which although not mentioned in the text are not inconsistent with the primitive understanding of some of the indigs. Although the game is playable this way, and a curve of 17 will limit verser skill use, the world as envisioned by the designer would allow indigs to discover and understand its lost technology, requiring a higher bias.
It better fits the design intent for the bias in the universe to be at least 14@7 (the minimum level for interstellar travel and minimum curve for nanite technology, it would support hyperspace drives but not jump drives), although none of the indigs on this planet have skills above 9@8. This supposes that humans or other creatures might still exist elsewhere in the universe retaining such knowledge, but that the knowledge is not found among Alyrians. This is functionally the same for the Alyrians, but gives a higher chance of success in skill learning to the verser. It also opens up the use of higher level tech skills, and the possibility that the verser could learn to make the lost technology of Alyria while present. (If the bias is low, the verser could examine the equipment and use it as an example, but could not acquire the skills to design such technology until leaving Legends of Alyria.)
It is possible that operation and repair skills are not @0 skills, but actually confer bias on the users. Alyrians with higher tech bias is a difficult concept, as there is no inherent reason why they could not learn to make much of the technology which they currently only use. However, it is within the design concept that there are religious and social reasons for their failure to comprehend such principles. This brings out the nature of those indigs who keep the technology, that is, that they have to a sufficient knowledge base to understand the operation and maintenance of these technologies, but are impeded by religious or social taboos which prevent consideration of the application of that knowledge to creation of additional devices.
This is left to the discretion of the referee. Versers can learn and use any technology within the curve. We recommend a 14@7 bias, a curve of 21. Note that the curve is most important in this conversion. For reasons discussed below, bias level will not impact chance of successful skill use.
Psi Bias
It is clear that two groups of Alyrians have psionic abilities, the Misbegotten and the Blessed. Although it might appear at first glance that the Blessed are using supernatural power (thus magic), it is intended that this power comes from within the individual, not from a supernatural realm. Psionic abilities appear to run through 14@10, possibly as high as 15@9 (no Alyrian has the power to create life). The bias should be set at least so high.
However, within Alyria it is not possible to learn such abilities. They are genetic mutations; characters are born with them or do not have them. Although the powers of the Blessed have some flexibility, they cannot learn or teach skills as such. Thus although versers can use any psionic abilities they already possess within the curve, they cannot learn new abilities either by observing the use by others or by experimenting on their own. They may observe such use as examples for the future, but they cannot learn the skills while in Legends of Alyria. Because of this, only the curve (24) matters, in that it excludes 15@10 skills.
Mag Bias
The unicorns and the dragons are supernatural creatures within Legends of Alyria, manifestations of the supernatural good and evil–or in Multiverser terms, the unicorns are minions of alliance powers, and the dragons minions of anarch powers. Their presence alone would suggest that the bias is high. It is not only their presence that does so. The Gifted are those empowered to use supernatural power within Alyria, and those gifts can do anything. The mag bias is 15@10, a curve of 25.
However, there is no native magic in Alyria apart from these gifts, and the gifts are always either alliance or anarch. There are no arcane powers in the world, and no neutral powers. It is recommended that arcane magic be power blocked, particularly if the versers are strong in this area, as significant levels of unaffiliated magic could spoil some of the moral tension in the game. Further, although those using neutral holy magic will have access to their powers, any such use will call attention to the character such that unicorns and dragons will want to prod the character to their side–gently at first, through circumstance and proxy, but eventually through blatant confrontation, demanding that the verser choose sides. Any magic use in Alyria will draw such supernatural attention, as the unicorns and dragons consider such things their province; thus the verser who uses magic will make himself a focal point for supernatural events.
Alyria has an alliance affiliation. It would appear at first glance to be neutral, since good and evil powers appear balanced; yet it cannot be neutral, since neutral powers are quashed. It is the design intent that good be victorious, despite the horrors which exist here.
It should also be noted of the gifts, as with the powers of the Blessed and the Misbegotten, that they cannot be learned or taught. They are given by the unicorns or dragons, or not. Once they are given, they are used as skills by the Gifted; but versers cannot learn any magic skills in this world. They may use such holy magic skills as they already know, and may study the use of gifts as an example for learning in another universe, but cannot learn magic while here. It is possible that a verser might be given a gift. Gifts may also be taken away while in Alyria, if the recipient is not pleasing to the giver, particularly in the use of the gift. Once the Gifted leaves Legends of Alyria, the gift is translated as any other skill to Multiverser terms, but is always connected to the giver.
Bod Bias
The dragons and the unicorns are spirit beings, supernatural in nature. However, they exist within Alyria, in definable locations, and are seen by believers and sometimes by unbelievers. These beings have the ability to shift between corporeal and spirit form, but this ability is probably not a body ability of an indigenous creature but a magical ability of a supernatural visitor. The dragons clearly have physical bodies; they also have the ability to invade dreams. The unicorns, conversely, are often seen as visions, but rarely ever physically contact anyone in a body-to-body sense. However, they have been known to physically strike down evildoers. Such magical transformations between forms are within the mag bias, and these creatures are clearly magical, so it is best to ignore these abilities in setting the bod bias.
Apart from this, the Misbegotten are the indigs with the highest bod skills. These range into the upper 12@ invulnerabilities. No creature in Alyria actually morphs (there are no bullfrogs or butterflies), and there are no symbionts or linkers. Thus 12@10 is a viable bias for the bod area, a high curve of 22.
The ordinary restrictions on bod bias skill learning apply, that is, a verser can only learn those skills for which he has the necessary body parts or prosthetics. The game background offers the possibility that the ripper disease which created the Misbegotten and the Blessed may still be active and virulent, surviving dormant in the indigs who are now immune to its effects. This is a decision that would have to be made within the context of play. A verser infected by the disease might mutate in a manner which caused him to grow new body parts or organs which enabled new body skills. Such changes should be consistent with the rules of Legends of Alyria, if they are allowed, and should combine extremely random development of abilities with disfigurement and deformity as presented under those rules.
Attributes
Legends of Alyria has only three attributes. The verser entering this world will create those attributes from his own.
Force is best described as the character's ability to impose his will on others directly. The specifics are not necessary, as it doesn't matter whether this is done by physical strength or personal intimidation. The verser should convert the best of his Persuasion, Strength, or Will Power to Force.
Insight has a broad range of abilities associated with it. Persuasion, Charisma, Intellect, and Intuition are all closely related to Insight, and the best of these should be used to determine that score.
Determination is both sides of the ability to keep going. Stamina, Resistance, and Will Power are all included in this score, and the verser should use the best of these. At the referee's discretion, a character with a high MV Target Value or Damage Value might use this value instead; it will be rare for one of those average scores to exceed all three of these attributes (nearly impossible for DV, as this would mean an incredibly high Density), but in the event that it does (high Agility and Intuition resulting in a high TV) this is an option.
Legends of Alyria has a five-step attribute system, named for the different prayer offices of the Liturgy of the Hours: Matins, Lauds/Compline, Prime/Vespers, Terce/None, and Sext. Sext should be reserved for superhuman attributes, such as those enhanced by cybernetics or elevated by magic or other techniques–in essence, any 3@ attribute should be converted to Sext. Similarly, 2@ attributes should all be converted to Terce/None. Attributes of 1@8 to 1@10 can be Prime/Vespers, those of 1@5 to 1@7 Lauds/Compline, and those below 1@5 should be Matins.
Although attributes do not change in Legends of Alyria, reverse conversion may be necessary in the case of associates. Use midpoint values for each phase, 1@3 for Matins, 1@6 Lauds/Compline, 1@9 Half, 2@5 Terce/None, 3@5 Sext. In the case of Terce/None and Sext particularly, thought should be given as to whether this value is representative of the character's ability. However, given that there are only three Alyrian attributes against fourteen verser attributes, quite a bit of detail is going to have to be determined. Here are some guidelines.
Each of the Alyrian attributes represents one of those attributes associated with it, but also limits the other attributes so associated. Thus if the character has a Force of Terce/None, then one of the attributes Persuasion, Strength, or Will Power is a 2@5, and neither of the other two is greater than 2@5 unless they are selected as the attribute represented by another attribute. That is, a character with a Lauds/Compline Force, Terce/None Insight, and Prime/Vespers Determination could choose to place Strength at 1@6 (for Force), Persuasion at 2@5 (for Insight), and Will Power at 1@9 (for Determination). However, if the character decided that Insight represented a high intellect at 2@5, Persuasion could not be greater than 1@6 (for Force). In making this determination, it is not suggested that it be done as an exercise in creating the most powerful possible translation of the character, but rather the one most consistent with the narrative values expressed during play in Legends of Alyria. That is, a character with a Terce/None Force who is played in the narration as physically defeating opponents in combat will use that Force score as Strength, while one who is played as intimidating through tenacity or force of personality will convert it to Will Power or Persuasion.
Once the three primary scores are connected to Multiverser equivalents, the remaining attributes should be developed much as if creating a character for ordinary Multiverser play, with one caveat. The ordinary approach involves considering for each attribute what that character's ability level is and giving that a rating. Thus the remaining attributes are derived from an interpretation of the character identity as conceived before and during play: who is this person, and what are their attributes? The one caveat is that those attributes which are related to the three Legends of Alyria attributes cannot be greater than the attribute for which they could have stood. That is, a Prime/Vespers Determination means that the character may have Will Power, Stamina, or Resistance of 1@9. If the Will Power is chosen to be 1@9, the other two scores may not be higher than that. Note that Persuasion and Will Power are each limited by two Legends of Alyria scores, unless they are selected to be represented by the higher of these.
Skills
There is a sense in which there are no skills in Legends of Alyria, and another sense in which they are integral to the character. In Legends of Alyria, resolution is always conflict resolution. Skill use is generally not considered except in that context. Thus, for example, a character's skill with a rifle only means that he is able to fire that rifle within the context of a conflict situation. If the conflict is resolved in the character's favor, he used the rifle effectively to achieve his outcome; if the conflict is resolved against him, it is up to the narration to determine whether he failed to fire the gun, hesitated too long, had the gun misfire, merely missed, or indeed successfully hit the target but lost the fight anyway. Outside of conflict situations, skill use is considered automatic.
However, skills are relevant in terms of what the character can do. That is, a verser might in conflict say, I use my psionic suggestion to convince my opponent to back down, and decide that this is an effort based on insight. Then when the dice are rolled, if the verser is successful the narration will include that he used the skill. He could not use such a power if it were not among his skills.
The skill ability level is not relevant to resolution; however, it may be that player characters with many unusual skills will attempt to overuse these for tactical advantage in ways that are not involved in conflict resolution. The better way to handle this is to recognize that Legends of Alyria gives no bonuses for tactical advantage; thus whatever the character does will not change the probability of success, but merely color the story. If somehow the player does find a way to gain tactical advantage from the heavy use of skills (e.g., using clairsentience skills to scrye on characters constantly), the referee may impose MV Skill Checks on such skills when not used in conflict resolution.
Skill Learning
Alyrians are presumed to know what they know, and as long as such knowledge is reasonable for the character it can be developed as a character ability during play. However, versers tend to try to learn as much as they can in worlds that have unusual technology, and many are always striving to learn other new skills. Multiverser rules will apply to skill learning.
No character can learn a psionic skill while in Legends of Alyria. At the referee's discretion, the ripper virus might cause such skills as mutations, but these will be limited and specific unless the character becomes one of the Blessed (in which case he is subject to the rules for that group). Also, magic skills cannot be learned in the ordinary sense, but can only be Gifted by the unicorns or the dragons; thus skill learning rules do not apply to magic or psionics.
In technology, the character is surrounded by examples. Most of these should be treated as 2@5 examples, provided (in the referee's judgment) the verser has some means of examining them adequately to understand what they are. A vial of quicksilver armor (should the character get hold of one) would require some sort of microscopic examination at least; quicksilver armor viewed on an Alyrian would not serve as an example unless the verser was able to study it in detail. Merely knowing that something is possible does not give the verser an example for how to do it. Alyrians generally do not understand their advanced technology, and so can rarely be examples of skills. The MV SAL of such examples should be adjudicated by the referee, but rarely rises above the mid professional level and is often still in the high amateur range even for those who use the technology frequently. Of considerably greater value are the archives of the Progenitors. The Scriptorium of the Ark and the records at the Core are the greatest of these. However, these archives are guarded as religious relics by indigs who do not understand them. Should the verser gain access to such material, these would be expert level examples, possibly also serving as instruction.
Although there are some incredible body skills in Alyria, these are generally consequent of genetic mutation, and so under the MV bod bias rules cannot be learned without somehow acquiring similar body parts. It is conceivable that the verser could study someone who had skills listed, and so use these as examples. The SAL of such a skill is left to the discretion of the referee.
Alyrians may instruct versers, but do not have skill in teaching. In this case, an appropriate Legends of Alyria attribute should be converted to Multiverser to serve as the MV BRA (half of which is added to the chance of success in learning).
Traits and Virtue
Legends of Alyria rules require characters to have a carefully defined collection of traits. In translating a verser to Legends of Alyria play, the traits are among the most challenging and the most interesting aspects.
The nature of the traits a character has will in some ways depend on his virtue; his virtue might not be easy to determine. However, Legends of Alyria works best for versers with a clear affiliation, such as those with significant holy magic skills. A character who is affiliated with the alliance will have a virtue of Terce/None or Sext. An anarch character will range from Matins to Lauds/Compline. Characters with neutral affiliation and those with no affiliation will be close to Prime/Vespers, Compline if they tend evil, Terce if they tend good, overall in play. A character that has been played as an agent of a supernatural power (alliance or anarch) will probably be on the extreme end, and might also have one or two Inspiration or Corruption points.
Traits should be generated consistent with the known personality of the verser and the character creation rules of Legends of Alyria. For player characters, the player and referee should discuss these traits and reach agreement. For associates, the referee should determine these with advice from the player. Traits are moral, ethical, and personal characteristics, and not skills. Because the verser does not know any Alyrians before he arrives, his traits will be general, such as Fair and Just or Closed-minded or Takes Risks. If verser associates or multiple versers are involved, relational traits become possible, such as Always Protects Claudia or Jealous of Bill. Since every trait is designed to have self-balancing application (it can be used both for and against the character) types and values of traits are not game breakers.
Versing In
The character translation is part of versing in. However, the Legends of Alyria experience is much more than entering the universe. In normal play, player characters become involved at the outset in creating the scenario in which their characters will interact. Thus it is suggested that when the character is versing into Alyria, the referee inform the player of this and proceed with the scenario design aspects, working with the player.
Also, scenarios in Legends of Alyria should have several player characters who are Alyrians. To achieve this in Multiverser play, it may be most desirable to have other players participate in the scenario design and run what are technically (in Multiverser terms) non-player characters within that setting. It is not difficult to incorporate one or two versers into a Legends of Alyria game scenario, as outsiders to the world; the game would not do as well as a gather world, precisely because it would lack the interpersonal tensions created by a good scenario. Design a scenario in which the verser will become involved in this way. The referee might also consider bringing the character in through a Zygote Experience, as the child of an Alyrian.
Versing Out
There are a few quirks to versing out of Legends of Alyria, and a few comments that should be made about certain skills and equipment.
First, it must be understood that in Legends of Alyria a character dies when the player controlling that character believes it would make the best story moment for that character. The text gives an example of a character who rolls Devil’s Hour (the equivalent of a botch) against one who rolls Sext (maximum success), and then states that in this circumstance the character may die if the player decides this would be the right moment in the story for him to do so. This understanding should be expanded. Even if the rolls were reversed–if the verser character rolls the great success against an opponent rolling a botch–it would still be within the player's discretion to narrate an outcome which included the death of his own in this case victorious character. A simple example of this might be that someone has tossed a child from the heights of the web, and the verser is below and sees it falling, leaps to catch it, makes a perfect catch, saving the child as he rolls onto another platform of the web, only to break his own neck and so verse out in the victory. In nearly any conflict resolution, it should be possible for the verser to choose to die.
The players should be made aware of this going into the world. In a sense, for the verser part of play should be about finding the best way to sacrifice his life for what he believes.
If a player chooses not to die, and so survives the scenario, the referee could do either or both of two things. First, he could have the player live through a long period of peace and quiet, or at least routine existence. This sort of play usually makes most players antsy for something to happen, and so increases the likelihood that they will do something which gives them the opportunity to move to another world. Second, the referee should (after a break and together with the players) begin planning a next story into which the player will be drawn, so that he will have another opportunity to make such a sacrifice. Multiverser does not require that the player character ever leave this world, if he wishes to stay here. Seth Ben-Ezra would be pleased to have him reside there for as long as he can continue to find interesting issues to explore.
Assuming the character verses out, there are a number of items which must be translated to Multiverser terms. In many cases the referee will have to examine the skill lists to identify an appropriate equivalent. These notes are for those cases which might not be obvious.
The technology of the ancients is envisioned by the game designer as including much that is nanotechnology. Most of the seemingly magical liquids in the game, such as the quicksilver armor, are conceived as being this, which places it at T12@9 to design, possibly with an @0 use. The referee is certainly free to place these elsewhere if he sees other options, such as the possibility that some are a T12@8 mutagenic virus or even some sort of T14@10 perpetual energy field.
Those also appear to be the most probable explanations for the Outsiders: nanite technology or, less likely, mutagenic virus. It is reasonable to suggest that contamination by the Outsiders is always rapidly fatal, so there is little danger of a verser taking them into the verse at large by accident; however, it is possible that someone might capture some and treat them as equipment. It is doubtful whether any containment would hold them for long.
The restoration process for the Restored is a nanite-based medical procedure that rehabilitates cellular structure. It is not impossible that a verser could receive this treatment, if for example he used a skill that caused him to appear dead for an extended time. Once restoration has been completed, the nanites remain in the body, existing as a sort of high-tech self-repair system. In any universe thereafter, if the bias is at least 12@4 (to support the nanite operation) whenever the character is injured or otherwise afflicted the nanites should roll a skill check against a 2@5 SAL in a Tech 12@1 Medical Diagnosis and Healing skill, which if successful should follow standard healing rules such as restoring RS/10 intensities of damage for injuries or similar relative success responses to other covered conditions such as disease or poison. The check may be made once each round, and so functions as a sort of regenerative ability.
The Restored also have an implant that controls them. The implant is probably a hard-wired mind-machine interface, T13@7, although other possibilities exist. Removal of the device from yourself (any verser character) requires a successful difficult will power check, whether or not in Legends of Alyria when the attempt is made. Safe removal outside Legends of Alyria requires skill at T13@3 Remove Mind/Machine Interface Internal Portion; removal without such skill should be adjudicated by a general effects roll, and may result in reduced non-physical attributes or certain similar botch results such as insanity. An attempt to remove the device while in Legends of Alyria should be adjudicated under Legends of Alyria rules. It is possible that one of the Restored might become a verser associate, or otherwise become infected with scriff. In the former case, it is not necessary for the Restored character to die in order to verse (as he will go with his principal).
The Gifts and the various bod and psi skills of the Misbegotten should be readily translated into Multiverser equivalents. Upon such translation they are thereafter treated as Multiverser skills. Of course, the Gifts are alliance or anarch holy magic, and the character that has such a gift will have to be given an appropriate religion score to support them.
The Dragons and the Unicorns are supernatural beings, equivalent in some sense to demons and angels, or minor deities. As such, they can be contacted from any universe and act within such universes, within the universe bias. Whether they can physically manifest themselves (corporeally) outside of Legends of Alyria, or even away from Alyria (the planet) itself, is up to the referee. However, the dream (dragon) and vision (unicorn) manifestations should be possible anywhere, bias permitting.
The Blessed are more difficult. There are several ways their gift can be handled.
One is to identify each discrete ability the Blessed character used during play and list these individually, but to give the character a 15@9 psi bias. This would mean that the character has the ability to do anything he did before and a very high chance of learning anything new.
Similarly, the referee could list those skills he could imagine that the character used at some point in life, possibly also those that he feels are in keeping with the nature of the character otherwise, as existing skills.
Another solution is to create a P15@9 catch-all power that will do anything (except create life). In this case, the Blessing would only work in very high biased worlds. The blessing is not generally delicate, yet at the same time runs great risk in very dramatic uses. To emulate this, it is recommended that these modifiers be used. If the skill is being used for something delicate, such as a telekinetic tap or slight pyrogenesis warming, it should have a sit-mod penalty against such use up to -30. The referee should have a rough notion of "ordinary" uses of the Blessing, such as flying over walls and blowing open ordinary doors. When the ordinary limits of the power are exceeded, the referee should start applying a positive die mod to the rolls up to +30 (for things like moving planets), with a stipulation on botches that any roll modified to greater than one hundred is a special sort of botch, a Blessing botch.
In any case, Blessed botches should include the Blessing botch options. One of these is that the skill works powerfully but the character receives a mark. Marks are explained in Legends of Alyria; if they clearly would impact the character's abilities, these should be noted in the weaknesses. The other is that the power works, but the character self-immolates, releasing a tremendous burst of heat energy which could be determined by 2d10+5 rolls on the Psionic and Magic Explosions Table. This ranges in damage from Damaging with a Damaging rider to Annihilating with a Dangerous rider, and in area from a two-foot radius to an entire nation. Use of Blessed powers can result in ordinary botches, except in the circumstance presented, in which die mods push the roll over one hundred.
The Blessed also have the re-roll ability, the ability to recall any die roll and roll it again as if the first had not happened. This is most easily converted to a variant of the MV P12@2 Precognitive Combat Bonus. In this interpretation, the character innately foresees his likely failure and adjusts for it before it happens. In play, if a skill check fails or botches, the player may, if desired, roll the precognitive skill. If that is successful, the player may roll for the original skill again with a –10 SM (representing the altered clock face in Legends of Alyria). In this case, a botch on any of the three rolls (including the first) always results in an Legends of Alyria-type Mark, with such other consequences as are indicated by the botch outcome. (If the first roll botches, recalling that roll eliminates the ordinary botch consequences, but creates the Mark; the Mark would not apply to that skill use without the use of the re-roll option, although if the skill being recalled is a Legends of Alyria Blessing use it would have a Mark as one of the botch options.)
It has already been suggested that versers cannot learn Legends of Alyria psionic and magic skills while in Legends of Alyria, but can use observation of such skills as an example for later mastery. In such cases it is normal for the skill to be learned as a Multiverser skill, without the Legends of Alyria limitations (but of course with the Multiverser limitations). A verser could, in theory, be given a Gift; in this case, the Gift translates to Multiverser terms as any other magic skill would. Alyrian unicorns and dragons are very serious about the terms under which they give gifts, and referees should feel free to sit-mod against success on such gifts if characters have not been living as expected by the giver.
By M. Joseph Young and Seth Ben-Ezra
(A note from Seth: many moons ago I emailed M.J. Young with a question about dice probabilities. This was the first in a long correspondence. I have been a co-moderator of a gaming email list with him. We have both written columns for the Gaming Outpost. We have interacted on the Forge. Sadly, I have never met him. However, for quite some time we have been planning these cross-over rules. M.J.'s game, Multiverser, is a game starring "versers" who leap from world to world, unable to die. As a result, they are able to explore a broad variety of worlds, bringing their experience, training, and equipment from world to world. Of course, there's no guarantee that any of it will work on your next world, but finding that out is part of the fun. Although Multiverser is administered by a corporation, Multiverser is actually owned by its creators (E.R. Jones and M.J. Young), so it lands well within the pale of independent roleplaying games. And, even if it did not, it is good to help your friends. It is our hope that this ruleset would allow for entirely new kinds of stories to be told in both Legends of Alyria and Multiverser.)
Multiverser is a game of many worlds, in which player characters travel from universe to universe. It is one of the stated objectives of the game to make possible play in other game worlds governed by other game systems, in such a manner that the integrity of the Multiverser player character is maintained, but the integrity, both feeling and system, of the other game is also preserved.
Legends of Alyria is a fantasy game providing a world and system targeted to promoting narrativist play. The game excels at creating stories built on personal and moral conflicts and issues. It breaks many conventions both of traditional role playing games and of familiar fantasy settings.
These rules are designed to enable Multiverser player characters to enter the world of Legends of Alyria, have adventures within it of the sort for which Legends of Alyria is designed, and take skills and equipment from that world into other universes beyond. It is expected that the referee will have the rules of both Legends of Alyria and Multiverser to utilize this material. These rules will give information in the order deemed most useful for bringing Multiverser characters into Legends of Alyria, facilitating play consistent with that game, and continuing into the multiverse beyond. As part of that, treatment of bias, skills, attributes, and equipment will all be addressed, as well as converting Legends of Alyria characters and creatures to Multiverser terms, and understanding which Multiverser rules do and do not apply while in Legends of Alyria.
Note: to minimize confusion in what follows, these conventions will be used. Alyria will mean the world, while Legends of Alyria refers to the Legends of Alyria game or game system. Character will mean any creature from either game system. Alyrian or indig will be used to distinguish aspects that apply only to characters or objects native to Alyria, and verser will be used for Multiverser player and non-player characters visiting this world and any objects or abilities they bring with them. Multiverser mechanics may sometimes be indicated by the letters MV in front of them.
The Darkship: A Tale of Alyria
Written by M. Joseph Young
It had been like the fulfillment of a dream. When he first found the spaceship–the darkship, as the indigs called it–it looked like an impossible task, a fixer-upper for a rocket scientist half-buried in the wilderness of a world that had fallen into primitive superstition. Its technology was unlike anything he had seen, with nanite systems analysis, antimatter power supply, and an interstellar drive whose function was still unclear to him despite having learned to repair and operate it. He had watched a generation of Alyrians grow old while he worked on making it functional, but eventually he believed it spaceworthy.
Getting a crew had been an even greater challenge. Columbus thought he had the dregs, with a crew of debtors and criminals. The gang he had raised had few humans, with several of the mutants they called Misbegotten, a couple of those Restored walking dead, and that psionic Blessed girl who made everyone nervous. They spoke in terms of crossing the Sea of Darkness or flying into Deep Heaven, unable to grasp simple ideas of space flight as just another form of travel. They did not trust or like each other, and he had spent much of his time maintaining peace (order would be too strong a word) among his misfit crew. But they had the skills he needed to make this trip, and had been willing— for their own unspoken reasons— to go with him.
He could not count the tense moments along the way. Would the ship get off the ground, escape the gravity well, hold together under those stresses? He could easily avoid the Weeping Moon, but had worried how long or wide a trail of Outsiders might drag behind it, and whether they would infect the ship.
Engaging the interstellar drive–well, he put it off for three days for no better reason than that he wanted to run the tests once more, once more, before taking that risk.
Now here they were in orbit above another planet. Systems indicated radio frequency broadcasts, although they had not yet deciphered the transmission encoding. Something intelligent was down there, and whether it was human, alien, or machine, long-cherished beliefs of his Alyrian crew were about to be challenged yet again.
Tech Bias
Setting the tech bias in Alyria is particularly difficult. The vast majority of Alyrians have a bias around 4@1; they would understand the concept of tossing a rope over a beam to help lift a load, but would not understand how to use a pulley for the same function. However, as in most worlds, there are many indigs whose abilities are well above this mark. More complicating, this is a type of post-apocalyptic world, in which more advanced but forgotten technology from an earlier age exists and operates, but is not understood by the current indigs.
The referee could decide that the bias in the universe has fallen, such that no one anywhere understands any of the technology which existed prior to the calamity, but automated @0 control systems allow specially trained individuals with superior ability to learn to operate these devices by "pushing the right buttons", as it were. This would place the bias at perhaps 9@8, for those rare individuals who understand how to work in electricity. 9@8 is the level for primitive radio systems, which although not mentioned in the text are not inconsistent with the primitive understanding of some of the indigs. Although the game is playable this way, and a curve of 17 will limit verser skill use, the world as envisioned by the designer would allow indigs to discover and understand its lost technology, requiring a higher bias.
It better fits the design intent for the bias in the universe to be at least 14@7 (the minimum level for interstellar travel and minimum curve for nanite technology, it would support hyperspace drives but not jump drives), although none of the indigs on this planet have skills above 9@8. This supposes that humans or other creatures might still exist elsewhere in the universe retaining such knowledge, but that the knowledge is not found among Alyrians. This is functionally the same for the Alyrians, but gives a higher chance of success in skill learning to the verser. It also opens up the use of higher level tech skills, and the possibility that the verser could learn to make the lost technology of Alyria while present. (If the bias is low, the verser could examine the equipment and use it as an example, but could not acquire the skills to design such technology until leaving Legends of Alyria.)
It is possible that operation and repair skills are not @0 skills, but actually confer bias on the users. Alyrians with higher tech bias is a difficult concept, as there is no inherent reason why they could not learn to make much of the technology which they currently only use. However, it is within the design concept that there are religious and social reasons for their failure to comprehend such principles. This brings out the nature of those indigs who keep the technology, that is, that they have to a sufficient knowledge base to understand the operation and maintenance of these technologies, but are impeded by religious or social taboos which prevent consideration of the application of that knowledge to creation of additional devices.
This is left to the discretion of the referee. Versers can learn and use any technology within the curve. We recommend a 14@7 bias, a curve of 21. Note that the curve is most important in this conversion. For reasons discussed below, bias level will not impact chance of successful skill use.
Psi Bias
It is clear that two groups of Alyrians have psionic abilities, the Misbegotten and the Blessed. Although it might appear at first glance that the Blessed are using supernatural power (thus magic), it is intended that this power comes from within the individual, not from a supernatural realm. Psionic abilities appear to run through 14@10, possibly as high as 15@9 (no Alyrian has the power to create life). The bias should be set at least so high.
However, within Alyria it is not possible to learn such abilities. They are genetic mutations; characters are born with them or do not have them. Although the powers of the Blessed have some flexibility, they cannot learn or teach skills as such. Thus although versers can use any psionic abilities they already possess within the curve, they cannot learn new abilities either by observing the use by others or by experimenting on their own. They may observe such use as examples for the future, but they cannot learn the skills while in Legends of Alyria. Because of this, only the curve (24) matters, in that it excludes 15@10 skills.
Mag Bias
The unicorns and the dragons are supernatural creatures within Legends of Alyria, manifestations of the supernatural good and evil–or in Multiverser terms, the unicorns are minions of alliance powers, and the dragons minions of anarch powers. Their presence alone would suggest that the bias is high. It is not only their presence that does so. The Gifted are those empowered to use supernatural power within Alyria, and those gifts can do anything. The mag bias is 15@10, a curve of 25.
However, there is no native magic in Alyria apart from these gifts, and the gifts are always either alliance or anarch. There are no arcane powers in the world, and no neutral powers. It is recommended that arcane magic be power blocked, particularly if the versers are strong in this area, as significant levels of unaffiliated magic could spoil some of the moral tension in the game. Further, although those using neutral holy magic will have access to their powers, any such use will call attention to the character such that unicorns and dragons will want to prod the character to their side–gently at first, through circumstance and proxy, but eventually through blatant confrontation, demanding that the verser choose sides. Any magic use in Alyria will draw such supernatural attention, as the unicorns and dragons consider such things their province; thus the verser who uses magic will make himself a focal point for supernatural events.
Alyria has an alliance affiliation. It would appear at first glance to be neutral, since good and evil powers appear balanced; yet it cannot be neutral, since neutral powers are quashed. It is the design intent that good be victorious, despite the horrors which exist here.
It should also be noted of the gifts, as with the powers of the Blessed and the Misbegotten, that they cannot be learned or taught. They are given by the unicorns or dragons, or not. Once they are given, they are used as skills by the Gifted; but versers cannot learn any magic skills in this world. They may use such holy magic skills as they already know, and may study the use of gifts as an example for learning in another universe, but cannot learn magic while here. It is possible that a verser might be given a gift. Gifts may also be taken away while in Alyria, if the recipient is not pleasing to the giver, particularly in the use of the gift. Once the Gifted leaves Legends of Alyria, the gift is translated as any other skill to Multiverser terms, but is always connected to the giver.
Bod Bias
The dragons and the unicorns are spirit beings, supernatural in nature. However, they exist within Alyria, in definable locations, and are seen by believers and sometimes by unbelievers. These beings have the ability to shift between corporeal and spirit form, but this ability is probably not a body ability of an indigenous creature but a magical ability of a supernatural visitor. The dragons clearly have physical bodies; they also have the ability to invade dreams. The unicorns, conversely, are often seen as visions, but rarely ever physically contact anyone in a body-to-body sense. However, they have been known to physically strike down evildoers. Such magical transformations between forms are within the mag bias, and these creatures are clearly magical, so it is best to ignore these abilities in setting the bod bias.
Apart from this, the Misbegotten are the indigs with the highest bod skills. These range into the upper 12@ invulnerabilities. No creature in Alyria actually morphs (there are no bullfrogs or butterflies), and there are no symbionts or linkers. Thus 12@10 is a viable bias for the bod area, a high curve of 22.
The ordinary restrictions on bod bias skill learning apply, that is, a verser can only learn those skills for which he has the necessary body parts or prosthetics. The game background offers the possibility that the ripper disease which created the Misbegotten and the Blessed may still be active and virulent, surviving dormant in the indigs who are now immune to its effects. This is a decision that would have to be made within the context of play. A verser infected by the disease might mutate in a manner which caused him to grow new body parts or organs which enabled new body skills. Such changes should be consistent with the rules of Legends of Alyria, if they are allowed, and should combine extremely random development of abilities with disfigurement and deformity as presented under those rules.
Attributes
Legends of Alyria has only three attributes. The verser entering this world will create those attributes from his own.
Force is best described as the character's ability to impose his will on others directly. The specifics are not necessary, as it doesn't matter whether this is done by physical strength or personal intimidation. The verser should convert the best of his Persuasion, Strength, or Will Power to Force.
Insight has a broad range of abilities associated with it. Persuasion, Charisma, Intellect, and Intuition are all closely related to Insight, and the best of these should be used to determine that score.
Determination is both sides of the ability to keep going. Stamina, Resistance, and Will Power are all included in this score, and the verser should use the best of these. At the referee's discretion, a character with a high MV Target Value or Damage Value might use this value instead; it will be rare for one of those average scores to exceed all three of these attributes (nearly impossible for DV, as this would mean an incredibly high Density), but in the event that it does (high Agility and Intuition resulting in a high TV) this is an option.
Legends of Alyria has a five-step attribute system, named for the different prayer offices of the Liturgy of the Hours: Matins, Lauds/Compline, Prime/Vespers, Terce/None, and Sext. Sext should be reserved for superhuman attributes, such as those enhanced by cybernetics or elevated by magic or other techniques–in essence, any 3@ attribute should be converted to Sext. Similarly, 2@ attributes should all be converted to Terce/None. Attributes of 1@8 to 1@10 can be Prime/Vespers, those of 1@5 to 1@7 Lauds/Compline, and those below 1@5 should be Matins.
Although attributes do not change in Legends of Alyria, reverse conversion may be necessary in the case of associates. Use midpoint values for each phase, 1@3 for Matins, 1@6 Lauds/Compline, 1@9 Half, 2@5 Terce/None, 3@5 Sext. In the case of Terce/None and Sext particularly, thought should be given as to whether this value is representative of the character's ability. However, given that there are only three Alyrian attributes against fourteen verser attributes, quite a bit of detail is going to have to be determined. Here are some guidelines.
Each of the Alyrian attributes represents one of those attributes associated with it, but also limits the other attributes so associated. Thus if the character has a Force of Terce/None, then one of the attributes Persuasion, Strength, or Will Power is a 2@5, and neither of the other two is greater than 2@5 unless they are selected as the attribute represented by another attribute. That is, a character with a Lauds/Compline Force, Terce/None Insight, and Prime/Vespers Determination could choose to place Strength at 1@6 (for Force), Persuasion at 2@5 (for Insight), and Will Power at 1@9 (for Determination). However, if the character decided that Insight represented a high intellect at 2@5, Persuasion could not be greater than 1@6 (for Force). In making this determination, it is not suggested that it be done as an exercise in creating the most powerful possible translation of the character, but rather the one most consistent with the narrative values expressed during play in Legends of Alyria. That is, a character with a Terce/None Force who is played in the narration as physically defeating opponents in combat will use that Force score as Strength, while one who is played as intimidating through tenacity or force of personality will convert it to Will Power or Persuasion.
Once the three primary scores are connected to Multiverser equivalents, the remaining attributes should be developed much as if creating a character for ordinary Multiverser play, with one caveat. The ordinary approach involves considering for each attribute what that character's ability level is and giving that a rating. Thus the remaining attributes are derived from an interpretation of the character identity as conceived before and during play: who is this person, and what are their attributes? The one caveat is that those attributes which are related to the three Legends of Alyria attributes cannot be greater than the attribute for which they could have stood. That is, a Prime/Vespers Determination means that the character may have Will Power, Stamina, or Resistance of 1@9. If the Will Power is chosen to be 1@9, the other two scores may not be higher than that. Note that Persuasion and Will Power are each limited by two Legends of Alyria scores, unless they are selected to be represented by the higher of these.
Skills
There is a sense in which there are no skills in Legends of Alyria, and another sense in which they are integral to the character. In Legends of Alyria, resolution is always conflict resolution. Skill use is generally not considered except in that context. Thus, for example, a character's skill with a rifle only means that he is able to fire that rifle within the context of a conflict situation. If the conflict is resolved in the character's favor, he used the rifle effectively to achieve his outcome; if the conflict is resolved against him, it is up to the narration to determine whether he failed to fire the gun, hesitated too long, had the gun misfire, merely missed, or indeed successfully hit the target but lost the fight anyway. Outside of conflict situations, skill use is considered automatic.
However, skills are relevant in terms of what the character can do. That is, a verser might in conflict say, I use my psionic suggestion to convince my opponent to back down, and decide that this is an effort based on insight. Then when the dice are rolled, if the verser is successful the narration will include that he used the skill. He could not use such a power if it were not among his skills.
The skill ability level is not relevant to resolution; however, it may be that player characters with many unusual skills will attempt to overuse these for tactical advantage in ways that are not involved in conflict resolution. The better way to handle this is to recognize that Legends of Alyria gives no bonuses for tactical advantage; thus whatever the character does will not change the probability of success, but merely color the story. If somehow the player does find a way to gain tactical advantage from the heavy use of skills (e.g., using clairsentience skills to scrye on characters constantly), the referee may impose MV Skill Checks on such skills when not used in conflict resolution.
Skill Learning
Alyrians are presumed to know what they know, and as long as such knowledge is reasonable for the character it can be developed as a character ability during play. However, versers tend to try to learn as much as they can in worlds that have unusual technology, and many are always striving to learn other new skills. Multiverser rules will apply to skill learning.
No character can learn a psionic skill while in Legends of Alyria. At the referee's discretion, the ripper virus might cause such skills as mutations, but these will be limited and specific unless the character becomes one of the Blessed (in which case he is subject to the rules for that group). Also, magic skills cannot be learned in the ordinary sense, but can only be Gifted by the unicorns or the dragons; thus skill learning rules do not apply to magic or psionics.
In technology, the character is surrounded by examples. Most of these should be treated as 2@5 examples, provided (in the referee's judgment) the verser has some means of examining them adequately to understand what they are. A vial of quicksilver armor (should the character get hold of one) would require some sort of microscopic examination at least; quicksilver armor viewed on an Alyrian would not serve as an example unless the verser was able to study it in detail. Merely knowing that something is possible does not give the verser an example for how to do it. Alyrians generally do not understand their advanced technology, and so can rarely be examples of skills. The MV SAL of such examples should be adjudicated by the referee, but rarely rises above the mid professional level and is often still in the high amateur range even for those who use the technology frequently. Of considerably greater value are the archives of the Progenitors. The Scriptorium of the Ark and the records at the Core are the greatest of these. However, these archives are guarded as religious relics by indigs who do not understand them. Should the verser gain access to such material, these would be expert level examples, possibly also serving as instruction.
Although there are some incredible body skills in Alyria, these are generally consequent of genetic mutation, and so under the MV bod bias rules cannot be learned without somehow acquiring similar body parts. It is conceivable that the verser could study someone who had skills listed, and so use these as examples. The SAL of such a skill is left to the discretion of the referee.
Alyrians may instruct versers, but do not have skill in teaching. In this case, an appropriate Legends of Alyria attribute should be converted to Multiverser to serve as the MV BRA (half of which is added to the chance of success in learning).
Traits and Virtue
Legends of Alyria rules require characters to have a carefully defined collection of traits. In translating a verser to Legends of Alyria play, the traits are among the most challenging and the most interesting aspects.
The nature of the traits a character has will in some ways depend on his virtue; his virtue might not be easy to determine. However, Legends of Alyria works best for versers with a clear affiliation, such as those with significant holy magic skills. A character who is affiliated with the alliance will have a virtue of Terce/None or Sext. An anarch character will range from Matins to Lauds/Compline. Characters with neutral affiliation and those with no affiliation will be close to Prime/Vespers, Compline if they tend evil, Terce if they tend good, overall in play. A character that has been played as an agent of a supernatural power (alliance or anarch) will probably be on the extreme end, and might also have one or two Inspiration or Corruption points.
Traits should be generated consistent with the known personality of the verser and the character creation rules of Legends of Alyria. For player characters, the player and referee should discuss these traits and reach agreement. For associates, the referee should determine these with advice from the player. Traits are moral, ethical, and personal characteristics, and not skills. Because the verser does not know any Alyrians before he arrives, his traits will be general, such as Fair and Just or Closed-minded or Takes Risks. If verser associates or multiple versers are involved, relational traits become possible, such as Always Protects Claudia or Jealous of Bill. Since every trait is designed to have self-balancing application (it can be used both for and against the character) types and values of traits are not game breakers.
Versing In
The character translation is part of versing in. However, the Legends of Alyria experience is much more than entering the universe. In normal play, player characters become involved at the outset in creating the scenario in which their characters will interact. Thus it is suggested that when the character is versing into Alyria, the referee inform the player of this and proceed with the scenario design aspects, working with the player.
Also, scenarios in Legends of Alyria should have several player characters who are Alyrians. To achieve this in Multiverser play, it may be most desirable to have other players participate in the scenario design and run what are technically (in Multiverser terms) non-player characters within that setting. It is not difficult to incorporate one or two versers into a Legends of Alyria game scenario, as outsiders to the world; the game would not do as well as a gather world, precisely because it would lack the interpersonal tensions created by a good scenario. Design a scenario in which the verser will become involved in this way. The referee might also consider bringing the character in through a Zygote Experience, as the child of an Alyrian.
Versing Out
There are a few quirks to versing out of Legends of Alyria, and a few comments that should be made about certain skills and equipment.
First, it must be understood that in Legends of Alyria a character dies when the player controlling that character believes it would make the best story moment for that character. The text gives an example of a character who rolls Devil’s Hour (the equivalent of a botch) against one who rolls Sext (maximum success), and then states that in this circumstance the character may die if the player decides this would be the right moment in the story for him to do so. This understanding should be expanded. Even if the rolls were reversed–if the verser character rolls the great success against an opponent rolling a botch–it would still be within the player's discretion to narrate an outcome which included the death of his own in this case victorious character. A simple example of this might be that someone has tossed a child from the heights of the web, and the verser is below and sees it falling, leaps to catch it, makes a perfect catch, saving the child as he rolls onto another platform of the web, only to break his own neck and so verse out in the victory. In nearly any conflict resolution, it should be possible for the verser to choose to die.
The players should be made aware of this going into the world. In a sense, for the verser part of play should be about finding the best way to sacrifice his life for what he believes.
If a player chooses not to die, and so survives the scenario, the referee could do either or both of two things. First, he could have the player live through a long period of peace and quiet, or at least routine existence. This sort of play usually makes most players antsy for something to happen, and so increases the likelihood that they will do something which gives them the opportunity to move to another world. Second, the referee should (after a break and together with the players) begin planning a next story into which the player will be drawn, so that he will have another opportunity to make such a sacrifice. Multiverser does not require that the player character ever leave this world, if he wishes to stay here. Seth Ben-Ezra would be pleased to have him reside there for as long as he can continue to find interesting issues to explore.
Assuming the character verses out, there are a number of items which must be translated to Multiverser terms. In many cases the referee will have to examine the skill lists to identify an appropriate equivalent. These notes are for those cases which might not be obvious.
The technology of the ancients is envisioned by the game designer as including much that is nanotechnology. Most of the seemingly magical liquids in the game, such as the quicksilver armor, are conceived as being this, which places it at T12@9 to design, possibly with an @0 use. The referee is certainly free to place these elsewhere if he sees other options, such as the possibility that some are a T12@8 mutagenic virus or even some sort of T14@10 perpetual energy field.
Those also appear to be the most probable explanations for the Outsiders: nanite technology or, less likely, mutagenic virus. It is reasonable to suggest that contamination by the Outsiders is always rapidly fatal, so there is little danger of a verser taking them into the verse at large by accident; however, it is possible that someone might capture some and treat them as equipment. It is doubtful whether any containment would hold them for long.
The restoration process for the Restored is a nanite-based medical procedure that rehabilitates cellular structure. It is not impossible that a verser could receive this treatment, if for example he used a skill that caused him to appear dead for an extended time. Once restoration has been completed, the nanites remain in the body, existing as a sort of high-tech self-repair system. In any universe thereafter, if the bias is at least 12@4 (to support the nanite operation) whenever the character is injured or otherwise afflicted the nanites should roll a skill check against a 2@5 SAL in a Tech 12@1 Medical Diagnosis and Healing skill, which if successful should follow standard healing rules such as restoring RS/10 intensities of damage for injuries or similar relative success responses to other covered conditions such as disease or poison. The check may be made once each round, and so functions as a sort of regenerative ability.
The Restored also have an implant that controls them. The implant is probably a hard-wired mind-machine interface, T13@7, although other possibilities exist. Removal of the device from yourself (any verser character) requires a successful difficult will power check, whether or not in Legends of Alyria when the attempt is made. Safe removal outside Legends of Alyria requires skill at T13@3 Remove Mind/Machine Interface Internal Portion; removal without such skill should be adjudicated by a general effects roll, and may result in reduced non-physical attributes or certain similar botch results such as insanity. An attempt to remove the device while in Legends of Alyria should be adjudicated under Legends of Alyria rules. It is possible that one of the Restored might become a verser associate, or otherwise become infected with scriff. In the former case, it is not necessary for the Restored character to die in order to verse (as he will go with his principal).
The Gifts and the various bod and psi skills of the Misbegotten should be readily translated into Multiverser equivalents. Upon such translation they are thereafter treated as Multiverser skills. Of course, the Gifts are alliance or anarch holy magic, and the character that has such a gift will have to be given an appropriate religion score to support them.
The Dragons and the Unicorns are supernatural beings, equivalent in some sense to demons and angels, or minor deities. As such, they can be contacted from any universe and act within such universes, within the universe bias. Whether they can physically manifest themselves (corporeally) outside of Legends of Alyria, or even away from Alyria (the planet) itself, is up to the referee. However, the dream (dragon) and vision (unicorn) manifestations should be possible anywhere, bias permitting.
The Blessed are more difficult. There are several ways their gift can be handled.
One is to identify each discrete ability the Blessed character used during play and list these individually, but to give the character a 15@9 psi bias. This would mean that the character has the ability to do anything he did before and a very high chance of learning anything new.
Similarly, the referee could list those skills he could imagine that the character used at some point in life, possibly also those that he feels are in keeping with the nature of the character otherwise, as existing skills.
Another solution is to create a P15@9 catch-all power that will do anything (except create life). In this case, the Blessing would only work in very high biased worlds. The blessing is not generally delicate, yet at the same time runs great risk in very dramatic uses. To emulate this, it is recommended that these modifiers be used. If the skill is being used for something delicate, such as a telekinetic tap or slight pyrogenesis warming, it should have a sit-mod penalty against such use up to -30. The referee should have a rough notion of "ordinary" uses of the Blessing, such as flying over walls and blowing open ordinary doors. When the ordinary limits of the power are exceeded, the referee should start applying a positive die mod to the rolls up to +30 (for things like moving planets), with a stipulation on botches that any roll modified to greater than one hundred is a special sort of botch, a Blessing botch.
In any case, Blessed botches should include the Blessing botch options. One of these is that the skill works powerfully but the character receives a mark. Marks are explained in Legends of Alyria; if they clearly would impact the character's abilities, these should be noted in the weaknesses. The other is that the power works, but the character self-immolates, releasing a tremendous burst of heat energy which could be determined by 2d10+5 rolls on the Psionic and Magic Explosions Table. This ranges in damage from Damaging with a Damaging rider to Annihilating with a Dangerous rider, and in area from a two-foot radius to an entire nation. Use of Blessed powers can result in ordinary botches, except in the circumstance presented, in which die mods push the roll over one hundred.
The Blessed also have the re-roll ability, the ability to recall any die roll and roll it again as if the first had not happened. This is most easily converted to a variant of the MV P12@2 Precognitive Combat Bonus. In this interpretation, the character innately foresees his likely failure and adjusts for it before it happens. In play, if a skill check fails or botches, the player may, if desired, roll the precognitive skill. If that is successful, the player may roll for the original skill again with a –10 SM (representing the altered clock face in Legends of Alyria). In this case, a botch on any of the three rolls (including the first) always results in an Legends of Alyria-type Mark, with such other consequences as are indicated by the botch outcome. (If the first roll botches, recalling that roll eliminates the ordinary botch consequences, but creates the Mark; the Mark would not apply to that skill use without the use of the re-roll option, although if the skill being recalled is a Legends of Alyria Blessing use it would have a Mark as one of the botch options.)
It has already been suggested that versers cannot learn Legends of Alyria psionic and magic skills while in Legends of Alyria, but can use observation of such skills as an example for later mastery. In such cases it is normal for the skill to be learned as a Multiverser skill, without the Legends of Alyria limitations (but of course with the Multiverser limitations). A verser could, in theory, be given a Gift; in this case, the Gift translates to Multiverser terms as any other magic skill would. Alyrian unicorns and dragons are very serious about the terms under which they give gifts, and referees should feel free to sit-mod against success on such gifts if characters have not been living as expected by the giver.
posted by Seth Ben-Ezra at 1/01/1990 12:29:00 AM
1 Comments:
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