Clever Hans — Roleplayer Guild

The Arcane Order of Pandora

Just an idea at present, but one I'm having fun pondering.  Posting now to see if there would be interest in such a game, or if this stays in the self-amusement pile.

The year is 1851.  Queen Victoria rules half the world, and after the defeat of Napoleon, the Pax Britannica has kept the world safe from the threat of world war.  The fortunes of Britain continue to wax… but she has many enemies, some of which are possessed of abilities beyond the ken of mortal men.

In response, Lord Elphinstone, an intimate of the queen, has sought out gifted British citizens of all stripes to protect Her Majesty's interests.  Thus is born The Arcane Order of Pandora.

As I said, this is only an idea I'm working on at this point.  Here's some of the major notions I'm tinkering with...

- This world's history parallels that of Earth; the existence of super-powered individuals has not significantly altered the course of history.

- Super-gifted people are quite rare. The AOP would include NPC members, but not many.

- Technology of this world is that of the historical time period.  Steampunk devices are exceedingly rare.

- I would want original characters, not period homages to supers in the comics.

- The power-level would be fairly low.

- Use of abilities would be narrative-driven – I don't want to use a game system to slow down the action scenes.  At this point I foresee players declaring their character's attempted actions, and me responding with the outcome of those attempts.

- Additionally, I'd like to avoid existing legendary characters (Sherlock Holmes, Spring-Heeled Jack, Captain Nemo, etc.).  I don't want this to be a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen type of thing in that respect.

- Adventures would be GM plot-driven, but player contributions to plots and sub-plots would be welcome.

- The game would start with the characters having known one another and worked together.  The group would spend a bit of time establishing relationships before actual play began.

Sound interesting?

Your eyes flip open with a faint click.  Looming in your vision is the careworn face of a kindly old man, spectacles perched on his long, thin nose.

"Ah, there you are, my dear," he says softly.  "Welcome back to the world."

"Where am I?" you ask, puzzled.

"You are in my home," he replies, smiling.  "With your family."

He gestures across the candlelit room where several life-size dolls stand.  The details of their construction are breathtaking: their hands delicate, their faces exquisitely detailed, their hair perfectly-styled - and as you glance at them, their heads turn to look back at you!

Somehow, this seems familiar and not at all shocking to you.  "How did I get here?"  You ask.

"Aha, now that is a very long tale, and perhaps best left for another time.  For now, let me help you to your feet, my dear."

You have little problem swinging your daintily-clad feet off the low table to stand up.  In fact, you worry that the old man would be incapable of supporting your weight.  He guides you to a mirror lit by flanking candles, and stands beside you as you see yourself…

His skin is wrinkled, while yours is smooth and pale.  His hands are large and gnarled; yours are small, delicate, and perfect in every way.  When you reach to touch the mirror, your fingers click lightly as they touch the glass.  Impulsively, you take his hand in yours, turning it over, feeling the warmth and texture that yours lack.  

"I am... not like you," you hesitantly conclude.

"No my, dear.  You are not human.  You are avtomat."

Europe, 1778.  You are part of a group of sentient clockwork automata called avtomat.  Your self-awareness comes from an anima located deep within the complex mechanisms of your body.  When it's in place, you are a thinking, feeling being, with a full range of emotions.  If it is removed, your mind is shrouded in darkness and your body is a clockwork curiosity.

Being a clockwork automata has many advantages: You don't have to eat or drink.  You don't have to breathe.  You don't get tired.  You don't need to sleep.  You don't feel physical pain.  You don't bleed.  

But there are a few disadvantages.  You don't heal when you are damaged.  You have no sense of smell or taste.  Your parts wear out.  You are not buoyant.  Your memories may not be complete.  

Oh, and one other small detail: nearly every one of the millions of humans on the planet would likely destroy you as blasphemous products of witchcraft if they found out what you are.

This is Clockwork & Anima.  The key to your survival is to keep your true nature secret from humanity as you pursue the questions basic to all sentient beings: Who are you?  Who created you?  What is your purpose?

I'm looking for a group of 3-6 players who are interested to try a game that's a bit off the beaten RPG path.  This is a plot-driven game, but I can promise you that I am not a railroading GM.  The decisions you make can greatly affect the course of events.  The entire world is a potential destination, and you will be surrounded by great events of the times as you search for the secrets of your past and meaning in a hostile world.

We'll be using a very rules-light system to resolve risky actions. It's a hack of the free game Laser and Feelings by John Harper.  The game rules are below.  Defining a character in game terms takes just a minute or two.

I would slot this game as "high casual."  Lengthy posts are welcome; shorter posts are also perfectly fine.

I would like at least two posts per week.

This game should have a PG-type rating.  There will be violence and generally unpleasant people.  Profanity in moderation is fine if it fits the character.  Sexual situations are unlikely, but should either be not terribly detailed, or faded to black.

This game is based on the novel The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson.  You can go ahead and read it if you want; I've drastically changed the back story of this game, and although I might be borrowing a character or two from the book, you won't spoil anything by reading it.  It's a very good read.

Avtomat resemble human beings more closely than the clockwork automatons of the day; the presence of your character's anima gives him or her a certain plasticity of motion that lifeless clockwork contraptions lack.  Still, it isn't too terribly difficult to spot avtomat among humans.  The more exposed your character is, the brighter the light, and the closer the proximity, the more obvious the differences between human and avtomat become.  In other words, be careful.

Playing an avtomat character can be a little tricky, since you don't have a complete set of memories from childhood, nor have your emotions developed naturally over that time.  But - don't think too hard about it.  Your character still has a complete personality, and a complete range of feelings (aside from the absence of physical lust - avtomat are not anatomically correct).

Your character's Word: Think of it as a compulsive virtue.  I wanted the Word concept to influence game mechanics, but it is still largely a narrative guide.  It should be a major influence on your character's actions and decisions, but that doesn't mean it is the only thing your character thinks about, or finds important.  Indeed, going against one's word might be an interesting source of drama within the story.

Avtomat typically keep their Word to themselves.  it is seen as a gesture of intimacy to reveal it.

The game will begin with the player characters having been together for about 18 months, at the home of the old man who brought them (back?) to awareness.

Some items of interest about the world in 1778:
It is The Enlightenment, and the Industrial revolution is beginning; however, superstition and pseudo-science are commonplace, and the notions comprising what would become 19th-century Romanticism are being explored.
The American Revolutionary War is in full swing.
Austria and Prussia (and other potentially interested parties) are poised on the verge of war over the Bavarian Succession.
James Cook is exploring the Pacific Ocean.
The British East India Company is making money hand over fist, and is growing in power.
Catherine the Great is busy reorganizing the government of Russia.
Mozart is busy writing great music.
Gibbons has recently published the first volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Adam Smith has recently published The Wealth of Nations.

If you're looking for inspiration, here's a good website to get you started:
 
https://themadmuseum.co.uk/history-of-automata/17th-18th-century-automata/

Clockwork & Anima – a Lasers & Feelings hack

Create a Character

1.  Choose a Score for your character from 2 to 5.  A low number means you are better at Anima (intuition, persuasion, improvisation, reflexive physical coordination, focusing on the moment, acting human, passionate action).  A high number means you're better at Clockwork (logic, machinery, planning, fighting, focusing on the big picture, looking human, calm/precise action).

2.  Choose your Style: Brutal, Dangerous, Dauntless, Devious, Disingenuous, Flashy, Furtive, Lofty, Noble, Obsessed, Resourceful, Sexy, Shrewd, Stoic, or pick one of your own.  (See definitions below.)

3.  Choose your Training: Artist, Assassin, Bravo, Chemist, Courtier, Hunter, Mechanician, Mystic, Sneakthief, Soldier, or pick one of your own.  (See definitions below.)

4.  Choose your Word: This word is an intrinsic part of your anima, your primal source of motivation and worldview.  Choose Champion, Charity, Curiosity, Empathy, Fairness, Faith, Guardianship, Justice, Kindness, Logic, Loyalty, Revenge, Righteousness, Truth, Victory, or pick one of your own.  (See definitions below.)

5.  Choose your name.  Also choose the nationality, age, and gender you appear to be.

6.  Once the group is together, you'll choose two Group Advantages: Bad-Ass Reputation, Connected, Lucky, Safe-house, Stylish, Well-Provisioned.  You'll also choose one Drawback: Off-Putting, Hunted, Indebted, Poor, Unlucky.

Doing Things

When you want to do something risky, roll 1d6 and find out how it goes according to the table below.  
Add 1d6 if you are doing something that falls clearly within your Training.
Add 1d6 if you are prepared, or if you are attempting something clearly in your Style (you don't get 2d6 if you are prepared and it's within your Style).
Subtract 1d6 if what you want to do is clearly against the force of your Word.  (If you only have a total of 1d6 and earn this subtraction, roll 1d6 twice and take the least favorable result.)

For Anima, each die that you roll over your Score counts as a Success.
For Clockwork, each die you roll under your Score counts as a Success.

0 Successes = It goes wrong.  You fail.  Things get worse.
1 Success   = You barely manage, but with a complication, harm, or cost.
2 Successes = You do it well.  A complete success.
3 Successes = Critical success!  A beneficial bonus effect occurs.

Each die you roll that matches your Score gives you an Insight or a Flashback (your choice).  For each match you roll, you can ask me one question:

An Insight lets you ask one question pertaining to current events (for example: What is the best way to _______?  Who should we be wary of?  What is he really feeling?  How can I get them to ______?  Why is this item important?).  I will provide you information that at last partially answers the question.

A Flashback lets you ask one question pertaining to your past as it relates to the  current situation (for example: Why is this person hostile to me?  Who taught me how to _____?  Have I ever been in this place/situation before? Have I ever met this person? How did I learn this skill?)  I will then post a Flashback scene that at least partially answers the question.

Occasionally, you may ask a question I can't answer due to its impact on the story.  If that's the case, I'll elt you know and give you the chance to ask a different question.

Styles

Brutal – If something has to be said or done, then you do it in the most effective way possible, without concern for its effects on others.

Dangerous - Your body language screams that you are lethal or toxic. Others avoid you or try to keep you happy.

Dauntless – Quit? Turn back? Wait and see? Pfah!

Devious – Why confront a problem directly when you can misdirect, obfuscate, mislead, and subtly manipulate others instead?

Disingenuous – You have a talent for making others underestimate you.  Your aura of ineffectualness is what makes you so effective.

Flashy – There are two ways to do anything: the normal way and the cool way. Why would you ever choose normal?
  
Furtive – Your goals are easier to accomplish when no one is watching. You can often go unnoticed and use distractions.

Lofty – You have a regal bearing. You naturally make others feel a bit inferior.  People tend to follow your commands and assume you know what you're doing.

Obsessed – When something catches your fancy, it is difficult to stop you from achieving/possessing it.  Your focus is nigh-unshakeable.

Resourceful – You can use your environment to pragmatically and ingeniously achieve your goals.  

Sexy – You are charismatic and move well. You know how to inflame the desire of others and use it to your advantage. 

Shrewd – You are wicked smart, but play things close to the vest. You use observation and logic to gain advantage.

Stoic – You are a person of few words who can suffer calamities without revealing your feelings.  You are difficult to read at all times.

Training

Artist – You can create works of art and artifice using paint, clay, marble, ink, textiles, etc.  You have a piercingly discriminating eye for detail. You are excellent at disguise.

Assassin – You specialize in the art of killing with surgical precision. whether you are stabbing someone in broad daylight or slitting a throat in a dark boudoir, you know how to get close to a target and slip away afterwards.  

Bravo – You are adept at ungentlemanly forms of combat, brawling, and various dirty tricks.  You are comfortable on the meaner streets of any town, and can make contacts with others of your kind.

Chemist – You have learned formulas for making potions, powders, salves, etc. and causing chemical reactions.  You are good at finding and collecting raw materials for various concoctions.

Courtier – You are well-versed in courtly etiquette, manners, style, and proper address and behavior.  You can identify the important people at a gathering, and analyze the power dynamic of a group. You know how to deliver subtle bribes and exchange favors.

Hunter – You are comfortable in the wilderness, and able to survive outside of the confines of civilization.  You are an expert tracker and skilled at killing from a distance.  You are also an expert at setting traps and snares.

Mechanician – You have an uncanny ability and vision for constructing mechanical devices, and can repair such devices as well (including avtomat).

Mystic – You know how to use your body as a weapon, and are gifted with exceptional agility.  You are also learned in history and philosophy.

Sneakthief - You have mastered the art of stealthily acquiring objects without the knowledge or permission of their owners. This includes finding and removing, disabling, or circumventing the safeguards people place on their possessions. You also know of how to dispose of such goods for profit, and how to acquire things via the black market.

Soldier – You know how to fight with weapons of all kinds, especially swords and black powder arms.  You understand tactics and can assess opponents' strengths and weaknesses.

Clockwork & Anima character application sheet

Player Name:
Character Name:
Apparent Age:  
Apparent Gender:
Physical Description: (You can include an image if you want, but write a physical description as well.)

Personality:

(Note that no background or history is needed, since you didn't develop like a human would.)

Stat:
Training:
Style:
Word: (If you want to keep this totally secret, enter ****** and IM me the Word.  it is assumed at the beginning of the story that no one else knows your Word.)

Clever Hans Member

Hoof-based mathematician

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