Will we get some interstellar action?
i haven’t plotted out most of the story though i can guarantee that the chances of actually leaving the starting region, much less the solar system, is almost non-existent.
don’t worry though, i have big plans.
BIG plans
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THE HALLWAY
LOGIC – -ean?
NARRATOR – You blink, and when your eyes open the sign is gone.
This does not bode well for your mental health.
INLAND EMPIRE – No, no, people see floating signs containing mysterious messages that disappear when you blink all the time. It’s a part of life. I’d be concerned for you if you didn’t see that.
NARRATOR – You are standing in a long room – a hallway. The floor is covered in tacky carpeting, and there are numbered doors bordering the room that you came out of.
VISUAL CALCULUS (SKILL CHECK 5/6: 5 = PASSED) – One every 2 meters.
NARRATOR – This is mirrored on the other side of the hallway.
You look back at the door you came out of, the number ‘25’ is emblazoned on the wood.
PERCEPTION – Fake wood. Plastic made to look more expensive than it really is.
NARRATOR – You push these thoughts out of your mind and look down the hallway to your left, in this direction is an ice machine 3 rooms down from yours. To your right is an elevator 2 rooms away from yours. There is a rather shapely blonde woman standing in front of it.
ELECTROCHEMESTRY (SKILL CHECK 2/4: 2 = PASSED) – Oooh! Look at it! Those thighs! That bosom! Those feet!
VOLITION – No. I know what you’re thinking. NO.
ELECTROCHEMESTRY – What? I was only going to say that we should talk to those! I-I mean, her.
VOLITION – We all know what you would have us ‘talk to her’ about.
ELECTROCHEMESTRY – We could ask her where we are!
LOGIC – That would be prudent.
ELECTROCHEMESTRY – And if in the process we could take a closer gander at her womanly proportions then what’s the harm in that?
LOGIC – That would be less prudent…
VOLTION – You are in no state to even be around a woman, much less hit on one.
ELECTROCHEMESTRY – Come on, don’t listen to The Nerd or The Buzzkill. Listen to me. Your awesome fun-loving friend.
NARRATOR – You feel butterflies in your stomach just looking at her, she’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen.
ENCYCLOPEDIA – As well as the only woman you’ve ever seen.
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PPF COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PPF TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK (EQUIPPED)
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 3 (4 +1 -1 -1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it doesn’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
- GO AND ASK THE WOMAN WHERE YOU ARE
- GO AND “ASK THE WOMAN WHERE YOU ARE”
- GO TO THE ICE MACHINE
- GO TO THE ELEVATOR AND AVOID EYE CONTACT WITH THE WOMAN
0 voters
Okay, i’m back! sort of, still working on wordbuilding but i feel i have enough to continue.
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i should probably post the rules.
okay so every skill has a parent attribute, half-light has physical, logic has intellect, etc.
every skill can only be leveled up to the same amount as their parent attribute, so you can level up intellect to level 5 and authority to level 2.
but the parent attribute’s number is also given to their skills, so the maximum logic you can have (without items or other things) is 10, and the maximum interfacing is 8.
your character levels up every 100 exp and gets to assign a skill point to any skill.
i hope i’ve explained this well.
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oh and every point of volition and endurance gives you 5 points of morale and health respectively, if you run out of morale then you suffer a potentially deadly mental breakdown and if you run out of health then you die.
and sometimes it’s better to not have a high skill level, as failing certain skill checks can open up other routes.
here’s another poll for anyone who wants to join the private thread and be notified when new rounds come out.
- i will join
0 voters
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THE HALLWAY
NARRATOR – You turn your eyes away from the woman. The ice machine seems much more interesting all of a sudden.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – What? You’re seriously going to listen to The Buzzkill? I thought you were cool. I guess I was wrong.
-1 MORALE
NARRATOR – You push the thought from your mind as you plod towards the ice machine. You also try to ignore the persistent butterfly feeling in your stomach.
The ice machine towers above you by at least half a meter. It is red and covered in yellow stars. Almost as if someone cut a piece out of a sunset sky.
INLAND EMPIRE (SKILL CHECK 1/7: 1 = PASSED) – Almost as if?
CONCEPTUALIZATION (SKILL CHECK 5/7: 5 = PASSED) – Almost as if?
LOGIC – Come on, you can’t actually take a ‘piece’ of the sky. Much less put it on an ice machine.
NARRATOR – No, they’re right. Something is odd about this ice machine. It feels unnatural. Your head throbs as you wander ever closer to the eldritch obelisk. You can feel your stomach churning.
INLAND EMPIRE – Abort! Abort! Turn away now while you still can!
NARRATOR – It is too late. You stop in front of the ice machine and fall to your knees. You feel sick. Every atom of your body feels as though it is dying.
HALF-LIGHT – Oh GoD! nOt AgAiN!
INLAND EMPIRE – This is no ordinary ice machine. This is Icagamor; ancient lord of frost and death!
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Now don’t you wish you’d gone the other way?
NARRATOR – Your hands go to the floor to support yourself. Something is worming it’s way up your throat.
ENDURANCE (SKILL CHECK 2/20: 19 = FAILED) – Keep it in… keep it in…
NARRATOR – You do not keep it in. Your lower torso clenches and you vomit in front of Icagamor.
A small puddle of sick forms at Icagamor’s base. A few drops splash into it.
INLAND EMPIRE – You dare lose your lunch in front of a god? He’ll have your head for this.
NARRATOR – You gag and heave as your stomach empties itself of it’s contents. Which is mostly liquid and mucous at this point.
After a few moments the gagging subsides. You are still quite alive. And you feel remarkably better.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Hmm, maybe that water wasn’t entirely safe to drink.
PERCEPTION (SKILL CHECK 4/8: 1 = PASSED) – A door creeps open to your right, a dark-skinned man looks at you from it.
NARRATOR – The man notices you looking at him and walks over. He grabs you to help you back on your feet, “Are You alright Detective?” His voice is smooth and reassuring to your hungover mind.
MORALE – 4/5
HEALTH – 10/10
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PPF COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PPF TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 4 (4 +1 -1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it doesn’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
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i think you forgot the vote
ah, i did.
- “Never better.”
- “What does it look like?”
- “Detective?”
- “Who are you?”
- SAY NOTHING, JUST GO TO THE ELEVATOR
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Sorry about not posting for so long, I only have a certain window of opportunity to do it every day and I kept forgetting.
THE CAFETORIUM
NARRATOR – You turn away from the man and walk towards the elevator. He calls after you, “Detective?” He asks. But you don’t listen. You’ve dealt with too much today already; you just want to leave this horrid place.
PERCEPTION (SKILL CHECK 4/8: 1 = PASSED): “Drunkard…” You hear the man mutter under his breath, voice full of scorn.
DRAMA – Hmm, he sounded quite a bit more cheerful when you were face to face sire.
NARRATOR – The elevator doors slide open, and you step in. There are only three buttons, 1, 2, and 3.
You look up and see a small screen, it displays the number 2.
You press 1 and the doors slide shut. There is a slight moment of weightlessness as the elevator descends.
The doors slide open with a ding, revealing to you what looks like a cafetorium of some sort.
There are several tables – around a dozen – arranged in a rigid, totalitarian manner. A few people eat at them. They pay you no mind.
The entire room before you looks as if it were a fan club of some sort, there are several posters hung up on the walls depicting various images in red and yellow.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Just looking at all of that red and yellow makes you hungry.
LOGIC – That is indeed an actual neuro-chemical phenomena.
NARRATOR – To the right of the tables is a bar, with a rather surly man standing behind it. Past the tables are some doors to the outside. There are a few red shapes standing right past them.
MORALE – 4/5
HEALTH – 10/10
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PPF COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PPF TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 4 (4 +1 -1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it won’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
- GO TO THE BAR AND ASK WHERE YOU ARE
- GO TO THE BAR AND ASK FOR A DRINK
- GO TO THE BAR AND ASK FOR SOME FOOD
- LEAVE THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR
- LOOK AROUND MORE BEFORE MAKING A DECISION
0 voters
THE DROP OFF HOTEL
NARRATOR – You walk over to the bar. You have some questions that you need answered.
The bartender is a slim, pale man. Wearing a dark red waistcoat over a bright yellow dress shirt. His black hair is slicked back. And his face is cleanly shaven.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – Ooh, those clothes are a statement. You need to get yourself some clothes like that. Then everyone will know how unique and original you are.
He idles himself wiping a mug with a washcloth. He grimaces as you near him. “Ah, Detective, to what do I owe the pleasure.”
It doesn’t seem as though he is too pleasured to see you. “Have you finally cracked the case? Can we all go home already?”
YOU – “Um… no. I was actually wondering… where I was?”
NARRATOR – The Bartender rolls his eyes, “This again? You’re in The Drop Off Hotel; my hotel. And as is becoming increasingly evident, my eventual tomb.”
AUTHORITY (SKILL CHECK 4/6: 2 = PASSED) – Hm, I don’t like his tone… you should arrest him.
YOU – Arrest him? How would I do that?
ENCYCLOPEDIA – Small hints of fragmented memories tug at your psyche, though not enough to actually remember anything. Just enough to give you a slight headache.
NARRATOR – “Is there anything else, Detective.” He says it as more of a statement than a question.
INTERFACING – The cracked window in your bedroom.
INLAND EMPIRE – The evil ice machine.
ENDURANCE – The pile of vomit in front of said ice machine.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – ALCOHOL.
MORALE –4/5
HEALTH – 10/10
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PPF COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PPF TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 4 (4 +1 -1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it won’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
- “Where am I?”
- “Uh, there’s a hole in my room’s window…”
- “Yes, where did you get those clothes?”
- “Actually, I may have vomited in front of an ice machine…”
- “ALCOHOL”
- “I don’t have anything to say because I don’t have voices in my head that tell me what to do.”
0 voters
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Sorry about taking so long, I’ve actually had it ready for a while, but kept forgetting to post it.
THE DROP OFF HOTEL
NARRATOR – The bartender looks at you, his eyes wide. “What are you talking about? That shouldn’t be possible, the window’s bulletproof. Did you shoot a Klav in there?!”
ENCYCLOPEDIA (SKILL CHECK 6/8: 5 = PASSED) – A Klavenorat 420 or ‘Klav’ is a highly powered rifle designed to pierce through armor plating.
YOU – “I don’t know… I just woke up and there was a hole in the window; I couldn’t breath.”
NARRATOR – His eyes roll. “Of course you couldn’t breathe, it’s all Sulphur out there!” He sighs. “Now I have to get new windows…”
YOU – “I may have also trashed my room.”
NARRATOR – The bartender glares at you. “Well wasn’t that obvious enough! Everyone in the hotel could hear you in there, Detective.” Something flashes in his eyes and they lose their edge. “Is there anything else.”
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PPF COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PPF TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 4 (4 +1 -1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it won’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
- “No.”
- “Actually I may have vomited in front of the ice machine as well.”
- “Yes uh, where are we?”
- “ALCOHOL”
- “where did you get those clothes?”
0 voters
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THE DROP OFF HOTEL
YOU – “I may have also… vomited in front of the ice machine.”
NARRATOR – If looks could kill, you’d be dead. The bartender glares at you with the strength of a thousand suns. But he doesn’t say anything.
COMPOSURE (SKILL CHECK 5/8: 3 = PASSED) – He has to wait out the anger, otherwise he might say something he knows he shouldn’t.
NARRATOR – After a few moments the glare subsides, and the bartender opens his lips, “That’s… fine.” He forces the words out through gritted teeth.
He turns to a thin man wearing a yellow and red jumpsuit lounging on the other side of the bar. “Maury! You hear all that? Get to work before it seeps into the carpet!” The man groans and heads towards the elevator.
RHETORIC – Why is he so mad at you?
EMPATHY (SKILL CHECK 1/6: 2 = FAILED) – Haven’t a clue, maybe you should ask.
NARRATOR – You know it’s a bad idea; but the words force themselves out of your mouth before you even realize it’s happening.
YOU – “Why are you so mad at me?”
NARRATOR – The glare returns full-strength, “Oh I don’t know. Between the corpse rotting out back, me and everyone in here being trapped until you get of your lazy arse and do something, or the fact you’ve just been drinking and trashing my hotel for 13 days, it’s hard to decide!”
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PPF COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PPF TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 5 (4 +1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it won’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
- “Corpse?”
- “Trapped?”
- “13 days?”
- “Lazy arse?”
0 voters
How much will the diverge from the originals plot
pretty far, i’m just using the same “amnesia hanging corpse outside of hotel” kicking off point, and as of now i have two characters that are directly from the game, one of which you’ve already seen.
the other one is a tad looser but still clearly from the source material.
Just wanted to know since it’s pretty similar right now
yeah, as i said, same kicking off point.
but there are already a few major differences that will become more and more apparent as you go on.
Yeah I noticed that already, can’t wait to see it evolve
starts chanting
loot the corpse
loot the corpse
loot the corpse!
It has recently come to my attention that there is an imposter of me out there, he is posting these things called “paranormal case files”, which is weird because everyone knows I think that ‘the paranormal’ and conspiracy theories are crazy and not at all real.
Please whatever you do don’t believe this crazy person pretending to be me, and don’t read the paranormal case files.
THE DROP OFF HOTEL
YOU – “Corpse?”
NARRATOR – The bartender rolls his eyes once more, “Yes, the corpse. The very same corpse that Gerald Markinsian, in his infinite wisdom, sent you to investigate.”
YOU – “Investigate?”
NARRATOR – He sighs, “Have you already forgotten again? Yes, investigate as in, find the killer as in, do your job.”
YOU – “And my job is…?”
NARRATOR – “Do I really have to spell it out for you!?” The man rubs his eyes, “You are a detective working for The People’s Detective Force of Truth and Honesty, otherwise known as The PDFTH.
“A man was hung here fourteen days ago, and you were dispatched to investigate thirteen days ago. And all you’ve done so far is jack all. And until you find out who did it the PMUP guards won’t let anyone enter or leave my hotel. Did that refresh your memory?”
INVENTORY
HATEFUL NECKTIE (EQUIPPED)
It knows.
+1 Half-Light (menacing aura)
-1 Composure (It’s watching you)
STAINED PDFTH COAT (EQUIPPED)
It’s been through a lot.
+2 Authority (PRN symbol)
-1 Suggestion (disheveled)
PLAIN DRESS SHIRT (EQUIPPED)
An average dress shirt. It’s probably brand new.
+1 Composure (feels normal)
-1 Conceptualization (too normal)
PDFTH TROUSERS (EQUIPPED)
The yellow stripe makes it seem far more cheerful than it is.
+1 Savoir Faire (sleek style)
WORK BOOTS(EQUIPPED)
+1 Physical Instrument (working man)
OXYGEN MASK
Allows you to go into areas without oxygen.
-1 Composure (lingering smell)
ATTRIBUTES
INTELLECT – 5
Your mental abilities.
LOGIC – 5
Rationality. Deduction. Puzzle-Solving.
Cool for: Analysts, Pure Rationalists, Obviously logicians.
Logic urges you to analyze the living daylights out of the case. It enables you to piece evidence together, detect inconsistencies in statements, and impress everyone with your astonishing conclusions. It’s the bread and butter of many a detective.
At high levels, Logic will be able to solve even the most complicated of puzzles. You will be very proud and thus susceptible to intellectual flatter; for those blinded by their own brilliance often miss important clues. With low levels of logic, you’re going to have a hard time solving even the simplest puzzles. Even if you find the pieces, good luck putting them together.
ENCYCLPEDIA – 6
Memory. Trivia. Information.
Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia-Freaks
Encyclopedia makes you a know-it-all, turning your mind into a database of facts. It enables you to draw on these facts innately, offering a wealth of background knowledge to all things related and unrelated to your present situation. Who knows when the history of toy brands will provide the breakthrough you need to arrest a murderer – or when knowledge of pre-gunpowder weaponry might save a life?
And who knows, maybe it’ll even help you remember who you once were?
At high levels, Encyclopedia shares this wealth of knowledge to an almost overwhelming degree – while it may give you crucial breakthroughs, it more often will clutter your mind with useless tidbits. With low levels of Encyclopedia, though, you’ll be forced to work with only the clues in front of you. without any background knowledge, policing is going to be tough stuff.
RHETORIC – 5
Argument. Debate. Conversation.
Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians.
Rhetoric urges you to debate, make intellectual discourse, nitpick – and win. It enables you to break down arguments and hear what people are really saying. You’ll spot fallacies as soon as they’re used – what exactly did the waiter leave out of his testimony? What was the dancer trying to divert you from? Was that double entendre intended, or did you just get an accidental lead?
At high levels, Rhetoric will make you an impressive political beast – one whose beliefs are impenetrable. Which is to say, one whose mind will not change; one who will calcify. With low Rhetoric, though, you’ll have a hard time of shooting down any argument. Nailing people to their testimonies will be nigh impossible.
DRAMA – 5
Lies. Acting. Truth.
Cool for: Undercover Operatives, Thespians, Psychopaths.
Drama is your ability to lie, and your ability to detect when other are lying.
Drama urges you to treat the world as a stage – and on it, to perform. It will enable you to lie, to concoct the most elaborate and wonderful stories; to take on ingenious personas and perform acts of stagecraft in an entertaining amalgam of fourberie and deceit! As well, it enables you to see through would-be actors and their false antics. If they lie, you’ll know. Immediately.
At high levels, Drama may render you an insufferable thespian – one prone to hysterics and bouts of paranoia; for to know the world is a stage is to know that truth is a vanity. However, with low drama you cannot lie – or discern when others lie. And a cop who can’t do either is a cop who’s soon going to be lying six feet under.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – 4 (5 -1)
Creativity. Expression. Art.
Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
Conceptualization has a special role it wants you to play in this world – not the role of a cop, but of Art Cop. It enables you to make fresh associations, to delve into the world-concepts from Jan Kaarp’s postmodernist karperie, to Hagidal’s arabesque architectural style dideridada, and even the concept of HARDCORE – and then, importantly, to add your own contribution to these works.
At high levels, Conceptualization makes you go big – perhaps too big. It is ostentatious, demanding grand displays. Why live life when you can throw yourself into a live volcano? At low levels, however, you will be unable to see the world in a creative light. You’ll be unable to contribute to conversations in an art gallery. Only boring people will invite you to their dust parties.
VISUAL CALCULUS – 5
Calculations. Reconstruction. Math.
Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People.
Visual Calculus verses you in the laws of nature and the laws of physics. It enables you to create virtual crime-scene models in your mind’s eye. You’ll see how a bullet shattered the glass and from that trace its trajectory with mathematical precision. You’ll also count footprints, so many footprints – and at a glance discern shoe size and design; as well as the height, weight, age, and sex of the one who wore them.
At high levels, Visual Calculus makes the world reveal its secrets to you – but you may be so absorbed by your mind-diorama, you don’t notice as crooks steal your pants. However, at low levels your mind’s eye will be blind. Reconstructing crime scenes will be difficult without outside help.
PSYCHE – 1
Your emotional abilities.
VOLITION – 1
Temperance. Chastity. Stability.
Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Soldiers, The Non-Suicidal.
Volition urges you to be a good guy – to others and to yourself. It enables you to resist temptation: be it in a bottle, between a pair of legs, or at the end of an iron barrel which promises oblivion. Volition gives you the will to finish the investigation, improving your Morale – one of the two health pools in the game.
At high levels, Volition makes you hyper-sane. When you’re about to get funky, it keeps you normal. It’s a bit of a party-pooper. At low levels, however, you’ll have little Morale. Without it, you’ll be profoundly unstable cop, falling apart at the seams as you make irreversible mistakes.
INLAND EMPIRE – 1
Imagination. Hunches. Insanity.
Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators.
The unfiltered wellspring of imagination, emotion, and foreboding. It allows you to see beyond the veil. To grope your way through the invisible dimensions of reality, gaining insight into that which sight can’t see. What’s really going on? What do these enigmatic riddle mean for the world-fate?
At high levels Inland Empire animates the inanimate. You will have conversations with inanimate objects, conversations that could change the course of your life (assuming you aren’t thrown in the loony bin first). But at low levels you’ll be void of imagination – and character. And then how will you shape the cosmos?
EMPATHY – 1
Care. Friendship. Sympathy.
Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Interrogators.
Empathy breaks into the soul of others and forces you to feel what’s inside. It enables you to notice social cues others may miss: perhaps a hidden sadness you could coax out a little more, a strange joy from someone who should be bereaved, or a hidden resentment that could return to harm you later.
At high levels, Empathy really puts you in other people’s shoes. You’ll cry for their sorrows, punch walls to relieve their angers, and be an even more unstable person. With low Empathy, however, you will be an ungainly beast unable to talk to anyone without upsetting them.
AUTHORITY – 4 (1 +2 +1)
Dominance. Power. Intimidation.
Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies.
Authority urges you to assert and reassert your dominance over those around you. It enables you to understand the power dynamics of groups of thugs, know how far you can push a perpetrator, and how to establish control of situations.
At high levels, Authority demands respect; even a perceived slight could send you into knee-breaking mode. With low Authority, however, you’re forever in awkward situations – like when you suffer psychological breakdowns after you yell at teenagers and they laugh at you.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS – 1
Comradery.
Cool for: Soldiers, Soldier-Aficionados, Pretend-Soldiers.
Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of the military: the soldier-geist. It enables you to understand your yellow-and-red-souled brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from other soldiers, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as the play out across The PMUP’s many divisions.
At high levels, you’ll be the very heart of the military of Neralia: not only willing and able, but obliged to take a bullet for your fellow warriors. Esprit de Corps will make you loyal to the PMUP, maybe, too loyal… However without Esprit de Corps you’ll be flying blind, unable to understand discreet remarks colleagues make in high-stakes situations; remarks that might just save your life.
SUGGESTION – 0 (1 -1)
Manipulation. Charm. Affability.
Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths.
Suggestion urges a soft-power approach. If people think they want what you want, you’ve already won. This skill enables you to implant ideas into the minds of others. You can make the citizens like you more. You can make gangsters turn on each other, too; many crime-rings have been broken by just a little doubt, after all.
At high levels, Suggestion makes you affable to everyone and more resistant to their charms in turn. But all that schmoozing and oozing charm will make you slimy. And you’ll know it, even if no one else does. With low levels of Suggestion, though, you’ll have difficulty getting any kind of rapport with others. You’ll be alone, both during the day and at night.
PHYSICAL – 2
Your physical abilities.
ENDURANCE – 2
Heart. Stomach. Lungs.
Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don’t sleep, Human Batteries.
Endurance is your metabolism and circulatory system. It improves your Health – one of the two Health pools. It enables you to survive being a cop. Who cares if you can’t aim a gun, if you can take a few bullets? Why be afraid of drugs that hurt your health if you’re a very very healthy man?
At high levels, Endurance enables you to take a few knocks to the head, enjoy a greater quantity of drugs, and shake off a few cardiac arrests – it makes you a powerful man, who looks down on the weaklings who can’t keep up. However, cops with low Endurance are likely to struggle. The body is frail enough already, and the flesh of a cop will often be tested. And if it doesn’t pass, it dies.
PAIN THRESHOLD – 2
Torture. Suffering. Agony.
Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, Guys who don’t die, Masochists.
Pain Threshold ignores damage so you can push on, bloodied and crawling, to the bitterest end. It enables you to negate damage you would otherwise take. Even mental pain – heartache and loneliness. In fact, these things can become a thrill you seek out and perversely revel in.
At high levels, Pain Threshold turns in on itself in seriously unhealthy ways, with full-on self-destructive behavior. With a low Pain Threshold, however, you will suffer too easily. Even a slap from a toddler will make you whine and complain.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – 3 (2 +1)
Muscles. Bones. Ligaments.
Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers.
Physical Instrument is not only your muscles and your skeleton – it is your ability to use them effectively. It enables you to do push-ups, sit-ups, knock-out punches, and 360-degree spin-kicks. It’s a one size fits all solution to thrive and surviving in a physical world.
At high levels, physical Instrument breaks doors, chains, and bones, and it makes you laugh at the namby-pansies who can’t. You’ll be manned up, encouraging others to curl iron until they’re manned-up too. At low levels though you’ll have a hard time fighting anyone who isn’t infirm or already dead. Indeed, engaging in physical confrontations could leave you in either state.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY – 2
Chemistry. Sustenance. Vice.
Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Cops who need Lightning
Electrochemistry is the animal within you, the beast longing to be unleashed to indulge and enjoy. It enables you to take drugs with fewer negative side-effects. It also enables you to better investigate lurid matters – if you need to understand a chemical breakdown, or talk to someone blasted out of their mind, or understand sexual dynamics, Electrochemistry is there to guide you.
At high levels, Electrochemistry makes you a man of unrestrained pleasure – you’ll proposition anything that moves, anything that breathes, and even things that don’t. But with a low Electrochemistry, you’ll be too innocent to be effective. Without a working knowledge of drugs and sex, the city will be difficult to understand.
SHIVERS – 2
Feel the city.
Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural.
Shivers come when the temperature drops and you become more keenly aware of your surroundings. It enables you to hear the city itself, to truly belong to the streets. It is a supra-natural ability; old wrongs play out in present time, scenes from across the city happen in front of you. But who is speaking to you?
At high levels, Shivers may make you seem mad to the outside world – as you listen to the city, you don’t listen to others. Your superiors may begin to worry. With a low Shivers though, you will seldom hear the city speaking to you – and if you cannot hear it, how can you ever save it?
HALF-LIGHT – 3 (2 +1)
Fear. Intimidation. Aggression.
Cool for: High-Strung Investigators, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Cops, Surprise Haters.
Half Light is your fight-or-flight response. It enables you to sense the way situations are about to turn. It injects palpable fear into your heart – fear that urges you act before it’s too late to act ever again; fear that makes you frighten others. It is the aggression that lets you squeeze every last drop of information out of a witness.
At high levels, Half Light makes you ultra-attuned to the world. It is perpetual fear – of your own shadow, of someone else’s name or scent. You’ll be ready, always, to pounce and physically interrogate passersby. At low levels, however, you’ll find your survival instinct is lacking. And your methods are limp-wristed. Those who respect violence will not respect you.
MOTORICS – 4
Your neurological abilities.
HAND/EYE COORDINATION – 4
Firearms. Aiming. Catching.
Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers.
Hand/Eye Coordination loves the interaction between you and things that fly in the air. It enables you to catch coins from mob bosses, shoot straight, and understand firearms intimately. Want to know the precise make and mark of a pistol? Hand/Eye Coordination’s got you. Want to shoot someone with it? Ditto.
At high levels, Hand/Eye Coordination makes you deadly – supposed you’ve a weapon in your hand. But once you do, Hand/Eye Coordination will compel you to take the shot – even if it’s not the best approach. At low levels, however, you’ll be even more of a disaster in waiting. Because when the guns go off – and they always do – you’ll probably hit the wrong target.
PERCEPTION – 4
Hear. See. Smell.
Cool for: Fine Detail Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers.
Perception wants you to be open to the world – with eyes, ears, and nose working at full capacity. It enables you to take in what others don’t notice. The little wad of bills hid away in the sugar bowl; the odor of a perp, hiding beneath the floor boards; the gulp of a suspect, after claiming they’ve nothing to hide.
At high levels, Perception takes in every final detail of the physical world – enough to overwhelm all but the strongest minds. However, with low levels, you are going to miss out on everything. After all, you can’t arrest what you can’t see, hear, or smell.
REACTION SPEED – 4
Alertness. Twitchiness. Wit.
Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Pinball-Heads.
Reaction Speed is the agility of your body and mind. It is instinct. It enables you to dodge punches, knives, bullets. Also suckers punches of the verbal kind. You’ll be more streetwise, never lost for words or lacking a witty comeback. Your mental alacrity lets you connect little details on the fly, working in tandem with your Intellect skills.
At high levels, Reaction Speed makes your twitch-reflex freakishly good. However, when your body acts before your mind, innocent situations can turn bad fast. You’re high strung, overly alert. At low levels, though, you won’t be the one shooting first – which probably means you won’t be shooting at all.
SAVIOR FAIRE – 5 (4 +1)
Flaire. Acrobatics. ‘Coolness’.
Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs.
Savoir Fair urges you to be better than you are: it enables you to move silently, to groove to a good beat, and to lift useful items off of people without them noticing. Slip by others in Neptunian boxing style, then tumble out the back with unexpected acrobatics.
At high levels you will be the King of Cool – which is as much to say, the most stylish douchebag in the entire universe. Nobody will see you until you’re ready to be seen; and then, they’ll get the full treatment, whether they want it or not. But with low levels you’ll be clumsy, struggling to catch items tossed at you without losing an eye, or walking 3 feet without tripping.
INTERFACING – 4
Machines. Technology. Mechanisms.
Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players.
Interfacing allows you to connect to machines. It tells you how to use and improve them. It enables you to understand interactions with machines – be that how to repair the hyperdrive of a starship, how to analyze the way someone used a pen, or how to re-figure electrical circuits.
At high levels Interfacing will isolate you from society – why bother with people when you can talk to machines? And why bother with things like money when you can just open a vending machine? At low levels, however, you will have a crucial part of the world cut off from you. people use machines all the time, especially in this day and age. If you can’t understand how machines work, how can you navigate such a machine-filled society?
COMPOSURE – 5 (4 +1)
Control. Calm. Posture.
Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People.
Composure wants you to not crack: or, at least, it wants you to not crack in front of other people. It enables you to put up a strong front. It keeps your emotions hidden from the world and helps you to read the body language of others – to sense the cracks in their own composure. As well, it keeps you looking good while you do it. You’ll rock that uniform a lot more if you don’t slouch.
At high levels, Composure makes you tuck your gut in and maintain a stern expression. Even lying in bed late night when no one else can see you, you’ll have to keep it up. You’ll never be able to stop. With low Composure, though, you’ll always be the first to crack. Every cop’s got a point when all that fear and rage comes spilling out – and the ones who unleash it won’t stay on the force much longer. Perhaps worse still, you won’t even make the ranks of the Fashion Police.
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I love choices, man…
I would die without them…