- “What do you mean no one can leave or enter?”
- “Somebody’s been hung?”
- “What’s the ‘PMUP’?”
- “I don’t want to do my job…”
0 voters
1 Like
Can you add, “uh, I think I have amnesia, so forgive me if I’ve forgotten, like, everything about my life?”
four way tie, i need someone to vote or change their vote
no
i have broken it
New poll:
- “Somebody’s been hung?”
- “What’s the ‘PMUP’?”
0 voters
The tie will never end.
I just broke the tie so it did
oh also i never mentioned this before, but if you die in game then that’s probably going to be it, i’m not sure if it’ll be permadeath or not but it probably will be.
so please try not to die.
and expect a new round in an hour or two.
it’s already written but i need to edit.
i thought this thread was pronounced “The Techno-Zen Asylum”
not “The Techno-Zen Elysium”
that’s the one with the banana emoji.
THE DROP OFF HOTEL
YOU – “What is the ‘PMUP’?”
NARRATOR – The bartender chuckles, “You’ve really forgotten a lot this time haven’t you? Haha I’m never getting out of here…” He pauses a moment, “The People’s Militia of Unity and Peace is the official military of The People’s Republic of Neralia. Do I need to give you a rundown of what Neralia is as well?”
ENCYCLOPEDIA (SKILL CHECK 6/10: 7 = FAILED) – Uhm, yes please.
YOU – “Y-yes, please…”
NARRATOR – You don’t know why, but you feel horribly embarrassed not knowing this.
-1 MORALE
NARRATOR – The man looks at you a moment, mystified, “Neralia is the planet we’re on right now and also the location of Thespir, the city we’re in.”
ENCYCLOPEDIA – (SKILL CHECK 6/10: 3 = PASSED) – Ah, I know this one! Thespir is a massive superstructure located on Neralia. It reaches far past the atmosphere of the planet it is built on and has several hundred space ports on its higher floors. It is 250 kilometers from it’s base to it’s tip in all, with 25,000 above-ground levels. It was built several hundred years ago and was known as “The Spire”.
CONCEPTUALIZATION – What a creative and original name.
ENCYCLOPEDIA – Though the name eventually drifted to “Thespir”. However, some still use its original name. It is the only large population center on Neralia and has a rough estimate of 13,000,000,000 Humans and Non-Humans living in it.
YOU – Non-Humans? Like Aliens?
INLAND EMPIRE – Or worse…
ENDURANCE (SKILL CHECK 2/6: 6 = FAILED) – You feel quite neutral to the idea of Aliens living amongst you.
ENCYCLOPEDIA – My memory is fuzzy; but I distinctly remember that of the several sapient alien species that exist, none are allowed on Neralia. Instead the Non-Human population must be made up of something else…
ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY – Okay, this has been a real nice talk, but it’s alcohol time!
MORALE – 3/5
HEALTH – 10/10
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.
- “Uh, I think I have amnesia, so forgive me if I’ve forgotten, like, everything about my life?”
- What are the Non-Humans?
- “What are the Non-Humans?”
- “Okay, this has been a real nice talk, but it’s alcohol time!”
0 voters
1 Like
Clever worldbuilding to get from “The Spire” to “Thespir”
it actually was The Spire when i originally built the world.
Just FYI you have “What are the non-humans” in the poll twice
that’s intentional.
2 Likes
Onr is a thought the other is a dialogue option
1 Like
the differences between thoughts, dialogue, and actions are this:
This is a thought.
“This is dialogue.”
THIS IS AN ACTION.
also it’ll probably be a few more days until the next round, i’m working on a short story that i think people will enjoy.
although it’s probably going to be the longest single thing that i’ve ever posted.
THE DROP OFF HOTEL
YOU – “Uh, I think I have amnesia, so forgive me if I’ve forgotten, like, everything about my life?”
NARRATOR – The bartender stares at you silently… It is rather off-putting.
EMPATHY (SKILL CHECK 1/4: 4 = FAILED) – Um, maybe keep talking to him?
YOU – “And I want a new room. Mine has a hole in the window.”
NARRATOR – The bartender growls, “I know that!” He turns around and goes through the door to the back room, “Go talk with that propaganda-spewing trash can they sent you!” He gestures to your left. “I’ll be in the back writing my last will and testament!
You look to your left and see a man wearing odd armor near the entrance of the building. He stands stiff as a board, waiting for something.
INTERFACING – Waiting for you.
NARRATOR – You walk towards the man.
PERCEPTION (SKILL CHECK 4/6: 2 = PASSED) – Wait! That’s not a man at all! It’s a robot!
NARRATOR – As you draw closer the robot comes more into detail. It’s body is similar to yours, but made of metal. It is covered in yellow and red paint, with the same symbol that was on your tie emblazoned across it’s chest.
It’s ‘face’ is simplistic, it has two sensors for eyes and a grill in place of a mouth.
It turns to you when you stop in front of it, “Detective. I am the Robotic Assistant sent to you by the infallible PDFTH at your request. My designation is D30-26-19221991. My duty is to aide in your investigation. What do you require of me?” It’s voice is far more… natural than you expected, though it has an odd electric reverberation to it.
LOGIC – Why would you request a robot assistant?
NTERFACING – Why wouldn’t you request a robot assistant?
LOGIC – Fair point…
MORALE – 3/5
HEALTH – 10/10
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.
- “I… requested you?”
- “I didn’t request you.”
- “You requested me!”
- “I hate robots!”
- PUNCH THE ROBOT, IT SCARES YOU (PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT CHECK, 3/8 SUCCESS CHANCE).
- “I don’t have anything mentally unhinged to say or do at the moment.”
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THE DROP OFF HOTEL
YOU – “I have nothing mentally unhinged to do or say at the moment.”
NARRATOR – A small whirring noise emanates from D30-26-19221991.
INTERFACING – That is its internal computing mechanisms processing what you said.
NARRATOR – The noise stops a moment later, “Noted, Detective.” You stand in silence.
MORALE – 3/5
HEALTH – 10/10
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.
- CONTINUE TO STAND IN SILENCE
- “So… I requested you?”
- “Why is everyone calling me a detective?”
- “I heard there’s been a murder, someone should probably look into that.”
- What do I say?
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