Post by Magic Rob on Apr 20, 2011 9:39:24 GMT -8
Good morning, my lovelies;
As Pladam pointed out to me last night, I seem to have got this out a little later then anticipated. I apologize for that. I will ask that before ranty posts get put up or I hear waves of complaints that you read the entire thing and realize these are changes for everyone, not just a chosen few.
I believe that there are generally two ways to run game: restrictive or relaxed. One is not necessarily better then the other. As long as the rules remain the same for all players, everything is fair. That being said, the more people you add to a system, the more complicated it is to keep track of everything. In those cases more restrictive systems tend to run smoother.
1) My interpretation on spirits renders them as slightly helpful union workers. And, much like union workers, spirits wont voluntarily do anything that isn't explicitly in their contract. They can still be bribed and coerced, but will generally have their own thoughts and feelings on a subject, and usually have better things to do then sit around waiting for the pcs to engage them.
2) Spirits will no longer teach non-core items to people. If the gift you are asking for is outside any of your trees, spirits will be unable to bestow this knowledge on you. It isn't in your or their contracts.
3) Related, but not directly so: Garou will no longer be able to learn out of Tribe gifts past rank two, or out of auspice/breed gifts past rank three. These are special cookies reserved for that player type. It diminishes your build and theirs to allow the higher end stuff to be traded like pokemon cards.
4) Related, but not directly so: Garou can no longer teach a Gift they did not learn from a spirit. This is a safeguard to prevent wanton abuse of tribal secrets. What this means is, let's say your PC Black Fury learned Wearing The Bear Shirt, a truly awesome Get gift. She cannot teach her Pack said gift. She lacks the proper language to express the learning process.
5) Garou can no longer bind spirits into talens or fetishes that are represented as existing outside their core. Spirit contracts will prohibit noncore builds, but will function for those in that core. As an example: A PC Uktena wants a Wenido Shield, and has the appropriate lores to make one. He slaves away for months building the shield. When the time comes to bind in the war spirit, the spirit looks at him like he is crazy. Now, if this Uktena can talk a Wendigo into performing the rite, he has a shiny new fetish.
As another example: a theurge knows how to make bloody bandages. He bleeds and stuff and has the materials, but if he binds a spirit to em, he just has a trapped spirit. Now, if he gets his ahroun buddy to step in and speak to the spirits on his behalf, he will have a talen.
6) Fetishes and talens stolen, bought, claimed or otherwise procured will still function as written. The contract binding them at that point is Rite of Fetish or Binding; a much bigger law then a single garou. Likely, the spirit involved will not be happy and over time will grow bitter or cursed... but such things can be avoided if you pay attention.
7) The more items that exist outside your core on your sheet, the harder it will be to further engage your core. Spirits don't generally like their tools being abused or mistreated. If your Ahroun has a bunch or Ragabash gifts, there is a very real possibilty that the spirits will give you a quest to price your ahroundom in addition to whatever your chimage you might pay.
8) The more of your core stuff that you teach, the more hesitant spirits will be to give you more secrets. After all, one who tells the whole world a secret will likely not be trusted with another. Quests and the like can counter this, but don't expect an easy road if you have abused tribal powers.
9) We are going to be taking a more active notice on chimage in general. Several gifts have been purchased and not truly paid for. There will be penalties for deals with spirits that are not held to. Moving forward, if this continues to be a problem the spirits might adopt a 'get paid first' mentality. In the meantime, report all chimage to AST Starscream. Please and thank you.
10) The book details learning gifts from a Garou as taking AT LEAST one month. This has not been terribly monitored in the past but will be moving forward. Further, staff reserves the right to alter this time to something scaled in the future.
That's basically it. Nothing horrible, just some clarification. I am not going to take away anything from existing sheets. I am not looking to punish stuff done in the past. This is just how things will run moving forward. If we don't feel this has positively impacted the arms race, we will reevaluate and come up with something else.
Please send us notes with problems/ concerns. Find me at parties, cons or karaoke. I am not a hard dude to get a hold of. I do want to hear your feedback.
Cheers!
-Rob.
As Pladam pointed out to me last night, I seem to have got this out a little later then anticipated. I apologize for that. I will ask that before ranty posts get put up or I hear waves of complaints that you read the entire thing and realize these are changes for everyone, not just a chosen few.
I believe that there are generally two ways to run game: restrictive or relaxed. One is not necessarily better then the other. As long as the rules remain the same for all players, everything is fair. That being said, the more people you add to a system, the more complicated it is to keep track of everything. In those cases more restrictive systems tend to run smoother.
1) My interpretation on spirits renders them as slightly helpful union workers. And, much like union workers, spirits wont voluntarily do anything that isn't explicitly in their contract. They can still be bribed and coerced, but will generally have their own thoughts and feelings on a subject, and usually have better things to do then sit around waiting for the pcs to engage them.
2) Spirits will no longer teach non-core items to people. If the gift you are asking for is outside any of your trees, spirits will be unable to bestow this knowledge on you. It isn't in your or their contracts.
3) Related, but not directly so: Garou will no longer be able to learn out of Tribe gifts past rank two, or out of auspice/breed gifts past rank three. These are special cookies reserved for that player type. It diminishes your build and theirs to allow the higher end stuff to be traded like pokemon cards.
4) Related, but not directly so: Garou can no longer teach a Gift they did not learn from a spirit. This is a safeguard to prevent wanton abuse of tribal secrets. What this means is, let's say your PC Black Fury learned Wearing The Bear Shirt, a truly awesome Get gift. She cannot teach her Pack said gift. She lacks the proper language to express the learning process.
5) Garou can no longer bind spirits into talens or fetishes that are represented as existing outside their core. Spirit contracts will prohibit noncore builds, but will function for those in that core. As an example: A PC Uktena wants a Wenido Shield, and has the appropriate lores to make one. He slaves away for months building the shield. When the time comes to bind in the war spirit, the spirit looks at him like he is crazy. Now, if this Uktena can talk a Wendigo into performing the rite, he has a shiny new fetish.
As another example: a theurge knows how to make bloody bandages. He bleeds and stuff and has the materials, but if he binds a spirit to em, he just has a trapped spirit. Now, if he gets his ahroun buddy to step in and speak to the spirits on his behalf, he will have a talen.
6) Fetishes and talens stolen, bought, claimed or otherwise procured will still function as written. The contract binding them at that point is Rite of Fetish or Binding; a much bigger law then a single garou. Likely, the spirit involved will not be happy and over time will grow bitter or cursed... but such things can be avoided if you pay attention.
7) The more items that exist outside your core on your sheet, the harder it will be to further engage your core. Spirits don't generally like their tools being abused or mistreated. If your Ahroun has a bunch or Ragabash gifts, there is a very real possibilty that the spirits will give you a quest to price your ahroundom in addition to whatever your chimage you might pay.
8) The more of your core stuff that you teach, the more hesitant spirits will be to give you more secrets. After all, one who tells the whole world a secret will likely not be trusted with another. Quests and the like can counter this, but don't expect an easy road if you have abused tribal powers.
9) We are going to be taking a more active notice on chimage in general. Several gifts have been purchased and not truly paid for. There will be penalties for deals with spirits that are not held to. Moving forward, if this continues to be a problem the spirits might adopt a 'get paid first' mentality. In the meantime, report all chimage to AST Starscream. Please and thank you.
10) The book details learning gifts from a Garou as taking AT LEAST one month. This has not been terribly monitored in the past but will be moving forward. Further, staff reserves the right to alter this time to something scaled in the future.
That's basically it. Nothing horrible, just some clarification. I am not going to take away anything from existing sheets. I am not looking to punish stuff done in the past. This is just how things will run moving forward. If we don't feel this has positively impacted the arms race, we will reevaluate and come up with something else.
Please send us notes with problems/ concerns. Find me at parties, cons or karaoke. I am not a hard dude to get a hold of. I do want to hear your feedback.
Cheers!
-Rob.
