Facade from 'Mask of Humanity'

[Icelander]

'Mask of Humanity' is an article by Cristopher R. Rice in Pyramid #3/97 Strange Powers. It provides rules for a supernatural force which prevents mundanes from noticing, accepting or remembering blatantly impossible phenomena.

I'm using these rules in my campaign, but haven't yet featured a character or monster with the Shrouding skill or used the table to calculate a Facade rating (usually I assign one based on how mundane or spooky I feel an area is at any given time, from 0-20). So I hadn't noticed a couple of issues before.

Also, no PC has failed a roll in play, it's mostly a narrative device to explain NPC behavior.

A) Why does darkness give a bonus to the Facade and good lighting also give a bonus? Shouldn't either of these things give a penalty?

B) On the Initial Response, why is it much worse to fail by 2-4 against the Facade than by 5-6, or even by 7-9, or, for that matter, than the results of most Fright Checks? Berserk for minutes or hours is orders of magnitude worse than Dazed for seconds or even minutes, arguably even hours.

Subpoint to B), the table lists 5-6 and 6-7 as line headings. 6 can't lead to two mutually exclusive effects (the same effect can't last seconds instead of minutes while it lasts minutes instead of seconds). How should the effect categories be broken up instead? Where should 6 fit, is the next category just 7 or do we change it to 7-8 and then change 8-9 to just 9? Or should 5-6 become just 5?

C) I don't see any modifier to Shrouding skill for the local Facade rating. Is Shrouding meant to work equally well in areas with weak Facades as strong ones? Because that would seem contrary to the narrative description of using the Facade to shroud you.

[Icelander]

No one?

About A), what is meant to be the base lighting level for an unmodified Facade rating?

And does darkness lower Facade or increase it?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Icelander

A) Why does darkness give a bonus to the Facade and good lighting also give a bonus? Shouldn't either of these things give a penalty?

A goof. Ignore the penalty for bright lights, keep only the darkness penalty.

Originally Posted by Icelander

B) On the Initial Response, why is it much worse to fail by 2-4 against the Facade than by 5-6, or even by 7-9, or, for that matter, than the results of most Fright Checks? Berserk for minutes or hours is orders of magnitude worse than Dazed for seconds or even minutes, arguably even hours.

Just how I wrote it. You can change that around. I know I did for my Ceteriverse version.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Subpoint to B), the table lists 5-6 and 6-7 as line headings. 6 can't lead to two mutually exclusive effects (the same effect can't last seconds instead of minutes while it lasts minutes instead of seconds). How should the effect categories be broken up instead? Where should 6 fit, is the next category just 7 or do we change it to 7-8 and then change 8-9 to just 9? Or should 5-6 become just 5?

5-6 should be just 5.

Originally Posted by Icelander

C) I don't see any modifier to Shrouding skill for the local Facade rating. Is Shrouding meant to work equally well in areas with weak Facades as strong ones? Because that would seem contrary to the narrative description of using the Facade to shroud you.

That was the goal, yes. I dislike skills with inherent penalties. You could change it if you want. In my current Ceteriverse version it's half the local rating as a modifier to Shrouding.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

A goof. Ignore the penalty for bright lights, keep only the darkness penalty.

Cool.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Just how I wrote it. You can change that around. I know I did for my Ceteriverse version.

Do you have that table available?

I want lashing out in fear and rage to be a theoretically possible reaction, but not really something that occurs too often and especially not regardless of whether a character is a mild-mannered pacifist or a violent criminal with a short fuze.

It seems to me from fictional examples that by far the most common reaction to failing a roll against the Facade should be confusion or misinterpretation of the situation, followed by a delusional belief in a rationalization of anything other than whatever impossible thing happened.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

5-6 should be just 5.

Ok

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

That was the goal, yes. I dislike skills with inherent penalties. You could change it if you want. In my current Ceteriverse version it's half the local rating as a modifier to Shrouding.

What kind of modifier?

A plus or a minus?

Or, perhaps, a penalty of ((10 - Rating) / 2) [round down] when the Facade rating is below 10 and a bonus of (10 + Rating) / 2) when the Facade is above 10. That results in unmodified rolls in Facade 9-11 and significant modifiers at the extremes at either end.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Do you have that table available?

I want lashing out in fear and rage to be a theoretically possible reaction, but not really something that occurs too often and especially not regardless of whether a character is a mild-mannered pacifist or a violent criminal with a short fuze.

It seems to me from fictional examples that by far the most common reaction to failing a roll against the Facade should be confusion or misinterpretation of the situation, followed by a delusional belief in a rationalization of anything other than whatever impossible thing happened.

Not for public use. It's in the setting bible, sorry. And confusion fits better. That's what mostly happens in my Ceteriverse.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Or, perhaps, a penalty of ((10 - Rating) / 2) [round down] when the Facade rating is below 10 and a bonus of (10 + Rating) / 2) when the Facade is above 10. That results in unmodified rolls in Facade 9-11 and significant modifiers at the extremes at either end.

This exactly. This is how I do it in Ceteri for Shrouding.

[Icelander]

Nice.

I'm considering allowing PCs with appropriately magical abilities to learn Shrouding, which I haven't allowed before. 'Nonc' Morel has already uses a ritual that does a similar thing so often it's become a trademark (or more appropriately, the exact opposite of a trademark) and pishtaco instinctively use Shrouding, so it seems logical that, for example, Alice Talbot's nice spirit friend could start teaching her how to veil herself by manipulating the Facade, instead of performing a ritual. After all, she's seen it done, using Awareness, so she should understand the process.

And the players have points for several sessions, for finishing an adventure and bonus points for achieving auxiliary objectives. So, 30+ points each, given that no one has spent point in months.

I was considering how Mana should affect Shrouding. I think I'll set the skill as functioning nornally in Low Mana and higher, with a penalty equal to (Mana Level +5) in -6 to -10 Mana, and impossible in No Mana.

Given that Facade rating will usually correlate inversely with Mana Level, that modifier means that I only have to worry about Facade or Mana modifiers in unusual locations where there might be fairly high Mana but still a powerful Facade, for some unclear reason (or vice versa). Otherwise, it tends to cancel out for no modifiers.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Nice.

I'm considering allowing PCs with appropriately magical abilities to learn Shrouding, which I haven't allowed before. 'Nonc' Morel has already uses a ritual that does a similar thing so often it's become a trademark (or more appropriately, the exact opposite of a trademark) and pishtaco instinctively use Shrouding, so it seems logical that, for example, Alice Talbot's nice spirit friend could start teaching her how to veil herself by manipulating the Facade, instead of performing a ritual. After all, she's seen it done, using Awareness, so she should understand the process.

I allow anyone with Illuminated to learn both Awareness and Shrouding in Ceteri. Works pretty well (mostly).

Originally Posted by Icelander

And the players have points for several sessions, for finishing an adventure and bonus points for achieving auxiliary objectives. So, 30+ points each, given that no one has spent point in months.

I do this too in my games - extra points for doing extra stuff. Nice to see others do the same.

Originally Posted by Icelander

I was considering how Mana should affect Shrouding. I think I'll set the skill as functioning nornally in Low Mana and higher, with a penalty equal to (Mana Level +5) in -6 to -10 Mana, and impossible in No Mana.

That works. I hadn't considered how Mana might interact with the Facade, but that works.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Given that Facade rating will usually correlate inversely with Mana Level, that modifier means that I only have to worry about Facade or Mana modifiers in unusual locations where there might be fairly high Mana but still a powerful Facade, for some unclear reason (or vice versa). Otherwise, it tends to cancel out for no modifiers.

Yup. Which is nice for a GM as it cuts back on the things you need to remember from scene to scene.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I allow anyone with Illuminated to learn both Awareness and Shrouding in Ceteri. Works pretty well (mostly).

I allowed anyone with Magery or Power Talent to learn Awareness, as long as they had a plausible teacher or a period in their background where they had independently come to the realization that the world that most people knew was not all there was and developed the ability to look beyond the surface.

That meant that Lacoste, for example, was very good at Awareness from having been a homicide detective with an instinct for the occult who learned that many crimes were connected to hidden forces, but Teddy Smith didn't have it, as he learned his supernatural abilities in another world without a Facade or any attempt by the inhabitants to conceal paranormal abilities.

I didn't use Illuminated when the characters were created, but if I had, I'm not sure how it would have worked. All the PCs have supernatural gifts, but while each of them started play knowing about the occult and with useful connections with all sorts of occultists, most of them had no special knowledge about aspects of the supernatural outside their particular gifts. Specifically, while three of them were studying Hermetic magic at the start of play, they specifically hadn't used it for anything yet. Only 'Nonc' Morel had any real experience with using ritual magic on Earth, under adventuring conditions.

So I judged that none of them were familiar enough with manipulating the forces behind the Facade to be able to use it to veil themselves, as in Shrouding. In retrospect, 'Nonc' Morel definitely should have been and probably should have had a high level in Shrouding. As he has the most unspent points of all the PCs, I don't mind having the player allocate some of them to the Shrouding skill and saying he had it all along, as he already used the ritual equivalent several times during the adventure (and it's plausible that he simply felt that a pre-prepared Charm with a very effective ritual of that sort was more reliable than using Shrouding on the fly).

As for the other PCs, they shall be permitted to start exploring how to manipulate the Facade, if they so desire, and spend points on Shrouding, though they should start out with only 1 point. Except possibly Alice Talbot, as she technically has an in-setting justification for learning skills quickly with learned points.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I do this too in my games - extra points for doing extra stuff. Nice to see others do the same.

I'm very inclined to give substantial point bonuses for choosing to play out Disadvantages in a way that makes for better dramatic stories. For example, heroic PCs who connect with NPCs and make rescuing them a specific goal, rather than just stopping the villains, will receive bonuses for that. Also, finding plausible in-setting reasons for why they are going to do something extremely cinematic and risky might be good for a bonus for accomplishing stuff not strictly part of their jobs, but definitely goals their characters should have.

In general, their characters deciding to personally board the Aqueronte without support, rather than using their Patron and positions to coordinate a large-scale joint official law enforcement operation that would have stopped the villains without risk to the PCs was good for solid character point bonuses. Especially as the players were fully aware that doing so would lead to the PCs having to navigate some very deep political waters to avoid legal entanglements afterwards, but preferred this to law enforcement officers without their familiarity with the occult, high Will and magical protections having to be exposed to the swirling vortex of dark energy around the Aqueronte.

Also, 'Nonc' Morel doing all sorts of risky things in order to avoid killing anyone, including using magical means to try to have his Reluctant Killer Disadvantage influence the other PCs through their mental link (genius!), meant that they got bonus awards for having captured numerous NPCs that a more pragmatic approach would have killed by sniper fire.

And, ironically, the other three PCs doing diametrically opposing things to play out their respective Disadvantages to kill specific threats aboard the Aqueronte, which ended up causing the Bad Place to deteriorate into a full-fledged rift between worlds, also got them bonus points. Being willing to have their PCs have subtly different goals and very different personalities furthered adventure possibilities.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

That works. I hadn't considered how Mana might interact with the Facade, but that works.

Yup. Which is nice for a GM as it cuts back on the things you need to remember from scene to scene.

Excellent.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I didn't use Illuminated when the characters were created, but if I had, I'm not sure how it would have worked. All the PCs have supernatural gifts, but while each of them started play knowing about the occult and with useful connections with all sorts of occultists, most of them had no special knowledge about aspects of the supernatural outside their particular gifts.

I gave the PCs Illuminated as a 0-point feature for all starting PCs. Since otherwise everyone has Mundane Background (also as a 0-point feature) it meant that they were in the know and not affected by the Mists (my name for the Facade in my Ceteriverse). Starting back up in Season 3 one of my player characters is "halfway" between Mundane and Illuminated, while another is straight up Mundane and been making his rolls. He'll be Illuminated soon enough if he keeps up those rolls.

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'm very inclined to give substantial point bonuses for choosing to play out Disadvantages in a way that makes for better dramatic stories. For example, heroic PCs who connect with NPCs and make rescuing them a specific goal, rather than just stopping the villains, will receive bonuses for that. Also, finding plausible in-setting reasons for why they are going to do something extremely cinematic and risky might be good for a bonus for accomplishing stuff not strictly part of their jobs, but definitely goals their characters should have.

I would. I do. I use my rules from Impulse Control with a special twist: in addition to the regular refresh for points, it's possible to earn up to +3 points - working together, working in genre, and excellent interplay role playing. These extra points stay with the PC until upgrade time. If they aren't used by then they get converted into character points to spend on stuff.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I gave the PCs Illuminated as a 0-point feature for all starting PCs. Since otherwise everyone has Mundane Background (also as a 0-point feature) it meant that they were in the know and not affected by the Mists (my name for the Facade in my Ceteriverse). Starting back up in Season 3 one of my player characters is "halfway" between Mundane and Illuminated, while another is straight up Mundane and been making his rolls. He'll be Illuminated soon enough if he keeps up those rolls.

In my campaign, PCs still make checks against the Facade, even though they know about the supernatural. It's a feature of the campaign world that even experienced occultists often have problems remembering exactly what happened when they encountered powerful paranormal phenomena.

The PCs have extremely high Will, as one of the main things that distinguishes them from ordinary mortals and makes them capable of being the protagonists, so failing the rolls is rare. However, this provides a narrative justification for the players to have incomplete information about events in their own character's pasts and some of them have traits that reflect that their characters believe incorrect information about past events.

I want to to be able to introduce meaningful Reveals in the style of Jim Butcher's elaborations on protagonist backstories in the Dresden Files, where the information that the reader was previously presented with is revealed to be incomplete or false in crucial ways.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I would. I do. I use my rules from Impulse Control with a special twist: in addition to the regular refresh for points, it's possible to earn up to +3 points - working together, working in genre, and excellent interplay role playing. These extra points stay with the PC until upgrade time. If they aren't used by then they get converted into character points to spend on stuff.

That's very nice of you.

I avoided Wild Card skills or other traits with narrative-shaping powers*, as reality was supposed to be extremely hard to change with supernatural powers and the PCs were supposed to be able to fail or even die. However, I note that I allow spending character points to get extra uses of Luck and I allow Serendipity, and that these are very similar traits, albeit ones that exist on a meta-level more than inside the world of the setting.

Given the fact that most of the PCs are, in some way, figures of destiny**, allowing traits that give points for Impulse Buys might not do too much violence to the campaign. I'll have to consider it carefully.

*One of the things that served to distinguish events in the Dreamworld from the real world is that the PCs had a pool of Destiny Points there which could change reality in quite dramatic fashion, reflecting a Neo-like understanding that they were in a lucid dream-like shared delusion and that what the saw was, to some extent, under their control.
**Albeit with that destiny yet to be revealed, in each case, as some of them could equally well be destined to be tragic Greek heroes or even Woobies, Destroyers of Worlds, as they could be the Big Damn Heroes.