Death to Teal and Orange

If you haven't heard of the "Teal and Orange" effect, please do behoove yourself and read up on it, also being aware that it will literally tint your entire experience of movie-watching. Whenever this cheap trick is employed, it'll stick out like a sore thumb to you. At any rate, I have plenty of ranting about that, but it misses the real point I'm going to make, which uses Teal and Orange as a handy analogy. For what? You'll see...

The Journey System: Wyrd

Well, hopefully you people aren't quite tired of hearing about the Journey System. This time through, I'm going into something which should end up as one of the core concepts of the game, and that's Wyrd. Coming from the Old English "weohrtan", "to become", wyrd sometimes gets tossed around a lot in fantasy settings, because it deals with the concept of fate, of destiny. This RPG aims to make it a central focus, but not a required part of the game. If your character doesn't feel like following destiny, they'll not be able to become as powerful, but they'll also be freer to pursue their own ends. Characters who take on a Wyrd become more powerful, but they end up sacrificing their own freedom in exchange. If they defy their Wyrd too much, they can end up losing that power.

The Basic Idea
The concept of Wyrd is going to be a hybrid of sorts between traditional RPG levels and a dash of the Morality system of World of Darkness fame. You gain features as your Wyrd increases, but as your Wyrd increases, the things you must do to maintain it become more and more difficult. To stay true to Wyrd, a character must make a lot of sacrifices, and undergo many hardships. Fortunately, Wyrd is custom-made for each character. Depending on how you want the story to run, either the player or the GM can be in charge of how the Wyrd evolves...in fact, both of them can collaborate if they wish, to craft a destiny for the character.

Each time your Wyrd increases in level (something accomplished by spending Experience Points), you add a piece to your character's Wyrd. This is the destiny that they have been chosen to accomplish, and the abilities gained by following this Wyrd (called "Boons") are gifted specifically for the purpose of fulfilling the Wyrd. The more specific a piece of the Wyrd it is, the greater the Boon granted. These bits of wyrd stay with your character, and cannot be erased unless the character deliberately rebels against them. Even if the character rejects them at some time, pushing them aside and ignoring them, they still remain, nagging away at the character here and there.

Your Wyrd level also acts as a cap. Each ability that your character can purchase has a cost in experience points. Your Wyrd level serves as a cap on the amount of abilities that your character can have. If purchasing an ability would take your power level beyond your Wyrd cap, you are not allowed to purchase that ability. If your Wyrd lowers, however, beneath your current cap, you may still use the abilities you've acquired; you may not acquire any more, though, without sacrificing some of your existing abilities (which requires a good story explanation).

Some Examples...(probably to be balanced later)
Leader-- You have been chosen to lead in some way, either by leading a party of adventurers, a nation, or even an entire race.
Boon: When leading, you may reroll one 12 per Dilemma.
Obligation: If an opportunity to lead arises, you must take it. (Belief, Affinity 4)

Against the Great Foe-- You have been called to fight against the dark evil which threatens to conquer these lands.
Boon: When taking action against this dark evil or its servants/minions, the Affinity of all your tasks is +2.
Obligation: If you can inflict harm upon the Foe, you must take action to do so. (Passion-1, Affinity 3)

You'll notice that each entry has a Boon and Obligation. The Boon is the benefit you gain from the bit of Wyrd. The Obligation is what you must do to avoid ignoring/rejecting this bit of Wyrd, and decreasing your Wyrd. If you disobey the Obligation, you must make an attribute roll, indicated by the entry at the end of the Obligation. If you fail the roll, this means that your character's action reflects a change of heart about the Wyrd, and you decrease in Wyrd. You may not use that piece's Boon, and your Wyrd Cap is likewise decreased. If you succeed the roll, your action is considered to not reflect your true faith in your Wyrd, but rather an action that, because of necessity or inculpability, wasn't truly a rejection of the Wyrd.

Roleplaying will be important here, because the GM is at liberty to give bonuses or penalties to the Affinity of a Wyrd Roll, based on your explanation of your character's actions. Would following one bit of your Wyrd lead to the death of innocents, for instance, and your character values life heavily, this can provide a substantial Affinity bonus, making it far easier to succeed. Not only that, but if you can show that following this bit of Wyrd in this one case would contradict another bit of the Wyrd, you don't need to make a Wyrd Roll; the Wyrd remains, because it does not contradict.

Sound interesting? I hope it does! Stay tuned, for what I think will be a post on Beliefs in the Journey System...

Archetypes: a Story Staple

Jung calls them pieces of our subconscious. Shakespeare used them all the time. Joseph Campbell claimed to have identified their essential forms. They're as old as storytelling...archetypes are practically inescapable. In the wrong hands, they can turn out badly, but if used to craft a story, they can lend far more depths of meaning than you could fit into the story alone.

An archetype is a sort of cross between a symbol and a character. Because of this hybridization, an archetype can not only span stories and cultures, but also connect with the reader/player, interact withing the story. Archetypes connect with us on a deep, personal level, and infusing elements of archetypes into characters can lend them a timeless quality. So that being said, let's have a look at a few common archetypes...

Sage
The sage is more knowledgeable than anyone else. A sage embodies knowledge, and (more importantly) truth. Their purpose is to communicate this truth to the rest of the world, because their access is a unique privilege, given for a specific reason. The sage has not arrived at this knowledge through effort, but because of a gift. They have glimpsed the Truth that underlies all of reality.

Example: Gandalf the Grey

Avenger
The avenger believes in something, and is willing to fight to the death for it. Whether it's actual vengeance or the cause of a zealot, the avenger's actions are strong and decisive, and usually swift. The purpose of an avenger is to provide justice, and the immediate power of a belief. The avenger knows the Truth, believes the Truth, and will pay a huge cost to see that Truth upheld.

Example: Batman

Mentor
Like the sage, the mentor is wise, but the mentor's purpose is far more specific. The mentor is there to serve as a guide to another character. The mentor has more experience than that character (we'll call him "the hero"), but isn't the one who's supposed to complete whatever task has been assigned to the hero. The mentor guides the hero into their destined role, because this is the destined role of the mentor. The Truth has called the hero, and the mentor will lead the hero to that call.

Example: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Shifter
Sometimes known as the trickster, the shifter has many guises. The shifter uses them to fool, but very seldom uses them for malicious reasons. The purpose of the shifter is to "loosen up" everything: a shifter knows that the Truth exists, but that mere rules can be played around with a little. Well, usually. Sometimes, the shifter just likes to bring new ideas to the table, to challenge authority with reckless abandon. If there's a loose cannon in the group, it'll be the shifter.

Example: Captain Jack Sparrow

A Closing Bit
Hopefully you've enjoyed this little interlude of storytelling. The archetypes are interesting to study, and I'd also like to note that what I've listed up here is merely my interpretation of some of the classics. You might have a totally different idea about them. I'm covering one main aspect of them, not trying to make a comprehensive overview, so that can easily lead to the omission of some aspects of the archetypes. Come back on Tuesday for a brand-new post!