Story Agent
Aug 9, 2018 15:22:16 GMT -6
Post by Lestat on Aug 9, 2018 15:22:16 GMT -6
Homebrew Exaltation - Story Agent
Life is but one scene from a play. We are all nothing more than novice actors knowing nothing of the script, and the curtains close before the play is ever performed to its end. Story Agents can’t see where the plot will take them, but they fake their lines, and play to the audience for as long as they can. For a Story Agent knows that we are born when we first walk on set, and we die after our final act.
Story Agents know that there's a force out there deadlier than any weapon, and stronger than any armor. To be at the center of the stage, and irreplaceable to the story is to achieve immortality. They are masters of the three acts, and they barrel through each episode, further cementing their role in the narrative. Where others are too blinded by swords, and sorcery to see the bigger picture, you know all that matters is that you make it to the credits alive.
Tell: A Story Agent's tell comes with a growing sense of nervousness, and concern as events begin to play out in ways they weren't supposed to. Background characters don't know where to stand, villains attempt to remind you of your normal lines, and scenes take extra long to set up as everything is re-arranged to match the new plotline.
Powers:
Conservation of Detail: You begin play with 3 fewer dots to place into backgrounds, and you can not perform any tasks while not in a scene unless you spend 1 Limelight.
Superposition: You do not have to commit to being in any particular area, or performing any particular task outside of a scene until a story element requires you to choose where you currently are, and what you've been doing in that time. If a scene would start without you, instead a small scene somehow relevant to the main scene starts for you.
Out of Character: You may spend 1 Limelight before committing an act against your alignment to ignore any Alignment Checks from your act so long as you moved the plot forward.
Meaningful Failure: Whenever failure on your part would have seemed a waste of time, you may spend 1 Limelight to find some benefit, clue, or plot hook gained from it, relevant to the current plot, decided by the SM.
Power Stat: Prominence
Story Agents can see the marks on the stage, and the cues they're being signaled from the events that unfold around them. As a Story Agent's Prominence grows they become more adept at playing the game, and can substitute the plot's ending with one of their own making.
Resource Stat: Limelight. Your Limelight is equal to twice your Prominence. You regain 1 Limelight at the beginning of each session, and before each scene begins. After completing a mission, quest, or story arc that took longer than one session to resolve, regain all Limelight.
| Prominence | Power Gained |
| ★ | Deus Ex Machina - Once per session, you may spend Limelight to immediately gain that many temporary Background dots which last until the end of the session. The background dots must be spent on something to solve the current problem. After that session, the form of the background is destroyed, must be let go, or is simply forgotten. |
| ★★ | Plot Relevant Capability - You may spend 2 Limelight to gain a number of temporary skill dots equal to your Prominence for one scene. The skill dots must be spent on something to solve the current problem. The total number of dots in a skill you improve with this power can not exceed your Prominence. |
| ★★★ | Offscreen Guarantee - Anything done outside of a scene gains two raises to any tests you might make, and you may make tests to skip minor interruptions without having them start a scene. |
| ★★★★ | Haphazard Narrative - You can spend Limelight on your Story Agent powers even while you are normally unable to act, and when you spend Limelight to benefit from a Story Agent power, you can allow anyone in any scene to benefit from it instead. The powers must be used to solve the current problem. Your control of the narrative ends when you are dead, or on hiatus. |
| ★★★★★ | Climax - Whenever a multi-session story arc has reached its most intense point before the resolution you or a prominent character in that story arc regain all of their spent hero points, and gain an extra raise to tests and damage rolls in the climax. You can only use this power once per story arc. |
Story Agent Assets
Prequel
You gain 4 extra background dots.
This Just In
At the end of every session the player characters can observe the current state of a plotline in the form of a small cutscene, giving new details. The information can be fourth wall breaking, or it can come from a source like a double-agent, an overly informed support character, or a news broadcast.
Contractual Immortality
Whenever you would die you may instead fall off a banister, get sucked out of an airlock, or otherwise be rapidly removed from the session in a violent manner. Sometime next session enter a scene as a surprise round, returning with a missing body part, possibly replaced by a cybernetic if you had enough time to install one with Superposition. You may get away with this act a number of times equal to your Prominence. After that you die in the most violent manner possible, stunning all allies for one round, and are canceled with no hope of returning.
Super-Duperposition
Whenever everyone looks away you may automatically leave the scene. While not in a scene you reach destinations in half the time it should take, and you can refrain from having a small scene from Superposition start for you, instead simply gaining 1 Limelight.
Character Development
Choose a skill, characteristic, sword school, gun kata, or magic school. Your choice is always considered to be on your class progression, but you can't buy additional ranks in it above your Prominence. Buying the first, or any subsequent rank in it costs 50 less XP, and if you chose a skill, or characteristic you may improve it to 6 at Prominence 5.