Chapter IX: The Game Master
and despairs of ever returning to normal. Someone who talks of strange things happening to his body will be sure to get the unmerciful attention of Witch Hunters and other Zealots. Finally, there are some followers of Nurgle who are fascinated by this disorder, and seek to kidnap characters who suffer from it for unholy rites. Delirious Saviour When a character is driven to become a Delirious Saviour, he operates under the delusion that he’s been endowed with special insights or powers. He comes to believe, for example, that he must have survived the attack from the horrible Beastman because some God has chosen him to end human suffering by turning turnips into gold. And if allowed to use his insights or powers, the character is convinced he will be able to perform miraculous deeds for the betterment of the world. It’s up to the GM to determine what special insight or power the character believes he possesses. Some examples of insights include: how to cure all disease, rid the world of poverty, purify mutants, feed the hungry, end war, and abolish money. In these cases the character rambles on about his bizarre, grandiose, impractical and nonsensical insights to the above problems to whoever will listen. He’ll also write long, incoherent treatises on his subject and try to get them published. Examples of powers include: perform all of the above acts by touch, cast spells, use mental powers (mind-reading, pyrokinesis, telepathy), walk on water, fly, become invulnerable to harm, and invent amazing machines. In these cases the character believes he possesses the power innately, and will always behave so even in the face of overwhelming evidence he has no powers at all. A person who believes he possesses special powers is frequently viewed as mad. So is a person who makes outrageous claims based on incoherent ramblings. Both types often find themselves in dangerous situations as a result of their disorder. However, there are some, mostly other unfortunates whose minds have long snapped, who may follow a Delirious Saviour on his delusional quest. Desperate and Doomed The forces of Chaos are everywhere, relentlessly attacking the Old World from the outside and corrupting it from within. Adventurers are in the thick of the fight, in a never-ending and seemingly hopeless battle. There are many who grit their teeth, determined to defend their way of life no matter how bleak the eventual outcome may appear. And then there are those who simply give up. When a character is driven to become Desperate and Doomed, it’s because constant exposure to violence and horror has gradually weakened and then finally snapped his fragile mind. At the moment sanity leaves him forever, he has a delusional epiphany. He believes a powerful God (like Sigmar) finally shows him the truth: the world is coming to an apocalyptic end. There is nothing to be done about it. It’s time to repent and die. Many of the Desperate and Doomed go into hiding, in deep caves or lonely forests. However, there are some who believe they’ve been anointed as the deity’s special messenger, and must preach to the people that their world is coming to an end. These are the ragged and filthy individuals seen in town squares or at crossroads, proselytizing about the final days of the Old World. A character who is Desperate and Doomed believes he is constantly receiving instructions from his God to spread the word of the end times. Nothing else matters, not earning money, eating food, or washing. How these messages come to the character is up the GM. Some examples: voices in the head, visions, symbolic dreams, or a combination of all three. The messages are always urgent, powerful and bleak: “The world is ending. Repent for your sins. Purify yourself for the final day.”
In order to prepare for the apocalypse, a character who is Desperate and Doomed must not only repent for his sins, but also cleanse his body and mind. To him the best acts of penitence and purification involve self-mutilation, the most popular form being to flay the skin from his body with chains, whips, ropes and studded leather straps. And it is his solemn duty to make sure others join in the atonements. There are generals, Witch Hunters and warrior Priests who often trick the Desperate and Doomed into fighting for their army in a coming battle. They convince these pour souls that the final conflict is at hand, and feed them promises of a glorious death. In truth, the Desperate and Doomed are often used as cannon fodder, placed on the front lines to harass the enemy before dying gruesomely. They fill the ranks of the Flagellants in particular. The Fear There are many things to fear in the Old World, some with good reason. Beastmen, mutants and other followers of Chaos can do great harm to you. A character suffering fromThe Fear is someone who, after a hard life of violence and exposure to the grotesqueries of Chaos, succumbs to a more irrational fear, like believing he can be harmed by the dark, thunder, snakes, cats, heights, small spaces, crossing over a bridge, and so on. The Fear is an excessive, debilitating and overwhelming dread of some object or situation. There are many, many things to be afraid of, including specific kinds of animals (i.e. rats, spiders, toads, horses), open or closed spaces, sunlight or darkness, blood, children or people of other races, bodies of water, being alone or in a crowd, hair, fur and clothing, plants, sharp and pointy objects, Wizards, clerics, Physicians, and so on. A character suffering from The Fear takes steps to avoid the object of his discomfort. Should he wish to force himself into the presence of what he fears, he must make a Will Power Test. If he fails, he must flee from the object of his fear immediately. If he’s unable to flee, his Will Power score is halved until he’s able to get away. Furthermore, the
203
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online