
Changes of the Body
Over a character’s lifetime, they are rarely left unchanged by their time in this world. Such changes include maims, diseases, and body modifications. While it is common to sustain a maim or disease at some point in someone’s long life, body modifications are rarer world-wide, and more prevalent among certain cultures.
Diseases
In play, a disease comes with a card that defines its name and description, mechanical effects, symptoms, and progression. If you come in contact with someone or something that is contagious, you will be provided with this card if you are infected, along with any number of additional cards to pass out should you be in a position to spread the disease.
Folks cures are things that can be found at events from various sources such as Lore items. A folk cure is a temporary fix that will alleviate any symptoms and mechanical effects on your character. However, your symptoms will eventually come back, and you may be a carrier even while not displaying symptoms. There are skills in-game that can help you recover fully from these diseases, as well as some alchemical preparations.
Example diseases in the world:
Sailor’s Scale – This is a condition often contracted by sailors at harbor or aboard ships, and rapidly spreads throughout ships’ crews and at port cities. It is characterized by a pale blue powder coating patches of the victim’s skin, and roughness in one’s voice.
Companion’s Kiss – A simple brush of lips, however innocent and chaste, can pass on a painful and grisly condition which leaves the afflicted weak with illness. Named for the superstition that this disease was only passed on by prostitutes, the Companion’s Kiss causes laboured breathing, double vision, and often the coughing up of blood.
Wasteland Fever – The heat of the wastelands has been known to drive men mad. They will see things that are not there, hear things that are not near. They feel as if the world is closing in on them. Some believe it is exposure to extreme temperatures that cooks the brain, while others believe it is caused by possession.
Glimmershimmer – A beloved deity by some, the Glimmering Lady is said to grant wealth in exchange for devotion, sacrifice, and faith. But if she is robbed of what she is owed, she will take more than was promised. The sudden blindness and fear that comes from this particular affliction is said to be a sign that you have garnered her displeasure, regardless of your beliefs.
The Shivers – Known to be deadly to the old, young, and inferm, and perhaps debilitating to everyone else, the shivers is a serious disease defined by the shakes it instills in its victims. The inflicted often feels as if they are very cold, even while their skin is incredibly hot to the touch, and no matter what measures are taken, it feels impossible to be warm. Followers of the Grey Ones claim it is the wrath of Sveas, but other cultures blame it on wicked spirits and bad air.
Mud Fever – Horrifically common in Gothic cities, Mud Fever can be a killer for the elderly and weak of constitution. Characterized by brown splotchy spots starting upon the forehead, those that have it often describe feeling as though their veins are clogged with mud, preventing them from moving how they’d like. Some seem able to get an immunity to this disease, but only after being exposed to it over and over again, and these people are often left with permanent dark marks characteristic of the disease.
Dustbone – Sometimes indistinguishable from the aches and pains of everyday life, dustbone is a sudden onset of acute fatigue. Named for the feeling of one’s bones feeling as useless as dust, it is actually a relatively mild condition that it often recovered from.
Dread Sickness – Truly an illness to be feared, dread sickness brings even the mightiest of men to their knees. First comes the vomiting, black and viscous, followed by horrible abdominal cramping. The true suffering begins when the orifices begin to weep blood, and sleep eludes even the most exhausted, often leading to terrifying hallucinations and erratic behavior before the victim often succumbs to death. Few survive, and are often scarred and damaged from the ordeal.
Body Modification Slots
Modification Slots
A character is limited in the number of stitching, mutations, or maims that their body can handle at any given time. This is represented by the modification slot threshold. You have a body modification threshold of 6 and each modification has a specific number of points, which is listed beside the modification. You can only go up to your threshold and not past it.
You may only have one modification per body slot. Characters have the following slots for maims or modifications:
- Arm: Each arm counts as one slot. Physreps may be used on one or both arms.
- Leg: Each leg counts as one slot. Physreps or maims may be treated as one or both legs.
- Torso: The torso counts as a single slot.
- Head: The head counts as a single slot.
Aesthetic modifications do not take up a body slot or decrease your threshold unless they have mechanical effects. For example, you can have both horns and strange colored eyes, despite the fact that both of these modifications would be on the head slot.
If a mutation has an expiration date and expires, such as a stitcher modification, that mutation is lost forever until it’s replaced. A Crippling maim is in place at the site of the expired modification until that maim is healed or the mutation replaced. Mutations can also be lost if that body part is maimed.If a mutation is taken at character creation or is otherwise permanent, it will return once the maim is resolved or when a character returns from death if the main occurred within the same day that they died.
Stitching modifications can be extended for six months by using at least one part of the recipe to create it. For example, Gill Respiration which takes 1 Aberrant Essence and 1 Phlegmatic Essence to stitch can be extended with either an Aberrant or a Phlegmatic Essence.
Outlanders and Triumverati cultists can take Aesthetic changes and modifications that serve no mechanical purpose for any slots at character creation, whether or not they are the list, but if they acquire a modification in play in the same area, it replaces their aesthetic qualities. If you wish to have Aesthetic modification and are not an Outlander or Triumverati, you must contact staff for discussion of your background and possible cost.
In the event that someone with a body modification that has been added to them in game is killed, their monster parts are left behind when the rest of their body turns to ash. The monster part may be recovered, the essence that infused it cannot be.
For the Outlander Mutation perk, the 2 point value corresponds with mutations that take up 1 or 2 modification points. The 4 point value corresponds with parts costing 3-6 points. All player modifications costuming and weaponry will be checked for safety by staff. For the Hesha Stitched perk the point value is the same, although aesthetic modifications also cost 2 points. For both of these perks, you may only have a total of 6 Body Modification points, but the modification is a part of you and will last indefinitely, even going so far as to follow you through the grave.
As a note: Stitchers may use the components listed to create any of the modifications listed without any positive effects but instead causing a maim per the False Hope schematic. They should alert staff if they are planning to conduct such a surgery.
Mutations
Beneficial Mutations
Modification | Modification Points | Slot | Mechanics |
---|---|---|---|
Blackened Claws | 2 | Arm | Physrep inky-black fingers. Brawling attacks deliver Bleed. Cannot be disarmed. May not hold a shield. |
Arcane Eyes | 3 | Head | Magical items have an aura you can see. You may tell if an item is enchanted- it will be indicated as such on the tag. Costume requirement: bold contacts or very bold eye makeup |
Death Sight | 3 | Head | Once per hour, upon entering a scene in which your character is in sudden danger from an undead creature, you may gain a free use of dodge or a power strike that they can use as a defense against the undead. You must wear bold contacts or very bold eye makeup |
Sense Miasma | 3 | Head | You have the ability to track undead creatures by their awful awful smell. You must costume this, and can call Undead Tracking- which is the same as the Tracking skill but only for undead. You must call Undead Tracking before clapping |
Fearsome Maw | 2 | Head | The inner workings of your mouth are strange and the intimidation it instills is otherworldly. Refresh one ethos call per day. Costume requirement: strange teeth, strange bold face makeup around the mouth, or a particular voice alteration. Cannot use if you wear a mask. |
Phantom Limb | 6 | Arm | Your arm is ephemeral and whatever weapon you hold in that hand takes on a glow, but it can interact with ghosts freely. Costume requirement: forearm must glow, and weapons in that hand should have an LED band around their hilt. |
Dense Tentacle hand | 1 | Arm | Your hand is a heavy tentacle that acts as a bludgeoning weapon of medium size. It cannot be disarmed, but it can be sundered. You can still be injured on the arm. You cannot craft with this modification. Costume requirement: some form of costuming to arm and a natural weapons boffer not to exceed 18” striking surface. Sundering a tentacle causes a crippling missing limb maim, and can be fixed in ways that maims are fixed normally. It is unusable until the maim is repaired. |
Flexible Tentacle hand | 2 | Arm | Your hand is a flexible tentacle that acts as a natural weapon. You can use brawl with this weapon and otherwise use it normally. You can still be injured on the arm. Costume requirement: Some form of costuming on the arm and a natural weapons boffer not to exceed 28” striking surface. |
Malefic Arm | 1 | Arm | Prosthetic arm replacement for a missing arm. May not hold a weapon or more than five pounds but may now use arm to hold items. |
Bursting Muscles | 2 | Leg | Physrep exposed muscle tissue. Injured leg will function normally. |
Gill Respiration | 1 | Head | Physrep gills. May ignore one inhaled alchemical effect per day. Rest now takes twice as long. |
Unnatural Beauty | 2 | Head | Physrep with makeup. May refresh a Logos once per day. May not use effect while wearing a mask. |
Dermal Hardening | 1 | Torso | Physrep hardened skin plates of chitin. Gain one armor point to torso that refreshes once per significant rest (it repairs itself at the end of combat). It goes away once a person is Battered in the torso and won’t return until the Battered is resolved. Torso armor no longer fits. |
Ephemeral Glowing | 0 | Aesthetic | Physrep any glowing body part. Must glow at night. No mechanical effects. |
Lazarine Organ | 3 | Torso | Physrep glowing blue lines on chest, or glowing heart. May not wear torso armor. Once per event may rest during downed. After resting: get back up. |
Animal Feature | 0 | Aesthetic | Physrep any single animal feature. No mechanical effects. |
Oddity | 0 | Aesthetic | Physrep a physically odd feature. Freeform to get weird. No mechanical effects. |
Negative Mutations
Modification | Flaw Points | Slot | Mechanics |
---|---|---|---|
Serpent Eyes | 2 | Head | Physrep with darkened/sunken eyes or contacts. Eyes are sensitive to light, must use eye protection during the day, and very bright lights cause Stun Offense. |
Maims
Maim | Flaw Points | Slot | Mechanics |
---|---|---|---|
Mild Maim: Trick Knee | 2 | Leg | You have a damaged muscle that causes your knee to slip out of place at the worst moments. Any time a Strike hits your legs, you suffer a Trip effect, regardless if you negate the Strike with a Guard or Armor call. |
Mild Maim: Bad Knees | 2 | Leg | You can't trek around the wilderness like you used to be able. Moving off of the established roads involves much too many dips, hops and hurdles for you, and thus you cannot step off of ordinary paths at all without heavy assistance. You also may only travel half as far as other characters during Downtimes unless you have a horse or wagon. |
Mild Maim: Damaged Spine | 2 | Torso | Injury to your hips and lower back make it impossible for you to crawl on hands and knees through tight spaces, and make crouching and ducking very painful. You cannot enter Stealth and you cannot carry or drag an injured or Downed companion |
Mild Maim: Injured Liver | 2 | Torso | A fateful stab or chop has caused serious injury to your liver. All poisons or negative potion effects are treated as one level higher. |
Severe Maim: Cannot Run | 4 | Leg | Injuries to the muscles or joints are extensive and the character cannot keep his balance while running, and needs a cane or staff to walk uphill or downhill. Take a Trip effect if you ever move faster than a walk, and can never use Dodge. |
Severe Maim: Terrible Balance | 4 | Leg | Great difficulty coordinating your back and hips means you can’t generate the necessary foundation for combat. May not use melee combat skills. |
Crippling Maim: Amputated Limb/Cannot Walk | 6 | Leg | Physrep as black fabric over limb. Injuries to the hip, spine or nerves have left the legs useless, and the character can no longer walk at all, even with assistance. They must be moved manually, or rolled about in a cart. |
Mild Maim: Weak Grip | 2 | Arm | Wrist or muscle injuries cause a weak hold on gripped objects. Any strike with a Mighty attack or Large weapon against your weapon or arm causes it to be Disarmed automatically. |
Mild Maim: Torn Rotator | 2 | Arm | Due to a shoulder injury, you cannot lift your arm above your eye-line. You can never climb on anything, draw a bow, or lift a shield. At the end of every combat, an arm of your choice is Injured if you used a Medium or Heavy weapon. |
Severe Maim: Damaged Fingers | 4 | Arm | Important fingers like the thumb, forefinger or both are damaged on one hand, and it makes fine manipulation with that hand exceptionally clumsy. You must mark these two fingers in some way and they cannot be used to grip anything. Crafting or copying anything takes 10 more minutes, and you cannot fire a bow or pistol. Additionally, any strike to that arm or hand results in you being disarmed if you are holding a weapon in it. |
Crippling Maim: Missing Hand | 6 | Arm | Your hand has been removed totally at the wrist or lower, or the hand has otherwise been rendered totally useless by injury. Crafting times double, and no equipment such as weapons or shields may be used on the affected limb. |
Mild Maim: Headaches | 2 | Head | You are wracked by painful headaches that get worse as you strain yourself. Resting takes double the amount of breaths. This stacks with other multipliers in how long it takes to rest. |
Mild Maim: Vision Loss | 2 | Head | Your eyes are blurry, you have some double vision, or perhaps it just hurts to look at light, but tasks that require keen use of the eyes have become very difficult for you. Unable to fire ranged weapons at targets further than speaking distance. |
Severe Maim: Scarred | 4 | Head | Injuries to your face have ruined any hope of handsomeness or traditional beauty, and try as they might, it is difficult for people to see past your face. May not use Obey, Believe or Feel calls while the face is exposed. |
Severe Maim: Delerium | 4 | Head | All that pounding has broken something. You gain a permanent Severe Insanity. |
Severe Maim: Lost Eye | 4 | Head | One of your eyes has been completely ruined or lost and you no longer have any vision with it. You must wear an eye patch or other covering as part of your costume that must block the vision of that eye. |
Severe Maim: Migraines | 4 | Head | After exerting yourself you are wracked with blinding pain for a good while after. Your skills only refresh after sleeping or taking a nap for at least thirty minutes. |
Crippling Maim: Blinded | 6 | Head | You have completely lost your vision. You should wear a blindfold or other sight impairing device, but for safety reasons you may take it off to navigate difficult environments, and may use a material that can be partially seen through. You may not use bows or firearms. You are also functionally illiterate. Illiterate characters may never copy schematics and need someone to read them schematics, rituals, lores, spells, or any document with writing if they wish to interact with those documents. You also cannot read perception tags. |
Crippling Maim: Detachment | 6 | Head | Damage to the brain has caused you to become disconnected in a meaningful way from how others see the world. Gain a Crippling Insanity. |
Stitching
Characters with the Stitching ability are assumed to have access to all schematics listed below, although there may also be other schematics that they could encounter in the world. All Stitching abilities require a set of Medical Professional Tools to perform, and take at least a half an hour of time.
In addition to body modifications, Stitchers have the ability to craft Malefica Infusions, which last for a single game without preservation but can be preserved by any methods that preserve essences. Characters can only be under the effect of one Malefica Infusion at any one time. Like stitching modifications, these are crafted using the creation machine. While infusions use a body modification point they do not leave a maim when they expire.
When two different essences are listed in a Stitching schematic two essences are necessary for the schematic, one essence cannot fulfill both ingredients even if a single essence contains all of the necessary traits for the two essences.
Crafted Item | Modification Points | Slot | Quantity Made | Durability | Mechanics | Craft Requirements | Overall Materials | Approx. Salt Price |
Blackened Claws | 2 | Arm | 1 | 9 | Physrep inky-black fingers. Brawling attacks deliver Bleed. Cannot be disarmed. May not hold a shield. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Necrophage Essence 1 Melancholic Essence | 181 |
Arcane Eyes | 3 | Head | 1 | 9 | Magical items have an aura you can see. You may tell if an item is enchanted- it will be indicated as such on the tag. Costume requirement: bold contacts or very bold eye makeup | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Elementa Monster Part 1 Choleric Essence | 181 |
Death Sight | 3 | Head | 1 | 9 | Once per hour, upon entering a scene in which your character is in sudden danger from an undead creature, you may gain a free use of dodge or a power strike that they can use as a defense against the undead. You must wear bold contacts or very bold eye makeup | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Hemophage Monster Part 1 Choleric Essence | 181 |
Sense Miasma | 3 | Head | 1 | 9 | You have the ability to track undead creatures by their awful awful smell. You must costume this, and can call Undead Tracking- which is the same as the Tracking skill but only for undead. You must call Undead Tracking before clapping | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Necrophage Monster Part 1 Phlegmatic Essence | 181 |
Fearsome Maw | 2 | Head | 1 | 9 | The inner workings of your mouth are strange and the intimidation it instills is otherworldly. Refresh one ethos call per day. Costume requirement: strange teeth, strange bold face makeup around the mouth, or a particular voice alteration. Cannot use if you wear a mask. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Aberrant Essence 1 Melancholic Essence | 181 |
Phantom Limb | 6 | Head | 1 | 9 | Your arm is ephemeral and whatever weapon you hold in that hand takes on a glow, but it can interact with ghosts freely. Costume requirement: forearm must glow, and weapons in that hand should have an LED band around their hilt. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Necrophage Monster Part 1 Specter Essence | 181 |
Dense Tentacle hand | 1 | Arm | 1 | 9 | Your hand is a heavy tentacle that acts as a bludgeoning weapon of medium size. It cannot be disarmed, but it can be sundered. You can still be injured on the arm. You cannot craft with this modification. Costume requirement: some form of costuming to arm and a natural weapons boffer not to exceed 18” striking surface. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Aberrant Essence 1 Sanguine Essence | 181 |
Flexible Tentacle hand | 2 | Arm | 1 | 9 | Your hand is a flexible tentacle that acts as a natural weapon. You can use brawl with this weapon and otherwise use it normally. You can still be injured on the arm. Costume requirement: Some form of costuming on the arm and a natural weapons boffer not to exceed 28” striking surface. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Aberrant Essence 1 Sanguine Essence | 181 |
Replacement Eye | 1 | Head | 1 | 9 | Eye replacement for a missing eye or to fix blindness. You can’t read perception tags or use ranged weapons and are functionally illiterate, but you can see again. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 181 |
Malefic Arm | 1 | Arm | 1 | 9 | Prosthetic arm replacement for a missing arm. May not hold a weapon or more than five pounds but may now use arm to hold items. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Necrophage Essence 1 Sanguine Essence | 181 |
Bursting Muscles | 2 | Leg | 1 | 9 | Physrep exposed muscle tissue. Injured limbs will function normally. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Othyr Essence 1 Choleric Essence | 181 |
Replacement Leg | 1 | Leg | 1 | 9 | Prosthetic leg for a missing leg. May now walk, but cannot run. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Necrophage Essence 1 Melancholic Essence | 181 |
Gill Respiration | 1 | Head | 1 | 9 | Physrep gills. May ignore one inhaled alchemical effect per scene. Rest now takes twice as long. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Aberrant Essence 1 Phlegmatic Essence | 181 |
Unnatural Beauty | 2 | Head | 1 | 9 | Physrep with makeup. May refresh a Logos once per day. May not use effect while wearing a mask. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Cursed Essence 1 Choleric Essence | 181 |
Dermal Hardening | 1 | Torso | 1 | 9 | Physrep hardened skin plates of chitin. Gain one armor point to torso. Torso armor no longer fits. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Mythic Essence 1 Choleric Essence | 181 |
Ephemeral Glowing | 0 | Aesthetic | 1 | 9 | Physrep any glowing body part. Must glow at night. No mechanical effects. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Phlegmatic Essence | 91 |
Lazarine Organ | 3 | Torso | 1 | 9 | Physrep glowing blue lines on chest, or glowing heart. May not wear torso armor. Once per event may rest during downed. After resting: get back up. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Hemophage Monster Part 1 Phlegmatic Essence | 181 |
Animal Feature | 0 | Aesthetic | 1 | 9 | Physrep any single animal feature. No mechanical effects. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Mythic Essence | 91 |
Oddity | 0 | Aesthetic | 1 | 9 | Physrep a physically odd feature. Freeform to get weird. No mechanical effects. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Abberant Essencce | 91 |
False Hope | 1 | Any | 1 | 9 | The Stitcher uses the materials given to them to instead create an abomination, maiming their patient instead of helping them. They may choose one mild maim off of the body modification list- and the player must phys rep a monstrous version of that maim. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 2 | |
Arcane Gaze Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For an hour magical items have an aura you can see. You may tell if an item is enchanted- it will be indicated as such on the tag. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Choleric Essence, 1 Uncommon Herb | 91 |
Whiff of Death Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For an hour you have the ability to track undead creatures by their awful awful smell. You can call Undead Tracking- which is the same as the Tracking skill but only for undead. You must call Undead Tracking before clapping | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Phlegmatic Essence, 1 Uncommon Herb | 91 |
Thickened Fascia Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For a scene a single injured limb will function normally. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Aberrant Essence, 1 Uncommon Herb | 91 |
Spectral Grasp Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For an hour your arm is ephemeral and whatever weapon you hold in that hand takes on a glow, but it can interact with ghosts freely. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Spectral Essence, 1 Rare Herb | 91 |
Animal Conditioning Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For a scene physrep any single animal feature, no mechanical effects. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Melancholic Essence, 1 Uncommon Herb | 91 |
Odd Adjustments Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For a scene physrep a physically odd feature, no mechanical effects. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Sanguine Essence, 1 Uncommon Herb | 91 |
Touch of the Moon Infusion | 1 | Any | 1 | 1 | For a scene physrep a glowing body part, no mechanical effects. | Medical Professional Tools, Stitcher | 1 Phlegmatic Essence, 1 Uncommon Herb | 91 |