Allies
This Background has not been changed, except in that an ally can be almost any
kind of paranormal or mundane, either in the Moebius Circle or elsewhere. Ghost
Dance Allies will cause much comment if they are discovered.
Arcane
This Background has not been changed much, but it should be noted that Arcane
is not invisibility. The character may have gone to great effort to hide his
past and learn stealth, or he might have a strange talent for being overlooked,
but even an individual with Arcane 5 will be noticed if he walks right in front
of a guard or fires a gun in a crowded room.
Arcane applies in only way in a given situation. It can either provide extra
dice for a Stealth roll, or it can be used to remove dice from those seeking
to find the character. The player must choose how the Arcane will apply when
the situation occurs.
Avatar
This Background has not changed. Note that Avatars can grow and evolve over
time into either new forms or just become more powerful parts of a willworker’s
life. Every willworker has an Avatar, even if he does not have this background.
In the case of an Avatar 0 mage, he simply has a very weak connection to this
primal self.
* Backing
This Background reflects standing in an organization, be it the Moebius Circle,
the Ghost Dance, the US military, or anything else that applies. This is less
a measure of actual capability or acheivement than it is of perceived influence
or rank. This Background may be taken at different levels for different organizations.
With this rank comes responsibility; if your character has high Backing, he
is likely to be responsible for decisions involving great numbers of people
and resources.
Backing can be used to gain many kinds of benefits, from occasional access to
a quintessence source, money, equipment, allies, information or just a place
to sleep and eat. Once per every session, with the Storyteller’s approval,
Backing can be substituted for one other Background that the organization could
supply.
* Contacts
This Background is not in the standard book, but it should be. Contacts are
more casual than Allies. They are people who are willing to deal with the character
to exchange information or other favors. A Contact almost always charges for
his services, be it in money, favors, or more esoteric prices, but he will also
generally cut the character a break on what he charges. The main difference
between a Contact and an Ally is that a Contact will rarely risk his own hide
for the character, but may be willing to risk the hides of others.
Every dot of Contacts gives one major Contact whom you know well and can rely
on, and a small number of minor ones who are usually trustworthy.
Destiny
This Background has changed a little. In addition to being used to regain Willpower,
once per a story per dot in Destiny, with Storyteller approval, the character
may add his Destiny rating as dice to a single action. These Destiny dice will
apply to only one of a series of multiple actions, and may be substituted one
for one as additional soak.
Dream
This Background has not changed. Note that the process of accessing Dream information
does not necessarily have to be a full night’s sleep or meditation, but
always takes at least several minutes of relaxation and introversion.
* Familiar
Familiar only means a companion creature possessed of unusual abilities. There
are many different kinds of Familiars, all with their own unique qualities.
Familiars could be genetically-enhanced rabbits, manifested spirits, Bygones,
Bete-Kin animals, or even intelligent machines.
Each dot in Familiar can be spent by the character to purchase certain traits.
The Storyteller and logic are the final arbiters of where these points may be
spent; an intelligent owl can logically see invisible things, but a possessed
bobble-head doll should not be able to throw fireballs at will.
All Familiars can communicate with their masters in some way, from sign language
to a chittering "language" to binary code, but cannot speak with others
without a specific Trait. All familiars start with 1 dot in each Attribute, which can be increased with Traits. A familiar has as many health levels as its master
and figures its soak according to its Stamina rating. If a familiar dies, the
master will suffer greatly, possibly suffering a permanent wound, insanity,
or even death himself.
Each point in the Background allows the familiar to possess three Traits. Obviously,
this Background does not have a maximum rating. Traits that do not appear in
this list can be suggested, but must be approved by the ST.
Traits
• 5 Attribute points to be distributed as usual. On first purchase of
this Trait, these Attributes have a maximum rating of 3. On the second purchase,
the Attributes can have a maximum of 4. On the third purchase, they can have
a maximum of 5, and so on. No Familiar may ever have an Attribute above10.
• The familiar can communicate in human speech or writing with anyone
it chooses.
• The familiar can communicate telepathically at a range of 10 yards per
point spent in Familiar overall. Taken again, this range increases to 100 yards
per point. A third time increases the range to 1000 yards per point, which is
the maximum.
• The familiar can always find its master, although it may not be able
to travel to him. Purchased again, the familiar can always reach its master,
although this may take a long time. A third time means the familiar can always
be instantly at its master’s side, although this may not always be a good
idea.
• 15 Ability points to be distributed as usual. Familiars have a maximum
rating of 5 in all Abilities.
• The familiar possesses a Spirit Charm (see Werewolf or Mage for details).
• The familiar has a special attack, giving it a base +3 bashing or +2
lethal damage. Taken a second time, the attack either does more damage, or is
a special form such as silver, fire, or iron. Taken a third time, the familiar
may have more than one form of special attack. Taken a fourth time, the familiar
may cause one point of aggravated damage per success on an attack roll.
• The familiar may eat one point of Paradox every month. Taken again,
the familiar may eat one Dox in 2 weeks. A third time, the familiar may eat
one Dox in a week. A fourth time, the familiar may eat one Dox per three days.
For every point of Paradox a familiar eats, it must consume one Quintessence
as well. This Trait may only be taken four times.
• The familiar possesses a special ability, such as invisibility, flight,
teleportation, or the like. The Storyteller must approve any ability chosen,
and may require multiple Traits to be spent in purchasing it.
• The familiar possesses special defenses which give it +4 bashing and
+2 lethal soak. Taken a second time, the familiar gains the additional soak
and may apply half its soak rating to aggravated attacks. Taken a third time,
it gains the additional soak and it may swap its soak rating with its master’s;
this can only be used once per combat, and only when the familiar is in physical
contact with its master.
• The familiar is bonded with more than one master.
• The familiar has access to knowledge that it should not have. Once per
session, the player may ask it a question about anything and expect a truthful
(if cryptic) response which applies to the situation.
* Followers
The character has one or more than one assistants, steadfast companions, or
fans. These disciples are drawn to him for any number of reasons from money,
love, or sheer awe. Followers generally have at least one useful skill, but
are rarely the experts in their fields. They are loyal to a fault, sometimes
not letting the character do things for himself. However, poor treatment of
a Follower can turn him against a character, making for a dangerous enemy.
The Storyteller will create these Followers as needed. Each dot gives one Follower
who is as capable as the character, or a few Followers who are less capable.
Influence
This Background has not changed at all. It can be both a blessing and a curse.
Library
This Background has not changed very much. It can be difficult to transport
a Library from place to place. Every dot in Library reflects roughly twice as
much data as the one before. Libraries may apply to several Abilities, depending
on their nature.
Mentor
This Background has not changed very much. Mentors have their own lives, so
they are not more powerful NPCs "on call" for the characters, but
they can often provide more than just simple advice or training. Mentors can
teach several Abilities, depending on their own skills.
* Node
It has already been stated in the Metaphysics section that the primal flows
of Earth have been weakened after the Hammer War. Nodes are now valuable commodities,
and most places where the Moebius Circle can reach, the Nodes have already claimed.
No character may start with more than Node 2, this expresses the amount of access
to the Node that the character may have. Unclaimed Nodes can be discovered in
the course of play, and the level of access granted by the Circle may also increase.
* Past Life
Mages often have a strong connection to other lives touched by their Avatars.
With concentrated effort, they can call on these lives for knowledge or skills.
Past Life may be rolled, with a difficulty that may be changed depending on how likely it is the Past Life knew this information (usually diff 7). Each success gives one dot in an Ability.
The character cannot have more dots in an Ability than his Past Life rating.
Resources
This Background has not changed very much. When purchasing equipment, the character
subtracts its cost from his Resources rating for that month. If this puts him
below 0, then he’s going into debt or, possibly, simply may not buy the
equipment. It can be possible to simply render Resources down to money, but
there are several parts of the world where money no longer matters; whether
it’s a ruined city or a Fleet base, sometimes the economy is a simple barter
system.
* Sanctum
This Background is of limited usefulness. Moebius Circle agents are expected
to be on the go all the time, and it’s difficult to bring along an entire
lab or a Feng Shui-tuned dojo in that situation. Most players are encouraged
to take no more than 2 dots in Sanctum, as anything more than this reflects
something to large or intricate to make mobile, or to maintain.
* Wonder
This is the renamed Talisman Background, which may also be used to have a Fetish
or a piece of very interesting Hypertech. The Storyteller will have final arbitration
over what a Wonder is and does. The rule of thumb is that one dot in the Background
will provide something of limited power or usefulness, and that five dots means
the character is saddled with an object of legend which probably comes with
a dark fate and a lot of people who want it as well.