In response to my previous post (We’re All Individuals!), our group has decided to play members of the Bleeders street-gang.*
Vicious, violent and vengeful, the Bleeders keep control of their turf using a little-known variation on Psychic abilities: Blood Magic! By tasting a mere drop of a person’s blood, a Bleeder can gain insight into who that person is, gain some of their traits or skills, track them across the city, and even cause them physical pain!
The hierarchy of Bleeders is run by Masters, who keep samples of their students’ blood, to better keep control over them. In return, the Master teaches the secrets of Blood Magic, giving the students the power to defeat their enemies, and protect gang turf!
The way this is represented in the System is that the Bleeders’ mundane skills are averagely costed, with no particular specialisation (6-10 pts per level), but their Psychic skills are a lot cheaper than the usual extortionate prices (10 rather than 25 pts per level)! They also get access to Bleeder-specific Psychic powers at the same cost.
With no specialist areas, and their main Skills being slightly expensive (compared to mundane skills), we can expect low-level Bleeders to be a little lacking in breadth, having sent a lot of their time (XP!) on Psychic/Magic skills. Our group will be starting at Level One, and also have a skill-cap of 3 (out of 5) ranks in any skill, and only progress one rank per Level in each skill. While this may sound as though everyone becomes very broad, with over 150 skills available, and the ability to use Bonus Points to specialise in a Skill Category, the players should be able to come up with some diverse characters.
The players will all be under the control of one Master, and have created the following characters:
The Wizard: Focusing on Psychic/Blood Magic, he has Mediumship (to speak with ghosts), Clairvoyance, Psychic Invisibility, and many other Powers! Apart from learning how to defend them self, using a quarter staff), everything has been put towards learning the secrets of their Psychic Powers!
The Hacker: Shunning Psychic abilities (for the most part), computer skills are their forte. Covering the wide range of talents needed to successfully attack a target system has left little room for much else. Their Master demands that they learn a little of The Art, and they are a practised knife-fighter, but beyond that, another Specialist.
The Doctor: Corporate-trained, but left on the streets. (Not much detail yet)
The Vampire: Genuinely believes that they are a vampire. Psychosomatic revulsion to garlic and crosses. Dislikes entering Holy Ground. Eloquent and charming, they are the group’s diplomat/negotiator.
Wizard, Cleric, Thief/Tech, Bard(?). All with a secondary in Fighting (as would be expected for a Violent Street Gang), and at least a minor in Blood Magic (as demanded by their Master). They have a range of skills to bring, and hopefully will be up to the challenge of surviving the mean streets of Manhattan 2080!
*Fates Worse Than Death RPG is set on Manhattan Island in 2080. The streets are all run by Gangs, of many varieties. Some have access to Psychic Powers. Others, nano-technology. Some are rich. Some have to rely on their wits alone!