Post by AMANDA on Nov 6, 2011 15:52:50 GMT -5
NOT EVERYTHING IS CLEAR
SO GET OUT YOUR DICTIONARIES.
SO GET OUT YOUR DICTIONARIES.
since this is an original game (admittedly with influence from other fandoms!), we've got our own terms. and honestly there's nothing worse than books that just have a ton of custom vocabulary with very little context clues to help you out. ...other than a clockwork orange but that's neither here nor there! so even though i think the context clues should help out, i want to spell out exactly what i mean when i throw words and concepts at you!
SUPE
this just refers to any supernatural character; x-men has mutants, and we have supes. it's pronounced the same way as "soup," by the way! delicious.
CITIZEN
anyone living in the city who is not a supe is a citizen! the majority citizens would not refer to themselves as citizens, because they wouldn't know to make a distinction. supes and citizens who are aware of the existence of supes (the number will probably grow as the game progresses, but at the beginning, this should be fairly small!) are the people who will have any reason to use "supe" and "citizen" in this context.
THE SYSTEM
when supes and in-the-know citizens talk about the system in this context, you can almost hear the capital letters. The System. this is a long-standing set of rules and regulations that supes have set up for themselves but infiltrating government, manipulating, changing official records, and sometimes assassinating threats--all in the name of keeping themselves safe. not all supes know about it, either because they're too isolated, or they're new (but assume other cities have other systems in place, for all you transplant characters!), but they learn pretty quickly. the system was implemented to keep the small numbers of supes from getting into trouble with the superstitious religious groups primarily. with greater numbers of supes in the city, however, many supes think the system is unnecessary, and want to see it go away! or at least change, because it also sets up lofts for dragons (explained below), safe places for werewolves to transform on the full moon, and help for ghosts who wish to move on! so you see the dilemma here.
FOLLOWERS
supes who believe in the system and want to preserve it are "followers." they come in different shapes, in that they have varying degrees of what they deem acceptable. some think the whole thing is necessary, from hiding their existence from the world, to providing places for them to live in tightly regimented ways, some think there needs to be an even firmer system in place, and others like only providing weres and dragons with safe spaces, for instance.
RESISTORS
supes who are against the system, who want it taken down and their existence revealed to the world in a wide scale (starting, of course, with philadelphia!), are called resistors. they're on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to followers, obviously! like followers, however, there are varying degrees of how much of the system should be abolished; some think the system should just go away, and leave them to do things on their own, from finding safe places to managing their psychic powers without citizens knowing about their conditions, and others think the system should be violently taken down and their existence made known.
NEUTRALIZERS
mostly made up of citizens, but also some supes, neutralizers are a faction of people who know about the existence of supes, and want to just get rid of them. ship them out of the city, kill them, they don't care! it's unclear whether they want to ultimately let the public know that supes are real, or if they just want to quietly deal with the problem themselves. the outcome of the game will probably help decide this!
DRAGON LOFTS
dragon lofts are basically places for dragons to live out of their human forms--if they have them! abandoned buildings maintained by the system, parts of eastern state penitentiary, and places in fairmount park are most common locations for lofts. they're important for allowing dragons to gather in groups and enjoy the company of their own kind, to mate and lay their eggs, and to hunt and enjoy other dragony activities. single dragons have their own lofts, often fairly close to a nest (explained below) for the sake of protection if necessary.
A STORM/NEST OF DRAGONS
you can have either a storm of dragons, or a nest of them. a "storm" of dragons refers to just a bunch of dragons standing around or flying together. it's a generic collective noun. but a nest specifically refers to a group of dragons sharing a loft together! they form a familial brotherhood with each other, even if they might not be related at all. a nest has a very tight bond among all of its members; a challenge to one is a challenge to all. most nests don't generally get into fights with other nests, but it's not impossible for rivalries and feuds to occur. it's generally considered polite to refer to an unknown group of dragons as a storm--assuming they're a nest when they're not can be seen as rude or insulting! not that they don't like each other, those dragons, but a nest is a very special thing and they don't take it lightly.
DRAGON
oh, you know, those magical things with wings that breathe fire! for this, think draco of dragonheart for an idea of what intelligence level and sense of self-awareness dragons should have for this game. they should have a strong sense of personhood (dragonhood), and each will have their own personality. they can also come in all kinds of shapes, colors, and sizes! very small ones might not need the ability to shapeshift, but all medium and large dragons should have the ability to take on a human form, or they have to stay in their loft all day every day! and that would be boring.
WEREWOLF
werewolves are people who, once bitten or scratched by another werewolf, gain the ability to transform into a large, very angry and very aggressive wolf. "the ability" to transform isn't quite accurate--the necessity to transform is more like it. wolves will generally be able to switch between walking on all fours and only two legs, but they would be hunched and ungraceful on two legs. their front paws maintain some of the qualities of their human hands, in that they can grip things and can work simple tools, but they can't do anything delicate; holding large objects clumsily in their toes is about it. maybe working a doorhandle with some effort. but they're really nasty and vicious and want to just hunt and tear apart everything when they're transformed, hence eastern state acting as a safe place for weres to go to get locked up. weres cannot transform at will. their heightened senses cycle with the moon; the closer to the full moon, the more energy they have (a buildup to help with the transformation), and the better their eyesight, sense of smell, and hearing get. right after a full moon, energy levels drop off, and senses return to normal human levels; they build back up as the next full moon approaches. transforming, by the way, is super painful and really ugly! bones break, organs shift--it's nasty business.
GHOSTS
anyone whose spirit is left on the earth after death is a ghost! some are more willing to accept their death than others; some can be seen, others cannot. some can interact with the world, others cannot. none of them can eat or drink, but some can retain a little bit of their sense of touch, smell, and taste. some are classic ghosts in the sense that they have unfinished business, and "haunt" the places of their suffering or death, and evoke very strong emotion in those connected to them. others are just lost, or too afraid to move on, or even unaware that they're dead! they have emotions, but no biological needs, including things like lust or hunger. some like holding hands or kissing out of habit or for symbolic reasons, but sex with a ghost is out of the question.
KINETICS
kinetics are psychics with the ability to interact with the world with their will. for example, telekenetics, geokinetics, hydrokinetics, etc. kinetics with specific powers, such as controlling water or the earth, can have stronger powers than telekenetics, meaning they generally have better control and can affect greater amounts things with less strain. we're not making professor x or anything, though! kinetics will have to have powers they can hide from the public, even if they're resistors. kinetics are fairly rare, because of the nature of their powers.
SUPE
this just refers to any supernatural character; x-men has mutants, and we have supes. it's pronounced the same way as "soup," by the way! delicious.
CITIZEN
anyone living in the city who is not a supe is a citizen! the majority citizens would not refer to themselves as citizens, because they wouldn't know to make a distinction. supes and citizens who are aware of the existence of supes (the number will probably grow as the game progresses, but at the beginning, this should be fairly small!) are the people who will have any reason to use "supe" and "citizen" in this context.
THE SYSTEM
when supes and in-the-know citizens talk about the system in this context, you can almost hear the capital letters. The System. this is a long-standing set of rules and regulations that supes have set up for themselves but infiltrating government, manipulating, changing official records, and sometimes assassinating threats--all in the name of keeping themselves safe. not all supes know about it, either because they're too isolated, or they're new (but assume other cities have other systems in place, for all you transplant characters!), but they learn pretty quickly. the system was implemented to keep the small numbers of supes from getting into trouble with the superstitious religious groups primarily. with greater numbers of supes in the city, however, many supes think the system is unnecessary, and want to see it go away! or at least change, because it also sets up lofts for dragons (explained below), safe places for werewolves to transform on the full moon, and help for ghosts who wish to move on! so you see the dilemma here.
FOLLOWERS
supes who believe in the system and want to preserve it are "followers." they come in different shapes, in that they have varying degrees of what they deem acceptable. some think the whole thing is necessary, from hiding their existence from the world, to providing places for them to live in tightly regimented ways, some think there needs to be an even firmer system in place, and others like only providing weres and dragons with safe spaces, for instance.
RESISTORS
supes who are against the system, who want it taken down and their existence revealed to the world in a wide scale (starting, of course, with philadelphia!), are called resistors. they're on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to followers, obviously! like followers, however, there are varying degrees of how much of the system should be abolished; some think the system should just go away, and leave them to do things on their own, from finding safe places to managing their psychic powers without citizens knowing about their conditions, and others think the system should be violently taken down and their existence made known.
NEUTRALIZERS
mostly made up of citizens, but also some supes, neutralizers are a faction of people who know about the existence of supes, and want to just get rid of them. ship them out of the city, kill them, they don't care! it's unclear whether they want to ultimately let the public know that supes are real, or if they just want to quietly deal with the problem themselves. the outcome of the game will probably help decide this!
DRAGON LOFTS
dragon lofts are basically places for dragons to live out of their human forms--if they have them! abandoned buildings maintained by the system, parts of eastern state penitentiary, and places in fairmount park are most common locations for lofts. they're important for allowing dragons to gather in groups and enjoy the company of their own kind, to mate and lay their eggs, and to hunt and enjoy other dragony activities. single dragons have their own lofts, often fairly close to a nest (explained below) for the sake of protection if necessary.
A STORM/NEST OF DRAGONS
you can have either a storm of dragons, or a nest of them. a "storm" of dragons refers to just a bunch of dragons standing around or flying together. it's a generic collective noun. but a nest specifically refers to a group of dragons sharing a loft together! they form a familial brotherhood with each other, even if they might not be related at all. a nest has a very tight bond among all of its members; a challenge to one is a challenge to all. most nests don't generally get into fights with other nests, but it's not impossible for rivalries and feuds to occur. it's generally considered polite to refer to an unknown group of dragons as a storm--assuming they're a nest when they're not can be seen as rude or insulting! not that they don't like each other, those dragons, but a nest is a very special thing and they don't take it lightly.
DRAGON
oh, you know, those magical things with wings that breathe fire! for this, think draco of dragonheart for an idea of what intelligence level and sense of self-awareness dragons should have for this game. they should have a strong sense of personhood (dragonhood), and each will have their own personality. they can also come in all kinds of shapes, colors, and sizes! very small ones might not need the ability to shapeshift, but all medium and large dragons should have the ability to take on a human form, or they have to stay in their loft all day every day! and that would be boring.
WEREWOLF
werewolves are people who, once bitten or scratched by another werewolf, gain the ability to transform into a large, very angry and very aggressive wolf. "the ability" to transform isn't quite accurate--the necessity to transform is more like it. wolves will generally be able to switch between walking on all fours and only two legs, but they would be hunched and ungraceful on two legs. their front paws maintain some of the qualities of their human hands, in that they can grip things and can work simple tools, but they can't do anything delicate; holding large objects clumsily in their toes is about it. maybe working a doorhandle with some effort. but they're really nasty and vicious and want to just hunt and tear apart everything when they're transformed, hence eastern state acting as a safe place for weres to go to get locked up. weres cannot transform at will. their heightened senses cycle with the moon; the closer to the full moon, the more energy they have (a buildup to help with the transformation), and the better their eyesight, sense of smell, and hearing get. right after a full moon, energy levels drop off, and senses return to normal human levels; they build back up as the next full moon approaches. transforming, by the way, is super painful and really ugly! bones break, organs shift--it's nasty business.
GHOSTS
anyone whose spirit is left on the earth after death is a ghost! some are more willing to accept their death than others; some can be seen, others cannot. some can interact with the world, others cannot. none of them can eat or drink, but some can retain a little bit of their sense of touch, smell, and taste. some are classic ghosts in the sense that they have unfinished business, and "haunt" the places of their suffering or death, and evoke very strong emotion in those connected to them. others are just lost, or too afraid to move on, or even unaware that they're dead! they have emotions, but no biological needs, including things like lust or hunger. some like holding hands or kissing out of habit or for symbolic reasons, but sex with a ghost is out of the question.
KINETICS
kinetics are psychics with the ability to interact with the world with their will. for example, telekenetics, geokinetics, hydrokinetics, etc. kinetics with specific powers, such as controlling water or the earth, can have stronger powers than telekenetics, meaning they generally have better control and can affect greater amounts things with less strain. we're not making professor x or anything, though! kinetics will have to have powers they can hide from the public, even if they're resistors. kinetics are fairly rare, because of the nature of their powers.