+------------------------------------------+ T E R R I B L Y B E A U T I F U L +------------------------------------------+ [picture # 1 from George Cotronis on the cover] Game design by Graham MacLean (madunkieg) copyright Graham MacLean, 2008, This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit [insert url]; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Thanks go to the playtesters: C. Lawrence, S. Lawrence and J. Timbrell Inspired by the art of George Cotronis (norther) C O N T E N T S --------------------- 1. Introduction 2. The Pale 3. Being Terribly Beautiful 4. Creating a Character 5. How to Play 6. Being A Gamemaster 7. Demons and Angels 8. The Kaz 9. Conclusion INTRODUCTION ----------------------- TO TOUCH IMMORTALITY It is the dream of humanity to escape death. No one lives forever, but we hope that our lives mattered, that we will be remembered by the next generation. We have a lifetime to create that legacy. All too often most of that lifetime gets squandered. We come to realize the importance of our legacy only when it is almost too late. Seduction They are the most desirable and seductive women in the city, the women of the night. Men are willing to travel into the most disreputable of neighbourhoods to meet them, offer money and gifts for but a few hours of their time or even less. They ply the oldest profession, selling their bodies into others’ fantasies. Death For the streetwalkers of the red-light district known as the Kaz, death takes its time. The disease known as the Pale stakes its claim by transforming its victims into visions of beauty, alabaster skin and elegantly thin. But beware, for death is a jealous lover. Anyone who dares to touch the infected streetwalkers of the Kaz risks being claimed by the Pale. For this reason they call themselves the Terribly Beautiful. Dying Together Society fears what may bring death, and so it fears the Pale. Society hates those upon whom it can heap the blame for its fears, and so it hates the women of the night who might spread the disease. Society seeks to separate those it hates from itself, and so those who are pushed away find one another. For those reasons the Terribly Beautiful protect one another through a bond of mutual secrecy. Secrets are their stock and trade, some gained through their former profession, some through gossip, and others from beings beyond life and death. Whispers The Terribly Beautiful have learned another secret, that not all the voices in your head are your own thoughts. There are both demons and angels in this world, and they use their hosts towards their own ends. Once revealed, they can be bargained with or fought, and even be made to give up secrets. And So it Begins to End This is the last chance for the Terribly Beautiful to touch immortality, to build their legacies in defiance of death. The World It is a world not unlike that which we live in today, with countries that war and trade. It is a city not unlike those found in many parts of the world today, with cultures that clash and blend. They are streets not unlike those that we walk in our cities every day, filled with people who have dreams both pursued and dashed. The Kaz “Ruined buildings, ruined lives...” The Kaz was once the most beautiful part of the city, but that beauty is has now gone to ruin. It’s old buildings and its walls are crumbling, and its new buildings hold the infrastructure of despair, cheap apartments, clinics and businesses that fail one after another to leave empty storefronts. The people of the Kaz knows the city wants nothing more than to forget them, and it breeds both resentment and community in equal measure. This is their neighbourhood, good or bad, and in it they shall pursue their dreams as best they can, take pride in their achievements and share sorrows in their losses. The Kaz is separated from the city on all sides by its walls. Even the old docks to the south, as narrow an area as they may be, have a wall between them and the Kaz. Gates, mostly fallen and cleared, once sat astride the major streets as they left the area. Those streets, which run straight and true beyond the walls, weave to and fro, seemingly without reason, once inside the Kaz. To the north are the skyscrapers. To the east are the new docks with their warehouses and loading machinery. To the west are the luxury waterfront condominium towers. Beyond all of them are the city suburbs. WHAT IS A ROLEPLAYING GAME? A roleplaying game is a way for people to tell a story together. In Terribly Beautiful, this is done by having one person take control of the world and most of the people in it, and by everyone else having control of one character each. The story is communicated by simply telling the story, relating it by voice. It does not require any acting or costumes. There is more than just telling a story to roleplaying games, though. Sometimes there will come points in the story where people want it to go different directions. Sometimes there will be times when the story needs some tension. Sometimes people just need a little help shaping the story and keeping that shape consistent. It is at these times that the game part of the roleplaying game come into use. WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO PLAY Two to six friends, including yourself, a deck of tarot cards (or playing cards, see the optional rules with the Instructions for Play), a character made for each person but one (the players), some story ideas for the remaining person (the gamemaster) to use. Separate the major arcana from the minor arcana and shuffle both piles separately. Deal each person seven cards from the minor arcana pile. Seven more cards are drawn and kept to the side for the devil’s hand, which the gamemaster may use. Each person may look at his or her hand. The two piles of cards are kept within reach of everyone. To ease language usage in the rules, players are referred to by the female pronoun and the gamemaster by the male. Men or women should not feel restricted to either part in playing the game. GLOSSARY Host: someone who is possessed by a demon or angel John: someone who hires prostitutes (the) Kaz: the neighbourhood in which the game takes place, a red-light district(the) Pale: a sexually transmitted disease that turns its victims into the epitome of beauty before killing them Lady-of-the-Night: a female prostitute Red-light District: a neighbourhood in which open prostitution is either legal or tolerated Simply Beautiful: a term of affection for prostitutes who are not infected Streetname: a nickname Streetwalker: a prostitute Terribly Beautiful: a prostitute who has been infected with the Pale (the) Trade: those involved in prostitution or its promotion B E I N G T E R R I B L Y B E A U T I F U L ------------------------------------------------------------ Being one of the Terribly Beautiful is more than just a label or a disease, it is being part of a group that hides and protects its own, that accepts and celebrates its separation from society. They have their own ways, born of necessity. TRADITIONS Like all subcultures, the Terribly Beautiful have their rules, their taboos, and consequences for violation of those taboos. The Traditions of the Terribly Beautiful 1. No sex. 2. Protect your own kind. 3. Trade knowledge in good faith. 4. Do not acknowledge violators. 1. No Sex Sex is the destroyer. It is the act that took away the profession and the life of the Terribly Beautiful. Society fears the Terribly Beautiful because of the death that sex with them could bring. For these reasons, most Terribly Beautiful can no longer stomach the idea of sex. It has become taboo. The grey area is the question of whether or not it is okay for the Terribly Beautiful to sleep with each other. What is the threat of death to someone who is already dying? 2. Protect Your Own Kind Anyone revealed to society as being Terribly Beautiful is open to oppression and abuse by society. As such, no Terribly Beautiful should ever “out” another. This raises, though, whether the society of the Terribly Beautiful should be revealed. Some see no harm in it, but others believe it, its structure and traditions should be kept secret as well. Streetnames are another part of this tradition. Everyone chooses or is given a streetname when they become part of the Terribly Beautiful, so that others may refer to them without giving away identities. A few of the Terribly Beautiful, like Baba Yaga and Medusa have chosen to break this anonymity for themselves, allowing their streetnames to be publicly known, then living by those names. 3. Trade Knowledge in Good Faith Knowledge, be it secrets, rumours or even lies, is the greatest possession of value amongst the Terribly Beautiful. It is traded like currency, knowledge for knowledge, or even bartered for other things. Do not expect it for free, and trade fairly. There is some disagreement over whether this applies to trades with those who are not Terribly Beautiful. 4. Do Not Acknowledge Violators Those who are found to be in violation of the traditions are excommunicated. No one may speak with them, or even acknowledge their existence. This is a horrible thing for a Terribly Beautiful, for it is communication which gives them the necessary secrets and rumours that allow legacies to be built. The Excommunicated There are those who ignore the taboo on sex, who still carry on their work as prostitutes despite knowing that of their illness. They embrace the image of monstrosity that society places upon them. As a result, they are excommunicated from the rest of the Terribly Beautiful. Medusa is one such individual. The Simply Beautiful Prostitution, including both pimps and the prostitutes, are collectively referred to as the trade. Sometimes the phrase, “simply beautiful,” is affectionately used to refer to prostitutes who aren’t infected with the Pale. While the Terribly Beautiful are the lowest of humanity as far as the rest of society may see, other prostitutes sometimes develop a reverence, much like martyr worship, for the Terribly Beautiful. Many of the Terribly Beautiful are not above taking advantage of this to glean information, for a prostitute not yet pushed to desperation sees less value in idle gossip. T H E P A L E ------------------- “Everyone dies, but that doesn’t make death the great equalizer. Sometimes you can buy yourself a stay of execution, but not everyone can afford the price.” The Pale is the common name for a sexually-transmitted viral disease that has been slowly eating its way through the populace. While science searches for treatments and cures, superstition surrounds the disease just as hatred becomes a jail for those suspected of carrying it. Transmission The Pale is fairly difficult to transmit from person to person. Only sexual contact or blood mixing will do it. As a result, both prostitutes and intravenous drug users are most at risk. Symptoms There is a period of incubation, where the symptoms of the Pale don’t exhibit themselves. It varies greatly from person to person, but generally lasts a few months. This is why the Pale has spread so far, the infected don’t realize that they’re carrying the disease, and pass it onto others in the meantime. There are tests to detect the Pale, even in its early stages. The first symptoms to show is a suppression of appetite. Following that are bouts of exhaustion. The person seems fine for a while, and then just collapses. This is followed by the pale skin and increasing thinness as the body and the disease eats first fat then muscle until little more than skin and bones are left. It takes months for the Pale to run its course once the symptoms appear. In its final stage the disease transforms, turns necrotic, producing black spots that spread across the skin as it eats all flesh. Madness results as the brain decays. It only takes a few hours to a couple of days the disease does enough damage to kill what’s left of its host, and it doesn’t stop even there, continuing to eat until the flesh is dust over bones. It is a truly horrifying thing to watch, and if another person’s open wounds contact a infected skin in this stage, the disease may transfer. The new host immediately begins this stage. Treatment There is no cure for the Pale, but there is treatment. A cocktail of drugs can alleviate some of the symptoms of the Pale and grant a longer life. The drugs also protect unborn children from contracting the Pale if drugs are taken over the entire pregnancy. Little can be done for those in the final stage of the disease, save whatever is possible to limit their pain. Legally, treatment for the Pale must be administered within a hospital. Patients are not allowed to inject themselves. It can cost hundreds of dollars a day, only a fraction of which actually pays for the drugs. Nonetheless, the drugs are expensive. On the black market they range from ten to forty dollars per dose, depending on how much they have been cut with other substances or if some of the medications are missing from the cocktail. There are rumours that there is a deliberate avoidance of research that might lead to a cure, that the treatment makes too much money to be worth finding one. Unfortunately, the drugs are very expensive, beyond the means of many who need them, particularly those who are most likely to spread the disease. False Hopes Where science does not provide, the market will. The Pale creates desperation, and desperation is just another word for opportunity to some. Many street drugs alleviate the draining affects of the Pale to some degree, but there is often a cost and a risk. Proper medications are sometimes available in part, having lesser effect than the full cocktail, and sometimes cut with other, more dangerous substances. There are also those who turn to spirituality or faith to seek a cure. They seem to find some small solace in it, something that seems to be genuinely beneficial, but it is all too often oversold as a cure. UPTOWN SOCIETY Because prostitutes and intravenous drug users are most vulnerable, the Pale is considered to be a “dirty” disease, a curse afflicting mostly those who are engaged in undesirable activities. No matter what the real reason for infection, being infected is enough to result in ostracization from proper society. Those known to be infected have, on occasion, been turned away from some hospitals and private clinics. Faux-Terrible Meanwhile, society is engaged in a grand hypocrisy. More and more actors and fashion models of both genders are sporting the thin, gaunt, pale look. They are the faux-terrible, with a penchant for opulent, gothic fashion. If starving themselves and makeup isn’t enough to achieve the look, then arsenic wafers are taken, a little bit of poison creating much the same effect. C R E A T I N G A C H A R A C T E R --------------------------------------------------- Making a character is like building a mask for the mind to wear. It is the creation of a fictional personality to assume within the fictional world created by the story. The characters are women of the Terribly Beautiful, former prostitutes now dying from the disease known as the Pale. Before they die, they hope to build a legacy, something to leave behind in the world. Character creation has several steps, and they are presented here in an order that seems most useful, but they may be done in any order. The character should be written out on the bottom half of a piece of paper folded top-to-bottom. This way, the top of the paper can conceal what is written on the sheet. The character name, streetname and player name should be written on the back of the top half of the sheet so it is obvious whose sheet it is, even when folded. A LEGACY TO LEAVE “We can cheat death, if only a little.” Choose what sort of legacy the character is trying to achieve before she dies. 1. Fame: She wants the whole world to remember her fondly, to be a star that shines even beyond death. 2. Infamy: She wants the whole world to remember her, but let suffer for what they put her through. 3. Mother: She wants to pass on all her dreams and her wisdom to one other, in the hopes that that person need not live the same life. 4. Reputation: She wants to be treasured by those few that matter most to her, those who live around her, be they the people of the Kaz or just the Terribly Beautiful. 5. Monument: She wants to make a physical object that will last long after she is gone. Whatever it is, it’s hard to make, involving many steps to create or hard to obtain materials. 6. Other: She has something else in mind, a legacy that is all her own. YOUR SECRET, RUMOUR & LIE Each player draws five cards from the major arcana deck then look up their meanings on the following table. Three of the cards are used to inspire a secret, a rumour and a lie about the character. Either interpretation can be chosen, but only three cards are used. The other two cards are discarded. 0/0 (Fool) opportunism / risk without forethought 1 / I (Magician) power over self / power over others 2 / II (High Priestess) bringing opposites together / reason over the heart 3 / III (Empress) nurturing and protective / over-protective 4 / IV (Emperor) righteousness / ambition 5 / V (Hierophant) reputation / conformity 6 / VI (Lovers) relationships / mistrust 7 / VII (Chariot) persistence / wandering attention 8 / VIII (Strength) tenaciousness / stubbornness 9 / IX (Hermit) wisdom / isolation 10 / X (Wheel of Fortune) good fortune / misfortune 11 / XI (Justice) fair judgement / corrupt authority 12 / XII (Hanged Man) sacrifice / self-seeking 13 / XIII (Death) hope for change / pain 14 / XIV (Temperance) moderation / being timid 15 / XV (Devil) servitude / self-loathing 16 / XVI (Tower) rebuilding / destruction 17 / XVII (Star) hope / overlooked opportunity 18 / XVIII (Moon) illusion / madness 19 / XIX (Sun) happiness / over-indulgence 20 / XX (Judgement) self-reflection / self-deceit 21 / XXI (World) discovery / pride Of course, if the player already has something in mind, and the gamemaster thinks it’s okay, then that should be used instead of relying on the cards. A MORE PERSONAL TRADITION Pick one of the Terribly Beautiful’s traditions to somehow be important to the character. Does she agree or disagree with it? Does she have an unusual take on it? WHAT YOU KNOW Deal the player a hand of seven cards to represent the knowledge the character gained before she became one of the Terribly Beautiful. For each numbered card the character gains a rumour and a secret is gained for each face card. If it helps, the suits of the minor arcana may be used to inspire ideas, but they don’t have to be followed if other ideas arise. 1. Cups: emotions 2. Pentacles:materialism 3. Swords: forcefulness 4. Wands: spirituality Secrets Players may design their own secrets, or they can get the gamemaster to help design them. - someone’s embarrassing/criminal secret - a hidden past - where to find something special (e.g. medication, uncut drugs) - the location of someplace safe or otherwise special - a rare bit of history - something else (run it by the gamemaster) Rumours Rumours are not decided at character creation, but their number is recorded. During play, when the character encounters something that the player wishes a bit more information on than the gamemaster might have, a rumour may be spent to gain that information, representing what the character has heard through gossip. A Lie The character knows one additional bit of information about someone, but knows it to be untrue. NAMES & STREETNAMES It is normal for those in the trade to have a streetname, something they tell their johns. Part of becoming one of the Terribly Beautiful is getting a new streetname to use when speaking with others of the Terribly Beautiful. It is part of the traditions, a way to talk about fellow Terribly Beautiful in public without giving away their identity. Of course, these names aren’t generally used to speak directly to someone unless it is in private, so that no one else can make the connection. EXHAUSTION The character begins with a maximum exhaustion of 9 points. INTRODUCTIONS AND EXTRAS Once all the characters have been made, it is time to turn to the other players and introduce them to one another. They are roommates, people who share an apartment, paid for out of the pittance provided by social assistance, lowly jobs or minor criminal opportunities. Because many tarot decks are done up with roman numerals, it can be handy to record on the character sheet what the numbers from 1 to 10 look like in the roman system. Use the chart for the major arcana above for reference if you don’t know them by heart. Example: Leslie is making her character in preparation for the game. She looks over the legacies and decides that she would like to be famous, known by everyone, even beyond the Kaz. Perhaps her character could be a great singer, a voice to be recorded and remembered by future generations. With that legacy in mind, Leslie pulls five random major arcana. They are: Wheel of Fortune, World, Hierophant, Star, and High Priestess. Looking over their possible interpretations, she decides that the Star could represent the rumour that her singing is good enough to be a professional. The World could represent her lie, that she’s too proud to take advice on her singing skills. Her secret is a little harder to figure out, but Leslie decides that she’ll use the Hierophant, hiding that she is one of the Terribly Beautiful, only presenting her voice and avoiding public exposure. Next up is tradition. Leslie thinks that the second tradition, never revealing the identities of the Terribly Beautiful, is pretty central to her character. Perhaps her character could take it even further, never revealing the identities, even to other Terribly Beautiful, leaving people to introduce themselves. Leslie then draws seven random minor arcana, getting five rumours and two secrets. She jots down the number 5 for rumours and then starts thinking about secrets. For the first one she decides that she knows a celebrity that tries to hide his identity when he comes to the Kaz. Her second secret is a place from which her voice can echo beautifully over the Kaz, but where she is hard to find. As for a lie, her character knows of a local gang member who has people convinced that he’s a psycho, but who is really just acting. She shows these to the gamemaster, who notes them so he can make up supporting characters to go with them. All characters start with a maximum exhaustion of 9, so that gets recorded and Leslie starts thinking about names. Petra is a pretty name, so she takes that, and decides to take a Turkish surname to go with it. Most of them are quite the mouthful, so she settles on Saban, becoming Petra Saban, which is written on the top of the back of the character sheet. As for a street name, the sirens from the Greek myth seem to fit her, and so she chooses one of their names, Peisinoe and also notes it on the back of the character sheet. Finally, Leslie introduces her character to the rest of the players. H O W T O P L A Y ---------------------------- Taking Turns The process of taking turns is often referred to in the rules. Taking turns can start with anyone and go in any order, but everyone involved should get a chance to take their turn before anyone gets their next turn. If this gets too complex, then just go clockwise from person to person. Challenges are the exception to this, for outcome has a turn order determined by the cards. Once everyone has had a chance at a turn, that is called a round. Telling the Story Each player is generally responsible for his or her character, and the gamemaster is responsible for the rest of the fictional world in which the characters exist. Normally the gamemaster and players can all just take turns describing what happens in the story, and as long as the story seems reasonable to everyone, then it’s okay. There are, however, some situations where the story may call for greater tension to be introduced. That’s when challenges are used. Challenges Challenges are resolved through a little card game. It starts by everyone involved taking turns to either bid or call. A bid means the person describes his or her character’s action and also chooses a card to put face down into his or her bid pile. Calling can only be done by someone with at least one card in his or her bid pile. The person calling does not play a card, but all people flip their bid cards face up. Each person adds up his or her numbered cards (aces to 10/X) and calls out the total. If two or more people tie, they should each draw a major arcana card to break the tie. The person who had the highest total wins. He or she begins by describing the character’s action and one detail about the outcome. After that, the turns go in descending order. Each player may, on his or her turn, play a bid face card (page, knight, queen or king) to add a detail to the outcome. These details may affect any other character, even those handled by the gamemaster, but cannot control them. Once everyone has had a chance at a turn, the winner may choose to extend it another round by playing a face card and adding a detail just as everyone else has with their face cards. It may go as many rounds as the winner has face cards to extend it. Once the winner does not or cannot extend it another round, all cards that were bid are shuffled together into a collective pile along with any undealt cards (including used ones). Each player then gets dealt back up to their hand of seven cards. The major arcana need only be reshuffled if they’re getting down to the last few cards. Example of Play: Player 1 is controlling Sarah, Player 2 is controlling Julie, and their characters are currently facing a drunken john that just won’t take no for an answer, controlled by the gamemaster (GM). They begin a challenge to resolve the situation. GM: He grabs Sarah’s arm, a bit of drool hanging from his lips, saying, “Come on baby, just a quick one, over here in the alley.” (bids a 3) Player 1: Sarah rips her arm free and pushes him away (bids a 7) Player 2: Julie starts screaming at him to go find some magazine to wank over. (bids a face) GM: He gets really angry, yelling, “How about I wank over you then, bitch!” and grabs Julie, yanking her off her feet as he steps towards the alley. (bids an 8) Player 2: Julie struggles until she can sink her teeth into his arm (bids another face) Player 1: Sarah has had enough. She steps in behind him and slams her foot down on the back of his knee. (bids a 9) GM: Oh, he’s berserk now, he balls up his fists and with a roar rises up from one knee and tries to smash Julie’s pretty face in (bids a face) Player 1: Sarah decides to follow up with a solid elbow to the back of the neck (bids a face) Player 2: Julie take it out of him, kicking him in the balls before he regains his senses. I call. All players reveal their bids. The GM has bid 11 plus a face card. Player 1 has 15 plus a face card, and Player 2 bid only two face cards. Because she has the highest, Player 1 goes first, the GM goes second, and Player 2 goes last. Player 1: The john crumples up on the ground from that last kick. (GM records 1 exhaustion point) GM (plays her face card): Julie starts tasting blood as it drips from her nose from that last shot. (Player 2 records a point) Player 2 (plays a face card): Julie spits, then takes another kick at the john. (GM records another point) Player 1 (plays her face card to continue another round): Sarah figures the kick looked fun and lays in one of her own (GM records another point) GM (is out of face cards): pass Player 2: (plays her second face card): Julie has a wicked idea, gets out her lipstick, grabs his head and writes LOSER on his forehead before leaving him there on the pavement. (GM records a fourth and exhaustion point taken by the john). Player 1: I’m out of face cards, so that’s it. Shuffle and deal us back up to seven. Insight Sometimes knowing a secret or lie can provide some insight. If a secret or lie relates to something in the story, the player may pick a card from her hand and exchanges it for a random card from the hand of the other person. The other person must either be controlling the character the secret or lie is about, or somehow referring to the secret or lie in the context of the story. If done during a challenge, both must have unbid cards and only unbid cards may be chosen. Example: Finch is a street thug that loves to brag. Right now he’s bragging about some guy he supposedly killed last week, but Sarah knows that it didn’t happen. She saw Finch’s victim just yesterday, badly beaten but very much alive, and leaving from the Kaz. She doesn’t call Finch on it, but she knows the game he’s running, and so she gives the gamemaster (who is controlling Finch) her 2, and randomly draws a face card from the gamemaster’s hand. Exhaustion Every character begins with 9 exhaustion points (healthy people have 10). Challenges can drain a character. Each outcome detail that affects a character detrimentally, even emotionally so, costs one exhaustion point. Any time a character runs out of those points, she collapses from exhaustion as the Pale leaves her drained. The character is then effectively out of it, unable to engage in challenges for a number of scenes equal to 10 minus the character’s current maximum exhaustion points. DRUGS AND MEDICATIONS Drugs and medications can hurt or help, and they often do both. All drugs have a strength, from mild (marijuana, strength 1) to strong (ice, strength 5), and that strength can vary a bit depending on whether or not the drugs are cut. Stimulants The character regains as many exhaustion points as the strength of the drug (even beyond the maximum), but loses one point less than twice the drug’s strength once it wears off. Depressants Puts the character out of action for a number of scenes equal to the drug’s strength, regaining that many exhaustion point, but doesn’t risk failing health. This can only take the character to her maximum exhaustion points minus one. If nothing important is happening, then the story may just skip over the intervening scenes. Hallucinogens Instead of choosing which card to bid during a challenge, select one randomly. It is still put into the pile face down, and the person whose hand it is from may look at it. How many times this may happen during a challenge depends on how powerful the drugs are. Medication Medication for the Pale is supposed to be taken daily via injection. It is actually a cocktail of drugs which combine to fight off the symptoms of the disease. It creates the effects of a strength 1 version all of the above types of drugs. Street versions of the medication may only have some of the drugs, and so only create one or two of the effects, but they won’t hold the Pale at bay as easily. For every side effect of the medication, the chance of failing health is reduced by one card. The first gets rid of page, the second knight and the third queen. The other advantage of medication is that the character can’t overdose, provided only one dose is taken per day. The Price of Addiction Eventually, if a character continues to take drugs, they will take their toll on the character’s health. Every time the character does drugs greater than strength 1, draw an undealt card. If the card is an ace, the character overdoses. An overdose knocks the character out for a number of scenes like a depressant, but doesn’t recover exhaustion points. It then acts like a hallucinogen for the same duration. The character also fails health automatically. THE PALE A Good Night’s Rest A good sleep will bring a character back up to full exhaustion points, but sleep plagued by nightmares, interrupted, or just a short nap will recover only two points. Failing Health When a character collapses from exhaustion, a card is drawn from the player’s hand. If it is a face card, lower the character’s maximum exhaustion points by 1. This may happen only once per session for each character. The Final Stage The final stage of the Pale is marked by hallucinations, madness and severe will allow one more challenge before the character collapses and truly begins to die. If no challenges are done, then the character will still die after a day or so, but it will be narrated out between player and gamemaster. DEMONS & ANGELS Thinking Aloud A player may hold up her hand, palm outward, to indicate that she is thinking aloud, and the gamemaster does the same to speak back. These thoughts may be heard by demons and angels (run by the gamemaster), but should be ignored by other players. Optionally, notes could be passed or the player could pull the gamemaster aside. Resisting the Voices If a character does not take the actions suggested, be they angelic or demonic in source, it costs 1 exhaustion point at the end of the scene. OPTIONAL: PLAYING CARDS If no one has a deck of tarot cards, it is possible to play Terribly Beautiful with regular playing cards. Set aside any jokers that may be in the deck before play. Any use of major arcana for creating characters will have to be done through choice instead. As for breaking ties in challenges, just go clockwise around, starting from with the gamemaster. If you are a player of Terribly Beautiful, please read no further. The rest of the book is for the gamemaster to use and for you to discover through the story. All will be revealed in time. B E I N G T H E G A M E M A S T E R ---------------------------------------------------- Terribly Beautiful is like a danse macabre with its sensibilities turned on its head, where death may be bribed to hold off for just a little longer. The game explores many unpleasant things, but running it should not be unpleasant for the gamemaster. Being the gamemaster in Terribly Beautiful is not completely different from being a player. Certainly, the gamemaster’s responsibilities are different. He must describe the world and control of all the people in it. Still it is a game for the gamemaster as much as it is for the players. It might be easiest to think of the world as the gamemaster’s character. PAINFUL LESSONS The goal of the gamemaster is to bring out the lessons of humanity. Where the player characters have legacies, the gamemaster has lessons. 1. The Choice: humanity is not something that can be taken, but something that can only be given up 2. One Thing Left: when it seems there is nothing left to lose, humanity is the one thing that remains 3. Mortality: what are legacies but the final denial and fear of the inevitability of death? learn to reject them and find peace 4. Community is What We Make It: being apart from society can mean being a part of something else, but what that something is, can only be what you make of it Teaching With Pain These are painful lessons to learn. Their importance is reinforced through obstacles and opponents to be overcome, and also through loss and suffering. Players will find their characters going on a downwards spiral towards nothingness. They will have to learn not to despair, to find hope where they can. Without challenge it has no value. Terribly Beautiful is not a pleasant story, it is horrific and terrifying. It is about people dying in degrees, both physically and spiritually. Learn to play this, to emphasize it in the description used in telling the story. Creating Fear Terror is the fear that something bad will happen and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Horror is the visceral reaction people have to the violation of the body, be it their own or merely witnessed. Horror can be that thing that terror threatens. Terror can be the fear that something horrific may happen again. In that way, terror and horror feed into one another. Set the mood, focus on the details, the ambiance and the pacing, rather than on the action. It is through these things that fear is created. It is through fear that characters may be guided towards a different path. Injury and Death Fights aren’t usually about killing people, they’re about declaring dominance and maintaining ego. Someone who collapses from a fight (loses all their exhaustion points) will face a failing health check, even they are not sick with the pale, representing the possibility for permanent injury. For death to occur from violence, either it requires some manner of deadly weapon (a knife or gun) or some effort. The opponent must be collapsed from exhaustion. The victor must declare that he or she is seeking to kill. The chosen victim will then be killed if nothing is done to stop the killer. Death is not usually something that happens quickly. People bleed out over minutes or even hours. Painful infections can spread over days before the end comes. If a character is dying, then exhaustion points will not recover, even though consciousness may come and go. Death, even when it does occur, should almost never be quick. Demons & Angels Don’t be fooled into thinking that angels are good and demons are bad. Angels are the tougher of the two to be possessed by, for they ask for sacrifice, even sacrifice of things that might help achieve a legacy. Demons and angels both pose difficult choices for characters, but, from the point of view of telling a story, they are more than just villains. They make manifest the emotional struggles that occur within characters. Because of this, they should be carefully crafted to fit with the characters. There is another effect created by demons in particular. Most people in the Kaz have something likeable about them, but anyone can become a villain if they act selfishly and with disregard for others. Even Stray, the big, friendly dog of the Kaz, can become quite the monster if driven to it by a demon inside. This can shatter relationships and create mistrust. Not only that, but there is always the question, are they doing this because the demon tells them, or is the demon just giving excuses to do what they really wanted to? Will they revert to their old selves when the demon is gone, or will they keep behaving in the ways of self-gratification? Demons and angels don’t control people, they just provide secrets and suggestions. OTHER ADVICE On Tracking Money It’s a niggling detail, but one that shall undoubtedly come up. For most things it isn’t necessary to track how much money a characters has, but there will be times when cash is tight, or a little bit of cash could matter. I these cases, pull a card from the major arcana and multiply by 10 dollars. That’s how much money the character has for the adventure. In those cases, count everything, even the change, and make sure it all matters, that the character has to make choices about what to buy and what to do without. Obstacles Sometimes a character may try to overcome something that isn’t another person. Obstacles don’t take actions, but they can still take several steps to resolve in a challenge. Sometimes the obstacle can be declared too hard, bid a card, and the character needs to come up with a way to try again. For example, a character is trying to kick open a door, playing a card. The gamemaster could say it’s firmly bolted and strong, playing a card in opposition. The character then takes a running charge at the door, bidding a second card. If the character charges, then the gamemaster needs to decide whether that is enough (calling) or if the character really needs to get some tools out to knock down the door (playing another card). MORE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAY Talismans & Faith In a world with demons and angels, the spiritual is not without its power. If a character holds to a ritual or believes in a talisman, even when it does not do anything, it may develop a power for them. Once per session a talisman or ritual may prevent the loss of an exhaustion point. This can lead to delaying death by the Pale, however little it may help, for if those who reach exhaustion less often may keep their health a little longer. The Devil’s Hand At the beginning of the session, seven cards were set aside as a hand that no one was using. This is called the devil’s hand. It is used by the gamemaster when there are two non-player factions in a challenge situation. The gamemaster’s regular hand of cards is used to bid for one faction, and the other is bid for using the devil’s hand. Insight The gamemaster may use insight just like players can. It can be done through supporting characters but not directly through demons or angels. Demons and angels use the same mechanic when revealing secrets and lies instead. Groups of Supporting Characters Sometimes you will control a group of people, be they mobs, gangs, crowds, cats or whatever. It is easiest to just treat these groups as one person, using only one hand of cards, but getting the equivalent of one free face card in addition to whatever cards were bid. You may assign the a number of “exhaustion points” to represent their dedication to whatever their chosen task is, and have them scatter once they reach their limit. This is usually half their number if organized or much less if they are just a mob. THE LONG STORY Terribly Beautiful is likely to run five or more sessions, and so some planning ahead should be done to keep the game alive over that time. Players Creating Characters As players create their characters, they may need assistance choosing or creating their secrets and rumours. Secrets and rumours designed at character creation do not have to relate to anyone in the section on supporting characters. Instead, you should offer to create a supporting character to come up with any tidbit of knowledge that the player might think of. You may give secrets and rumours from the supporting character section if you wish. More on Secrets A secret or rumour usually has one detail, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Extra details can be added, but they aren’t considered extra secrets. By breaking up a secret into several parts and having the characters follow it, it can create a mystery. Between Life’s Excitements Each gathering of all the players is called a session and it is usually dominated by one opportunity or calamity that sparks what is called the adventure. If possible, try to end each session with the adventure more or less concluded. The Pale does not advance overly quickly, and it is likely that days, weeks, or even months pass between those few times when life provides opportunity or calamity. When Does It End? Terribly Beautiful will be played over several sessions, but when should the story be brought to an end? There are a couple of options: 1. When all characters have either built their legacies or died. 2. When the characters come to the realization that it is about humanity, not immortality, and perform some act that demonstrates this. When a character dies, the gamemaster should decide how close to the end of the story the game is. If it’s just about to end, then it might be better to have that player step aside from playing, but if there is some significant play time, then a new character may be created. If a character manages to create her legacy, it may seem that the story is over for the character, but the lack of a legacy puts more emphasis on the humanity of the character, especially if the character ends up helping the others with their legacies. ADVENTURE HOOKS 1. An Old Acquaintance: A former john of one of the characters meets up with the characters and wants to get reacquainted. 2. Hunting the Hunted: One of the predatory johns (Piotr or Jack) is on the prowl. Can the players reveal him as a monster and put a stop to his activities? 3. Unwanted Secrets: A secret is discovered, but it is about someone who is cared about. What to do with it or do about it? 4. Looking for Victims: Someone possessed by a demon has come to the Kaz to look for someone to give it to. Possession by a demon may be a curse, but it is a curse that provides opportunity. 5. Martyrdom: Someone possessed by an angel makes their sacrifice by saving one of the characters, and the angel picks a new host. Living with an angel is not as much of a blessing as one might think. 6. Contraband Shipment: A lot of smuggling goes through the old docks beneath the Kaz. Perhaps this time it’s drugs, medication, immigrants, or something else entirely. Whatever it is, the Kaz will be more lively for a bit because of it. 7. Crackdown: the police are looking to make a good show for law & order, and the Kaz is the place for it. For the next while they’ll be looking for drug dealers and other criminals to bust, and journalists will be looking for a show. D E M O N S & A N G E L S ---------------------------------------- Demons and angels lurk unseen in people’s minds, whispering suggestions and secrets, working their plans through humanity. Demons work their plans by encouraging selfishness at the expense of others. Angels promote self-sacrifice and martyrdom to the benefit of the world around. Neither presents easy choices for the people they possess. Hosts The people who carry these beings are called hosts. It is possible that more than one being could inhabit a single person. This can get quite confusing at times as the different voices chime in, and difficult to tell the voices apart. The Power of Secrets When a demon or angel reveals a secret or lie to character, the gamemaster chooses a card from his hand and trades it for a random card from the player’s hand, much like insight. Cacodemons & Choirs Choirs (angels) and cacodemons (demons) are special, lesser spiritual beings. Individually they are all but silent, but when they gather, they form a powerful whole that can work together towards a goal. The cats of the Kaz are an example of a cacodemon. Individually, the cats are just cats, but when they gather, they form the Wyld Hunt, driven by their demons to behave so. Names No angel or demon will give their name. If asked, they will point out that names are power, and that the character should understand this from their own life. Transference of Possession “What does it take to be rid of you?” he cried. “Blood,” came the whisper. Demons and angels do not simply go away, not even once their plan is complete. If a host wishes to rid themselves of an angel or demon, then he or she must commit an act of submission. For demons this is an abusive act, and for angels this is an act of martyrdom, both of which must involve another person and the spilling of blood. The demon or angel may then move on to another who is present through the inspiration that the act brings. While demons outnumber angels normally, it is because of this pattern of transfers that the Kaz has an even greater imbalance. Abuse tends to occur from the powerful to the weak, and sacrifice from the weak to the powerful. Death is the other way to rid the world of the possession, as the demons and angels take shreds of the soul back to their respective realms. [George Cotronis picture #4] Bad Trips Anyone under the influence of hallucinogens may receive clues that tell of the presence of demons and angels. These could be a different set of eyes behind someone’s face (like they’re wearing a mask of their own face), or the sound of somebody whispering (though words cannot be made out.). Hallucinations do not give the ability to tell demons from angels. When a choir or cacodemon gathers, this changes. They can smell the hallucinogens and whisper through the hallucinations so that the drug-influenced individual may be taken into the mob. If the person hallucinating does participate, then one of the demons may transfer to that person. DESIGNING DEMONS & ANGELS The Plan Every demon or angel has a larger plan, but that plan is mostly hidden. When designing a demon or angel, draw 5 major arcana and look at the chart in the Creating a Character section to get their interpretations. Two are discarded and the remaining three are put in any order then interpreted through a theme such as drugs, home, violence, or similar concepts that characters are struggling with in the story. The resulting ideas should give a sense of what the demon or angel wants the character to do. Secrets & Lies Demons & Angels know secrets and lies from the people they’ve possessed before, and also of people their former hosts met. Draw 7 minor arcana. Aces are rumours, other number cards are secrets and face cards are lies. The character must bargain to gain access to all of these. Like with character creation, the suits may be used to help inspire ideas. Example: The GM, Phil, decides that a demon will feature in the next session, so he pulls 5 major arcana, getting the Hanged Man, Justice, Hierophant, Tower and Fool. The character he has plans on possessing has been dealing a lot with social status issues, having trouble fitting in with richer crowds. With that in mind, Phil finds the Hierophant an obvious choice, revolving, as it does, around conformity, meaning the character will have to dress properly, even if she has to steal the clothes. The Fool seems another obvious choice, with its meaning of risk without forethought, perhaps crashing an exclusive party. Finally, the inverted meaning of Justice, corrupt authority, seems to suggest that the character might try to gain position within a social group by driving someone else out through ridicule or other means. For the demon’s knowledge, Phil draws 7 minor arcana, getting 3 numbered cards, 3 face cards, and an ace. He notes the ace as 1 rumour to be used when needed during play. Two of the face cards are swords, indicating something aggressive. Phil decides they represent a couple of streetracers, ultra-competitive, but they don’t actually know anything about mechanics. One of number cards is a pentacle, so Phil makes that the identity of the mechanic that one of the above streetracers uses to tune his car. There are two wands, one face, one numbered, so Phil figures it might represent sisters, one a good girl, and the other pretending to be, but going out with the streetracers at night. The final card is a numbered cup, which Phil decides is a mother’s fear that her boy might come home with the wrong sort of girl, which is hidden behind her scolding him for playing with his fast car. OPTIONAL CONTINUATION If a character completes all the tasks that a demon wishes, then normally the demon or angel attempts to convince the character to let it move onto the next person. Alternately, the demon may move onto another part of the plan with the same host. Repeat the process of creating the demon or angel. T H E K A Z ----------------- History The Kaz is the oldest part of the city. Crumbling ruins of ancient walls still surround it, even on the southern side overlooking the old docks. Centuries ago those walls protected the homes of the rich from invading armies. The people of those times built beautiful homes, but centuries later those homes were too expensive to upkeep, and yet they could not be torn down because of heritage protection laws. Streets that were designed to scenically weave past quiet estate gardens were not arranged for the needs of a bustling community. The neighbourhood fell into disuse and then disrepute as each generation brought in a new wave of even poorer residents. Of course, some of the buildings fell apart completely, but when they were replaced, no one wanted to move into such a neighbourhood. As a result, the buildings that went up were mostly cheap housing units. Meanwhile, the rest of the city prospered and grew until the Kaz was only one small section. The walls still protect the rich, but now they protect the rich outside from having to see what the Kaz has become. What the Kaz has become is a red-light district, where prostitution, while not truly legal, is tolerated to some degree. Nonetheless, the disdain that the rest of the city holds for the area gives the locals a sense of community, if only to reflect that hatred back. People have to live in the Kaz, and they make of their lives what they can. USING SUPPORTING CHARACTERS Supporting characters are controlled by the gamemaster and brought into the story as needed. Alternately, the gamemaster may choose to randomly bring in a character (such as who might be walking down the street one day) by drawing a card from the major arcana deck. The number / roman numeral and character name is listed below. Not all characters are on the list, as certain characters do not regularly wander the streets of the Kaz. Random Street Encounters The Kaz is a busy place, but it’s not uncommon to see a familiar face amongst the crowds. Every now and then the gamemaster may draw a card from the major arcana deck and look on the table below to see who is there to meet. 0/0 (Fool) Stray 1 / I (Magician) Eternity 2 / II (High Priestess) Tia 3 / III (Empress) Alicia Shine 4 / IV (Emperor) Saffron 5 / V (Hierophant) Lilith Dark 6 / VI (Lovers) a cat 7 / VII (Chariot) Todor 8 / VIII (Strength) Maisarah Khartoon 9 / IX (Hermit) Arnold Wink 10 / X (Wheel of Fortune) Nabo 11 / XI (Justice) Navjot Singh May 12 / XII (Hanged Man) Tapin 13 / XIII (Death) Medea/Medusa 14 / XIV (Temperance) Baba Yaga 15 / XV (Devil) Matthew Hurst 16 / XVI (Tower) Dusty Hines 17 / XVII (Star) Kim 18 / XVIII (Moon) Mohinder Ramesh 19 / XIX (Sun) Dr. Leigh O’Biern 20 / XX (Judgement) Father Wright 21 / XXI (World) Clayton Smart THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS 0. Stray Every community has a wandering animal or two, a pet that decided it was better to switch homes every night. Stray is such a creature, but he is a far larger dog than what normally attempts it. Stray adopts people for a day, following them around, hoping for scraps. The people of the Kaz consider it a spectator sport when Stray picks a tourist for this treatment. Stray’s scarred body and ragged fur makes him an intimidating sight, and his sheer persistence, along with the locals’ tendency to allow him to wander into stores, restaraunts and even sometimes onto buses, means that Stray is always nearby. It only ever lasts a day. When a new day dawns, Stray forgets his old master and seeks out a new one. Stray is a person just like any other, with his own desires for attention, leadership, and food, and that means he is also vulnerable to possession by demons, who can manipulate him like any other person. Nonetheless, he is just a stray dog, trying to get through the day like everyone else in the Kaz. Exhaustion: 11 1. Eternity She once had another name on the streets, but Eternity is what everyone knows her as now. She gained her new name by being that one-in-a-million, a carrier. She is unaffected by the Pale, though she may still infect others. Dressed in dreadlocks and punk clothing, Eternity is part of the Terribly Beautiful and also not. She follows the traditions to their tightest interpretation, but she does not feel them, and she does not seek to build a legacy. Instead, she is afraid, afraid that violence or accident will cut short her miracle. Eternity has one more thing to lose than any of the Terribly Beautiful, a long life. Exhaustion: 10 Lie: Being unaffected by the disease has given her new hope for life 2. Tiamat (Tia) Tiamat is pregnant, and, from the size she’s grown to, there will be more than one. Tiamat has used every chance she has to get the medication needed to protect her unborn children from the Pale that infects her, but until they’re born, she won’t know if missed injections will leave them born dying. With only a month or so to go, Tiamat is at her wits end, anxious beyond what she can stand, fearing that tomorrow she might not be able to afford the next shot. Exhaustion: 6 Lie: She has gets her medication by prescription 3. Alicia Shine The Bean There cafe sits on the corner of . It is a bit messy, walls adorned with work by local artists, couches at one end and nice glass-topped tables surrounded by cheap chairs. A very beautiful young woman acts as waitress and barista. Her makeup carefully creates the look of the faux-terrible. Alicia is not one of the faux-terrible, for she really has the Pale, contracted through a dirty needle. At the end of the workday, all she wants to do is fall off her feet, but in order to become a model, she knows she must go out. She turned to drugs for the energy to do that. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: her use of drugs Lie: she is one of the faux-terrible 4. Jimmy Fly (Saffron) For a good time, just look for the man in the yellow smoking jacket. Jimmy Fly is what he calls himself, and Saffron is what everybody else calls him. The nickname comes from his wearing buddhist prayer beads, instead of the gold necklaces that would complete his image. It stuck, and as much as “Jimmy Fly” didn’t fall in love with the nickname, he grinned and bore it. Jimmy Fly’s girls work the clubs, particularly the Lair, a darkwave and technopop club where booths provide semi-private spots where the action can happen and the bouncers can conveniently forget to check. He doesn’t like his girls taking johns to hotels, in part because he can’t keep an eye on them, and in part because quick jobs make for more money. If the club is slow, then Jimmy isn’t above taking one of his girls for a little fun, sharing some weed for their trouble. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: Jimmy’s girls aren’t the only ones that are quick. He only needs a couple of minutes to get off. Lie: Jimmy is actually a buddhist monk (or once was), which is why they call him saffron [George Cotronis picture #2] 5. Lilith Dark Lilith Dark isn’t a streetname, she actually changed her legal name to match her image. Her shop, Under the Cover of Dark, is an occult shop, selling mostly books, but also a lot of random trinkets taken from every religion. She professes to believe in it all, and she does believe in most of it, overlooking those elements that contradict one another. She does brisk business in charms to protect from demons and angels, incense that is supposed to boost the immune system, and books on meditation, chakras and health. Exhaustion: 10 Rumour: Lilith isn’t quite as smart as she used to be, probably caused by drugs Lie: Lilith is a satanist 6. The Cats They’re everywhere in the Kaz, or everywhere that Stray isn’t. Cats are like community members forever looking for attention from passers-by and staying in different homes each night. One cat is a cute thing. A collection of cats in downright sinister, especially those in the Kaz, for many of the cats are host to a cacodemon that emerges only when they are together. When that happens, they recreate the Wyld Hunt. One of them elects to be the hunted and begins running, while the others give chase, tearing apart the hunted once the catch is made. To get rid of the cocademon, the host must play the hunted and either escape or survive. Cats know secrets, too. Though they pay little attention to the affairs of humanity, they know all the hidden places in the city. To gain a demon from a cat is to gain access to an interesting collection of secrets. Exhaustion: 4 Rumour: cats know all the hidden places in the city; one cat is cute, many cats are spooky Secret: the cats are haunted by demons 7. Todor There isn’t a single cab company in the city that doesn’t operate in the Kaz to some degree. Todor works for Chessley Cabs, and his vehicle is built to take the beating that a night of drunken customers can deal. There’s bulletproof glass on the front windows and between the front and back seats. There’s even a panic button he can kick to tell the cab company he’s in trouble. Like many taxi drivers, Todor is an immigrant. He is a medical doctor, but his degree isn’t accepted by the government until he goes through years of processing, paperwork, testing and upgrade courses. The process for bringing in his wife looks like it will take twice as long. Exhaustion: 10 Rumour: Todor is actually a doctor 8. Maisarah Khartoon Ten pounds of crazy in an eight pound box, Maisarah will wander into a bar brawl just to take a drink before it gets spilled. Decked out in a white suit, white wingtip shoes, white porkpie hat, white tie and black shirt with plaid suspenders, and a pimped-out low-rider bicycle painted cherry red, she stands out in almost any crowd in the Kaz. She runs with a gang near the seaboard wall called the Raum who engage in a mixture of protection rackets and prostitution. It’s her job in the gang to push any new female recruits to turn tricks to give the gang money. Unlike many pimps, if somebody roughs up one of her girls, Maisarah goes berserk. The john had better be able to get out of the Kaz fast, because Maisarah can run down a taxi before it gets up to speed and has been known to go through car windows to get at someone, wrench in hand. Exhaustion: 10 Rumour: Maisarah protects her girls Lie: Maisarah will kill people for crossing her or anyone in her gang 9. Arnold Wink Front clerk at the West Wind Motel, where rooms can be had for an hourly rate, though it isn’t listed anywhere on the official ledgers. Arnold has seen it all, or rather, has heard it all through the cheap construction of the motel’s walls and floors. He is largely beyond caring now, for often it’s his job to clean up afterwards, and it’s not a job he enjoys. To pass the time he reads novels, lots of novels. They used to pile up behind the desk until his boss threatened to sell them all off. Arnold thought this was a great idea, and so now he sells them for a buck apiece. Not only that, but because he has read them all, he can often suggest books to people after asking them a few questions about what they might like. Exhaustion: 10 10. Nabokov (Nabo) So many start young, not innocent, but still naive. Nabo is such a girl, and though innocent she may not be, she plays the role oh so well. It never stops, not even when dealing with others that know she isn’t, and eventually it grates on everyone’s sensibilities. Still, there is a brightness in her eyes and her constant friendly chatter that inspire forgiveness. Nabo’s lively eyes are the result of her absolute sense of indestructibility. She seems to have the luck of the devil, and nothing has hurt her too much thus far, but others in the Kaz watch her, holding their breath, waiting for something horrible to happen. Exhaustion: 10 11. Navjot Singh May The Kaz has its own satellite police station, staffed twenty-four hours a day. Despite that, there is only one police officer who lives in the Kaz. Navjot Singh is a beat cop now, but his past saw him as a detective. He went undercover to investigate narcotics, and a lot of people say he went dirty fast. He only barely survived being found out by arranging some very fast arrests. Once back with the regular force, he was a wreck, and it wasn’t long before he was busted back down to the beat. It’s not like there’s a worse neighbourhood in the city to ship him to. Navjot Singh doesn’t care about that. The Kaz is his home, and while many on the streets don’t trust him for what he did in the past, he’s still one of them, a local, and not an outsider like the other cops. The Kaz protects its own against the rest, and Navjot Singh protects the Kaz. Exhaustion: 9 Rumour: he used to be an undercover detective investigating narcotics Secret: he still uses hallucinogens, and knows about demons and angels 12. Tapin Tapin was never into other men, but they were into him and he was into their wallets, so it was all okay as far as he was concerned. At least, it was until he became infected with the Pale. The Pale changed everything for him. While he could no longer sleep with his former patrons, he gazed upon the Terribly Beautiful and knew he had new patrons. What he didn’t expect was the rage. Though thin to the point of emaciation, the Terribly Beautiful held a strength borne of pure emotion, and Tapin found himself the target of that. The first time he left covered in bruises and scratches, nursing a broken wrist and barely able to walk. Now he is reconsidering his position. Exhaustion: 8 Rumour: he was never homosexual, despite catering only to men while in the trade Lie: he regularly breaks the tradition of “no sex” upheld by the Terribly Beautiful [George Cotronis picture #3] 13. Medusa (Medea) There were few on the streets of the Kaz more beautiful than Medea. She knew her own beauty and built upon it with poise and culture. The pale has made her more perfect than ever, and she draws stares just walking down the street. One of those stares did more than linger, and she was taken. When that man discovered that he, too, had become infected, he tried to have Medea charged. The court case was slanderous for both, and though the charges were eventually dropped, Medea had suffered greatly at the hands of the other prisoners and her jailors. If are allowed to be nothing but a monster, then a monster you may as well be. Medea once again began walking the streets, taking only the most vain of clients. Her search for revenge got her excommunicated from the Terribly Beautiful, but she didn’t care when they began to call her Medusa instead of Medea. She had her legacy of death to build. She reads men well. To those absorbed in vanity and wealth she is Medea, looking for a hero to rescue her. To those seeking danger, she introduces herself as Medusa, offering to turn them to “stone.” Exhaustion: 6 Rumour - Medusa violates only the one tradition of the Terribly Beautiful, and adheres to the others 14. Baba Yaga Most nicknames are given by the street, but Baba Yaga was given hers by the media. She ran a hostel, but it lost its business when it was revealed that some of the women were prostitutes there and rumours spread like wildfire when Baba Yaga was revealed to have the Pale herself. She was labeled, first a madam, and then some journalist came up with the name Baba Yaga for her scarred face and it stuck. Now she is closing the final stages of the Pale, getting ready to die. Like Medea, Baba Yaga embraced a bit of what society made her out to be, taking in prostitutes, giving them beds. She became a heroine in the Kaz, and established the traditions of the Terribly Beautiful. Those traditions are her legacy, and she teaches them to the younger infected. She also grants the new Terribly Beautiful their new names, pulling names from the books on ancient mythologies that line her walls. Exhaustion: 3 Secret: Injecting drugs is how she gained the Pale Rumour: Baba Yaga’s face is scarred because of vitriolage, an act of throwing acid in someone’s face to spite them Lie: Baba Yaga is a madam 15. Matthew Hurst Matthew spends more time in the Kaz than he ever wanted to. As a paramedic it is his job to pick up the pieces of whatever tragedy has occurred and cart them off to the hospital. He has gone through partner after partner in his ambulance, but only he has stuck with it. There’s something mad about Matthew that just won’t let him say the words, “dead on arrival,” something grim that makes him joke about his own name and about how he drove a hearse once, but never again. A lot of people think he means he lost a patient once, but he actually used to drive a hearse from a funeral home. Any way it’s taken, it gives him the determination to keep coming back every night. Exhaustion: 10 Rumour: he once worked for a funeral home Lie: he’s looking to replace someone special he couldn’t save 16. Dusty Hines Dusty wants nothing more than to step through one of the gates at the edge of the Kaz and never turn back. Like most people in the Kaz he knows that it’s going to take a lot of money to do that, and that’s why he turned to dealing drugs. Dusty sells hard drugs, not weed or bootleg tobacco, and that means he has to pay off the local gang. What they don’t know is that he sometimes gets his hands on medication for the Pale, and he doesn’t cut them in when he sells that. Dusty has a regular job, too, working for minimum wage in a music shop named Grooved. He has a passion for vinyl and punk bands, but his real collection are his record players, of which he has dozens. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: he can sometimes get medication for the Pale from Mohinder for special clients Rumour: he cuts his drugs sometimes, but not all the time, and he has to cut the local gang in Lie: he tries the drugs to see if they’re good or not 17. Kim Kim gave up trying to get the locals to properly pronounce his Korean first name. He runs a corner variety store, selling junk food, magazines, cigarettes and condoms. The condoms he keeps behind the counter, not because he wants to limit their use, but because they used to be the most stolen item in the store. Kim keeps a pot of soup behind the counter, simmering away. The smell drives people to buy more junk food, and he’ll sometimes give a bowl of it to any friend who drops by to chat. Exhaustion: 10 18. Mohinder Ramesh Mohinder is the highest paid person in the entirety of the Kaz, which isn’t saying much, but he would be considered very well off anyplace else, too. As the pharmacist, it is his job to ensure that medications are properly dispensed, and secured at all other times. The pharmacy was built inside a former bank, converting its safe into a drug storage room that can be securely locked at night. As a result of being so well paid, Mohinder also pays a lot of income tax, and he complains about it incessantly. To make a little bit of money on the side, tax free, he has been known to sell the occasional bit of drugs onto the black market, forging prescription slips, shorting customers or using other scams. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: he sells drugs to the black market Rumour: he sometimes shorts people on their prescription Lie: he’s into the drugs himself, and that’s why he sometimes miscounts prescriptions 19. Doctor Leigh O’Biern When Dr. O’Biern decided to take over the Gabriel Health Clinic, he thought that he might do some good for a community desperately in need. Instead, he found himself doing mostly paperwork and fundraising. The clinic doesn’t get much funding, and so he goes to both government and private agencies, knocking on their doors, asking for money to pay for rent, to replace worn equipment and used supplies, and to pay staff. The clinic runs a needle exchange, disposing of old needles and giving out new ones for free, no questions asked. This, along with free condoms, is part of an effort to stop the spread of the Pale. It’s also the most controversial activity engaged in by the clinic, and sometimes money is lost as a result, but Dr. O’Biern refuses to give up on the program. One thing Dr. O’Biern has given up on is keeping drugs in the clinic. After one too many break-ins (the last pulled an entire safe out of the building), he now lets the pharmacy take that role. Exhaustion: 10 Lie: there are drug “samples” provided by the drug companies that are kept in the clinic 20. Father Wright (Father Father) Father Wright is the local priest who fulfills his duty to the community by running a soup kitchen on Thursday nights with the help of some volunteers. He accepted this parish only grudgingly, wanting instead to have some suburban church where the parishioners are more respectable. His sermons are often little more poorly aimed rants, treating everyone in the Kaz as if they all committed every conceivable sin. This rapidly earned him the enmity of the local populace until one day he did something that won him at least partial redemption. While Father Wright may look down upon the people in the community around him, he takes his vows seriously, particularly his vow of secrecy regarding confessions. One day the police came to him, demanding to know what one of the prostitutes that frequented his church might have confessed to. Father Wright refused to answer and it earned him a beating and then a night in jail. When word got around, Father Wright became known affectionately as Father Father. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: he had slept with the prostitute he protected Rumour: he sometimes takes a prostitute into his side of the confessional 21. Clayton Smart Clayton didn’t set out to be a sensationalist reporter, but his newspaper editor gives him deadlines and word counts, and Clayton needs to fill them as quickly as possible or else he’ll find himself out of a job. That means there’s no time for real investigative reporting. To make matters worse, any human interest stories he writes are just forgotten the next day. It’s only his salacious work that gets noticed or remembered. Clayton was the one who came up with the nicknames for Baba Yaga and the Terribly Beautiful, both of which other media outlets grabbed onto. He is rather proud that they stuck, since that helped his career a fair bit. He was even able to do a bit of television work, but the producers don’t like showing the ruined Kaz too much, so back to uptown they went, leaving Clayton behind. While Clayton may live beyond the walls he spends more and more time in the Kaz, trying to be a part of his community. Unfortunately, his reputation has been wrecked. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: he is a married man, but his wife hates his obsession with the Kaz Rumour: he’s here all the time, but he’s really an uptowner, not part of the local community OTHER SUPPORTING CHARACTERS Piotr Raskov (Vladimir) Piotr Raskov is a man with a waxed moustache, a waxy complexion and the poise of a blackguard and a scoundrel. Piotr became infected with the Pale as a result of his indiscretions. He knew that the official treatment was no cure, and so he cast about for something, anything, that might be an actual cure, and he had enough money that offers of cures came. Doctor Fieldman was one of those offers. Because of her position outside of the medical field, she was unable to acquire the blood supplies she needed, and so Darius stepped in. Now he prowls downtown for those he can seduce, people who might not be missed by the authorities, and hands them over to Dr. Fieldman. Secret: he has the Pale and keeps it at bay with a treatment involving blood transfusions, he kidnaps people for Dr. Fieldman to use in her research and treatments Exhaustion: 7 Rumour: he has a huge mansion uptown, and likes to take prostitutes of either gender back there Lie: he keeps a harem of women in the mansion where he lives Doctor Eleanor Fieldman Doctor Fieldman offers a treatment that medical science wants nothing to do with. She still has her license to practice, but that is more because she has had no interest in publishing or promoting her work, preferring instead to act as a doctor for the few rich clients, like Piotr Raskov, that she has. While Piotr knows she is conducting her experiments illegally, and is supplying her with people to do it with, even he does not realize that she kills her victims in the process. Dr. Fieldman is happy to let Piotr believe that she pays the people for their assistance and lets them go home. Her treatment doesn’t really work, but it does seem to. It eliminates some of the paleness of the skin, at least temporarily. Exhaustion: 8 Secret: she is engaged in illegal experiments, and killing people to do it Rumour: she has developed a treatment that makes patients look healthy again Lie: she has developed a better treatment for the Pale Jack There is a badly constructed rhyme on the street that goes, “Jack is a john, who calls himself George, but should be called Tom.” The rhyme refers to jack the ripper, the slang for a prostitute’s client (john), and two prison slang names designating people who are okay (George) and not okay (Tom). Actually, he doesn’t call himself George anymore. He changes what name he gives in the hopes of avoiding being recognized, along with changing clothes, his beard and his hair. This is all because Jack has the Pale, but cannot give up his habit of hiring prostitutes. He has created many of the Terribly Beautiful, and there are many who would like to take revenge upon him, but he always seems to disappear for a few weeks or months before showing up again and targeting a new streetwalker. Exhaustion: 6 Secret: his real name is Hank Jones Lie: he can be identified by a purple mark on his left shoulderblade [George Cotronis picture #5] The Oracle She lives behind a door down an alleyway off an alleyway, in a building that was expanded until it turned into a labyrinth of hallways. She is the veiled prophet, the one who knows more than anyone should. No one knows for sure if she is really one of the Terribly Beautiful, but she seems to follow the traditions. Lifting the veil would make it apparent that she isn’t, but it would not reveal her true affliction. It would take hallucinogens to reveal the truth, and none have been so disrespectful as to enter her presence under their influence. The Oracle is host to innumerable demons and angels. Her head is a cacophony of voices that would overwhelm anyone else. When no one is around, she removes her veil and treads out into the night. She is part of the trade, a prostitute, who seeks out johns that are tormented by demons and angels. She lets those angels and demons come into herself, but always exacts her monetary price. The Oracle is particularly rigid on the tradition of trading knowledge for equal value. Some believe that this is how she has gained her hoard of information, but her real reason is much deeper. By avoiding both abuse and sacrifice, by treating everyone as business partners, none of the demons or angels may escape her. It is in this way that she protects others from the voices. The Oracle is a sin-eater, taking the ills of the world unto herself. Exhaustion: 10 Secret: the oracle is a sin-eater who calls herself Mascha Rumour: the oracle lives within the most labyrinthe part of the Kaz CREATING SUPPORTING CHARACTERS There are several elements to a good character. It is often best to leave names to last. It is often easiest to start with what the character does for a living. Is the character from the Kaz, or from uptown. Is he or she part of the trade, one of the Terribly Beautiful, a john, an animal or a Most characters should have a quirk, an unusual but not too important habit. They should usually also have something about them that makes them more humane and also a a flaw, usually hidden. Each character also needs a secret, rumour, or lie, possibly multiple. At this point a little physical description, including fashion, might be useful. Finally pick a name, which can be anything (a phone book may be helpful), and maybe a nickname, which should reflect what the character is like. Dopplegangers There is one type of supporting character that must be designed by the gamemaster, called the doppleganger. A doppleganger is someone that looks a bit like one of the player characters, has had a similar life, but made one very important choice differently. The choice should be one that was made during play, and the doppleganger should provide the opportunity to reflect. Johns Johns are the various people that visit the Kaz to hire prostitutes. They are almost always men, but they can come from any part of society. 1. Draw 2 cards from the undealt card pile and 1 from the major arcana 2. The major arcana gives a hint as to the john’s personality (see character creation) 3. The lower minor arcana x20 is the starting offer (in dollars) 4. The higher minor arcana x20 is the highest the john is willing to pay One face card means the john will pay whatever price is asked without negotiating, or turn away if too much is asked. Two face cards means the john will try to get some action for free. C O N C L U S I O N --------------------------- When you think you have nothing left to lose, you still have yet to lose yourself. This is the hard lesson at the centre Terribly Beautiful. There is a light of hope in the world, but it is faint and it is hidden. Are those who block the way really trying to tear you apart, or are they merely stripping you of everything that doesn’t matter to reveal what does? Terribly Beautiful was made for the 2008 Game Chef: Artists First game design contest. It was based upon the artwork created by George Cotronis, also made for that contest.