Resplendent Destinies

P

Persell

Ten Thousand Club
Seeing as to how I maybe playing a Sidereal in the near future, I'm having a small problem.  I can't seem to wrap my head around Replendent destinies. I haven't made my character yet, but could any of you help me by dumbing it down, thanks I appreciate it.
 
Respoendent destinies is the Sidereal larping with everyone seeing his role and thinking it's real as long as he stays in character?
 
Disclaimer: Some of what follows is a personal take on the somewhat vague and disorganized descriptions in the book. Others might disagree on certain fine points, but it should give the gist)


Basically, a RD is a false identity that has the main advantage of being recognizable and memorable to others.


Each of the 25 RDs are generic "cardboard cutout" personalities for the Sidereal to don. They're generic for a reason -- they mimic archetypes that everyone is familar with, so they are easily "beleived". If they don't adhere to this archetype, and act out-of-type, they push the boundary of what is believeable, and thus gain Paradox.


When I Sidereal dons a RD, he does not LOOK like a different person (though his mannerisms should change, but that's more acting than anything else), but the magic of it makes everyone else RECOGNIZE them as a different person. If a Sid drops a RD in front of someone, there would be a momentary "Who are you and what the hell did you do with that other guy?!" reaction, as the RD personality literally disappears and is relaced by someone else.


Similarly, if a Sid with one RD walks around the corner, switches to another RD, and comes back, the casual observer would think that they're two different people.


Capisce?
 
Or were you asking about the mechanics of RDs, seeing as how this is the Game Mechanics forum, and I totally missed the point? :P


-S
 
Quantum Leap


Probably the definitive example of a Resplendent Destiny in action is the scifi series "Quantum Leap".  While the main character's appearance changes (as everyone else around him, not the viewer, sees it), he is still 'really' himself - a white, male scientist in his late 30's or early 40's.  However, people look at him and see an entirely different person, and react accordingly.


A character donning a Resplendent Destiny may change his appearance somewhat by donning the trappings of that Destiny, but that doesn't really remold his face or features.


Another way to think of it is that the Sidereal rewires the memories of everyone in the world to recognize him as someone other than he is.  They stop thinking "oh hey, that face, those clothes, it's Sam Sidereal" and start thinking "oh hey, that face, those clothes, it's Mortal Peasant Schmuck".
 
Here are the mechanics for Resplendent Destinies, the Short Form.  I don't have my book handy, so I'll edit for any necessary changes later.


MAKING A DESTINY


Use Sidereal astrology to create a Resplendent effect, centered on yourself.  You need some rating in the College whose Destiny you want to don (e.g. the Gauntlet).  You must spend 2 effect points from your final roll to affect yourself, regardless of Essence.  Otherwise, it's just like any other act of astrology.


The Destiny stays in existence for as long as the Duration you assigned.


The number of Destinies you can have on yourself is governed by the usual rules on numbr of astrological effects you can have on anyone (number of effects equal to Essence).


USING A DESTINY


You declare you are donning a specific Destiny, and spend a Willpower point.


You can expend some of the effect successes you rolled to power specific destiny-based powers.  These are listed in the destiny descriptions around p. 205 or thereabouts.
 
Ok. Yeah I've got the idea of it down, but I"m still a little fuzzy on the mechanics. It's getting better though.
 
Re: Quantum Leap

memesis said:
Probably the definitive example of a Resplendent Destiny in action is the scifi series "Quantum Leap".  
Click to expand...
Wow, thats one of the best / simplest explanations for Resplendant Destinies I've ever heard. Good comparison.
 
Re: Quantum Leap

SagaciousAscendingHero said:
memesis said:
Probably the definitive example of a Resplendent Destiny in action is the scifi series "Quantum Leap".  
Click to expand...
Wow, thats one of the best / simplest explanations for Resplendant Destinies I've ever heard. Good comparison.
Click to expand...
Not quite definitive. In QL, the hero appears as a <i>specific person</i>. Resplendent destinies can only be used to act a role, not an identity. So, a Sid could appear as "aged, potent patrician" but not as "Hetman Liu Ke".

memesis said:
The Destiny stays in existence for as long as the Duration you assigned.
Click to expand...
Or until all its effect points are used up. So if you want a long-term identity, don't rely on its cool effects.

memesis said:
USING A DESTINY
You declare you are donning a specific Destiny, and spend a Willpower point.


You can expend some of the effect successes you rolled to power specific destiny-based powers.  These are listed in the destiny descriptions around p. 205 or thereabouts.
Click to expand...
To avoid confusion, note E:S p. 217: "Sidereal characters have access to the powers of all their resplendent destinies at all times, even if they are simply being 'themselves' or masquerading behind a different resplendent destiny."
 
Resplendent destinies create a role, but that role will have a specific identity, it can not be the same identity as any existing person, but it will create the "aged, potent patrician" called Cathak Siku Fan.


 '... she can give her name and have it remembered' E:S p. 216.


People will even remember that he wrote a treatise of highly philosophical nature, they might debate with him and remember him from one scene to another.


All this will then fade into forgefulness, once the effect points are used up or the duration expires.


Even if the sidereal that pretended to be that person, would create a new RD with the exact same specification, no one would connect these two as being the same person as the first one is utterly forgotten, friends of the expired RD would have to be befriended all over again.
 
Poor Sids only see the actually Sid and not the RD and have only the slightest clue about which RD they are wearing at the time, they must look for trappings and behaviour to guess which collage they are using as RD.
 
are you talking about if Sid #1 sees Sid #2 walking around somewhere in creation?

bluesky said:
Poor Sids only see the actually Sid and not the RD and have only the slightest clue about which RD they are wearing at the time, they must look for trappings and behaviour to guess which collage they are using as RD.
Click to expand...
I wasnt aware of this rule, where is that at?
 
Stillborn said:
if a Sid with one RD walks around the corner, switches to another RD, and comes back, the casual observer would think that they're two different people.
Click to expand...
Emphasis on "casual" observer. A trick like this can also gain you paradox. Check the table on page 217. Interacting with one person with two different destinies generates paradox.


Also, anima banner paradox makes playing sidereals much more difficult that it sounds. Most of the people who scream that sidereal charms are unbalanced have never actually played one. A charm isn't unbalanced when you can't actually cast it. You'll find that, unless you are playing with a bunch of other sidereals, you'll generally need to drop your destiny to use more than two or three charms, or else gain lots of paradox. I have a sidereal character in my campaign who the rest of the circle thinks is completely useless because they can't remember him kicking ass during combat.


On the flip side, paradox is much easier to get rid of than, say limit or resonance. All you need is a bit of time and a pen. That said, its also way easier to come by.


Oh, one other thing: a huge advantage sidereals have is that supressing their virtues doesn't generate limit. They also have a bunch of charms that use virtues in various ways, so pay more attention to them than you would for a solar.
 
SagaciousAscendingHero said:
are you talking about if Sid #1 sees Sid #2 walking around somewhere in creation?
bluesky said:
Poor Sids only see the actually Sid and not the RD and have only the slightest clue about which RD they are wearing at the time, they must look for trappings and behaviour to guess which collage they are using as RD.
Click to expand...
I wasnt aware of this rule, where is that at?
Click to expand...
Page 216. First column. Right before the "Changing What You Are" heading.
 
One random thought on Resplendant Destinies: if you have a player who can only show up some of the time, have him play a sidereal. On days that the player can't make the session, his character has just dropped his destiny, so the rest of the players won't be able to remember what he did later anyway.
 
wordman said:
On days that the player can't make the session, his character has just dropped his destiny, so the rest of the players won't be able to remember what he did later anyway.
Click to expand...
lol!


In the second campaign I ran, I had to retcon like crazy, as we'd sort of picked up players randomly for a few sessions. I introduced a Sidereal part way through to justify the insane mission the characters had ended up on; he showed up and was all like "well done guys, you're doing well at that mission I set you!" and all the protagonists were like "wtf?! Who're you?"
 
I'm looking to have a Sid travelling with my Solar circle, is there a good way to allow the Solars to know who he is, like the other Sid's do too? The storyline involes the Sid being the reincarnation of the Zenith's First Age husband, so avoiding that whole Arcane Fate thing would be very necessary.
 
SagaciousAscendingHero said:
I'm looking to have a Sid travelling with my Solar circle, is there a good way to allow the Solars to know who he is, like the other Sid's do too? The storyline involes the Sid being the reincarnation of the Zenith's First Age husband, so avoiding that whole Arcane Fate thing would be very necessary.
Click to expand...
Give plenty of free dots in the Acquaintances background.
 
memesis said:
Give plenty of free dots in the Acquaintances background.
Click to expand...
Actually I re-read this background when I got home and now I think that this wont work. The Aquiantances background covers mortals that rcognize the Sid. Maybe a house rule on the Allies background might handle it well enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top