Murderhobo Game Setting

So all this talk of murderhobos had me come up with a game setting...

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The Land of Fallen Heroes

Alurence was a land blessed by the Allia, Goddess of Adventure as the home of heroes and adventurers. Young men and women, chosen by the Goddess would suddenly gain phenomenal abilities to wield blade and spell, and became champions of good and civilization, driving out monsters, defending villages on the frontier and ruling the population fairly and wisely.

Until they failed.

In the 113th invasion of Alurence, a horde of goblins, orcs and demons descended on the capital, defiled the temple to Allia and razed the city to the ground. Many Alurien heroes died repulsing the invasion, but those that survived... started to change. From stalwart defenders of the people they became selfish and cruel, barging into people's homes to steal their possessions, killing anyone who would defy them and wandering from place to place bringing death and robbery to the towns they once protected. New adventurers chosen by the Goddess suffer the same fate, their personalities changing, their selfishness ramped up while their restraint for violence toned down.

In this game, you play townsfolk who's just had about enough from these wandering, murdering ex-heroes. They are much stronger then you, but few. You must drive them away from your town, but do it cautiously, for doing a heroic deed attracts the attention of Allia, and her blessing is the last thing your town needs.

Too many games not enough writing

I have too many games.

Don't get me wrong, I really love playing roleplaying games. I like telling stories and creating challenging scenarios to challenge people with. Ulitmately though, they aren't writing. Writing will enable me to reach more people and entertain more people then any session at a roleplaying game table ever could.

I got some writing done last weekend, a good long 6 hour stretch which resulted in some 3000 words written. In that time, while I was writing, I became aware at how hard it was, and how much work I was going to have to put in to get really good at writing.

That work will take time, and unfortunately, that time will need to come from somewhere. I can't sacrifice work, since that is what enables me to live my current lifestyle, so it will have to be from my games.

I'll need to prioritize my games and my community building efforts. Ultimately they will have to be subservient to my writing. I have two writing projects I need to work on and one of them has a deadline.

So for skill, and for writing I'll need to limit my game time. I do this though with a heavy heart.

The Magic of the Icons

I'm writing this entry for some of my players who'll be playing Icons in next month's game. It's to give them an idea of what sort of supernatural being the Icons are. Also it's to see how well I can explain the nature of the Icons in as brief a time as possible.

1. What are Icons?

 The Icons tap into the collective endless dreams and ideas of the world where ideas are formed. This is called the Mindforge. They bring these ideas into a brief, phantasmal existence inside a bubble of malleable reality called a Chimeric Flux. (Also known as a Flux Field)
The Chimeric Flux by default extends to the Icon and all she touches, but can be extended by the Icon using magical energy. All Mindforge powers work and are fully “real” inside the Chimeric Flux. Any effects that leave the Chimeric Flux become insubstantial illusions that can be disbelieved. Objects and creatures that are outside the Chimeric Flux disappear within about 10 minutes, becoming insubstantial immediately and fading away as the Mindforge energies sustaining them disappear.

2. What can Icons do?

Three things: 1. An Icon can manipulate our current reality to a limited extent. 2. An Icon can attune himself to a fictional reality, called a Mythos, and bring elements of that reality into our current reality.3. An Icon can attune herself to the Mindforge in a dreamlike trance to enter other worlds of possibility and the dreams of sleeping humans. 

3. Can Icons bring into existance anything they can imagine?

No. Icons have two limitations. The first limitation is that of scope. For the real world, Icons can only manipulate one aspect, depending on their type. There are 6 known types of Icons:
Conjurers - Who can create any object, as long as it is wholly within their Flux Field. 
Transporters - Who can create illusory terrain, and by using lots of magical energy teleport the contents of whole rooms to other locations. 
Connectors - Who can make or break relationships between objects and people. 
Thespians - Who can take on the body, trappings and clothes of a fictional person. 
Rouser - Who can create powerful emotions in the areas within their Flux Field.
Summoners - Who can create imaginary people and animals from thin air, who exist only within the Flux Field of the summoner. 

When channelling a Mythos, an Icon may use any three of the above powers, set at the time of attunement, but they can only bring ideas and concepts plausible to the Mythos into the real world. Furthermore, channelling a Mythos costs the Icon a lot more energy then normal uses of her magic. 

The second limitation is that of effect. When an Icon alters reality, she essentially declares something that is not real, as real. This is known as a Truth. Icons only have a limited number of truths that can operate in their minds at any one time. Beginning Icons have two. Experienced Icons can have up to four. When an Icon hits the number of truths that are active she will need to dismiss one of them, or tie off the Truth to a power source other then herself. 

4.  How do Icons power their magic?

Icons power their magic through energy from the Mindforge called Breath. Like the name implies, it is energy that is breathed in by the Icon from the collective mind of humanity. Icons can hold a vast amount of Breath, but the more Breath they hold, the more prone they are to hallucinations, violent emotional swings and poor impulse control. Icons who were educated by the Infinite Symphony are trained to resist the compulsions that having too much Breath will cause. 

While drawing Breath, Icons must shut down all manifestations of their power, and enter a meditative state to draw Breath. 

5. The Mindforge is tainted

Because of events in the Great War, the Mindforge is tainted. This manifests as a special Mythos that all Icons are attuned to. This Mythos is just like baseline reality, but you can use ALL powers of an Icon, and can use them to fulfill your every whim. However using this forbidden power in a selfish manner erodes your humanity. If you lose it you will become one of the monsters you are trying to protect the world from: A Wyrm. 

6. What else do I need to know about Icons?

Icons have spirit companions called Clarion Spirits that provide their power in exchange for a repetitive task that the Icon must do called a Contract. Clarion Spirits, depending on the type of Cantor, can be very talkative (as in the case of Summoners) or quite quiet (in the case of Conjurers). They follow the Icon around, usually in an incorporeal form. 

Icons can summon a spiritual weapon called a Mind edge. The Mind edge passes through anything material but does psychic damage to any living or sentient creature. Creatures "killed" by a Mind edge become unconscious if they are native to this reality, or really die if they are not. Like all magical effects, summoning the Mind edge requires a Truth to be active.