Reanimating Lovecraft # 3 - 4th Dimensional Horrors

So far, I have shown how adding moral complexity and reality warping damage can make gaming in Lovecraft's world fresh again. Now, I'll give some insights on adding 4th dimensional horrors, body horror, and surrealism into the mix.

4TH DIMENSIONAL HORROR

In the novel Flatland, 2D creatures can only see one crossection of 3D entities at a time. A sphere would thus be seen by a Flatlander as an increasingly large, then decreasingly small circle.

(XKCD had fun with the concept HERE)

In the same way, we 3 dimensional beings should only see higher dimensional beings in partial and disturbing forms. These abhorrent appearances also affect gameplay in the following ways:

EFFECTS OF 4D MONSTER APPEARANCE

1 Timeshifted Embryo - The entity looks like a grotesque embryonic form of itself inside of a sloshing embryonic sac. Roll 1D8 armor for cutting through it every time it is attacked.

2 Living Shadow - The entity looks like a silhouette form of itself. Its Dodge changes from DEX x 2% to DEX x4 %.

3 Undead Yet Alive - The entity looks like a grotesquely rotted corpse form of itself. SAN loss is doubled.

4 Pestilent Smell - The entity is invisible, but its horrendous stench presages an attack. Defenses and attacks against the monster are limited to the Smell % of the character.

5 Deafening Rush - The entity is invisible, but its unearthly susurrus presages an attack. Defenses and attacks against the monster are limited to the Listen % of the character.

6 Fleshly Touch - The entity can only be touched by living beings, all weapons pass right through it. Fisticuffs are the only way to damage it, but touching its scabrous skin incurs another SAN roll.

7 Must Be Atomized  - The entity shrugs off damage. It regains 2D6 HP per round until returned to full health, even after death, unless burned or otherwise atomized.

8 Reflector - The entity looks like the Investigator it attacks, and other characters must make a one time INT x 3% roll to tell the difference.

BODY HORROR

One thing hinted at in Reanimator and Event Horizon is the body horror implicit in many of Lovecraft's works, as humans devolve into monstrous forms. Strangely enough, the original Tomb Raider game also had an Antarctic facility that could change bodies into monsters, a very Lovecraftian horror in a suitable Antarctic cyclopean locale.

Keepers can introduce an ancient machine, a potion, a curse, or some other means to cause Investigators to undergo a horrific metamorphosis. Overt ime, the afflicted slowly morphs into one of the creatures below (feel free to substitute your own entries). NB: Keep the result of this roll secret for maximum dread.

1 Formless spawn

2 Ghoul

3 Deep One

4 Wendigo

5 Mi Go

6 Star Vampire

7 Serpent People

8 Hunting Horror

Every week of game time, the Keeper chooses an attribute of the monster to appear on the afflicted Investigator. These could include any of the following:

- Add or subtract 1D6 to an attribute. This process can continue until the number of dice rolled matches that for the creature.

- Add a physical feature, starting with minor features like sallow skin or dark eyes, and progressing to major ones like wings or new body form.

- Add a game mechanic power, such as armor, POW drain, etc.

- Add a characteristic such as unnatural speech or need to be in cold environs

For every change, the player must make a SAN roll equal to that of the creature the Investigator is morphing into. At the end of the transformation, if the Investigator still has any Sanity left, they are a monster haunted by the soul of an Investigator. If their SAN reaches 0, they have mercifully forgotten who they are and are completely subsumed by their new, monstrous identity. Time for a new character!

SURREALISM

Lovecraft's Dreamlands were a setting that brought his mythos out of cosmic horror and into surreal territory. I suggest leaning heavily into this for any scenarios that wander into the Dreamlands or other mythic territory.

In my last CoC game, the players were enthralled by the Dreamlands, where they had taken refuge after Nazi occultists had taken over the Earth. While there, they had access to the following arcane knowledge:

SUMMON CATS (spell, MP 4, SAN 1D4)

Only usable in the Dreamlands. In cities such as Ulthar, causes 2d100 cats to appear out of shadows and alleyways to stare in silence at the caster. If the caster is a cat lover or has done a good service to cats, he or she may receive a boon, such as being presented to The Mother of Cats, introduced to a teacher of the Cat Dance, or be told a secret. Note that there is no Control Cats spell, as cats only do what they want to do. Cats can also chase away Ghouls, Ghasts, and any other Dreamlands creature the Keeper sees fit.

CAT DANCE (skill)

A skill that can only be learned from the Priests of Bast. The skill can be used in two ways:

1) As an alternate Dodge skill. On the plus side, the character can Dodge and do any unarmed attack they know as they do so. On the minus, they can't use any weapons while Cat Dancing, and unarmed attack skill can never exceed Cat Dance skill.

2) As a show to make friends with any cat-based monster or deity. For example, meeting Bast.

Extended Dreamlands - The Keeper can borrow dreamlands from other media or their own inspirations, such as the Cat Dream from Neil Gaiman's Sandman, or from the works of Michel Moorcock.

Hawkmoon Redux # 3 - The Power of Bioengineering!

Let’s take our first foray into Science as set out by the Hawkmoon RPG. As noted, whereas Stormbringer went into ample depth with Sorcery, Hawkmoon leaves a giant, handwaiving gap in its Science mechanics.

So let’s take up the strands of what the game does provide, and see where it tries to lead us. Although I originally thought I could do the entire Science system (such as it is) in one post, it has surprisingly turned out to be too much to chew in one bite.

Today, I’ll try and tease out the implications of Bioengineering.

1) SCIENCE AS SKILLSET & PROCESS

The first evidence of Science mechanics we have in Hawkmoon are the various skills and examples of their use in the Player’s Book. The four Science skills are as follows:

Biological Lore Chemical Lore

Electrical Lore Machine Lore

These correspond to our modern fields of Biology, Chemistry, Electronics, and Mechanics. Actually, there is a fifth Science skill, Ancient Lore, that allows PCs to understand or unlock the secrets of ancient artifacts.

In truth, these initial four skills are cut from the same cloth as the Plant Lore and Poison Lore skills from Stormbringer, with different skill percentages ‘unlocking’ certain knowledge and abilities. However, more importantly, they also let a character manipulate the gameworld by creation of super science technology.

Let’s deep dive into the first and arguably most central to Hawkmoon, Biological Lore.

First off, Biological Lore allows some advantages to other skills.

• Having it allows the character to add 5% to First Aid per 20% of Biology skill

• There is also a vague mention of ‘curing’ patients with a successful skill roll, so we can assume this is for pathogens and poisons

Most importantly, it allows for knowledge of living organisms, as well as bio-engineering, i.e. the equivalent to demon summoning in Stormbringer. In the novels, bio-engineering is everywhere, from Count Brass’ horned horse (never called a unicorn), to the tamed riding flamingos of the Kamarg, to the Baragoon that haunts its swamps, all of these are remnants of ancient bioengineering. 

As the Science book tells us,

“THE WEAPONS of The Tragic Millenium produced many strange creatures. Most “monsters” in Hawkmoon are actually mutants, descended from the flora and fauna of our own day. Most mutants are not warped completely, in fact, most would be classifiable by our own biologists. Over the centuries, the chromosomal damage suffered by these mutants stabilized and became natural. The young of many such mutants are still born dead, and most breed much more slowly than natural animals. Some of these mutations and constructs are beneficial, or at least useful, such as the giant flamingos of the Kamarg.

There are artificial mutations as well, genetic constructs such as the baragoon and the war jaguars of Asia Communista, which were created under carefully controlled conditions by fairly uniform species. Unique individual mutants are extremely rare, and usually deformed - often too grotesque to survive long. Generally, where one mutant beast is seen, quite a few more just like it are around somewhere.”

Lots of fluff in there, but it is mostly evocative, and hints at what the Bioengineering ability is supposed to allow.

Here is a simplified description of the levels 

01-10 Recognize common plants & animals

11-20 Recognize exotic or dangerous plants & animals

21-30 Understand ecology, evolution, behaviour

31-40 Bioengineer superficial changes (skin colour, fur, feathers, eyes), also modify STR or SIZ by + or - 1D3,

41-50 Bioengineer minor changes (+ or - 1 AR, thick fur, tail, etc), also modify STR or SIZ by + or - 1D6.

51-60 Evaluate / estimate unknown abilities, behaviour, and biology

61-70 Bioengineer complex changes (+ or - 3 AR, gliding flaps, spikes, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 1D6.

71-80 Bioengineer minor structural changes (paws to hands, quadruped to biped, litters instead of single births, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 2D6.

81-90 Bioengineer major structural changes (speech, herbivore to carnivore, immunity to poison or radiation, disease carrier, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 4D6.

91-00 Bioengineer unnatural or new changes (wings, tails, extra legs, glowing, water breathing, psychic, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 8D6.

That’s a lot of information and abilities to process there, exactly like the Poison Lore and Plant Lore from Stormbringer. Personally, I would move the knowledge from 51-50 down to 31-40 and bump bio-engineering up the chain, then systematize or streamline the bonuses given.

2) THE REQUISITES OF BIOENGINEERING

As a corollary to the Biological Lore skill section, we are also given some details of what is needed to perform Bioengineering:

“To conduct bioengineering experiments, a scientist must have a proper laboratory. The details of constructing and maintaining such are left to the gamemaster, but such should be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Once the lab is built and filled with instruments, experiments can be conducted. Creation of a basic mutation in a chosen organism takes 60 - INT (minus the researcher’s INT) months and a successful Biological Lore skill roll. A failed skill roll may simply result in a failure to obtain the desired result or it may cause the death or maiming of the organism.”  (40-41)

To summarize, this is all we know about bio-engineering:

Place: A laboratory, though few details are given.

Time: 60 - INT months to make a mutagen

Finances & Materials: No details given.

Skill Roll: Biological Lore, but with no details on success or failure.

As we can see, the text leaves a lot to the imagination. Also, this is the most detailed of all the scientific process explanations for Science skills, which grow shorter as the skill chapter proceeds. As a writing instructor at university for nearly two decades, I can’t help but see this as evidence that the book was rushed, and that the creators wrote and revised the initial section on Biological Lore, but ran out of time to do the same for Machine, Chemical, and Electrical Lores, not to mention Ancient Lore.

Let’s try and fill in some holes and see what we get.

TYPES OF LABORATORY

First, we must determine what constitutes a laboratory. If we search the books for answers, this is what we get for all Science types:

Biology - Clinic

Chemistry - Refinery

Electronics - Workstation

Mechanics - Tool Shop

Ancient - Installation

So if we take ‘laboratory’ for the general term, but require one of the 5 specific structures for each type of Science done, we avoid re-use of materials and make experimentation suitably costly for greater constructs like Flame Cannons.

Next, time for biological experimentation seems straightforward, but doesn’t make sense if we consider that experiments can vary widely in difficulty. Putting a horn on a horse and turning a man into a Baragoon are very different things, and should take vastly different amounts of time. Maybe we can link the scale of work done with the time required, a logical extension.

To do this, we need to add some sort of resource. One of the greatest RPGs involving mutants was the old Palladium TMNT game. Despite its faults in other areas, its Bio-Energy system for creating mutants was very solid. In the same way, implementing a Mutagen Point (MP) cost system for Bio-Engineering in Hawkmoon should help streamline the time calculations and overall process.

MP COSTS

1 MP per die of attribute modified

1 MP per point of AR modified

2 MP per superficial change (skin colour, fur, feathers, eyes) Skill 41-50.

3 MP per minor exterior change (thick fur, tail, etc). Skill 51-60.

4 MP per complex changes (gliding flaps, spikes, etc). Skill 61-70.

5 MP per minor structural change (paws to hands, quadruped to biped, litters instead of single births, etc). Skill 71-80.

6 MP per major structural change changes (speech, herbivore to carnivore, immunity to poison or radiation, disease carrier, etc) Skill 81-90.

7 MP per unnatural changes (wings, tails, extra legs, glowing, psychic, etc). Skill 91-00.

TIME FORMULA FOR BIO-ENGINEERING

30 + MP - INT 

In other words, take a base of 30 (reduced to compensate for varying MP costs of abilities), add the Mutagen Points the experiment costs, then subtract the Scientist’s INT to determine the time in months to complete the world. Note that any experiment cannot be less than 30 months regardless of calculations. Also, bio-engineering that is merely replicating previous work for which all instructions are understood reduces the base by half to 15.

For example, if a Scientist wanted to make a guard dog with +1D6 STR and immune to radiation for travelling through the wasteland, it would cost him 1 MP for the 6 MP for the immunity, for a total of 7. According to the formula, the cost in time would be 30 (base) + 7 - the Scientist’s INT.

FINANCES & MATERIALS 

I won’t go into finances at the moment, as both Hawkmoon and Stormbringer have price lists for daily goods and little else. Instead, I think it is simpler to use social class as a marker of wealth. In this case, only Nobles and Scientists should have the resources to afford any type of laboratory, and may still be required to quest for materials and extra funds.

But we should try to specify exactly WHAT is needed to perform experiments. If we do a cost analysis for Bio-engineering, we might get something like this:

TEST SUBJECT - Every experiment needs one. Many are unwilling, as was Hawkmoon when he had the Jewel in the Skull implanted. This has lots of great game implications, including kidnapping of victims for experiments, and experimentation on political enemies or prisoners, for example.

BIO-MATERIALS - British scientist and broadcaster Heinz Wolff coined the term bioengineering in 1954, so preceding The Jewel in the Skull’s appearance in 1967 by a scant 13 years. The mechanics of gene splicing etc that inform our present day knowledge of bio-engineering could be imported here usefully. For example, if you want to put a horn on your horse, maybe start with DNA from a rhino horn and a horse. This could be used as a story hook to have PCs quest for a rare genetic specimen, or else gain funds to barter for the materials needed.

MUTAGEN - As in the real world, some mutagenic agent, usually radioactive, is needed to create change in an organism. Yet again, this has great game implications, as characters will have to brave the radioactive wastes to obtain mutagen if they want to try their hand at bio-engineering. Given the short term nature of playing Hawkmoon, bio-engineering is likely to stay the province of NPCs, usually evil, unless PCs need it for a specific goal.

Finally, determining degree of success or failure in a bioengineering roll is also easily delineated much like I did for the Sorcery skill in Stormbringer.

BIOENGINEERING SUCCESS OR FAILURE

(Roll vs Biological Lore skill)

CRITICAL - Smashing Success! The Scientist gets exactly what they intended, with no complications.

SUCCESS - Success! The Scientist gets exactly what they intended, with 1 to 2 complications.

FAILURE - Failure! Time and money has been wasted, and the Scientist must start over again.

FUMBLE - Abject Failure! Not only has time and money been wasted, a monstrosity has been created due to some error. Roll random mutations and complications. All this and the Scientist must start over again as well.

3) THE EFFECTS OF BIOENGINEERING

Finally, the effects and details of bioengineering are available in muddled form in the Mutations section at the end of the Science book. To me, this is another indicator of the rushed nature of the project, especially given the preponderance of phrases like “... effects are A, B, or C etc.” A lot of it strikes the reader as placeholder text that the design staff just never had time to return to, and which probably passed muster due to the culture of gamemasters at that time, who often created their own houserules or discussed options with players. Although Stormbringer 4E’s Demon Abilities section is more filled out, it too suffers from a similar lack of taxonomy, or overarching theme of powers, that plagues Hawkmoon.

In this case, it would be a simple (yet time-consuming) solution to go through the muddled list of mutations, which mixes good and bad and power levels with little rhyme or reason, and classify them based on Beneficial / Harmful, and Mutation Level for the former to allow calculation of MP cost when bio-engineering. For instance, here is the first page of mutations.

Adaptability (Beneficial, Complex change = 4 MP)

Allergy (Harmful)

Ability Increase (Beneficial, MP cost varies according to skill level, which also affects number of dice used. Also, Scientists can do both ability decreases on an organism to offset increases, but if this results in an attribute of 0, the creature is stillborn)

Ability Decrease (Harmful)

Biped (Beneficial, Minor structural change = 5 MP)

Camouflage (Beneficial, Comlex = 4 MP)

Coloration (Beneficial, Superficial = 2 MP)

Congenital Disease (Harmful)

Disease Carrier (Harmful, unless intentional, in which case Beneficial, Major structural change = 6 MP)

Group Intelligence  (Harmful, unless intentional, in which case Beneficial, Unnatural change = 7 MP)

In this way, you could easily create tables of random Beneficial and Harmful mutations, see all their MP costs at a glance, and basically take the ambiguity out of the process.

Also, bioengineering should not come without some cost to the test subject. Basically, no one should want to undergo the process willingly. This prevents it from becoming overpowered, but also keeps it a danger instead of a kewl power that any min maxer would willingly inflict on his character, as befits Moorcock’s fiction.

CONCLUSION

Although I was fairly harsh on Hawkmoon in my first post, I will amend my opinion with regards to Biological Lore, since with a little work, there is a usable system provided for Bio-engineering. It is hampered by being disorganized and split between books, but is a worthy and salvageable part of the game.

Due to the characteristic Chaosium editorial habit of splitting necessary information between different books (Player’s and Science in this case), as well as the paucity of details as the text progresses, we have a somewhat fleshed out and workable Bioengineering system, but with increasingly vague and thus non-functional rules for Electrical Lore, Chemical Lore, and Machine Lore.

This is a pity, since Flame Cannons and Silver Machines are just as much part of the Hawkmoon setting as mutants and genetic constructs.

But that is a tale for another time.

Seth's Best?

 I'm a big admirer of Seth Skorkowsky. Guy is a font of wisdom and enthusiasm for the hobby.

Although I have enjoyed and profited from many of his vids, his latest on 6 rules to steal and use in other games is a real corker.

00:00 Intro 01:27 Bonus/Penalty Dice

Roll an extra die, take the better if there's a bonus, worst if there's a penalty.

02:41 Inspiration

Do something cool, get an Inspiration point. Can be used as a bonus die on a roll, also may be given to other players. Doesn't roll over to other sessions.

04:14 Pushed Rolls

After a non-combat failed roll, can reroll at the risk of a complication (ie stopped by police), Must describe what they do differently.

05:51 Connections Rule

Two times, each PC can flashback to a memory that gives a skill bonus (ie + 10%). Can be used for NPCs.

09:18 Relation Inspiration

Characters have relations with others (1 = superficial, 2= close, 3 = intimate) that gives them a bonus when fighting for (or penalty when against) their acquaintance.

11:46 Talking & Analysis Phase

Each round of combat / duel, remark on a weakness of or psyche out a foe then roll initiative & fight with that bonus.

13:46 Story Points

(Modified Inspiration) get max 3, carried over in one shots even if characters change.

15:04 Closing

Watch it here

HERE

Lazy Sunday Stormbringer (& Hawkmoon) Redux # 20 - The Nationality Table

Greetings Moonbeam Roadsters!

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying a cool summer back in Canada, and watching the stress drop off sonny and myself.

It is NICE to be home.

Job offers for fall are rolling in, old friends are rolling up loaded with craft beer, and I see my family every day.

I’ve taken my foot off the gas for this blog, and will get back to my projects this fall.

However…

I’ve had a simple idea about The Nationality Table in both the old Stormbringer and Hawkmoon rpgs.

Here it goes.

What’s Wrong With The Nationality Table?

Honestly, nothing. It is a fine piece of flavour in both games. It is wildly unbalanced, but so are the advantages of nationality in Moorcock’s fiction. I prefer using it. In the last game I ran, we had a Melnibonean High Priest leading a motley crew of sailors, savages, and scammers from all over the Young Kingdoms.

But not everyone feels as I do.

My younger players found the chaotic nature of nationality and occupation rolls a bit disconcerting. To be fair, us grognards may enjoy the challenge of playing a character weakened in stats by their nationality, but most people find it less than enjoyable. Then there’s the criticism that, by giving civilized characters high bonuses and savage characters penalties to attributes, colonial discourses of superiority and inferiority are replicated (as was the point of the author…)

Game designers have focused on this perceived inequality. Witness the stripping away of national difference in Elric! and subsequent editions of the game, as well as the barring of Melniboneans as player characters. This has unfortunately the effect of flattening out nationality in a game based on an IP where it is a pivotal aspect of the characters.

In this case, I’d like to offer a solution that keeps the uniqueness of nationality, while making every character equally empowered by their background, and allowing the players more choice in their attribute bonuses.

Civilization vs Savagery

Robert E Howard famously opined on the following difference between savages and civilized men,

“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.”

In keeping with this staple theme of the sword & sorcery genre, I’d like to offer the following rule for attribute modifications due to nationality:

Player characters (and NPCs if you are rolling them) get a 1D4 bonus to one attribute for nationality, as well as one for their occupation, based on whether it is of a savage or civilized nature.

Nationality Bonus

If their nationality is a civilized, urban setting, they can choose to add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice (either INT, POW, or CHA).

If their nationality is a savage, rural setting, they can choose to add 1D4 to a physical attribute of their choice (either STR, CON, SIZ, or DEX)

If their nationality is a hybrid setting with both cities and wilderness, roll a die. If the result is even, they add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice, but if it is odd, they add 1D4 to a physical attribute. 

Examples

Nationalities (Stormbringer)

Civilized - Melnibone, Pan Tang, Filkhar, Eshmir, Isle of Purple Towns

Savage - Myrrhyn, Shazaar, Oin, Yu, Org, Tarkesh, Ilmiora, Weeping Waste, 

Hybrid - Dharijor, Jharkor, Vilmir, Pikarayd, Argimiliar, Lormyr, Nadosokor

Nationalities (Hawkmoon, Tragic Europe)

Civilized - Granbretan

Savage - Carpathia, Catalonia, Germania, Greece, Kyrus, Orkneys, Scandia, Switzer, Syria, Turkia, Yel

Hybrid - Espaniya, Italia, Magyaria, Muskovia, Osterland, Persia, Romania, Shekia, Sicilia, Slavia, Ukraine

(NB: I can’t be bothered to do Amarehk at this point…)

Occupation Bonus

Similarly, if their occupation is an urban or mental profession, they can choose to add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice (either INT, POW, or CHA).

If their occupation is a savage, physical one, they can choose to add 1D4 to a physical attribute of their choice (either STR, CON, SIZ, or DEX).

If their occupation is of a hybrid nature present in both cities and wilderness, roll a die. If the result is even, they add 1D4 to a mental attribute of their choice, but if it is odd, they add 1D4 to a physical attribute. 

Occupations (both games)

Mental - Merchant, Noble, Scholar, Sailor (Captain / mate), Scholar, Sorcerer, Scientist, Priest, Warrior (Assassin)

Physical - Farmer, Hunter, Sailor (deckhand), Warrior

Hybrid - Craftsman, Mutant, Thief, Beggar

NB: If a player character has multiple occupations, they can choose ONE to base their attribute modification on. Multiple bonuses due to different occupations seems too unbalanced to me.

Let’s Try It!

OK, so let’s roll a character in Stormbringer, then one in Hawkmoon and compare how they would make out under the old rules and these houserules.

Stormbringer Character Example

Nationality roll: 55 Weeping Waste

Original Modifier: + 1D6 to STR & CON, + 1D4 to DEX, - 1D4 from CHA, - 1 from SIZ if over 10

New Modifier: + 1D4 to a physical attribute of choice

Occupation roll: 53 NA due to nationality, automatically Hunter-Warrior

Houserule: Gets another 1D4 to a physical attribute, or mental if Assassion is also rolled (rolled 2, no luck).

Total

Old method:  + 1D6 to STR & CON, + 1D4 to DEX, - 1D4 from CHA, - 1 from SIZ if over 10

New method: + 1D4 to TWO physical attributes of choice (or both can be applied to one attribute if wished)

Hawkmoon Character Example

Nationality roll: 67 Romania

Original Modifier: + 1D3 POW

Houserule:  + 1D4 to either one physical or mental (result is 2, even, so he’s urban and the bonus is applied to a mental attribute of choice)

Occupation roll: 53 Sailor

Original modifier: 0

Houserule: + 1D4 to a physical attribute, unless the character is a captain or mate, in which case the bonus is applied to a mental attribute (rolled 2, so just a sailor).

Total

Old method: + 1D3 to POW

New method: + 1D4 each to a mental and a physical attribute of choice

The Verdict

Of course, for nationalities that already have enviable bonuses, this new method of determining nationality & occupation modifiers feels like a step down. But for most nondescript nationalities, and especially for those with disadvantages, this method is a definite step up.

NB: Hawkmoon is lacking the Stormbringer ability for Warriors to also become Assassins, a telling oversight in a game purportedly set in the savage aftermath of a world war. Since secondary occupations are consistent for other occupations like Sailor (which allows Mate or Captain in both rulesets), I would allow this rule to apply to either setting, and in the future may extend secondary occupation possibilities to all.

Also, the lack of priests in Hawkmoon seems another oversight. Even without magic, they serve as the pillar of local communities, and thus should be allowed.

BONUS CONTENT!

The Madness of the Masters (Melniboneans & Granbretanians)

For both Melnibone and Granbretan, madness (by human standards) is considered a defining characteristic. Here is a table that determines the character's madness and how it affects the game.

1 Sadist - Takes any opportunity to inflict pain. Often become torturers or prison guards. Adds a dice of damage when inflicting pain, but takes an extra dice when injured.

2 Masochist - Enjoys feeling pain as if it were pleasure. Particularly useful in imperial guards or underlings. Always takes half damage, wears only light armor.

3 Romantic Obsessive (stalker) - Must make a POW x 3% roll when in the presence of an important NPC of possible love interest. If failed, falls in love, begins wooing, and stalks the character despite detriment to their mission or safety. Loses interest if their target reciprocates their affection.

4 Workaholic - Puts work before their own health and safety. Gets double chance of critical skill roll when working towards their mission, but unable to get a critical on any skill roll not directly connected to the mission. 

5 Paranoia - Trusts no one. Always has an escape plan when things go awry, but must roll a POW x 3% to be able to trust or help others.

6 Multiple Personality - Has 1D4 alternate personalities. Reroll Nationality & Occupation, apply when in the other mindset. Roll POW x 3% every morning or when under duress to stay in the main personality, otherwise they switch to a random other until the next day.

7 Fascist - Constantly attempt to gain power and control others. Every successfully persuaded NPC become a follower and attacks anyone critical of them. Often become troop leaders, always hungry for power.

8 Serial Murderer - Must take a life at least monthly. Lose 1% off ALL skills for every day past a month when they haven’t killed. Gains + 10% to all skills for the 24 hours after a murder, but this applies only once a month (ie can't kill someone and get this bonus everyday).