Memento Mori: a New Secret Society

Discussing all things Ravenloft
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DeepShadow of FoS
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Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

Still working on the Darkon stuff. Here's a critical question: does the Book of Names/Azalin have access to a person's memories, or their actual history? That is, does it go beyond what the person knows?

This is a critical point, because it would help to rule on whether an amnesiac would be recorded in the Book of Names upon crossing the border.
The Avariel has borrowed wings,
The Puppeteer must cut the strings
The Orphan Queen must take the throne
The Queen of Orphans calls them home
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DeepShadow of FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 2916
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2003 1:43 pm
Location: Heinfroth's Asylum

Re: Memento Mori: a New Secret Society

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

Digging up this secret society, and I'm trying to hammer out some stat ideas if anyone might care to help:
Hypnosis: The hypnosis skill in the RLCS (class skill for monks, sorcerers and wizards) allows post-hypnotic suggestion of a willing subject. One possible variation of this effect is to disguise a topic in the subject’s thoughts using an extended allegory. This is most commonly used when Memento Mori cell meetings are disguised as book clubs, gardening guilds, private tea parties or other innocuous gatherings. The person whose thoughts were disguised would know the truth and could speak freely if they choose to, but their surface thoughts would only refer to these topics in these allegorical terms.

The hypnosis check functions as a backup saving throw when the subject fails a save against mind reading. Success means that even though the subject’s thoughts can be read, the chosen topic is disguised. Failing by less than 5 means the disguised thoughts are inconsistent or paradoxical (i.e. “The sewing circle ladies said crocheting works on vampires”). Failing by 5 or more means the mind-reader knows the actual content of the surface thoughts. The second save also applies to interrogation under other forms of mind control, with failure meaning she can only speak about the topic in allegorical terms.

At any given time, a character can have one disguised topic per point of Intelligence bonus, and the secondary save drops by 5 points every 24 hours after the hypnosis took place until it reaches 0. Some families in Memento Mori incorporate mutual hypnosis into a single hour-long bedtime routine, to keep their resistance as high as possible. Taking 10 on such checks is quite easy, but taking 20 would take almost an entire day, which is too much for even the most dedicated fanatics.
If all goes well, you may be seeing this soon in an article on highlevelgames.ca
The Avariel has borrowed wings,
The Puppeteer must cut the strings
The Orphan Queen must take the throne
The Queen of Orphans calls them home
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