Borderlands Rules

Posted on by Joshua Macy

The Borderlands

I’ve posted some of the write-up of the new setting at the link above. Take a look, and let me know what you think.

Published by Joshua Macy

You want to know what manner of man is Joshua, What manner of man, you want to know.... A man of the moment is Joshua, and when the moment leads, there do I go! I live to love, I love to live!

3 thoughts on “Borderlands Rules”

  1. Well I, for one, am jazzed about this. I think it'll take some effort, but this could turn out really cool. The following are just some random thoughts.

    I was initially a bit concerned about the “mundane powers.” If you think about it, it's an oxymoron. I was thinking that mundanes should be able to take advantage of the gap in technology, or the supernatural's habitual inability to think in tech terms. That is, a mundane might be able to hit a vampire with a taser because most vampires wouldn't expect such a thing, if they even knew it existed. I'm much more comfortable with the mundane powers, now, because they obviously apply only to people who know they're in a story, and act accordingly.

    That said, the modern setting still makes me think that mundane characters should have a tech advantage of some sort over the demons, even if it's small — mundanes can communicate by cell phone, find obscure information on-line, that kind of stuff.

    Are you soliciting ideas for more Mundane Powers? How about:
    If I Can…Just…Reach Used if the mundane is is disarmed, but a weapon or other useful item is in view. If the mundane lunges for the item, and the supernatural is unable to attack that mundane further until the mundane actually touches the item.
    Our Only Hope Before a battle, the mundane can give a speech explaining how hopeless the situation is, and that the mundanes must succeed. This confers some sort of bonus on the rest of the party.

    I also wonder if adverse story cliches work the same way, such as the classic “Things can't possibly get any worse” or turning away from a “dead” enemy without checking.

  2. Maybe I should call it “Mundane Shticks” or something instead? BTW, I would phrase it not that they apply to people who know they're in a story, but to people who know that magic wants to make things fit into stories. It's a subtle distinction maybe, but I don't want the characters thinking of themselves as characters, but as people who can influence outcomes by adopting roles.

    I'm always open to suggestions for new powers, gifts, rules, etc.

    I'll have to think about adverse cliches; in general I like the idea, but I'm not sure how to make it work since the players won't be trying to invoke them, and it seems a bit unfair for the GM to invoke them against the players.

  3. I agree, btw, that mundanes can and ought to use tech against Supernaturals, but I think that will tend to arise naturally out of play without any special rules to support it.

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