Preview: Stability
over 4 years ago – Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 04:38:40 AM

Hello Renegades!

We'll be posting our next backers-only Kickstarter manuscript preview on Wednesday this week (you've checked out the first big manuscript post, right backers?), but Eric's been kind enough to write up another preview of an upcoming bit of the game - this time, we're talking about Stability!

Stability

Eric here. Today, I’m sharing most of the current mechanics for Stability. The Stability track works much like the health track, with damage to it being the result of minor, medium, or major Instability (marked with slashes, X’s, and asterisks just like bashing, lethal, and aggravated damage). Without further ado:

Stability measures the extent and progression of a Deviant’s mutations as she retreats farther from human society and loses control of her powers. After her Divergence, a Remade must relearn who she is and what she stands for. Her world has fundamentally changed — not only due to those alterations brought about by her Variations and Scars, but by that part of her soul they’ve broken as they anchored in.

She also works to control her Variations. Getting a grasp on her powers is essential: she needs to keep them in check to avoid harming innocents and be able to unleash them on the conspiracies that hunt her. When a Variation fails or responds in an erratic manner, the results can be catastrophic. The Deviant’s body reacts, her Scars intensifying in response to the power fluctuation or to the Renegade’s own panicked reaction. Sometimes, she can get them back under control, by focusing on the things that ground her. She protects her loved ones. She pours her rage into dismantling the conspiracy. If a Deviant is unable to rein in her Instabilities, she risks a horrifying spiral that leads to further mutation, madness, and possibly, death.

When the character neglects her Touchstones or feels her carefully constructed sense of self shaken, her Stability is wounded and she gains an Instability. Instabilities are measured in three degrees of severity: minor, medium, and major.

When the character has taken sufficient levels of Instability, her Scars grow more severe and difficult to control. Minor Instabilities aren’t always immediately obvious. Scars flare up more often, and Involuntary Variations rage out of control longer. Most Deviants regard minor Instabilities as an ever-present, if unwelcome, companion. Few remain completely free of Instability for long, if ever.

Medium Instabilities get harder to overlook. Like a mole that is noticeably larger than it was a week ago or a mysterious lump where no lump should be, such Instabilities make themselves a constant source of worry for the Remade. He might try to shrug off the increased frequency of memories glitching on him as simply being distracted. He can hide smaller wounds and subtle changes to his body by dressing carefully to conceal any unusual growths. But no matter how much he tries to pretend everything is normal, the Broken recognizes these are signs that something is seriously wrong.

Major Instabilities are impossible to ignore, representing as they do a truly existential threat to the Deviant. Each such injury to the Remade’s fractured soul comes with a new Scar, symptoms that worsen exponentially with each new spiritual tumor. Many Broken never fully recover from a major Instability, for such damage is exceptionally stubborn.

Marking Instability

The character’s Stability track contains a number of boxes equal to 5 + his Acclimation.

Instabilities are marked off from left to right, with the most severe injuries in the leftmost box, pushing the least severe further to the right as injuries accrue. When healing Instabilities, the rightmost boxes are healed first, progressing to the left.

At the start of a story, the character marks off a number of minor Instabilities equal to the Magnitude of her highest Variation.

When a character suffers a minor Instability, mark it with a slash (\) in the empty box farthest to the left on her Stability track.

When a character suffers a medium Instability, mark it with an X in the box farthest to the left that doesn’t already contain a medium or major Instability. If this marks over a minor Instability, that minor Instability moves one box to the right.

When a character suffers a major Instability, mark it with a large asterisk (*) in the box farthest to the left that doesn’t already contain a major Instability. If this marks over a medium or minor Instability, those shift to the right.

Consequences

Unlike Health, Stability has no wound penalties. However, the number of Instabilities marked off does have mechanical effects:

• Every minor, medium, or major Instability in the last (rightmost) five boxes imposes a 1-die penalty on Scar Resistance rolls.

• Every medium or major Instability in the last five boxes adds one Magnitude to a Scar. This cannot create new Scars.

• For every major Instability in the last five boxes, the player must choose a new, unentangled Scar. This Scar’s Magnitude must adhere to the rules for new unentangled Scars.

• If the rightmost box is filled with a major Instability, the characters’ mutations have progressed too far beyond his ability to adapt or heal, and he gains the End Stage Condition.

Stabilizer

A character with the Stabilizer Merit possesses an item or receives a treatment that blunts some of the impact of Instability and helps keep certain Scars under control.

As Instabilities only carry consequences when adding Magnitude to Scars in the last five boxes, dots in Acclimation give the character additional Stability boxes she can fill with no consequences attached.

Causes

Instability rears its head when the Remade feels her grasp on her humanity slip. It stems from a loss of control, either over her powers or in her ability to navigate her relationships with her Touchstones. The following situations create Instability:

• At the start of a story, the character marks off a number of minor Instabilities equal to the Magnitude of her highest Variation.

• At the end of each chapter during which the character did not further one or more Touchstones, the character suffers a minor Instability.

• A Dramatic Failure on a Scar Finesse or Scar Resistance roll causes a minor Instability.

• A Success or a Failure result on a Faltering roll causes a minor Instability, while a Dramatic Failure causes a medium Instability.

• The death (or permanent destruction) or a Loyalty Touchstone causes a medium Instability.

Additionally, some Scars, Variations, and Adaptations may inflict Instability, leading the Deviant toward a dangerous spiral of Instability and mutation unless she finds a way to halt its progress.

Healing Instability

Instabilities do not simply heal with time. The blows to a Remade’s psyche require more than just thinking about what she did, or giving herself some distance from the act. In fact, withdrawing from human contact only exacerbates her Instability. Instead, the transformed must actively work to shore up her relationships with and her approaches to her Touchstones. By acting in support of her Loyalty Touchstones or pursuing her Conviction Touchstones, she pulls herself back toward more stable spiritual ground, and her mind and body respond in kind. The mutations she’s suffered recede, and her control over her Variations returns.

• Once per scene, acting in concert with her Conviction Touchstone heals one minor Instability or downgrades a medium Instability to minor.

• Once per scene, acting in support of her Loyalty Touchstone heals one medium or minor Instability.

• Killing or otherwise permanently destroying a Conviction Touchstone heals one major, medium, or minor Instability.

• By gaining a new permanent Scar, the Deviant may downgrade one major Instability to medium, or heal one medium or minor Instability. This is limited to once per chapter and is not available once all Stability boxes are filled with major Instability.

End Stage Condition

The Divergence has reached a terminal stage, as new mutations proliferate and existing ones worsen beyond the capacity of the human mind and body to compensate for them. Any of the Deviant’s Magnitude 5 Variations (as well as those of lower Magnitude that represent the maximum Magnitude for that Variation) exceed their usual capabilities and activate immediately. A character with Gigantic 5 might grow to Size 30, for example, or a per-scene, per-chapter, or per-story limit might not apply to a Variation that normally has one. Although this can be potent, it is primarily a narrative effect — the explosive power of a supernova that will leave only a dead star behind.

Unless the character resolves this Condition by the end of the current chapter, he dies. No medical intervention, Variation, or supernatural influence can prevent or reverse this death. The forces at work are too much for the human body to bear, and the Deviant’s cracked soul shatters beyond repair.

Possible Sources: Suffering a major Instability in the character’s rightmost Stability box.

Resolution: Heal a major Instability by destroying a Conviction Touchstone.

Lots to digest there, and that's only a taste! We'll see even more of the bigger picture when we share our next manuscript preview to backers in 2 days!

In the meantime, don't forget to share this campaign with your friends, family, gaming group, and curious parties! We've already built a might cohort - let's see big this experiment can grow!

#Renegades

#Deviant

#ChroniclesOfDarkness

Search & Destroy
over 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 22, 2019 at 05:22:57 AM

Search and Destroy

Now.

“What do you mean you lost the fucking glass cutter?” Spider clenched his fists in frustration, looking for guards for what felt like the hundredth time. I am so done with this amateur bullshit.

He felt a chuckle brush against the back of his mind, while the figure in the balaclava shrugged and patted his pockets again. “I thought they were in this jacket when we packed,” he whispered. “My bad.”

Spider shook his head and leaned over his partner, speaking in a hoarse whisper. “How are we supposed to fucking get into the medical facility now, Dom?”

“El Santo,” Dom said quickly, adjusting his mask. “That’s my codename. The Saint. Superheroes have them, you know, to hide their identities? And because of the mask, I thought….”

The tattooed man shoved his finger in Dom’s face, shadows from the hood of his hoodie making him look ominous. “I am going to fucking kill you and bury you in your fucking mask if you don’t open this fucking window right fucking now.”

Dom put his gloved hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay.” He put his hands on each side of the window frame. Spider could hear him muttering “El Santo” to himself as he pushed. For a moment nothing happened, and then the metal frame around the window started to bend and twist.

“Hang on,” Spider said. “Let me get the alarm before you finish.” Dom nodded and pulled his balaclava up to his eyes. The small trickle of blood was coming out of his nose, right on cue, and Dom used some tissues from his cargo pants to mop it up.

As he was cleaning himself up, Spider peeled one of his gloves off and felt around inside the frame. Within seconds, he found the wire where he expected it to be. Closing his eyes, he felt where the electricity in the wire should go — to the alarm systems. He imagined himself talking to the alarm system, convincing it that it didn’t really want to go off. The alarm system agreed that maybe it was time for a break.

He opened his eyes and pulled the glove back on, ignoring the sharp pain behind his eyes. “Alarm’s off,” he said. Spider looked down, and saw the bloody tissues lying on the ground.

“Are you actually stupid?” he asked, trying hard not to yell.

Dom pulled the balaclava back down. “What? You think we’re going to get fined for littering or something? Who cares?”

“That’s DNA, moron. They’ll find out it was you in five seconds. Don’t you watch CSI?”

“Nah, man. I prefer Elementary. That Lucy Liu is one fine….”

Spider whispered through gritted teeth. “Get. In.”

“Not like you have to worry about DNA,” Dom muttered as he pushed the window in the rest of the way. Bits of concrete and metal fell to the hard floor inside, making Spider wince, but nothing happened as Dom carefully set the frame on the floor and off to the side.

“See?” he hissed. “Didn’t even break the glass.”

Spider climbed in after, squeezing his thick frame through the hole in the concrete. “That’s the first thing you’ve done right so far,” he muttered, pulling a pen flashlight from his pocket and switching it on. The floors were linoleum (my wife used to call it “lick and stick”) and the walls were covered in colored arrows on a pale green background. The arrows matched with colored lines painted on the floor. He found the line he needed and motioned to Dom to follow.

We’re heading to the basement. Spider imagined speaking the words, even though he kept his mouth shut. In his mind he pictured the third member of their team. He recalled Niamh’s dark green hair, shaved away from the cochlear implant behind her ear. He imagined her matching green lipstick, the soft leather jacket she always wore, the tattered T-shirt with “Not ignoring you, just deaf and DGAF” fading on the front. It always felt weirdly intimate, like remembering a lost lover. Like remembering the good times with his wife.

After a moment, the image of Niamh in his mind turned and looked at him. Her hands fluttered in front of her face, but he could hear the words clearly in his mind. About time. I was getting bored listening to the bromance with Dom.

Spider and Dom carefully walked down the hallway. At every corner Spider stood under the glass domes obscuring the security cameras. He looked up at them, whispering for them to shut down for a few seconds, to take a break after a long night of watching empty corridors. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dom watching him nervously. The pain felt like it was going to split his head apart. Spider ignored both and kept working.

After the third camera, Dom tapped him on the shoulder and pointed down the hallway. Spider glanced, and saw two shadows lurking in the flickering florescent light.

Niamh swam in front of his thoughts, her hands urgent. Dom says you have two guards up ahead.

I see ‘em, he replied.

Told you to bring a mask, she thought, her green lips twisting into a smirk.

Told you I want them to see me coming. See what I’ve become.

Dom tapped him on the shoulder again, and put his lips next to Spider’s ear. “What are we going to do, man? Niamh says we should abort.”

You should abort, Niamh thought at the same time.

Spider shook his head, pushing Dom back slightly. “No chance,” he whispered, knowing that Niamh could pick up the stray thought. “We came to find Suzanne, and she’s past those two.”

I want to trash these assholes as much as the next girl, but your wife will have to wait. And you’re not getting any better.

He cracked his knuckles. In the empty hallway, they sounded like gunshots, bouncing off the linoleum floors and concrete walls. The shadows stirred, and Spider could hear the footsteps heading toward him. “We’re doing this,” he muttered.

Dom pulled on the bottom of his balaclava nervously. “Fuck. Who’s stupid now?”

#Renegades

STRETCH GOALS!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Sep 21, 2019 at 08:18:53 AM

Hello Renegades,

James the kickstarter scientist here, with some updates on our first two Stretch Goal experiments.

[SUCCESS] – NEW ADD ON: Storyteller Screen. We’ll create a Deviant: The Renegades Storyteller Screen. Can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book for only +$20.

In addition to the rewards listed in each Reward Tier, backers can increase their overall pledge to add on  additional rewards. Simply increase your total pledge amount by the value indicated – we will confirm which add on rewards you’ve chosen via BackerKit surveys after the campaign has run.

All physical items that will require shipping (ie, The Storyteller Screen) can only be added to reward tiers that already include a hardcover copy of Deviant: The Renegades (Reward Tiers of $50+). Your rewards will be sent in a single shipment when the book becomes available.

[SUCCESS] – NEW SUPPLEMENT: The Clades Companion PDF. As Cephalists embrace wildernesses of the imagination, so we will create a new supplement that moves beyond a purely human experience, introducing Forms designed for Storytellers and players who want to introduce Deviants who were not originally human beings (or at least not ones native to Earth). This includes sapient animals, androids, ephemeral entities trapped in human bodies, and exiles from alternate dimensions and timelines.  All backers receiving the Deviant: The Renegades PDF as part of their pledge level will automatically have the Clades Companion PDF added to their rewards list.

But, as I always said in Secret Science School, "Why Stop There?!? Let's see how big we can grow it!"

At $50,000 in funding – CELEBRATION OF DARKNESS ADD-ON UPGRADE: We’ll add the Beast: The Primordial PDF to the list of title options, and reduce the price to $12 EACH for this Add On.

At $56,000 in funding – SUPPLEMENT EXPANSION: The Clades Companion PDF. As Chimerics are at home with every species of animal, the Clades Companion PDF will be expanded to include a wide assortment of sample animals and Manticores - perfect for Remade with the Manticore Companion Merit or the Animal Transformation Variation.

Let's keep these experiments going by adding new backers to our cause! Don't forget to share our campaign on your social media and in your social circles! We've had an amazing start to this campaign, let's see how far we can take it!

#Renegades

#ChroniclesOfDarkness

FUNDED! And First Stretch Goals...
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 09:50:18 AM

Hello Renegades!

We've done it! Thanks to you, Deviant: The Renegades has been funded!

This means that you've funded a print run of the hardcover edition of Deviant: The Renegades, which will be as awesome and amazing as Onyx Path can make it! It'll be a fantastic reward for backers to thank them for their support, and a portion of the print run will be sold into the game and hobby trade to continue to support this industry and the Chronicles of Darkness around the world!

By why stop there...

As we increase the overall funding and support for the project, we’re able to add additional resources to the project, expand the rewards listed, and add in new offers and opportunities. Each Stretch Goal will have a target that, once reached, will add a project to the reward list. We will continue to build on this list when we achieve these targets during the campaign. Whenever we achieve a stretch goal, the image will be updated to reflect the achievement.

NEW EXPERIMENTS!

At $40,00 in funding -  NEW ADD ON: Storyteller Screen. We’ll create a Deviant: The Renegades Storyteller Screen. Can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book for only +$20.

At $45,000 in funding  – NEW SUPPLEMENT: The Clades Companion PDF. As Cephalists embrace wildernesses of the imagination, so we will create a new supplement that moves beyond a purely human experience, introducing Forms designed for Storytellers and players who want to introduce Deviants who were not originally human beings (or at least not ones native to Earth). This includes sapient animals, androids, ephemeral entities trapped in human bodies, and exiles from alternate dimensions and timelines. All backers receiving the Deviant: The Renegades PDF as part of their pledge level will automatically have the Clades Companion PDF added to their rewards list.

Now that we've accomplished our primary goal - with the majority of the campaign still ahead of us - let's add additional options and support in the form of these Experiments - I mean, Stretch Goals! And if we continue on, we can continue to expand everyone's Rewards List as we hit new increased levels of funding!  We're just scratching the surface with new content, so let's keep going and see what we can add to Deviant: The Renegades!

#Renegades

#TheOneFriendlyProgenitor

Preview: Conviction & Loyalty
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 05:09:21 AM

Hello Renegades,

Over the next 4 weeks, we'll not only be sharing the kickstarter manuscript previews with all backers, but developer Eric Zawadzki has been kind enough to put together some general previews to highlight upcoming parts of the book, and give the kickstarter curious a better taste of the game.

Today, we're looking at Conviction and Loyalty.

Conviction and Loyalty

Eric here. Today, I’m posting a fair chunk of the current Conviction and Loyalty section of Deviant. If conspiracies drive the actions of the entire cohort, Conviction and Loyalty Touchstones provide specific motivation to each individual Remade. Ready? Here we go:

Divergence damages the part of the Remade’s soul that once guided her senses of self and identity, replacing Virtue and Vice with the twin Anchors of Loyalty and Conviction. She defines herself by her interactions with others — specifically those actions driven by love and hate and directed toward a specific person, group, cause, or location.

A Remade’s Conviction can run white hot or blisteringly cold. It compels the transformed to do what needs to be done, often forcing her to make hard choices in the pursuit of her designated enemies. It dictates her need to confront anyone who would keep her from pursuing her goals. Conviction is the churning, seething anger that always lurks at the edges of her emotions. It is what makes a Renegade fight, what gives her the courage to escape, and what pushes her to determine her own fate. Conviction serves as a source of Willpower based on her actions.

Where anger and hate guide Conviction, Loyalty represents the Remade’s ties to those she cares about deeply and strives to protect — both from herself and from the sinister forces she tangles with. These are those few people who have stood by her since her Divergence, who accepted her how she was before and how she is now. They’re the friends and family who refuse to be scared off even when she insists they ought to run, that it’s for their own good. They’re also the new friends she’s made since everything changed. It’s hard for a Deviant to maintain relationships, but these ones approach the sacred for her. She’ll do anything it takes to protect the people who have earned her trust to this degree. Loyalty restores the Broken’s Willpower when she acts to uphold it.

Touchstones

Touchstones invoke strong feelings of hate or love in the Remade, anchoring her to her remaining humanity. Acting for or against a Touchstone helps the Deviant keep her Instabilities from growing worse, while falling short of these obligations shakes her confidence and can trigger disastrous complications.

Whether Conviction or Loyalty, most Touchstones are individual people. Some Broken forge ties with an object, place, or organization, but these are always concrete and localized — something that can be threatened or destroyed by a single actor in a single time and place, whether with a gun or an explosive.

A Deviant hates her Conviction Touchstones with a limitless rage. She recalls them with a passion so deep it always seethes just beneath the surface, ready to boil over. Most are members of the conspiracy that stalks her or created her: her Progenitor, the school administrator who nominated her for the experimental program, the lab tech who injected her with the serum, or the old roommate who invited her along to participate in an obscure ritual. She might even wish to see the lab where she was experimented on destroyed, or the ritual altar smashed Others have earned her enmity in other ways, such as by threatening a Loyalty Touchstone, standing in the way of the Remade’s revenge, or inconveniencing her in other ways: the police officer who keeps hauling her in for questioning, or the neighborhood gang that’s always making trouble for the cohort and their allies.

If causing a Conviction Touchstone to suffer is satisfying, killing one outright offers a moment of catharsis. However, resolving a Conviction Touchstone by destroying it does not extinguish the yawning chasm of the Deviant’s need to protect or exact vengeance. The Remade who destroys one Conviction Touchstone almost always replaces it with another as soon as possible — or with a Loyalty Touchstone.

The focus of a Loyalty Touchstone is often someone the Deviant knew before her Divergence. This may be an old friend or lover, a partner in crime, or even a former enemy whose past sins now pale in comparison to what her Progenitor did to her. Some Touchstones form after the Renegade goes through her ordeal: the lab assistant who helped her escape, or the member of her cohort who bears an uncanny resemblance to her little sister. They are people who remind her that even though being Remade took away a piece of her humanity, it didn’t take all of it. They show the transformed kindness even when — especially when — she’s incapable of showing it to herself, and they have her back even if they don’t always agree with her choices.

Loyalty Touchstones are the source of both comfort and concern for the Deviant. The Touchstone is the person he goes to when he’s troubled, but that means if his enemies are watching, and he’s not careful enough, he’s putting his friend in the conspiracy’s crosshairs. Ruthless conspirators often threaten to harm the Touchstone, following her to work, watching her children on the playground. They make her life difficult, sometimes using bureaucratic frustrations to mask their involvement. Police show up on her doorstep, following up on a tip that she’s harboring the fugitive Renegade. Child services pays a visit based on an anonymous call from a concerned party. Some conspirators contact the Touchstone directly, attempting to turn her against the Remade or suggesting they can protect her from him if he grows violent. They try their best to sow seeds of doubt between them.

Upsetting the Broken’s loved ones is a combination of a taunt and a threat. The conspiracy wants the Renegade to know they’re watching, to know they’re keeping tabs on where he goes and who he values. Anything they can do to throw their target off-balance is just fine by the conspiracy. In extreme cases, the Deviant’s enemies kidnap his Touchstones or put them in physical danger. While this can draw the Remade out of hiding or make him come to the table and negotiate, it also serves to fuel his hate and determination against the conspirators involved. Overtly threatening a Touchstone can backfire — a Touchstone is much less likely to be off the grid, and therefore will be missed by other people in her life if she suddenly stops showing up for work or her children don’t come to school. Conspirators usually deploy these extreme tactics sparingly, and only when they’re certain they can minimize the fallout.

Systems

• Starting Renegade characters begin with at least three dots in Conviction and one in Loyalty, which Origin then modifies (see Chapter One). The sum of Loyalty and Conviction is never more than five. Each dot has one associated Touchstone, a character toward whom the Renegade feels a particularly strong hatred or protectiveness.

• After a scene in which the Renegade makes progress toward one of her Conviction Touchstones, she gains one Willpower and takes a Beat. Once per chapter, when she risks danger or suffers for her Loyalty Touchstone, she regains all Willpower.

• If a Touchstone is destroyed or killed, or when a Touchstone falls to Wavering, the Broken’s Loyalty or Conviction falls by one (depending on which Trait the Touchstone was attached to). If both Loyalty and Conviction reach 0, the Deviant goes Feral.

• Once per chapter, the Remade may declare a new Touchstone to fill an open Touchstone slot — the player’s choice of Loyalty or Conviction. This Touchstone begins at Wavering, and therefore doesn’t increase the character’s Loyalty or Conviction, unless it is successfully affirmed.

• A Touchstone may switch from Loyalty to Conviction (or vice versa) without Wavering first, as long as the Touchstone itself remains the same. This immediately changes the rating of Loyalty/Conviction — increasing one and decreasing the other. When the Broken’s best friend betrays her, for example, her rage is so instantaneous she doesn’t pause to consider why her friend might have done such a thing, increasing Conviction by one and decreasing Loyalty by one, in turn.

• Abandoning an existing Touchstone and replacing it with a new one is a two-step process. First, the Remade must cut ties with the old Touchstone, therefore losing a point of Loyalty or Conviction. This counts the same as his declaring a new Touchstone action for the chapter. Once the next chapter begins, he may name his new Touchstone, which begins at Wavering.

• Acting counter to his Touchstone — failing to pursue the subject of a Conviction Touchstone or abandoning a Loyalty Touchstone in a time of need — means the Renegade has Faltered. The player rolls his current trait rating as a dice pool to determine the severity of the damage to the relationship:

• Supporting or acting against Touchstones also affects the Deviant’s long-term Stability.

Roll Results

Success: The character’s devotion to the Touchstone remains firm, although the strain of Faltering increases his Instability. Both trait and Touchstone remain in place, but he suffers a minor Instability.

Exceptional Success: The character remains both steadfast in his commitment to the Touchstone and grounded. As Success, but the character does not suffer a minor Instability.

Failure: The character partially closes himself off to his commitment to the Touchstone. The Touchstone becomes Wavering, reducing his Loyalty or Conviction trait by one. If the Touchstone was already Wavering, he loses it entirely and cannot reestablish a connection to the same Touchstone during the current chapter. In addition, the character suffers a minor Instability.

Dramatic Failure: The lapse deals serious damage to the character’s soul. As Failure, but he instead suffers a medium Instability.

The Renegade can also attempt to affirm a Wavering Touchstone, strengthening his friendship or rekindling his hatred for a conspirator. When he acts in support of a Wavering Touchstone such that he would allow him to heal Instability (whether or not he actually has any), he does not receive the normal benefits of acting in support of the Wavering Touchstone. Instead, the Touchstone is no longer Wavering, and the Renegade gains a dot in Conviction/Loyalty (as appropriate).

• Remade are more likely to trust the instincts and suggestions that come from her Loyalty Touchstones, and look warily on those that her Conviction Touchstones offer up. If a Conviction Touchstone is trying to socially maneuver the Deviant, she suffers a penalty equal to the Deviant’s Conviction Trait. Likewise, when the Broken’s Loyalty Touchstone is trying to spur her to act a certain way, she receives a number of bonus dice equal to the Deviant’s Loyalty. Conviction and Loyalty also impact the Deviant’s Doors in social maneuvering.

• Having a Touchstone adds a level of solidity to the Renegade’s actions concerning that person. All Deviants share the Stubborn Resolve Adaptation, which helps them resist supernatural mental influence when acting in support of a Touchstone. In addition, social maneuvering meant to support or

• Renegades with the Living Progenitor Merit receive a Touchstone that can’t be discarded. However, the Renegade’s relationship with that Progenitor can fluctuate between Loyalty and Conviction over the course of her story. If the Renegade acts against the trait her Progenitor is associated with, she still rolls Faltering as normal, but may not lose the Touchstone. However, when the Touchstone would become Wavering, she may instead move it to the other trait (Loyalty to Conviction or Conviction to Loyalty) to prevent it from becoming Wavering.

#Renegades

#DeviantTheRenegade

#ChroniclesOfDarkness