Byzantium: Nightmares Undreamed Of

Recruitment | Re-Recruitment | Re-Recruitment 2 | OOC | IC

Player Characters

• Amata, Shadowsneak, Spells 3/3, Init +1, Speed 8, AC 13, Disposition 9/9 | Willpower 9/12, Psychic Armor 4/4, sword attack +0, dagger attack +0, Precognition
• Trystane Lyandre, Champion of Good, Init +1, Speed 8, AC 13, Disposition 10/10 now (14/15 future) | Willpower 8/9, baton attack +2, dagger attack +2, shortbow attack +3
• Caldwell Ulverman, Cultist of Yuhannah, Init -1, Speed 8, AC 13, Disposition 11/11, battleaxe +2, dagger +2, throwing knives +1 (10 yard range)

Keas Forgetender

NPC Squad Members

• Stanles Lear, Spellslinger, Spells 4/4, Init +2, Speed 8, AC 14, Disposition 8/8, Psychic Armor 5/5, rapier attack +0, Pistol attack, Wizard Sword attack +3 with 2d4+1 damage, Imbuement: Aura of Deadliness

Sample Byzantium Character Sheet

Characters Lost in Nightmare

Name	Align	Profession	Hit Die	Cha	Dex	Fer	Hlth	Int	Will	Social Class	Motivation	Background	Defining Aspect	Secret
Amata	Chaotic	Shadowsneak	d6	11	13	11	11	13	12	08	defiant survival	A Slave to My Birth	Agent of Change, One Step at a Time	The Stars Know My Name
Trystane Lyandre	Good	Champion	d8	16	13	11	16	13	09	09	outsider/absolution	Faith and Service	Light Lost in Darkness	Seeking Redemption, But
Caldwell Ulverman	Neutral	Cultist	d6	09	06	10	10	12	15	09	uncover Enigmas	Theosophical Bookhound	Argent Key of Yuhannah	Yuhannah the Unrevealed
Stanles Lear	Neutral	Spellslinger	d6	10	17	11	11	13	05	16	professionally hated	State-Sponsored War Wizard	Spells and Pistols at Sunrise	No/Accident / Sober/Once

Name	Resentment	Institution
Amata	0
Trystane	0
Caldwell	2
Stanles	1

Name	Housing	Rent	last rent paid
Amata	Living Poorly (run-down inn + street food)	10c/week
Trystane	Living Poorly (run-down inn + street food)	10c/week
Caldwell	Living Well, apartment above his father's bookstore (now belonging to Theosophical Society)	25c/week
Stanles	Living like the rich, The Wyvern Duke's Palace Inn	100c/week	Week 1 paid

Byzantium

Districts

• Iron Helmet
• Copper Scroll
  • The Poisoned Well
• Blue Chimes
  • The House of Favor, Carnegie Solomon's place
• Grey Slippers
  • Squire's Amulet, a section of the Grey Slippers district where a number of sages have stalls
• Swordwine: Thirsty Knife is the local vernacular for the Swordwine District, a mercantile quarter edging up on the wealthier parts of town. Its markets are frequented by those both with and without much coin, seeking its specialized wares. Thirsty Knife could mean the entire market, or just the seedier end of it, where the thirst of local's knives does sometimes get sated.
• Green Mirrors, an affluent section of town known for its many parks and ponds
  • Ren's manor

NPCs

• Ghazil Khan | post | description | A not unimportant minor vassal of the Duchess of the Three Winds. Baronet of something, though he prefers the Eastern titles. Something to do with ships and artichokes, that delicacy within the City.

• Cypress' Master | first appearance | She's wearing her human form today, her black hair long now, almost to her waist. It's pretty. She's always pretty, even when she's not human.

• Ensi the Bloodhound | first appearance | redheaded bard in tooled leathers of cream and burgundy, overly fond of her spyglass. New on the scene. Full of herself. Not much sense.

• Mudaris Arshan Hayati | first appearance | a mystic, former instructor at the University. Older, copper-skinned. Has a reputation as a legendary old-timer. Supposed to be a mentor to other Hunters, and very hard to find.

• Kashif Anwar Mualidi | first appearance | silk-trader, weaponsmith, assassin who's been around for a bit. Self-destructive peacock. Ivory-skinned and haired, with pink bloodshot eyes. Sharpened metal for fingernails.

• Banafsha | first appearance | slender black-skinned woman, likes making trades

• Mozhmarshad the Obscured, the Speaker of Truth | first appearance | in Squire's Amulet, a section of the Grey Slippers district where a number of sages have stalls

Notable Posts

• On the Subject of Chaos in Society, including setting information for the game
• On the Subject of Culture in Byzantium
• What Is Byzantium?
• Some notes on Encumbrance
• Blue OOC blocks vs Hidden sblocks
• On weapons and kit in the City
• Moving Carefully vs Moving Quickly
• Trystane shares Disposition
• Caldwell's abjuration - visual effect

House Rules

Chargen

• Players who lack any 13s or better in the starting attribute array for their character may either swap one set of attributes (per normal) or advance one of their Primary Attributes to 13.

Contacts

You each start play with a number of Contacts = 1 + CHA modifier (negative modifiers result in bonus Contacts automatically beginning on the lower end of the Reaction table). You can declare your unused Contacts at any time during play. You will have the opportunity to make additional Contacts in play, and can make a Between Adventures move in some extended downtime situations to generate more open Contacts if your current open Contacts are exhausted. When you activate a Contact, I'll roll against the Reaction and Seeing a Man About a Dog tables (TNU 137-138) to determine their current opinion of you and their ability to render the aid you desire. (With the exception that free Contacts generated by negative CHA will at best have a neutral Reaction).

Dodging

Per this OOC post, this revision replaces the Dodging text on TNU p. 221.

You may choose to dodge all incoming attacks instead of taking offensive action. You must declare this on your own action or the first time you are attacked in the round. While dodging, opponents use Disadvantage against your Dexterity score instead of attacking your Armour rating as their target number when rolling for attacks. If you declare that you are dodging during your action, you may also move. If you declare you are dodging before your turn in the initiative order, you may not do anything on your turn. Dodging counts for all attacks during the round.

Dodging also makes it harder for enemies to throw things at you, but counts the same as any other movement where firearms are concerned.

You cannot dodge if you are encumbered, or if you are wearing heavy armour.

Equipment

Backpacks take up one of the encumbering item slots, grant a free encumbering item slot, and can carry up to your allowed encumbrance. e.g. A backpack takes up an encumbering item slot, but you could carry a musical instrument inside it for free, all of your small items, and another three encumbering items (assuming you don't have any other encumbering items).

Spells

Variations are a new feature in The Nameless Grimoire. I'll be treating Variations as a variation on the spell that can be cast spontaneously, if the spell is mastered and memorized.

Imbuements: You may select one spell you have mastered, and receive a narrative effect for possessing mastery in it that we negotiate. So, for instance, selecting Open as your Imbuement might mean that your character can always open small, unlocked containers within 10' of them with the motion of a finger. Selecting Perfect Orientation might mean that your character can always orient to true north and the direction 'up'. Characters will have the opportunity to acquire additional Imbuements, both as a result of attaining new specific levels and through narrative devices.

You've the option for selecting to use Spell Corruption rules instead of the Vancian spell memorization from the published rules. Johnstone Metzger has posted this variant on Google+.

I'll be introducing additional Spell Personalization customizations from the game's author as we progress in play.

Hanging Ritual Spells