| From: | "Steven A. Tinner" <bluewizard@*****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | None |
| Date: | Wed, 23 Apr 1997 23:17:21 -0400 |
> level zero. She is doing it with a group and an ordeal. Her ordeal will
> be the Oath. My point is that I want this to be a soul shattering ;}
> experience, not just ya pays your karma and gets your metamagic. Any
> Suggestions? Incidently, she is a deep cover secret service operative
and
> will be initating with a group working out of the government called
> Directorate 7. It will post it if anyone is intrested.
To make the Oath seriously scary, you must make it personal.
Terror is never effective in a game unless it has a basis in reality.
Do your best to find out something that the PLAYER honestly cares about.
Money, family, etc.
Find something that honestly scares him too.
Hopefully these will also be somewhat shared by the characters as well.
Next, get inside your player's head.
Make the oath deeply personal. Let him know that this super secret govt.
organization knows everything there is to know about him, and that they
could easily crush it all away in one swell foop ... er fell swoop! :-)
This is a group init. right?
Since it's a magical ceremony, do a little research on RL magic
groups/cults and their initiations.
Check out all the semi-factual stuff in the library on Freemasonry, and the
Illuminati <fnord>
Check out some of Crowley's weirdness.
!!!!!!BE AWARE!!!!!!
Some of this stuff is fairly graphic and IMO quite offensive, if your'e
light of heart, or easily offended, ignore the previous advice.
If you want to inspire terror though, you have to be willing to scare
yourself.
Maybe the group wants him to sacrifice a virgin, or a family member.
Maybe they want him to engage in ritual scarring or branding (ala Kung Fu -
remember the brazier he branded himself with?)
Make the oath something more than just chanting the secret words and
learning the handshake.
This is a govt. initiatory society, not an Old Boys Club!
Maybe the oath will involve a deeply symbolic change in the character?
Some RL initiatory groups required a name change, and a period of
subservience to more senior members.
Ritual orgies, feasting, partaking of halluciniogens, etc. all made RL
intiations scary little ordeals.
If you can tie some of these facets into something that both the character
and player feel strongly about you can really get inside the players head
and make the event memorable.
Oh yes, lest I forget, make this the focus of the entire sessions
Roleplaying.
Maybe make it a private session for that player if possible.
Spend plenty of time setting the scene.
Will he have to wear certain costumes? Perform symbolic actions?
Light 100 candles naked on his knees?
Be whipped by the other members to cleanse his body of impurities?
Get nuts with the concept, but please be careful, in all honesty this kind
of intensity ISN'T IMO safe for everyday roleplaying.
It's fun, and a little creepy to get into a players head like this, but it
can be dangerous.
If you get too dark with the whole thing, you can quickly go from eerily
mystical to sick and demented.
Know your players and your own limits.
Respect them.
Good luck.
Steven A. Tinner
bluewizard@*****.com
http://www.ncweb.com/users/bluewizard
"Bad Bull! *bap* *bap* Cut that D__n thing off! *bap*" - Fro Playing Marie
