Nightwatch (game setting) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Nightwatch (game setting)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
TheRealOrion
Apr 10, 2008 19:39:18 Anyone seen/read Nightwatch?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(2004_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Watch_%28Russian_novel%29

They would make a great modern fantasy setting, although you'd probably have to raise the level of magic available because their high-level wizards get pretty ridiculous.

The premise, for those who haven't read it, is that the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness had to sign a treaty, somewhere around 1000AD because their war threatened to destroy the world, and they both liked the world. So since, both sides have waged what amounts to a mystical cold war (can you tell this was written in Russia?).

They effectively police each other. The Dark keeps the Light from artificially creating too much harmony and goodness in the world, and the Light keeps the Dark from reducing everything to chaos and bloodshed. By the same token, the Light also has to abide by feeding licenses given to vampires, and the Dark can't directly prevent the Light from giving small amounts of aid.

The morality of the whole setting is very grey, and neither the books nor the movie ever quite say, outright, that the Light is "good" and the Dark is "evil." The Dark simply believe in ultimate personal freedom, to the extent that if you are so weak that one of them can kill you, then you get killed. The Light, by the same token, believe in ultimate social order, but are actually quite willing to manipulate people "for their own good." Only the Treaty keeps them from taking over the world in their own way (and there's a marvellous ethical conundrum regarding Soviet Socialism that comes up in the third book of the series). The Light Ones claim to be the people that legends like angels were based on, which makes the Dark Ones demons and monsters, but the Dark Ones claim that the Light Ones are merely the people who wrote all the myths and legends, so of course they made the Dark Ones evil! And by the middle of the second book, I was genuinely torn as to which group I'd sign up for, if it came to that.

I've thought about making it a game setting, and the great part is that it maps onto Urban Arcana without much trouble. Light Ones would be required to be Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good, and Dark Ones would have to be Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil, or Neutral Evil (the get more choices 'cause, well, that's the way it is). The book has very specific roles set out for what it calls "magicians" and "witches," but those would be easy rules to over-ride or tailor. Magicians theoretically use spells directly and witches have to create magic items, but the two have blurred over the centuries, so it's not actually that big of a problem, rule-wise. Also, UA-style incantation would work perfectly because they can share power with one another.

There are more than just spell-casters, too. The Light Ones have a certain amount of variety, but they're mostly human-looking magic users, but the Dark Ones contain all the monsters you've ever heard of.

The one really weird part is that Light Ones can draw energy out of normal people by feeding on their positive emotions, thus leaving them depressed and lonely. They literally take their happiness away. Dark Ones draw energy by feeding on negative emotions, thus leaving people artificially elated. I don't know how to work that without falling back on power points or something like that. The implication in the books is that they draw on minor amounts of positive/negative emotions all the time in order to maintain general combat readiness (with specific limits as decreed by the Treaty), but they are able to draw more all at once. They're just not allowed to. So I'd have to come up with a mechanic for that method of spell-casting, and I'd want to come up with some rules for what it does to "normals."

So that's a bunch of spewed thoughts all at once. I hope someone else has read or seen this, because I'd love to play it sometime.
#2
atanakar
Apr 12, 2008 11:02:16 You could add a «State of the soul» track to the character sheet.

On one end Elation and the other Depression. Divide it in «10» segments. The middle of the chart representing a «normal» state of mind. Then simply decide how much extra spell levels a character get when he leaches one segment.

Also, you may want to introduce a saving throw against leeching (Wisdom?).
There has to be some sort of limitation. Imagine a «wizard» in a crowd leeching small amounts from 5, 10, 15 people. He does not go against the limitation but he's getting alote of energy real fast...

Well that's it for now.

P.S.: The background of this setting is strangely similar to the B5 Vorlon/Shadow agreement.
#3
TheRealOrion
Apr 13, 2008 21:41:28 I like idea of a soul track. By keeping it to +/- 10, I can also limit the power you can get from any one person. It would be great if I could randomly roll for a given person's Soul Modifier, too. A dice combination that resulted in grouping around zero, not just an even chance of anything from +10 to -10. A saving throw is not a bad idea, either. The average human isn't going to have a strong save anyway, and the average Other is very powerful (that's what they're called, Light Ones and Dark Ones, but collectively their "Others"). That would mean that every Other would need to set a DC for the save, which could just be 10 + character level.

In the books, someone does exactly what you describe: he wanders through a crowd, taking a giggle here and an erotic thrill there, and makes himself immensely powerful. The problem is that his higher-ups, on both sides, can sense it and see him coming a mile away, so he knows that he'll be taken down, one way or the other (that doesn't happen in the book, but only for very specific reasons). The limiting factor in the game setting isn't that it's impossible. The limiting factor is that The Treaty dictates that if you do it, you'll get your ass killed. It's very much about restrained power, which is what makes it interesting.

The premise is a bit like the Vorlon/Shadow thing, but then both of them are based on the idea of a cold war, or some kind of tense armistice, as in between the European nations before WWII (I've always thought of Babylon 5 as a sci-fi retelling of the formation of the United Nations, think about it!). Given that the books were published in Russia about 7 years after the Curtain fell, the reference to global politics would seem to be pretty obvious.
#4
atanakar
Apr 14, 2008 16:37:34
The problem is that his higher-ups, on both sides, can sense it and see him coming a mile away, so he knows that he'll be taken down, one way or the other.

If I read this correctly it means these «Others» have some kind of «leech» detection ability. How do you plan to make it work?
1- Distance of detection equated with levels? 100 meters per level? 1km per level?
2- Accuracy: Is it very precise : Corner of 5th and 42nd style OR is it more like about 500 meters south-east? Can you detect below ground if you are above ground (subway?)
#5
TheRealOrion
Apr 14, 2008 19:57:13 I hadn't even thought that far ahead. In the book, when you're engorged with power, Others can just see/sense it, like you're glowing. I'll have to think about how to apply that. It works out in the novel to mean that you can tell when you're outmatched. The glow is usually used as an intimidation technique. In one scene, Anton, the hero meets, the leader of the Dark Others in Moscow, whose name is Zubalon. When Zubalon looks directly at Anton, Anton can feel several layers of magical protection buckling under the pressure.

So alll magicians/witches seem to have Detect Magic on at all times. I think I can hand-wave the buckling as flavour text, the kind of thing you tell a player, but which doesn't have any in-game consequence, necessarily.
#6
atanakar
Apr 15, 2008 6:02:40 So many books, so little time ! I'll grab a copy of Nightwatch and give it a try.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 TheRealOrion Apr 10, 2008 19:39:18	Anyone seen/read Nightwatch? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(2004_film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Watch_%28Russian_novel%29 They would make a great modern fantasy setting, although you'd probably have to raise the level of magic available because their high-level wizards get pretty ridiculous. The premise, for those who haven't read it, is that the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness had to sign a treaty, somewhere around 1000AD because their war threatened to destroy the world, and they both liked the world. So since, both sides have waged what amounts to a mystical cold war (can you tell this was written in Russia?). They effectively police each other. The Dark keeps the Light from artificially creating too much harmony and goodness in the world, and the Light keeps the Dark from reducing everything to chaos and bloodshed. By the same token, the Light also has to abide by feeding licenses given to vampires, and the Dark can't directly prevent the Light from giving small amounts of aid. The morality of the whole setting is very grey, and neither the books nor the movie ever quite say, outright, that the Light is "good" and the Dark is "evil." The Dark simply believe in ultimate personal freedom, to the extent that if you are so weak that one of them can kill you, then you get killed. The Light, by the same token, believe in ultimate social order, but are actually quite willing to manipulate people "for their own good." Only the Treaty keeps them from taking over the world in their own way (and there's a marvellous ethical conundrum regarding Soviet Socialism that comes up in the third book of the series). The Light Ones claim to be the people that legends like angels were based on, which makes the Dark Ones demons and monsters, but the Dark Ones claim that the Light Ones are merely the people who wrote all the myths and legends, so of course they made the Dark Ones evil! And by the middle of the second book, I was genuinely torn as to which group I'd sign up for, if it came to that. I've thought about making it a game setting, and the great part is that it maps onto Urban Arcana without much trouble. Light Ones would be required to be Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good, and Dark Ones would have to be Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil, or Neutral Evil (the get more choices 'cause, well, that's the way it is). The book has very specific roles set out for what it calls "magicians" and "witches," but those would be easy rules to over-ride or tailor. Magicians theoretically use spells directly and witches have to create magic items, but the two have blurred over the centuries, so it's not actually that big of a problem, rule-wise. Also, UA-style incantation would work perfectly because they can share power with one another. There are more than just spell-casters, too. The Light Ones have a certain amount of variety, but they're mostly human-looking magic users, but the Dark Ones contain all the monsters you've ever heard of. The one really weird part is that Light Ones can draw energy out of normal people by feeding on their positive emotions, thus leaving them depressed and lonely. They literally take their happiness away. Dark Ones draw energy by feeding on negative emotions, thus leaving people artificially elated. I don't know how to work that without falling back on power points or something like that. The implication in the books is that they draw on minor amounts of positive/negative emotions all the time in order to maintain general combat readiness (with specific limits as decreed by the Treaty), but they are able to draw more all at once. They're just not allowed to. So I'd have to come up with a mechanic for that method of spell-casting, and I'd want to come up with some rules for what it does to "normals." So that's a bunch of spewed thoughts all at once. I hope someone else has read or seen this, because I'd love to play it sometime.
#2 atanakar Apr 12, 2008 11:02:16	You could add a «State of the soul» track to the character sheet. On one end Elation and the other Depression. Divide it in «10» segments. The middle of the chart representing a «normal» state of mind. Then simply decide how much extra spell levels a character get when he leaches one segment. Also, you may want to introduce a saving throw against leeching (Wisdom?). There has to be some sort of limitation. Imagine a «wizard» in a crowd leeching small amounts from 5, 10, 15 people. He does not go against the limitation but he's getting alote of energy real fast... Well that's it for now. P.S.: The background of this setting is strangely similar to the B5 Vorlon/Shadow agreement.
#3 TheRealOrion Apr 13, 2008 21:41:28	I like idea of a soul track. By keeping it to +/- 10, I can also limit the power you can get from any one person. It would be great if I could randomly roll for a given person's Soul Modifier, too. A dice combination that resulted in grouping around zero, not just an even chance of anything from +10 to -10. A saving throw is not a bad idea, either. The average human isn't going to have a strong save anyway, and the average Other is very powerful (that's what they're called, Light Ones and Dark Ones, but collectively their "Others"). That would mean that every Other would need to set a DC for the save, which could just be 10 + character level. In the books, someone does exactly what you describe: he wanders through a crowd, taking a giggle here and an erotic thrill there, and makes himself immensely powerful. The problem is that his higher-ups, on both sides, can sense it and see him coming a mile away, so he knows that he'll be taken down, one way or the other (that doesn't happen in the book, but only for very specific reasons). The limiting factor in the game setting isn't that it's impossible. The limiting factor is that The Treaty dictates that if you do it, you'll get your ass killed. It's very much about restrained power, which is what makes it interesting. The premise is a bit like the Vorlon/Shadow thing, but then both of them are based on the idea of a cold war, or some kind of tense armistice, as in between the European nations before WWII (I've always thought of Babylon 5 as a sci-fi retelling of the formation of the United Nations, think about it!). Given that the books were published in Russia about 7 years after the Curtain fell, the reference to global politics would seem to be pretty obvious.
#4 atanakar Apr 14, 2008 16:37:34	The problem is that his higher-ups, on both sides, can sense it and see him coming a mile away, so he knows that he'll be taken down, one way or the other. If I read this correctly it means these «Others» have some kind of «leech» detection ability. How do you plan to make it work? 1- Distance of detection equated with levels? 100 meters per level? 1km per level? 2- Accuracy: Is it very precise : Corner of 5th and 42nd style OR is it more like about 500 meters south-east? Can you detect below ground if you are above ground (subway?)
#5 TheRealOrion Apr 14, 2008 19:57:13	I hadn't even thought that far ahead. In the book, when you're engorged with power, Others can just see/sense it, like you're glowing. I'll have to think about how to apply that. It works out in the novel to mean that you can tell when you're outmatched. The glow is usually used as an intimidation technique. In one scene, Anton, the hero meets, the leader of the Dark Others in Moscow, whose name is Zubalon. When Zubalon looks directly at Anton, Anton can feel several layers of magical protection buckling under the pressure. So alll magicians/witches seem to have Detect Magic on at all times. I think I can hand-wave the buckling as flavour text, the kind of thing you tell a player, but which doesn't have any in-game consequence, necessarily.
#6 atanakar Apr 15, 2008 6:02:40	So many books, so little time ! I'll grab a copy of Nightwatch and give it a try.