Bloodshadows: The Fantasy Noir Reality Posted: Jan. 22, 2005
Back to to the blog. Bloodshadows, Bloodshadows, the D6 the D6 Adventures sourcebook, Adventures sourcebook, began its life as a worldbook for the MasterBook system. system. This supplement detailed Marl, a dark and magical world where gangsters and hustlers rub elbows with demons and mages, and the milleniaold !odswar is being fought in the shadows and on the streets. Marl is a world of fantasy noir the society and trappings of "#$0%s &ilm 'oir mo(ies, blended with a dark fantasy world. &rom the time ) first read it, Marl seemed perfect for adaptation into a Torg cosm. cosm. *ike many of the original cosms, such as the 'ile +mpire or the yberpapacy, it melded two genres into a uni-ue setting. owe(er, owe( er, /est /est +nd !ames has announced that there will be no Marl sourcebook for Torg 2.0. 2.0. )n order to rectify this o(ersight, ) am presenting my interpretation of Bloodshadows of Bloodshadows as as a Torg cosm. cosm. Note: This article assumes that you ha(e access to the MasterBook the MasterBook (ersion (ersion of Bloodshadows. Bloodshadows. The details below are, of necessity, somewhat sketchy and depend on the worldbook to flesh them out. The page numbers referred to are for the MasterBook the MasterBook worldbook. The MasterBook The MasterBook (ersion (ersion has mechanics that are compatible with Torg , so re-uire little translation. The Reality of Bloodshadows Axioms
ysle. 1orcerers from Magic 18: Marl is a highly magical world, e(en more so than ysle. this cosm ha(e access to all magics a(ailable in ysle, ysle, as well as some uni-ue magics, such as cantrips and permanent duration spells. Marl3s magic is hea(ily influenced by the /orld /orld *aw of rcana 4see below. )n addition, the *aw of 6arkness ensures that magical creatures from this cosm are dark and forboding. Social 1: 1ociety in 1elastos and !alatia shares common slang and social structures from "#$0%s +arth, such as police, elected officials, newspapers and the like. The base 1ocial a7iom for Marl is "#, "# , allowing for the e7istence of economics and psychology. psychology. The *aw of 6arkness acts to limit the 1ocial a7iom, howe(er, howe(er, making it effecti(ely a "$ for most other purposes. This means that Marl has no n ations or e7tensi(e bureaucracies, and is far more medie(al in its social structures than than ore +arth. S!irit 1: Marl is the site of a massi(e !odswar, orchestrated by the eternal and transcendant forces of 8rder and haos. ults of both 8rder and haos e7ist, but there are no priests, no religious congregations, and no e(idence of miracles. )nstead, the cults
gain their powers through magic. The cosm3s 1pirit a7iom of " allows for the con cept of, and belief in, !ods but spiritual energies cannot be called upon. )n game terms, the faith skill is a(ailable to deni9ens of Marl, but focus is not, and using it is a contradiction. Tech "1: &or the most part, Marl e(inces technology typical of Tech 2" Tommy guns, motorcars, pistols, and so forth. owe(er, Marl seems to ha(e no knowledge of airplanes or a(iation. These in(entions are possible, but no one has yet to de(elop them, as airplanes are of limited use in the cities and flying o(er the /ilderness likely a ha9ardous or lethal acti(ity. #orld $aws: $aw of %rder and &haos: The !odswar between 8rder and haos rages in back alleys and city streets. 'o one can escape this co(ert struggle, and choosing one side o(er the other may bring safety or all new dangers.
:eople can ha(e one of fi(e alignments; 8rder, haos, 8athbreaker8rder, 8athbreakerhaos, and none. hoosing an alignment affects a character3s relationships with the (arious factions and also affects their ability to use certain magical spells 4per the Magic chapter, pg. #0, The World of Bloodshadows. ll cults of indi(idual deities are also linked to the (arious factions< gaining an add in faith in any cult automatically gi(es you an alignment with the faction backing that cult. a(ing an alignment indicates your character accepts, implicitly if not e7plicitly, the tenets of their alignment. llegiance and alignment are discussed on pg. "= of The World of Bloodshadows sourcebook. $aw of 'ar(ness: 6espite the outr> en(ironment and oddball deni9ens, Marl society resembles film noir mo(ies. &emme fatales e7ist 4many of which are ( ampires and succubi as do mobsters and detecti(es.
This is a color /orld *aw, which enforces noir genre trappings. Betrayals are common, nobody is really pure, e(eryone has secrets, and so forth. *ook to a good discussion of noir mo(ies and the genre for ideas. This /orld *aw has another effect. Marl has a high Magic a7iom, and so supports a (ariety of magical creatures. owe(er, Marl%s supernatural creatures are not leprechauns and fairies. )nstead, they are undead, ogres, and (arious demons and demon halfbreeds. This /orld *aw has affected the magical creatures nati(e to Marl, in order to mold them into terrifying and unnatural shapes. )n play, entities are by far the most common Marl magical creatures. +lementals and enchanted beings are (ery rare and those that
e7ist are twisted in some dark and threatening way. 4ey, if you want pi7ies and fairies, go play a nice fantasy campaign. )n addition Marl deni9ens, despite their knowledge of psychology and economics, ha(e a functional 1ocial of "$. &or most interactions use a "$, for psychology and economics use a "#. $aw of Arcana: This /orld *aw is what gi(es Marl%s magic its distincti(e feel. ?nder the *aw of rcana, magic is di(ided into many schools, each with its own theme and idiom. The four magic skills are limited skills on Marl 4much like the science skill is, each limit corresponding to a specific school 4such as divination: necromancy. +ach spell corresponds to a specific school, and the schools are limited to effects that match its idiom.
)nstead of taking Mental stun damage from Backlash, Marl%s mages suffer weird side effects from &eedback 4which can, as an e7ample, cause the caster or others to begin (omiting nails. 1pell designers use the MasterBook 1&@ system to create spells 4instead of the rules in the Aysle Sourcebook . antrips and permanent duration spells are possible and ysle%s rcane Magic chart is unknown. &or those who wish to go that far, Bloodshadows e(en offers a new magic type 1ummoning 4although it3s Aust as easy to use Torg 3s magic types instead. Marl has an odd rcane nowledge 4dimension that relates to e7tradimensional worlds, like those demons are summoned from. !amemasters can either keep this as an idiosyncratic rcane nowledge nati(e only to Marl, or they can replace it with true knowledge. The Storm nights website and its contents are copyright C 200"200D by Jasyn Jones.
