Law and chaos are mirrors. Earth sits between them, in the habitable zone (at least, the human-habitable zone). "Magic", "psionics", "demons", "fairies" - these all come from our neighbors ana (up/toward/Chaosward) and kata (down/from/Lawward).
Both of these directions are, at a certain point, inimical to life. At the furthest reaches, the only difference between Chaos and Law is whether the universe of homogenous hydrogen atoms is very hot or very cold.
The classes of Libra are arranged in the same way - from the most Lawful to the most Chaotic:
- Infraspatial
- OSIRIS Theurge
- Psychic
- Mundane
- Wizard
- Ynnbringer [which needs a rewrite]
- Sidhe
And the conflict between the two (often characterized by those on the ground as "war", but in truth more like fluid dynamics) gouges the world. Chaotic factions are many: necromancer collectives, witch-terrorists, rogue psychics, mocking fairies, player characters, and so on.
But there is only one of Law. Once there were more, all manner of SCPs Foundation and Deltas Green and Majestics Twelve, but if Law is anything it is centralizing, and the distant Pyramid they draw power from gets to pick and choose who carries its mandate. Some merged, some collapsed, and now all there is is OSIRIS (an acronym for... something, surely - who cares).
They are unbound by governments - the Pyramid is on their badges and all doors open for it.
They are unbound by ethics - the Pyramid is in their hearts and tells them of an eternal future.
They are unbound by physics - the Pyramid is in their heads and reaches out to make adjustments.
And, from time to time, they reach out - in one direction or another - and bring someone back.
Class: Infraspatial
Starting Skill: 1) distimming the doshes 2) rasking juffets 3) uncrenning the delcot 4) smibbing into the brangy 5) lelloing shamtags 6) deaving in the dorl
A: Castaway, Pulled Curtain
B: Sidestep
C: Mitosis
D: Follow Close
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| one of my relatives drew this for me years ago ❤ |
A: Castaway
You may only take the A template of Infraspatial as your first template in character creation.
You are from the furthest reaches of Law where human-coherent consciousness survives - past you, nothing is known to live except for abstract "demons" and the commanding Pyramid. You are a 6.28 foot-tall humanoid assemblage of fluted, many-colored glass.
You are technically blind, but your array of freaky fourth-dimensional senses mean that actually you can see just as well as a person even in the dark.
A: Pulled Curtain
Combustion and electricity fail within 10 feet of you. The same effect radiates from Lawful demons - a stilling of the world.
B: Sidestep
At will, you may become two-dimensional. This lets you slip under doors and so on, but you have to become 3D again to manipulate or interact with objects. You cannot bring items with you in this state.
C: Mitosis
At will, you may step off of yourself and become two 3.14 foot tall Infraspatials. Each share your stats and so on, but due to being tiny little glass guys are incapable of combat. When separated you still have one HP pool - damage radiates between you through distant spaces.
The two halves have to reach each other to step back together.
D: Follow Close
People may hold hands with one Mitosis version of you and then teleport to the other. This sends them through the lawful planes - they must make a Wisdom save or be made more lawful, taking 1d6 damage and the associated effect:
- They arrive in a flurry of papers - printed surveillance photographs of them. A demon waits to crawl through angles and hunt them.
- One piece of their equipment is replaced with a low-poly nonfunctional granite replica.
- One of their stats is moved to the nearest prime number (16 -> 17, etc).
- For the next 24 hours, they roll 2d10 whenever they would roll 1d20.
- Their digits are reduced to the nearest lower prime number (conventionally this is the disappearance of one finger to bring them to 19).
- They return with a small granite pyramid grasped in their freezing hands.
Infraspatials pass this save automatically.
Opening a gate to Ynn is easy. An ivy-covered wall and a piece of chalk. People have used Ynn to escape prison - growing moss ever-so-carefully under broken tiles. Opening the door from the other side is more difficult, but difficult things have a tendency to happen eventually.
Class: Sidhe
Starting Skill: 1) Chess 2) Poetry 3) Screaming 4) Hallucinogens 5) Sleight of Hand 6) Firestarting
A: Mad Ambassador
B: Detached From Earth
C: Flash of Recognition
D: Furnace of Chaos
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| Harry Clarke, The Colloquy of Monos and Una |
A: Mad Ambassador
You have come from the nearer lands of Chaos - the great Gardens of Ynn, where sidhe play endless games with ever-changing laws. You may only take the A template of Sidhe as your first template in character creation.
When someone makes a promise to you and keeps it, your face twinges. Don't they know a word is nothing like an act? Why do they think they have to do this?
You can speak to wild animals - life is an expression of Chaos, after all. Tame animals abhor you, breaker of laws.
B: Detached From Earth
You have somewhere else to be. You can, at any time, choose to weigh nothing (allowing you to walk up walls, leap forever, et cetera).
C: Flash of Recognition
With an hour's work, you can reshape your face (or is it a mask?) to match anyone you have studied. At will, you can break your disguise (permanently - you will never be able to hide as them again) to force anyone looking at you to Save or seize.
D: Furnace of Chaos
Law rules over mankind, many say - but some cultists point up to the Sun, purest expression of light, heat, and motion. Even from here, it pulls you towards it.
When you break your disguise, you can shed your skin with it. For one beautiful minute, you and the Sun are one and the same. Your touch melts lead (2d8), your visage blinds, you step through the air, and then you are set to 0 HP and fall back to the uncaring ground. You are still too far away.
While you do this, your skin waits patiently where you left it.
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