I've refined the character traits, and made them more thematically appropriate: 

http://machineageproductions.com/?p=56

And here's your PC character types, your "classes" if you will: 

http://machineageproductions.com/?p=61

allgeektout said:

I love what your doing with this; it's really amazing. How much will this cost when you release it? Because I really want to buy it now.

Aaron

I for one don't know. We have to figure out the exact licensing details first. Then we'll have a better picture. It won't be a lot.  

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm doing a number of projects right now. Of course, I have literally a week to finish this one, so there are going to be some rapidfire updates soon.

Three updates? OMGPONIES! 

http://machineageproductions.com/?p=104

That's character creation. 

http://machineageproductions.com/?p=109

That's character advancement. 

http://machineageproductions.com/?p=112

That's the updated core mechanic. 

Shit just got real. And by that, I mean I expect to complete Terminus Est tomorrow. 

Go. Comment. Give it some love. Let's make a game.

This is my money being where my mouth is. I'll make a character for the Dark Ages era. 

Concept: Thomas Chandler was so average it hurt, literally. He was exposed to the disgusting conditions plaguing most of Europe at the time, catching the bubonic death. He was trained a shoemaker, but living day to day would never feed his family after his passing. His only hope to make the money necessary to support the family postmortem was to enlist in King Edward III's military. The military didn't want the plague destroying it from the inside, so Thomas disguised himself. Disguise was something of a passion of his, although it was never marketable. 

Disguised, he was collocated to Calais. Quickly, Thomas found himself outmatched by French forces. A soldier pierced his torso with a pike, but Thomas wasn't hurt. He looked down as the pike penetrated his ribs, his flesh was falling off under the broken buboes of the plague. Thomas touched the shaft, and it withered in his hands. His enemy fell similarly, coughing up blood despite not having been assaulted. Thomas looked up to see a black horse, bearing a ghastly figure carrying a pair of balances, as he'd heard would come in the Apocalypse of John. The horse reared up, kicking Thomas to the ground, shattering many of his bones. 

Thomas laid on the battlefield for days. The sun rotted his body. His flesh peeled back, blisters popping and blood drying in the puddle he rested in. Eventually, his bones rejoined but his flesh did not. He stood, a corpse made living. 

He took to wearing a monk's full robe and hood, protecting himself from the scrutiny of those who would assail him. He was then discovered by a group of similar plague victims, as the black horse rode gallantly across the European countryside, killing large swaths of the population. The group called themselves the Morbus Humus. With some amount of training in his newfound Seals, he was dispatched to work with a troupe of Chevaliers to fight off the coming Apocalypse. 

On the hunt, he often pillages the homes of those humans who have fallen or been tempted by the forces of darkness. Indeed, his family is now quite rich, even though they can never see their pater familias without risking certain death.

Traits: 

Ferocity 1: Thomas, while trained, never made for a competent fighter. His calling was to stand back while his enemies died around him, not to bring the death to them. Even though his life is unended by the plague, it has still wracked his body, leaving him a weak, trembling shell of what he once was.

Creativity 2: He's not educated, but Thomas isn't dumb. He's a problem solver. While his family starved, he found the one viable option to feed them. Now, he's a bit of an opportunist. He takes what he needs to succeed. 

Tenacity 4: Above all, Thomas Chandler is a survivor. Even when he dies, he lives. Before the Apocalypse, he was seeking a purpose and could not die without finding it. His body fought off the plague that ate him inside for that very reason. Now, his body carries the plague like an aegis, immune to the death but holding it against any that would harm him.

Divinity 3: Thomas has a purpose that must be fulfilled. He's the carrier of the plague banner, a striking example of what a Black Chevalier should be. He has no halo, but those around him smell the fetid death in his blood. Few see him and do not immediately cover their mouths. 

Skills: 

Disguise: Had he lived, he probably would have purchased a tailor's shop. He loves clothing, he loves being able to change his identity with a simple garment change. Now, that suits him well as he needs hide his true identity at all times. 

Craftwork: He spent his childhood and teen years learning to craft shoes and other things. He's a bit more versatile than that though, he's also a fan of whittling and is very interested in the principals of blacksmithing. 

Herbalism: Before his death, he learned a number of tricks to hold off the plague with herbs and other folk remedies. They worked well, but not well enough. Now, he administers cures to those victims of the Nightmares he finds. Curiously, those he heals do not contract his sickness. 

Swordplay: While not an expert, he does have the basic knowledge of a soldier. The military trained him, and he has the basic competencies necessary to show that he's not a stranger to the blade. 

Self and Destiny: 

Self: 8

Destiny: 4

Seals:

Latent Balance: Finding the Pain, opponents within arm's reach are considered one fewer Self, as the plague about him is strong. Typically, opponents cough blood when close enough to breathe in the air wafting off him.

Basic Balance: Seizing the Edge, when he sees someone fail, he can spend Destiny to make their next roll fail. He's an opportunist, always looking for that weak point to strike. 

Latent Persistence: Vitality, he gets a free reroll when he's not actively doing anything, just trying to resist. Thomas is an expert at standing there and taking it. 

Basic Persistence: Fervor, when he goes to Fallen status, he can instead spend a point of Destiny to regain a point of Self to stand and fight.

Advanced Persistence: The Plague that Never Dies

With this Seal, the character is nigh unstoppable, but at a great cost to himself. When Fallen, and when someone makes the determination to kill the character, he can activate this power. He spends a permanent level of Destiny. Immediately, he does not die but instead awakens with full Self, and his would-be killer suffers a number of Self loss equal to the character's Divinity Trait, as the assailant contracts a full-blown version of the Chevalier's plague.

Alea_Iacta_Est said:

Everyone is going to want to play a Pale Horse character, I just wanted to throw an odd ball. I also wanted to have some historical backing. I didn't know how the Black Hearts would develop. I'm looking forward to running this next Monday.

You think? I kind of see them as artillery, or "controllers." I figure that might be the case, but my assumption was that the War Chevaliers would probably be most popular. 

That's awesome! You should try to do an Actual Play writeup. I'd love to see how it goes. I *might* run it Sunday if I have the time.

Duane said:

I'm thrilled to see this almost completed.  I've been swamped with my own work and with my real job, but I wanted to ping in and say I was paying attention.

Well done.

Thanks much! 

I'm officially 1k away from the draft's completion, and I'm loving it. Did a little settings document, giving some cool game hooks, and ideas on how to make your own Apocalypse. I've got to do a guide to making your own Nightmares, humans and Seals. And that should work swimmingly.

Correct on both counts. I'm eager to see what a troupe of riders looks like together. That's interesting. 

I'm strongly considering running it Sunday if I can convince my regular players. Hm. 

I'm so excited to see what people come up with. If you notice, I just posted the guide to settings, it's very barebones, but gives some samples and ideas for the various time periods. 

Next, tonight, I'll be doing a primer on creating Nightmares. 

Alea_Iacta_Est said:

I'll write up an actual play report. I could e-mail it to you[David] and you could post it in the Terminus Est blog. I currently don't have a website… it saddens me. I plan to try to get one up over Canadian Thanksgiving (in a week) but until then I have mooch off other people.

Sounds good to me. You mail it, I'll post it. 

I'm doing finishing touches, draft one within the hour!

allgeektout said:

Alea's AP report sounds awesome. Rules for Nightmares sound awesome. Draft that I think is done by now sounds awesome. All in all, this project is awesome.

One question – are the rules for creating seals coming up soon, or are they being saved for the final product?

P.S. – Alea, be sure to send me a link when you get that blog set up.

http://machineageproductions.com/?p=139

It's done. 

There are guidelines for new Seals. I decided against making full rules, because I want to encourage creativity. I started with some very simple limitations to keep the power levels consistent, but it should work well as stands. 

So yeah. Check it out. It's playtest-ready.