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Humanity has never been alone.
It simply learned not to look too closely.
Most people never notice.
Some catch a glimpse and spend the rest of their lives convincing themselves it wasn't real...
Others see the truth, and some become it...
... And some? Well, some were never quite human to begin with...
This is The Second Sight.
What will you witness?
✦ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ✦
Humanity has never been alone.
It simply learned not to look too closely.
Most people never notice.
Some catch a glimpse and spend the rest of their lives convincing themselves it wasn't real...
Others see the truth, and some become it...
... And some? Well, some were never quite human to begin with...
This is The Second Sight.
What will you witness?
✦ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ✦
More About the Setting
Modern day setting, basically real world. Supernatural humans have existed in the background of the world for as long or perhaps longer than humankind. You happen to be one of these beings; Perhaps a human who has awakened to the potential of magic, one who has learned they are a part of an ancient bestial bloodline, or even one who has been turned to the dark power of vampirism.
Based very much on Old World of Darkness (herein, WoD), unashamedly, as well as the Grimm TV series.
Mood
The roleplay has focus on drama and action alike. Characters first!
Horror elements of course. But also there's some potential with some supernatural lines that could allow for more light-hearted (if very dramatic) roleplay.
Each supernatural has a sort of "fantasy" that it fulfills, and this does err on the "urban fantasy" side of things.
Ruleset
(Or as I call them, taxes.)
As I come from a background of DMing tabletop games for two decades, I have a natural inkling to want some mechanics that reflect character abilities. So I looked at what's in use around here and put a spin on it, mixing it with some bits from FATE. This is not meant to be resource intensive or me overreaching and imposing a system. I will take feedback on this, too.
Character Creation
- 1. All characters get six skills. There's no definitive list of skills -- you make them up (but I recommend at least a general "Combat" skill). Skills also do not differentiate the knowledge around it and the technical ability surrounding it, and should be broad enough to apply in all sorts of ways.
2. Each skill begins at Level 1. You have 7 skill points to distribute among your six skills, with no skill exceeding Level 5 (the natural maximum). Supernatural creatures usually end up with bonuses to rolling. The "average" human has a 2/5 in a given skill, or a 3/5 where particularly trained. Higher is better! See Rolling Dice below as to how they work.
3. All characters get three specializations, a named, specific field of a skill that your character is particularly great at. You can apply them as broadly or as specifically as you like.
4. Pick a supernatural or pick human. Apply its effects. See the Supernaturals post below.
5. Everything else is yours to fill out. I'd recommend looking at the skills and specializations you've chosen and writing a character around that.
Rolling Dice
- If an action is routine, ordinary, and there's no meaningful difference or result from success or failure, don't roll it, presume success. The dice rolls exist to resolve mechanical uncertainty, not to police if you can open your fridge door.
When you want to do something where the outcome may succeed or fail, you use an appropriate skill, rolling 1d6. If a specialization applies, roll 2d6 and use the lower result. Lower is better!
To succeed, you must roll a result equal to or less than the skill's level. If you are attempting something you don't have a skill in, treat it as a level of one.
Some supernatural abilities grant a bonus of 1 to 4. Subtract the boon from your final roll. Results can go below 1.
Combat follows the same rules as the above, but a defending/dodging character rolls an appropriate skill to defend/dodge as well, also using any Supernatural Boon that applies. The lower result wins the contest. On ties, the defender succeeds. The exact consequences of an attack are up to fair and reasonable narrative determination as a result of that singular attack.
