Simian Circle Design Blog #3

For those who are actually looking forward to this one, here's a little bit on how I'll be using the rules to support the story.

One of my big inspirations for this sort of "cursed wanderer" genre is The Incredible Hulk with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. In keeping with this idea, there's got to be a way to keep the characters moving and reinforce the price they pay for their power.

So each community that the characters enter has a Chaos Tolerance. Every time the characters lose control of their powers (something that I mentioned last time around), they cause Chaos to happen around them. Every time this happens, it eats away at the community's Chaos Tolerance. This not only provides a solid mechanic so that players can recognize when they've worn out their welcome, but also saves the GM some effort as he doesn't have to describe every little thing that goes wrong in the community when a Chaotic event happens.

Chaos tolerance is not a supernatural effect, but the power of gossip. The more random things start happening, the more suspicious the townsfolk become of newcomers. Characters can try to weather the storm of popular opinion, waiting for Chaos Tolerance to return at the rate of 1 per week as the stories become old news and less interesting, or they can try to outrun the gossip, which increases their Chaos Tolerance by 1 per day of travel.