[DL] Re: Harrowed Manitous

["d_scott" <d_scott@ntlworld.com>]

>
> Forgive me if this has been beaten to death, I am catching up on over a
> week's worth of listmail.
>
> Our saga has seen three Harrowings (as readers of Daphné, and now Daniel
and
> Ann and everyone else under the sun recently know), and each has been
> somehow unusual, which I think befits Harrowed characters in general:
>
> Vicky was first Harrowed by a Legion.  No personality per se, given that
she
> was pretty much infested with the little buggers, but that in and of
itself
> was quite interesting and memorable.  As Marshal, I essentially made it
out
> as if she had a constant, low-level buzz in the back of her head as they
> snickered, whispered and plotted amongst themselves.
>
> Her subsequent Harrowing resulted in a more traditional Manitou (same
Spirit
> as her, or less if I recall correctly),

(SNIP)

That reminds me of another point - given that the rules change  in Book of
the Dead so that the manitou always at least the same spirit stat as the
Harrowed (unless the manitou happens to be Legion), how do you deal with the
player inevitably losing dominion point by point until the manitou takes
over pretty much pemanently? I understand that's the main point of being
Harrowed, fighting against the demon within, but with the dice weighted in
the manitou's favour it seems that the battle will always be lost in the
end. I end up trying to even things out with a - limited - supply of the
Prospector's Elixir or something similar, but it seems like a bit of a
fudge. Maybe I'm just stuck with the image of the Harrowed as a loner, a la
Ronan Lynch in the Dime Novels - he can't trust himself to stay with a group
for any length of time in case he loses his grip. . .

D

P.S.    Anyone noticed a tendency for posse members and marshals to play
manitou-controlled harrowed like bad Angel from Buffy? : )