[DL] LAD: Game Effect (spoiler)

["Roy Spence" <roy.ster@virgin.net>]

The harrowed gain a number of humanity points equal to their Spirit die
type.  Each time a harrowed uses a power, or takes advantage of a harrowed
natural ability, such as healing or not eating (these are at the GM's
discretion) - the harrowed has to make a fair Spirit check, adding the
harrowed level of the power used (if a power is being used) to the roll.
Each time the harrowed succeeds this roll the TN increases by one, until
they eventually fail and lose a point of their humanity, at which point the
TN resets to 5.

Really the humanity points are just a guide to allow players to gauge how
tuned in their characters are to the world. A rough guide to how to run one
of the Hollow Men dependant on his humanity points is given below.

75% to full humanity: The character has a growing dislike of towns and
cities, with the effect worsening with an increasing population.
Relationship with friends/posse members is unchanged. The character starts
to lose brief moments of time and people may have to shout on him a couple
of times to get his attention - seems like they are daydreaming.  Anyone
viewing the manitou notices that it seems shrivelled and almost seems to
shrink as humanity is lost.

50% to 75% humanity:  The character will refuse to enter large towns,
however will suffer smaller ones.  Relationships with friends will start to
worsen, with the harrowed being argumentative and not pull his weight (not
doing any chores).  There will be slight shifts in his habits - i.e. the
harrowed will lie down wherever without blankets etc (why have a bed? etc)
and generally act strangely.  He will lose ever increasing periods of time -
when people cannot attract his attention by any means (note this is a
roleplaying hook, and so should not happen anywhere near combat situations).
People going about their everyday lives will be a distraction to them as he
tries to understand why they bother.  Anyone viewing the manitou notices
that it is significantly smaller with the gloom surrounding it seeming to
deepen and grow.  The features of the harrowed decline quite rapidly during
this time, with a non-degenerated character seeming to age years almost over
night, the lines on his face darkening perceptively.  Characters will
degeneration hindrance worsen significantly as they lose their humanity - at
higher levels of degeneration even close friends will have trouble being
near the character due to their decomposing state.

25% to 50% humanity:  The character will refuse to spend time with strangers
at all, and relationships with friends become increasingly strained - most
probably until breaking point.  Animals will start avoiding him - riding is
not an option for the character.  As before the periods of lost time
continue to increase.  Anyone viewing the manitou notice that it has become
very small and is hard to make out in the encompassing gloom of emptiness.
The harrowed's features continue to decline with age continuing to
"seemingly" advance upon them.

0% to 25% humanity:  During this time the character is all but unplayable
(esp. in a group). He shuns people and people tend to shun them.  Animals
seem to know by instinct to avoid the harrowed.  The character will seek out
a lonely place and will spend his remaining days there - often now losing
days/weeks on end.  At this point the manitou is hardly noticeable in the
all encompassing gloom - simply a black speck.  The harrowed's features are
hard to look at and seem in some strange way like a wax mask.

When the last humanity point is lost the character simply crumbles to dust
and is blown away on the wind.


Cheers


Roy