[HoE] Re: Doomsayers and Sykers

[Gwydion758@aol.com]

In a message dated 99-02-10 23:52:00 EST, you write:

<<  Hi, my name is David and I am new to this list-Serv.>>

Hi David!

<<  Anyway, I have a few questions about Doomsayers and Sykers. 
 
 1)  What is the Glow, and why does Faith in it get you anything?  Could a
 Normal have Faith in the Glow?>>

"The Glow" is the Doomsayer religion, the belief that radiation and mutation
are the way to the natural evolution of man.  This is the source of their
ability to detect and manipulate radiation and it's effects.  A normal *could*
have Faith in The Glow, but given the precepts of that faith that brainer
would be a mutant not long after.  Mutants with Faith in The Glow are immune
to certain effects of radiation.
 
<< 2)  How are Sykers created?  I read somewhere that the government did
 experiments on martial artists to discover psychic energies, but I am not
 sure what that means.  All the pictures I have seen of Sykers have
 represented them as bald with large tatoos on their foreheads.  What are
 these tatoos?  And can more Psykers be taught by the existing ones, or are
 all the Sykers there will ever be already present in the Wasted West?>>

The Brainburners book really opens up Sykers and explains a lot of things.
Sykers *are* in the wierd west -- they're called Tempests (see Hucksters &
Hexes).  They both are tapping into the hunting grounds, but the individual's
perception of what they are doing affects how the power manifests itself and
what they can do with it.  The various nations of the Wierd World studied the
abilities of certain martial artists to tap into an outside power source, and
developed their own training programs to teach people to do it.  Sykers are
bald because all that energy pulsing through their skulls makes their hair
fall out, and I believe the tattoos are insignia from their military units.
There are three "flavors" of Syker -- those who were trained by the
governments and stayed on Earth, those who were trained by the governments and
went to Banshee, and the Greenies whose powers have manifested after the bombs
fell.  New Sykers can be taught but each level of Blastin' takes a year to
learn *at best*.  
 
<< 3)  From what I have seen, it seems that the difference between Sykers and
 Doomsayers is much narrower than, say, that between Hucksters and Blessed
 in the Deadlands world. I am not familiar with the mechanics, but both seem
 to use Strain to power their abilities, and Doomsayers seem to have rather
 huge amounts of combat abilities.  I realize that Sykers are likely to have
 much more "mind-bending" type abilities, while I assume Doomsayers have
 many abilities relating to radition (nullifying hotspots, sensing it, etc
 etc), but they seem fairly similar.  Please comment. >>

Again, the Brainburners book has all kinds of new powers.  Boneripper and
Aztec Surprise should satisify the blood and gore crowd, and Slow Burn has
been beefed up for those who like to tear up tanks (and automatons).  I expect
Children of the Atom will do the same excellent job of fleshing out the
Doomsayers that Brainburners has done for the Sykers.

Strain was added as a measure of just how much energy a person can handle
coursing through their body.  Also IMO the Sinnin' and Poker mechanics just
don't fit the new character types.

Jeff