Donnerjack: Character Generation

Character Creation

1. Genesis Scramble (bid on Attributes)
   1. Anima
   2. Genius
   3. Proge
   4. Will
2. Purchase Core Personae
   1. Greater Persona (25 points)
   2. Lesser Persona (15 points)
   3. Demi-Persona (10 points)
3. Purchase Loci
   1. Site (1 point)
   2. Wild Site (2 points)
   3. Ancient Site (4 points)
   4. Mount Meru (8 points)
   5. Deep Fields (16 points)
4. Purchase Advantages
   1. Patron (-1 to -10 points)
   2. Favor (1 to 10 points)
   3. Seed (5 points)
   4. Algorithm (1 or more points)

Verité and Virtù

Verité is the real world, whereas Virtù is mankind's greatest art: a cyberrealm that taps into the human collective unconsciousness. Virtù was created when the master programmer Warren Bansa crashed the Net, by accident or by design. Over the next hour (real time), the Net reconfigured itself into Virtù, but this Genesis Scramble for power over the nascent realm seemed an eternity to the aions.

Aion

An aion is a god-like artificial intelligence of Virtù, the cybernet of the 22nd century. They are the most powerful class of complex proges (virtual lifeforms or programs). During the Genesis Scramble, the gods fought for control over the various domains in Virtù. A special subclass of aions is the genii loci, who are aions that have near-total control over their sites but cannot leave their domain. Aion deities may travel anywhere in Virtù but only the most powerful can fight a genius loci in their place of power. Gods dwell on Mount Meru, their elevation on this mountain indicating the degree of their power.

Attributes

There are four Attributes to bid on in the Genesis Scramble: Anima, Genius, Proge, and Will. These are ranked in order of area of effect. Anima taps into the anima mundi (the soul of the world); Genius grants control over the local site and tapping of local energy; Proge allows the creation of animate programs to do the aion's bidding; Will indicates the aion's degree of self-control and willpower. Default rank (no bid) is Virtù rank, or you can sell down to Verité (-10 points). Each Attribute has a free virt power associated with it, which can be used only if you have at least Virtù rank.

Anima

Anima allows you to tap into the collective knowledge of humanity. This Attribute indicates the degree to which an aion is tied to human myth. For instance, Celerity, who is Hermes personified, has a high Anima score, whereas a phant (a construction proge) has less mythic resonance, and has an Anima score of Virtù. Anima is useful for seeking information of all types and also embodies the aion's connection to myth (and therefore his or her notoriety and rank). It is thus similar to Psyche, and its influence is pervasive throughout Virtù. Virt power: dataseek

Genius

Certain sites in Virtù grant power. The Genius Attribute indicates an aion's connection to a particular locus. For a god, this is typically a tie to Mount Meru, and the higher the Attribute, the higher up on the mountain of power the aion has achieved. Thus, it is similar to Endurance, but also confers an ability to affect the environment. Genii loci typically have very high Genius ratings, and only the most powerful among the aions can battle them successfully on their turf. Thus, deities prefer to negotiate with genii loci rather than use force. Specific Loci may be purchased (e.g., Mount Meru, Deep Fields, Wild Sites). Aions may occasionally be boosted with sweetened charges from more powerful gods, but in exchange for the power, they lose some degree of autonomy. Genius also controls transport across sites in Virtù, but its range is more restricted than Anima. Virt power: siteshift

Proge

Proge is the ability to create and control proges (programs) that perform duties independently. Most proges are assigned a task (e.g., construction, recording, seeking, fighting). An aion with a high Proge rating is able to create multiple servants or invent autonomous programs to handle a variety of tasks. The number of Proges and the success of their actions is dependent on the originating aion. It is most like Warfare in this respect. Virt power: telekinesis

Will

Will indicates the degree of self-control the aion has over his or her own manifestation(s). This includes speed and proficiency in virt shapeshifting and close-quarter combat, as well as the degree of resilience against attacks, such as Chaos Factor weapons and Death's moiré effect. Virt power: shapeshift

Core Persona

In addition to Attributes, aions may purchase Core Personae. Each Persona is a webpage (length and content approved by the GM), and constitutes a set of characteristics, skills and affinities that is at the core of the aion. For example, Skyga may have a Persona based on www.weather.com and one based on a NASA page, among others. These Personae permit Skyga to (among other things): use Anima to spy from the sky; use Genius to create a storm in a specific locus; create a watch Proge that keeps precise time; use Will to manifest as a semi-tangible cloud being. A Persona with its own domain (e.g., www.eyrie.org, www.yahoo.com) costs 25 points, and is called a Greater Persona. A Lesser Persona is a page one level lower than the domain (e.g., www.eyrie.org/~pi, www.chass.utoronto.ca/linguistics), and costs 15 points. A Demi-Persona is any page at levels lower than Greater or Lesser. These point values are added to actions that invoke a Persona, boosting the stat that is being used.

Loci

Loci indicate the types of sites that you can draw power from. A Site (1 point) is a known place with its own genius loci, who is friendly towards you. You are able to ask favors of it. A Wild Site (2 points) is a lesser-known site, hidden from others. An Ancient Site (4 points) has a very powerful genius loci who tolerates you. All gods should take Mount Meru as a Locus (8 points). Deep Fields (16 points), which is Death's realm, cannot be taken by an aion as a Locus during the Genesis Scramble, and must acquire it through play.

Advantages

A Patron can be chosen to gain extra points. However, patronage also means that the Patron has some degree of control over you. The Patron must be one of 13 Greatermost Gods (other GM's pantheons may differ): Death, Skyga, Seaga, Earthma, Sunra, Moonsha, Agrima, Warga, Keyga, Zooga, Pragma, Oddma, Songma. Favors may be bought from the Greatermost as well, but these are depleted through use (at GM's discretion). At most you can have one Patron, but any number of Favors. Favors and Patrons normally cannot exceed +/-10 points. You can buy off a Patron only with Favors you have gained from that Patron. Seeds (5 points each) are distillations of your essence, and may be used to create new things never before seen in Virtù. They may be traded to others to use at their discretion.

Algorithms

Advanced rule. See Game Mechanics.