Living Land World Laws
While the Living
Land sourcebookdoes have world laws in it, they were not presented as
such. They were called "Game Rules" and they are rather disjointed and incomplete
when compared to the way world laws were written up in later sourcebooks.
This is my attempt to reinterpret and redefine the Living Land's world laws.
THE DEEP MIST
The Deep Mist is a natural
feature of the environment in the cosm of Takta Ker; why it did not appear
in the Living Land until the third month of the invasion is unknown. One
theory is that Baruk Kaah somehow managed to hold back the Deep Mist until
such a time as he felt the need for it, but the ability to keep a world law
from functioning is not something easily done, even by a Darkness Device as
powerful as Rec Pakken. Plus it's a long-term strategy that seems out of
style for the High Lord.
A second theory is that
while the Deep Mist is natural to Takta Ker, it does not appear in the realm
until conditions there are similar to that in the cosm. Kaah may not have
summoned the Deep Mist as much as alter the environment in the Living Land
so that the Deep Mist would then appear on its own.
The Deep Mist completely
covers Takta Ker and the Living Land; it is a thick, grey fog that extends
in all directions and reaches a height of over a mile. The Deep Mist is
warm and humid, and creates what Core Earthers consider a hot and muggy day
without sunshine (the Mist diffuses sunlight sufficiently that while everything
is well lit, the sun itself is at best an indistinct bright spot in the sky.)
While Core Earthers
(and most other people) find the Deep Mist uncomfortable, the natives of
the Living Land, including people transformed to the reality, find the Deep
Mist quite comfortable. Of course the fact that they go around naked may
explain why they find the warmth enjoyable! The Mist also affects sound,
muffling it over long distances and causing strange echoes, so that it is
difficult to determine the direction a sound comes from.
The Deep Mist is uncomfortable
enough to non-natives that it increases the difficulty of all survival
skill checks for finding food and shelter in that kind of environment to
a base difficulty of 10. Natives of the Living Land do not suffer from this
penalty as the Mist does not bother them so they only have a difficulty of
5 . This increase in the difficulty number is assuming that the non-natives
are attempting to live off of the land (eating berries, roots, small game,
etc) instead of hunting for food (i.e., big game/dinosaurs).
Characters who have sufficient
rations or choose to hunt for food will only suffer the penalty if they need
to find shelter, but note that
Lanala's Love of Life
has a way of depriving characters of food they bring into the Living
Land. Rules concerning trapping and hunting big game in the Living Land are
given in the
Living Land sourcebook on pages 68-69.
On a "clear" day (a
day without cloud cover) the Deep Mist reduces the range of normal vision
to 30 meters; on a cloudy day the range of normal vision drops to 20 meters.
In either condition, details can only be discerned within 10 meters. Beyond
that, out to the range of vision, objects only appear as silhouettes and
shadows. Occasional breaks and thin patches in the Mist may allow for detail
to be seen at greater range but rarely will there be any opportunity to
see anything beyond the 20 to 30 meter range.
It is important to note
that the see through mist miracle of the jakatts does not extend the
overall range of visibility, it just improves the quality of vision within
the effect range of the miracle. For example, a blessed jakatt who received
a result of 15 meters from the meter would be able to see details out to
that distance instead of 10 meters, but his maximum range is still limited
to 20 or 30 meters depending on conditions. A minimal success on this
miracle provides no real benefit since the range of the miracle is only
10 meters, the same distance the jakatt could see details normally.
At night, visibility
is limited to 10 meters regardless of how powerful of a light source is
being used. Past that range, the Deep Mist diffuses light effectively enough
to create a "wall" of whiteness. Those who are not within 10 meters of a
light source at night will be able to see the "white wall" created by a light
source at distances up to 20 meters away (i.e., they will see where you are
before you can see them).
On "clear" moonless nights,
characters without a light source are able to see out to a distance of a
few meters due to the Deep Mist diffusing starlight; on nights with a moon,
characters can see out to 10 meters if the moon is full, less when it is
not. (Note that like the sun during the day, the location of the moon will
not be apparent). The see through mist miracle has no noticable effect
at night.
One obvious problem
of not being able to see very far is that it increases the chances of people
getting lost while travelling through the Living Land. This is detailed
in the description of the direction sense skill in the Living Land
sourcebook (pp 66-67).
The Deep Mist further
confounds attempts at travel by interfering with the use of magnetic tools
such as compasses; in the Living Land, compasses will not work EVEN IN REALITY
BUBBLES because the swirling Mists somehow scrambles the magnetic lines of
force the compass detects; in the Living Land a compass will just spin randomly
as eddies in the Mist keep changing what the compass thinks is "north".
Global Positioning System
(GPS) receivers will likewise not function correctly in the Living Land
because the radio signals from satellites that the GPS uses to triangulate
its position are also scrambled by the Deep Mist.
LANALA'S LOVE OF LIFE
Lanala loves life; it
is her source of sensation and any death causes a loss of those sensations.
Her love for life and grief over death has two effects in the Living Land.
The first, her love, is that she helps keep her children alive. She also
rewards those who risk their lives to provide her with sensations. The second,
her grief over death, causes signs of death to quickly vanish so that she
(through her followers) does not have to see it.
Any activity devoted
towards preserving life receives a +3 bonus to its action value. This bonus
can be applied to many things, such as using first aid or medicine
to treat injuries, the performance of a healing miracle, Toughness
rolls to resist disease and a character's daily healing roll that they
make to recover from wound damage. Even healing acts that are contradictions
in the Living Land, such as the use of psychology to treat mental
damage or the use of a magic spell like Awaken to heal someone of their
shock and KO damage, will get the +3 bonus.
For those who place
themselves at risk to provide Lanala with sensations, even if they are not
consciously aware of it, Lanala gives them a small blessing to help them
survive the experience. A character who the gamemaster feels is in a situation
where she's having a strong physical or emotional experience gets a +1 bonus
to the action value of any actions she takes that will keep the character
alive, such as an active defense during an intense combat encounter or to
swing over a deep ravine on a dangling vine with the acrobatics skill
to escape from danger.
Note that this bonus
is only granted when the person is in real danger of being killed; using
acrobatics to swing on a vine over a placid river would not get
the bonus, nor would it apply to a character in combat if that character
is not in serious danger. For example, a fully-armed Monitor from the Star
Sphere with a reality bubble up who was being pestered by a small lizard
wouldn' t get the bonus if he actively defended against the lizard's bite.
On the other hand, if he's being chased by an angry carnol there's a definite
chance of death involved so he would get the bonus.
This aspect of the world
law is active; Living Land characters can receive these bonuses while outside
the realm as long as they are not disconnected or in a pure zone of a foreign
reality.
The second effect of
Lanala's love is the rapid decomposition of dead material. Anything that
dies in the realm or cosm is subject to very rapid rapid disintegration, fast
enough that within a day even a borr aka corpse will be reduced to nothing
more than a large compost heap. In this way there is a quick turnover in
life, and it serves to quickly remove dead things from Lanala's sight. For
items killed within the Living Land, use the Corrosion Chart on p67 of the
Living Land sourcebook.
Some materials brought
into the Living Land from outside will also be affected by this world law.
Depending on how "natural" a product is, the more likely it will disintegrate
inside the Living Land.
- Heavily processed materials that have been changed into a new kind
of material (like certain fabrics, particle board, rubber or "synthetic"
foods like Twinkies and sodas) are immune to the effect because Lanala does
not recognize them as something that was once alive.
- Materials that have been processed to some extent (cotton fabrics,
wooden planks, some food items) but are still recognizable as something that
was once alive will decompose, but at a slower rate.
- Once-living materials that are still in a natural state (furs and
leathers, lumber, most food) will decompose according to the rules given
in the Living Land sourcebook. [Note that in the sourcebook the rule
is only applied to food brought into the Living Land, nothing else.]
It is possible to use
technology to avoid the rapid decomposition of materials, although this
of course runs the risk of disconnection. Vacuum-sealed containers of metal
or opaque glass (Tech 18) will protect materials from Lanala until opened.
While the container is sealed, Lanala can't detect what is inside the container
and so it escapes her "love". Note that transparent containers, even if
vacuum-sealed, will not protect items from Lanala's decomposition since she
will still be able to "see" them. And as soon as the container is opened,
decomposition will begin anyway.
The amount of processing
involved in the manufacture of the item is the primary indicator of how
long a once-living item can survive in the Living Land:
- Heavily processed or "synthetic" (particle board, Twinkies, etc)
: these items do not decay.
- Processed (cotton fabrics, wood planks, etc): these items
will usually last for a few days to a few weeks depending on how old they
are when the character enters the Living Land. Most mass-produced products
that a character might have, such as natural-fiber clothing bought in a
department store, will decay over the course of a few days. Items processed
within a day before entering the Living Land will decay slowly enough to
last for a longer period of time, but usually no more than two or three weeks.
- Basically unchanged (leathers and furs, raw lumber, food):
These items use the Corrosion Chart provided in the Living Land sourcebook.
As it notes there, anything which stopped growing or died more than a few
days before entering the Living Land quickly becomes useless. Food ceases
to be edible in only one-third of the time given on the chart and other
items, such as clothing, becomes unusable in only half of the time given
on the chart.
Example: A realm runner is making his first supply run into
the Living Land. Unprepared for it, he has unwisely chosen to wear cotton
underwear and socks, denim pants, a cotton/polyester blend shirt, a leather
belt, sneakers and a wool felt fedora.
His belt is the first
thing to go; it's old so it begins to fall apart almost immediately and is
completely gone after only a few more seconds. Everything else aside from
his shirt and sneakers will begin to fall apart within a day and will be
completely gone after another day or two.
The cotton fibers in
his shirt will similarly be gone within a day or two but the polyester fibers
will be unaffected; his shirt will be quite ratty-looking but could still
be wearable. His sneakers are mostly rubber and nylon with a little bit of
leather trim. The trim will disintegrate almost immediately but the rest
of the shoe will remain intact. (If his sneakers use laces instead of velcro
strips, those may also disintegrate depending on their material.)
This aspect of the World
Law is passive and will not affect Living Land characters when they are not
in the realm or cosm. (So you cannot have an edeinos rot food simply by
holding it for a few hours.)
LAW OF LIFE
Lanala recognizes three
categories of objects in the Living Land; living, unliving, and dead. Living
objects are just that, alive. The distinction between unliving and dead
is that dead objects were once alive while unliving objects have never been
alive. Most jakatts in the Living Land though do not make this distinction
between unliving and dead objects; anything that isn't alive is to them
a "dead thing".
Non-native people are
often called "dead things" by jakatts, even though they are obviously alive,
because to most jakatts all living things in the universe are part of Lanala.
Anything that is not part of Lanala is therefore not alive, so it must be
"dead".
Some, though not all,
jakatts feel that it is their duty to bring these "dead" people to life.
This usually involves exposing the "dead" person to an intense physical
sensation (they're easier to create than emotional ones) which will hopefully
lead to Lanala rewarding them for the sensation. If the "dead" person accepts
Lanala as his lover (by responding favorably to the reward Lanala gave him),
then the jakatt has succeeded in "bringing that person to life". Those who
do not choose to become part of Lanala remain dead, and dead things need to
be eliminated since their presence causes Lanala pain....
In game terms, whenever
a character who does not have faith(Keta Kalles) is exposed
to an intense physical (or even emotional) sensation while in the Living
Land, there is a chance that they will have a "religious experience" when
Lanala receives their sensation. It will usually be up to the gamemaster to
determine what constitutes an intense experience; a seasoned combat veteran
may feel a small amount of fear when confronting an edeinos in battle, but
it's probably not an intense sensation. On the other hand, if the veteran
is surprised by a flame warrior leaping onto him from out of nowhere, the
sudden shock of the attack or the pain caused by the warrior's flaming touch
would probably qualify.
When one of these "religious
experiences" occurs, the gamemaster generates a bonus value, rerolling
on 10's and 20's, and adds it to an action value of 11 (the average faith
skill of most jakatts in case you're wondering.) This is compared to the
character's faith or Spirit attribute value and the result
points are used on the General Results Table:
- Minimal to Good: the intensity of the experience is
increased to such a point that the character is stunned for one round by
the sensation; treat the character as suffering from a Knockdown result.
- Superior: In addition to the above effect, the character
receives from Lanala a beneficial miracle as reward for the sensation (gamemaster's
discretion as to the effect of the miracle.)
- Spectacular: In addition to all the above, the character
may be converted into a jakatt; characters who do not have any faith
skill are converted and immediately gain +1 add in faith(Keta Kalles).
Possibility-rated characters must immediately pay two possibility
points; if they don't have two points they must pay them at the first opportunity.
Characters who already have the faith skill suffer the effects of
spritual struggle as their beliefs clash with the powerful influences of
Lanala's love. (Roll again using an action value of 11 and compare to the
character's faith skill; result points are read as spiritual stun
damage on the Combat Results Table.)
Jakatts will usually
not attack or interfere with a character who is having one of these "religious
experiences" other than to encourage them to accept Lanala's love and become
one of them. In game terms, during the round the character is stunned no
jakatt will attack the character, even if they were trying to kill the character
just moments before. However, if the character does not appear to have become
"one of them" due to the experience they are free to continue attacking him
in the following round.
This aspect of the world
law is rather unique in the cosmverse since it primarily affects only non-natives
since almost every native already has faith(Keta Kalles). Characters
of the Living Land reality who does not worship Lanala (such as those newly
transformed to the reality) will eventually be converted to Keta Kalles
by this world law, as he cannot escape the effects of it except by disconnecting
in an alien realm.
While it's not too important
to the jakatts, the distinction between unliving and dead objects is an
important one, as the other aspect of the Law of Life affects the unliving
(dead objects are affected by the
Lanala's Love of Life
). Simply put, the world law discourages people from using or keeping
unliving objects by causing unliving objects to become seperated from living
ones.
In other words, people
lose unliving things very often in the Living Land. (Dead objects can be
used as tools or kept, but
Lanala's Love of Life
will guarantee that the object can't be used for very long.) Note that unlike
the jakatts, the world law does not consider those outside Keta Kalles to
be "dead", so people cannot get around losing items by claiming that only
the "living" are affected by this world law.
Objects do not just
vanish into thin air. The world law will instead cause situations to occur
or take advantage of existing events such that there will be plenty of
opportunities for unliving objects to be seperated from the person carrying
them. Examples of this are given on page 70 of the Living Land sourcebook.
Rec Pakken, Gotaks, and the World Laws
Rec Pakken and Baruk
Kaah have made two notable alterations to the world laws of the Living
Land during their careers as Realm Raiders. These changes have been made
so that the Darkness Device can perform its functions without interference
from the cosm's reality (or from Lanala if you prefer to look at it that
way.)
The first change they
made was to the
Law of Life ; Rec Pakken is not
a living thing, nor is it a dead thing, so it must then be an unliving thing.
As a result, the world law kept trying to seperate Kaah from Pakken, and
that was not acceptable. The law has been modified so that Rec Pakken is
considered to be a living object. The stone knives that gotaks use to perform
sacrifices are actually pieces of the Darkness Device itself ("leaves from
the trees of the Black Forest"); as such, they are also immune to the world
law so the gotaks do not have to worry about losing them the way they would
with actual stone knives. The knives also provide a direct conduit back to
Rec Pakken for the possibility energy given up by any sacrifical victim killed
with one of the knives.
The second change was
made to allow the existence of stelae. Living Land stelae are made up of
the remains of living creatures wrapped in vines and other now dead plant
materials.
Lanala's Love of Life would normally
turn stelae into compost within a day of their creation, which is not very
useful to the Darkness Device. The solution was the
Make Stelae
miracle. The power for this miracle comes from Rec Pakken and not Lanala.
The miracle has the effect of tricking the world laws into considering the
stelae to be a living object (which is why it bleeds during the ceremony
used to activate a stelae). The package of remains that are blessed by this
miracle are also energized by the Darkness Device at that time and may be
used immediately as stelae if necessary, or stored for later use.
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page last modified 7/18/2000