Log 2: Gnosis [TTRPG]

Archived from occybyte.com/resources · 2023-11-12

Gnosis

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Originally, it’s conception was as a social deduction game where the players are crafting an intricate story as they go through. Ideally, it would been able to played in-person or with a video meeting. The most important part of designing this is to bullshit and have fun with it.

There’s actually an initial three page document where I have the initial parts of it and the Game Theory of it. However, that document was scrapped as I started creating it because over planning was crippling my thought process.

The game itself was designed with a single sentence from the game “Clive Barker’s Jericho” along with my love for the STALKER game series’; a karma bomb in Clive Barker’s Jericho, is a immense amount of negative karma released by the deaths of acts as energy/fuel for a spell which allows for a whole to be torn through reality.

Which that single idea burrowed in my mind. It stayed inside, infesting and marinated until I eventually went to University. The first simple part of how the game worked was creating on the side. It was making Omega Colony for a school project. It’s a simple card game; players fight to take resources, if they fail their colony is replaced with robots. The last colony standing wins.

“”Again, so. More with Gnosis:

Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge; it’s our ability to recognize previously learned information. I have a fascination with occults and secret socities and barely knew about Gnosticism but the idea of the concept itself is started to become more and more embedded in the lore that I created.

The initial design of Gnosis is based around the attainment of negative and positive karma, the twist is that not all that’s good is actively good and vice versa. This is the motif and mechanic that that drives the systems. I was more than serious”¦

Serious enough to make karmic tiers and have conditions of how to go up a karmic tier””it was a way to gate and dictate how a player might achieve a karmic bomb. As the players add and subtract karma, they will have enough “˜energy’ to do a ritual that will summon an angelic or demonic entity into the game.

Aspect Cards

There is a bit of a conundrum with Sins””it’s that they are all interconnected or based more specifically on one thing. So, I had to devise some modern sins that would suit the theme for this game. Below is my initial thoughts that I put in the core rules I was creating the demon and angel cards:

These cards are used in accordance with the Seven Capital Virtues and Sins, picking ones between Aurelius Clemens Prudentius and Pope Gregory I. This is to create the best mix that will suit the overall game design. Which is why the cards haven’t been finalized yet. Below are the proposed sins and virtues (as well as their helpers for a more modern age).

The aspects must be something that can translate well as an overall theme to work towards in a game and something that is very prevalent in modern times in society. As a designer and in my mind, Greed, Envy and Lust are two sides of the same coin. Just depicting the same thing for a different function. I’m figuring that there is no point in changing what isn’t broken— or relevant for some, so there are aspects that also won’t probably change. This is all for what makes more sense as a type of social card game; the way the game should go is subject to those who play it.

Then I did some research and created the aspects of sin and virtues:

Sins: Apathy, Vainglory, Wrath, Lust, Avarice, Ignorance & Envy.

Virtues: Charity, Purity, Gnosis, Humility, Confidence, Resilience & Mindfulness.

The next thing was to explain what the aspects are and then what they do gameplay wise and how they effect the mechanics. I didn’t create the summoning ritual types or finish the aspect functions with an example of what it does until much later.

Because once I had the basic system in a realized, I need a better setting, then it was time to further develop the Terminium Compendium IP. Which is what I was doing over countless hours and more than ten notebooks. Though, I’ll take more about that later because the process of creating the main IP started way earlier.

STALKER is the other heavy inspiration for Gnosis. Aside from Karma, there is the artifacts””which are split between godless and godliving artifacts. The godless ones are more like STALKER in nature while the godliving ones are just a bit more divine in essence. People around the world pay top dollar for these items.

Which is why a trader will often purchase these””specific trades have ties to specific factions. The core loop of gnosis outside of the karma is parallel to STALKER in scavening, hunting down things, leads (missions) and organizing. The hard part at the moment is more map and bookkeeping related; I’m thinking of creating a tool in unity to help with this.

With Gnosis, I think that it’s important to remember that even if the Terminus is Occult-based””it’s not super futuristic; specific things in it are but it’s mostly OccultTek. Think of it as akin’ to the military using the Stargate portals rather than anything Star Trek reality. I want to keep the setting “˜grounded’ still.

The two main factions are TOBI and VOID. These are the primary versus ones””they are somewhat hidden, VOID more so.

The more independent a la STALKER faction””doesn’t quite have a name yet. But this is what I have so far:

Specific spots on the map during the night might have entities that will be able to be found other than the wights, the “˜monochrome creatures’. This setting is more or less a happening during an apocalypse rather than a pre or post apocalypse. Then for the character””if you wanted to do a more STALKER heavily solo-journaling: GODLESS EXISTENCE + INDEPENDENT is the way to go.

The game can be played without the Karma system as well””but that’s how more anchor spots and such pop up. Think of it as the Wish-Granter, except, instead of granting a wish””anytime one pops up””the radius of the zones are extended where it pops up. As it’s meant for a more versus thing””albeit: TOBI vs VOID””so, realistically it could also be played 1v1v1.

So, what does the immutable existence trait do?

Then from my character sheet”¦ brainstorming note.

The Trauma Gauge and Wound Trait are more or less, how stressed are ya and how bad is it? is it superficial but your really stressed so””you might be more panicky?

And then”¦ the plates and body armor:

I haven’t even gotten to the tunnels and what the arifacts do!! Check it, Terminus Agents are also known as VOID:

And yeah, this is the really quick overview of Gnosis””It’s not done yet!

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