Tonight I got to play myself as a character in a different table top role playing game called Whisky Grits & Demon Spittle. This game is being made by our girlfriend, Jasmine Barlow, and has not been published yet, so it was a play test. The GM goes by the name B.W. and it was held on the Cortex discord server.
I had quite a bit of fun, and I definitely recommend playing this game to anyone once it comes out, or if you manage to find one of the playtests you can have access to.
Anyway, this version of me is inspired in part by Wild Wild Wild West and also by Astroboy and Battle Angel Alita. And it does not give anything away about our novels. I might spend more time exploring this form in our inworld, however.
Name: Abacus
Pronouns: it/its
Player Name: Abacus of the Inmara
Game: B.W.’s one shot of Whisky, Grits, & Demon Spittle
The setting is on a colonized Mars. When humanity went about settling Mars, they found that terraforming the planet was easiest using the side effects of something called Nexus gates. The discovery, exploration, and construction of the Nexus gates was a catastrophic process that resulted in the destruction of both of Mars’ moons. And a side effect of the gates was that they leaked out this substance called “ether”. Ether, it turns out, allows human beings to shape reality through their own will. Most people contribute to this shaping subconsciously, and they are also subject to being shaped by it. However, a few people, called Steadfasts, are especially resistant to these changes and can, through their holdings, even consciously change the ether. It is through these Steadfasts that Mars was terraformed and then villages, towns, and cities constructed for people to live in. The player characters are Steadfasts. (all this is copyright to Jasmine Barlow 2021)
And there’s a lot more to it than that, but this gives you an idea of where my character comes from.
Character Notes: Abacus has been wandering the world working as a freelance tutor for as long as it can remember. It goes from town to town, looking for people and particularly children who need help figuring something out or wanting to know something. It specializes in history and lore but is also particularly good at math. It also tends to drone on if no one stops it. Abacus is steam powered, and so carries around a bag of coal which it very efficiently burns, and pops a coal pellet into its mouth every now and then. It takes coal as donations for its services. In a pinch, it also seems to be designed for search and rescue, and will step in the way of any danger to any of its students. However, there are some troubling aspects of its design that seem to indicate it was build for something more. It does not know what this purpose is and does not seem to even be aware of the possibility or agree that anything indicates that there is one. … It does apparently involve the ability to channel ether and turn it into force, such as via rockets.
Distinctions:
– “The best way to learn is to teach,” AI Tutor
– Steam Powered Android
– Ulterior Purpose/Unknown Creator
Values:
1D6 Authority
1D6 Bravery
1D8 Duty
1D4 Grace
1D10 Discovery
1D8 Fortitude
Roles & Specialties
1D10 Rootin’ – 1D6 Geographical Trivia
1D6 Tootin’
1D4 Lootin’
1D8 Falutin’
1D6 Bootin’
1D6 Shootin’
Talents/Boons:
Tradition & Myth – When you draw upon your deep knowledge of lore, spend a PP to create an appropriate D8 asset.
Precious Salve – When you take time to aid or assist another character, you may take d6 of your choice of stress in order to step down one stress on that character. Spend a PP to repeat this.
1D8 Emergency Pneumatic Systems
Lift: When your lifting something especially heavy, take D6 Grace or Fortitude stress to double your Duty die for a contest or test.
Rend: Spend a PP to rip apart solid, inert objects
Other characters included a sentient, singing school bus, a very cranky anthopomorphic crocodillian mechanic, and a young girl who can see and manipulate the ether like no other and tends to subconsciously manifest anything she imagines.