Promethean: The Created: Difference between revisions

Notable perhaps because a viable group of characters in the game consists of Frankenstein's Monster, a marble statue imbued with life, a hypertech nanite colony in the shape of a man, a mummy, and a golem complete with the name of God on his forehead, and they can go beat up a radioactive zombie-making (and also radioactive-zombie making) thing brought to life by a nuclear bomb and guarded by living cancers, because you were told to by a blood-drenched angel with a flaming sword and six wings. And despite that description, it's actually a rather deep game of personal horror and on the nature of what makes a man. Possibly the strangest of the new World of Darkness games, ''Promethean'' requires more investment between Storyteller and player than the norm, and is thus recommended for smaller groups.

'''The Lineages:''' The inborn classification of the Created, representing the way in which the Promethean was… well, created. Each Lineage is also associated with one of the medieval Elements and an associated [[Four-Temperament Ensemble|bodily Humour]].

* '''Unfleshed:''' Not so much a Lineage as a collection of unrelated Lineages, the Unfleshed are Prometheans made out of machinery or electronics – computers with self-intelligent AI, androids, and the like. Each Unfleshed is unique. They might manifest the Torment, Wasteland, and Disquiet effects of any of the other Lineages.

There are five Refinements that are common among the Created

* '''Centimani:''' The Refinement of Flux. Members of this Refinement turn away from humanity and embrace their inhuman natures, becoming true monsters. For some, this is chosen because the Centimanus has lost faith in the possibility of the New Dawn. Some rare few, though, see this as one more path to humanity. There are monsters among mortality, after all, and perhaps the Promethean can learn to become human by first studying what humans aren’t. This is the easiest path for the Zeka Lineage to follow, and the hardest to leave.

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* [[A God Am I]]: Not very common for reasons that will be explained below, but when an unhinged Zeka with low Humanity embraces the Centamani path they can fall into this trope too easily...

* [[Alchemy Is Magic]]: Prometheans are alchemical creations powered by the Divine Fire that moves the Universe. Their Lineages are based on [[Four-Temperament Ensemble|the classical elements]], they pursue Refinements based on the seven alchemical metals (as well as bronze and cobalt), and they can create [[Prestige Class|Athanors]] to further refine themselves.

*** Then they realize they're in a form of enslavement, cue the next trope;

* [[Berserk Button]]: The Tammuz as a whole loathe slavery; recently created Prometheans who are African-American and bring up their slavery as an issue get put in their place by the older Tammuz who've seen and lived its horrors since old-testament times.

* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: A lighter shade of gray than usual. The black is a lot worse.

* [[Blank Slate]]: Prometheans start with nothing. Hopefully.

* [[Blessed with Suck]]: Quite possibly the worst in the [[New World of Darkness|nWoD]].

** But Great Grandfather Crow has it even worse than everyone else. He was a crow who died and was then resurrected by some halfwit of a Promethean. Now he's a dead crow with the mind of a proto-human who just wants to become a regular crow again. The rulebook suggests that the New Dawn is actually impossible for him, because the Divine Fire can only turn one human, but he doesn't want that. That said, one test game run by the designers ended with the crow finding Redemption as a bird.

** Constructs, non-Unfleshed Prometheans made from substances besides human bodies (such as iron, wood, or stone), are even further removed from humanity than a normal Promethean, don't even ''look'' human without a Transmutation, cause Disquiet more easily, and, while they may have minor advantages, they also suffer from the same weaknesses as the materials they're made from.

* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: Qashmallim have a purpose given to them by the Principle. They exist to do nothing but fulfill that purpose, no matter how bizarre or nonsensical it may seem. They are generally polite enough to explain themselves, as best as they can, if asked, though you may get tired of hearing "It is the will of the Principle" and "The Principle is the Principle" pretty quickly.

* [[Body Horror]]: Pandorans come from the bodies of failed attempts at Promethean generation, with a healthy dose of Flux added in. Heads with tentacles, living viscera with legs and gaping maws, etc. Prometheans who use Pandoran transmutations mutate terribly, as well.

* [[Came Back Wrong]]: The first of each Lineage started like this; Prometheans sometimes have this happen to them as well, when the attempts to create new ones create Pandorans.

* [[City of Adventure]]: Detroit.

* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: Tura Evenkia from ''Magnum Opus'' was created when an Ulgan decided to see what would happen if he tried to make a Promethean out of a life-sized wooden idol. Good News: It worked! Bad News: Tura went berserk from the pain of awakening and butchered him with her bare hands before snapping out of it.

* [[Hate Plague]]: Disquiet becomes ''contagious'' at its worst level, and nothing short of [[Murder Is the Best Solution|the death of the Promethean causing it]] can stop it by that point.

* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Frankensteins and Galateids have an inborn tendency to be this way, with Frankensteins more driven and Galateids being more foolhardy.

* [[Humans Are Bastards]]: But damn it, Prometheans still want to be one!

* [[Monsters Anonymous]]: What friendly contact between prometheans basically boils down to.

* [[Immortality Begins At Twenty|Mortality Begins At Twenty]]: Unless you appear younger as a Promethean.

** Also, as a possibly ''literal'' [[Mythology Gag]], missing at least one part. The more mythologically aware get a nice large cleaver and take it to their intended offspring's crotch prior to resurrecting them. The sample characters miss various parts; out of one sample adventure, we have Osirans missing an earlobe, a toe, and... ''those'' bits. It's said that the ones who get the "classic" deformity don't really mind, except when they're asked which parts were taken.

** One Osiran character's Demiurge deliberately avoided the ''Classic Choice'' when creating him for obvious reasons; {{spoiler|She was his wife and a one-time Osiran herself.}}

* [[Not Himself]]: A Promethean's Humour normally only informs his actions, occasionally coming to the fore when he's under stress or exhausted. When in Torment, however, his Humour totally dominates his personality and he acts in ways he cannot control.

* [[Not Using the Z Word]]: The term "Promethean" is not often used by the Created, because many don't know it ''is'' a term.

* [[Order Versus Chaos]]: Elpis is the force for order and development, Flux for chaos and entropy. Both have their own versions of qashmallim. There isn't a "conflict" per se, as both are aspects of the Divine Fire, but since Flux is destructive and body-warping, most Prometheans want nothing to do with it or actively attempt to stymie it.

* [[Organ Autonomy]]: A regular problem, especially for [[Frankenstein's Monster|the Wretched]]. Given that the Wretched ''must'' be assembled from two or more "donors", but any Promethean can do the same if necessary, it is not unique to the Wretched. The Merit "Residual Memories" can turn this into an advantage for a time.

* [[The Stoic]]: Osirans tend to be this way, particularly when in Torment.

* [[Taken for Granite]]: One of the lineages was descended from Galatea, and some have worked out how to turn back into stone.

** Galateids actually have a Bestowment available that allows them to transmute their bodies into stone. Other Prometheans can learn it too.

* [[Then Let Me Be Evil]]: Hi there, Furies!

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