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bethanythebogwitch · 5 months ago

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The TTRPG about self-discovery and zombies

Promethean: the Created is a game in the Chronicles of Darkness game line about learning about what it means to be human and persevering in the face of incredible adversity. Chronicles of Darkness is a line of tabletop role-playing games that share a setting (but can be played independently of each other), each of which focuses on playing as some kind of supernatural creature that lives in secret amongst humanity. Promethean is basically CoD’s take on the story of Frankenstien. You play as monstrous mockeries of humanity, doomed to be feared and hated by all you encounter, learning who you are and what it means to be human so you can escape your torturous existence. While Promethean is the kind of game where you can have plots about fighting radioactive zombies and mad scientists at the behest of a three-faced angel with seven flaming wings, it is ultimately about character growth and development over a long journey of self-improvement and -discovery.

Central to Promethean is the practice of alchemy and alchemy is the magic of change. All alchemy is powered by the cosmic force of change that is the divine fire Pyros. Pyros is further divided into Azoth (change as a creative force) and Flux (change as a destructive force). There are many alchemists worldwide that study the power of Pyros, but all agree that the Magnum Opus of the craft is the creation of life from death. Those who attempt this feat will ultimately create a Promethean. Prometheans, more commonly known to themselves as the Created, are corpses brought to life and infused with raw Azoth in place of a soul. However, this is not true life and the Created are abominations against life itself. The Azoth that fuels them leaks out constantly and inflicts wild changes on the world around them. If a Promethean stays in one place too long, the people and even landscapes around them are twisted by their presence in effects called Disquiet and Wasteland. Disquiet alters people’s minds, causing them to ultimately come to fear and hate the Promethean who caused the effect. Wasteland alters the local landscape, environment, and weather into unnatural conditions. Thus the Created have to constantly be on the move, doomed to never stay in one place too long lest they ruin the land and trigger hate mobs out for their blood. It is a miserable existence, but there is a way out. Every Promethean is born with instinctual knowledge of the process called the Pilgrimage, a process where, by learning what it is to be human, a Promethean can transmute their Azoth replica of a soul into a true soul and become human. This journey is long and hard and no matter how bad things get, that bit of hope is always there.

Prometheans are created from human corpses, but they are their own unique individuals, retaining no memories from their body’s former life. They are born with no real understanding of anything and must quickly learn or die. Fortunately (or not) for them, they are incredibly durable, able to take immense amounts of damage, heal themselves with exposure to electricity, and they even get one free resurrection. Their powers are called Transmutations, which let them spend some of their pool of Azoth to alter themselves or the world around them. One transmutation all Created share is the ability to project an illusion around themselves to appear like a normal human. This helps delay the onset of Disquiet and allows one to actually interact with people without the problems that come with looking like a walking corpse. There are many ways to make a Promethean and the Created are divided into Lineages based on which method was used to create them. Lineages are named after the first Promethean made using each method. Lineages affect how Prometheans think and what Transmutations they have access to. Each Lineage comes with its own Disfigurement, the physical tells of their origin, and Torment, mental compulsions the Promethean suffers. In addition, the different Lineages cause their own variants of Disquiet and Wasteland. Curiously, staying in proximity to Prometheans of different Lineages reduces the effects of Disquiet and Wasteland. This encourages Pormetheans to seek each other out and travel together in groups called Throngs. Even if this effect didn’t happen, the Created would still seek each other out. Loneliness is a burden all Created must carry and as they are immune to the effects of Disquiet, other Prometheans may be the only beings a Created can actually spend a lot of time with. There are five common Lineages and three rare ones.

Frankenstein is the youngest of the common Lineages and yes, the Victor Frankenstein was responsible for creating this Lineage. A guy called Mr. Verney claims to be the original Frankenstein’s Monster and he’s still around. He also inspired Mary Shelly to write the book. The ritual to create a Frankenstein requires parts from at least two bodies, which are attacked together through stitches, prostheses, or whatever other inanimate materials the creator has available. Then, Azoth is supplied to the body by electricity. This has traditionally been done through lightning strikes, but power plants work just as well. All Frankensteins experience constant pain through their existences and have naturally violent tempers. Unlike the other Lineages, Frankensteins began as a failed attempt to create a human and this sense of failure and rejection haunts them. Theri Disfigurements reveal the patchwork nature of their bodies. Their Torment compels them to lash out in rage and destroy the things they love. Their Disquiet causes them to become the scapegoats for anything that goes wrong. Their wastelands are dry and hot, with increased chance of fire and lightning.

Galatea is a lineage that dates back to ancient Greece with the story of Pygmalion. Creating a Galateid requires an unmarred and beautiful corpse to be bathed in wine vinegar, pearls, and herbs. The final ingredient to bring one to life is a kiss that imbues the body with Azoth. Galateids are created as objects of desire, usually by lonely and artistic progenitors. They have to struggle with conflicting instincts, their desire for freedom contrasting with an innate urge to be loved and kept. Galateids tend to be vain and the most socially adept of the Lineages. Their Disfigurements make them appear as artificial mockeries of beauty, with skin like marble and glassy eyes. Their Torment makes them obsessed with obtaining people they love and see as beautiful. Their Disquiet makes people simultaneously obsess with and repulsed by them. Their Wastelands are marked with storms and extreme winds.

The Osiris Lineage claims descent from the Egyptian god Osiris, who was killed and cut apart by his rival Set, then brought back when his wife reassembled the pieces. Osirans are often compared to mummies but as actual mummies exist in this setting (the game is Mummy: the Curse), their creation ritual may be an attempt at recreating the origin of true mummies. To create an Osiran a corpse must be immersed in river water, then cut into thirteen pieces with a bronze knife. The smallest piece is discarded and the rest are spat upon and sewn back together with flaxen threat. Finally, the creator places a handful of Azoth-laden rose petals in the body’s mouth and the new Promethean will chew and swallow its first meal. Osirans consider themselves to be the closest thing the Created have to royalty, being allegedly descended from a god. They are indisputably the oldest Lineage. Osirans tend to be inquisitive and struggle with deadened emotions. Their Disfigurement makes them appear withered and mummified, with the missing piece being very obvious. Their Torment drives them to be callous and manipulative. Their Disquiet makes people obsessed with learning how they work, to the point of capture and vivisection. Their Wastelands turn the land into desert.

Tammuz is the Lineage born from the ancient Semitic tradition of making golems. The ritual for making a Tammuz is the easiest of all the Lineages. A body is selected and the progenitor writes an instinctually-known work on a slip of paper that is placed under the tongue. The body must then be marked as a slave. This can be through tattoos, brands, manacles, or a number of other methods. The body is then buried in bare earth and abandoned. When the new Promethean is ready, it will dig itself out. The Tammuz were created as servants and they chafe at bondage. The Tammuz desire freedom above all else. They do enjoy helping people out, but if a Tammus feels taken advantage of, they will become furious. Tammus are naturally pessimistic and melancholic. Their Disfigurement makes them appear earthen, with skin of cracked clay and stones for eyes. Their Torment drives them to be submissive and subservient. Their Disquiet causes people to become depressed and static. Their Wastelands are wet and sad, with rainstorms and animals becoming too depressed to survive.

The Ulgan Lineage claims descent from a Siberian shaman of the same name who could rip himself apart and then put himself back together. The creation rite requires a body (alive or dead) to be sunk into the state of Twilight (the in-between state between the regular world and spirit world first introduced in the game Werewolf: the Forsaken), where spirits are summoned to rip the body apart. The progenitor then recovers the pieces, reassembles them, and vomits ectoplasm over the body to bring it to life. Ulgans are spiritually aware, able to sense spirits and uncontrollably drawing spirits to them. Ulgans tend to try to learn from the spirits, becoming shamans and mystics who seek out the mysteries of the occult. They are typically the least social of the Prometheans, but companionship is good for them as it keeps them from becoming totally shut off to the world. Ulgan Disfigurements appear as deep, bloodless gashes in the body that spill forth darkness. Their Torment drives them to isolate themselves and grow detached from the world. Their disquiet makes people paranoid and suspicious. Their Wastemend weakens the barrier between the world of matter and the world of spirits, eventually allowing spirits to pour through into reality (and if your Game Master is playing a game that acknowledges the other gamelines and this happens in werewolf territory, you better have that free resurrection lying around because your ass is turbofucked).

Unfleshed is one of the rare Lineages, though it is not really a Lineage in and of itself but a common name for any promethean not made from a corpse but from inanimate objects. There is no common creation rite amongst the Unfleshed. The only requirement is an artificial object in the general shape of a human and it needs to have been made with a function in mind. Unfleshed can be created from statues, mannequins, toys, robots, and even artificial intelligences. The Unfleshed are created as tools and have an even harder time than the other Lineages learning what it is to be human. They tend to be very logical and emotionless and need to learn how to accept being emotional and imperfect. They despise being treated as mere tools. Also, the Colossus of Rhodes was a giant, immobile Unfleshed that was part of a magical network focused around the seven wonders of the world that kept godlike fairies out of the world. I’m not making this up, it’s in the lore. Their Disfigurement reveals the artificial nature of their bodies. Their Torment causes them to become emotionless and inhuman. Their Disquiet makes people treat them as tools and objects. Their Wasteland causes the world to run like clockwork, with no room for disorder.

Zeka is one of the rare Lineages and the youngest Lineage of all. They first appeared in 1945 and while there is no common ritual for creating one, the birth of a Zeka requires large amounts of radiation. It is also possible for radiation to corrupt the creation rite of another Lineage, resulting in a Zeka instead. The Zeky did not appear until the development of atomic weapons and their very existence seems to be a reminder of the horrors of nuclear radiation. They are born in constant agony and secrete radiation wherever they go, poisoning the land they walk upon and the people they meet. The Zeky live an existence of even more pain than other Prometheans, so it is not much of a surprise that not one of them has ever completed the Pilgrimage. Their Disfigurement makes them look like victims of radiation, covered with tumors and keloid scars. Their Torment makes them lash out at the world in rage and pain. Their Disquiet makes people paranoid and insular, the worst of Cold War-era paranoia. Their Wasteland poisons the world with radiation.

Extempore is one of the rare Lineages, though it’s not actually a Lineage but the collective term for Prometheans born not from the actions of an intelligent progenitor, but through random chance. Pyros exists throughout the world and whenever enough of it comes together near a corpse, a Promethean can be born. This is usually a result of natural disasters or other cataclysmic events, as such events are wellsprings of Pyros. Each Extempore is effectively a lineage of one, though there have been cases where events are so widespread that multiple corpses can be animated in the same way, creating mini-Lineages. Two examples of this are the Faceless, born from the bodies of World War I victims of poison gas who were struck by lightning, and Hollows, who were victims of dehydration during the events of the Dust Bowl. In both cases, once the events that caused their creation ended, no new members of the mini-Lineage could be born, dooming them to extinction. Extempore Disfigurements, Torment, Disquiet, and Wastelands are unique to each individual.

The ultimate goal of any Promethean following the Pilgrimage is to become human, an event called the New Dawn. Upon achieving the New Dawn, the power of Pyros will rewrite history, making it so the Promethean in question was always human, even if others can still remember their pre-New Dawn self. Their new life will be shaped by their experiences as a Promethean, even though they will remember none of it. Reaching the New Dawn requires Vitriol, a substance produced by the Created that is effectively a physical representation of their development along their Pilgrimage.Vitriol can also be stolen in an act called the Lacuna that is considered a monstrous crime. Because it is very useful in alchemy, some alchemists will attempt to hunt the Created to steal their Vitriol. Losing Vitriol sets a Promethean back on their Pilgrimage. Vitriol is generated when a Promethean completes milestones, specific steps along the journey to humanity. Some milestones are universal to all Prometheans while others are more personal. One important milestone is called multiplicato and it requires the Created to leave a legacy. The most common way of doing this is creating a new Promethean of the same lineage. There are other ways, but this is the most common. This is an issue for Extempore as their creation is often unreplicatable. The idea of dooming another in order to the miserable life of a Promethean rarely sits well, but many will end up doing it as the other options are either unknown to them or out of reach. Most milestones are gained through Refinements. These are roles a Promethean acts out to better understand humanity and themselves. There are 11 refinements, 5 common, 5 complex, and 1 forbidden. Changing between Refinements is important as staying static will eventually burn out the Azoth within and reduce the Promethean to a mindless automaton called a Petrificatus. The Refinement system means that Promethean is a game where humans roleplay monsters roleplaying as humans.

The 5 common refinements are:

Aururum, Refinement of mortality. Followers of this Refinement attempt to learn about humanity by living amongst humans and acting like them. They will pick up human behavior, try to communicate with people, get jobs or attend schools, and develop a sense of empathy. These roles must ultimately be short to avoid Disquiet and the Pormethean must remember that they are learning to be human, not just imitating human behavior.

Cuprum, Refinement of self. This Refinement focuses on the Promethean understanding who and what they are. They tend to be loners engaging in meditation and other forms of self-knowledge. This allows them to understand the mutability of their forms and hopefully the process by which they can transform their Azoth into a soul. Many adopt this Refinement after Disquiet forces them away from other people.

Ferrum, Refinement of corpus. This Refinement teaches that since the body is the seat of the soul, understanding and perfecting the body is a vital part of obtaining a true soul. Thus, they train in martial arts, strength training, and other forms of exercise. Those following this Refinement tend to adopt the lifestyle of an honorable warrior who fights not just to fight, but to prove their strength and protect others.

Plumbum, the Refinement of source. This Refinement teaches that to escape the Promethean condition requires understanding it. They study the abilities and origins of the Created and especially the effects of Wasteland and Disquiet. They also tend to have the most knowledge about Promethean history, lore, and the nature of Transmutations and Legacies.

Stannum, the Refinement of torment. This Refinement is all about believing that avoiding pain and Torment is impossible. The practitioners turn their rage and pain outwards, lashing out at the world around them. Most Created will end up on this Refinement eventually, as the torment of their condition drives them to the end of their rope.

The complex Refinements are rarer and require a greeted understanding than the common ones. They are:

Aes, the Refinement of aid. This practice teaches that in order to proceed on your Pilgrimage, you must help others on theirs. Prometheans on this Refinement protect other Created and give them advice and help on their mission. It is all about learning to put others before yourself. On the other hand, you also must learn that some people don’t want help and how to avoid being taken advantage of.

Argentum, the Refinement of mystery. These Prometheans seek to learn about humanity by studying other supernatural creatures. Many of these beings (eg. vampires, ghosts, changelings, mummies, werewolves, mages) either were once human or are still part human. Those following Argentum believe that by studying the transformation from human to monster, they can learn to reverse the practice. Other supernatural beings (eg. spirits, demons, angels, etc) were never human and Prometheans hope that by studying them , they can learn what humanity is not.

Cobalus, the Refinement of impurity. Similarly to Plumbum, this Refinement is about learning what the nature of a Promethean is. They engage in experimentation with Disquiet, Wastelands, Torment, and Transmutations. They also do not shun Disquiet and Wastelands, but encourage them so they can openly deal with the consequences and in doing so, find out how to master the Promethean condition.

Mercurius, the Refinement of Pyros. This Refinement is all about studying the divine fire of Pyros and learning its abilities and limitations. They practice alchemy and delve into deep lore on Pyros and Azoth. They also learn how to amplify their Transmutations and control the fire within. After all, how best to learn how to turn their Azoth into a soul than to learn how to control it?

Phosphorum, the Refinement of ephemerality. These Prometheans can’t wait for the New Dawn, they want to be human now. Thus they indulge in vice and thrill, all while pushing the limits of life. Many take on this Refinement after a failed attempt to reach the New Dawn out of despair and a desire to forget their pain. However, by living life to the fullest, they can learn more about humanity and even the nature of death.

The forbidden Refinement is Centimani, the Refinement of Flux. This is the path of Prometheans who have given up on the Pilgrimage. In their mind, if the world treats them as monsters, they might as well be monsters. Those driven to despair by the pain, loneliness, and failure can fall to become twisted monsters with no hope of ever escaping their torment. Because Centimani is the path of rejecting the Pilgrimage, those on the path cannot generate Vitriol and must perform the Lacuna to steal it from other Prometheans to avoid becoming a Petrificatus. It is very rare but possible for a Centimanus to leave the Refinement and return to the Pilgrimage. The majority of Zeka are Centimani.

There are many enemies of the Created: humans (or worse, other supernatural beings) caught in Disquiet, monster hunters, Alchemists out to steal their supply of Azoth and Vitriol, other Created eager to perform the Lacuna, and so on. The ones they fear the most, however, are the Pandorans. These monsters are the result of the creation of a Promethean gone wrong. Instead of being filled with Azoth, the body is filled with Flux. This causes the body to tear apart, each piece becoming a Pandoran. These monsters require Azoth to live and excel at hunting and devouring Prometheans for their supply. When deprived of Azoth, the Pandoran will become dormant and assume the shape of an inanimate object. Anything from a rock to an ornate sculpture could be a dormant Pandoran just waiting for the presence of a Promethean to awaken it and turn it into a vicious predator. While they possess a predator’s cunning, Pandorans are not sapient beings. However, if one manages to devour enough Vitriol from its prey, it can transform into a Sublimatus. These beings have all the power of Pandorans with a human-like mind and endless hunger. They frequently lead packs of Pandorans and human cultists in search of their own goals and precious Azoth. As terrifying as they are, Sublimati are victims of tragedy as well. They are just as inhuman and tormented as Prometheans, but there is no New Dawn for them. The only end to a Sublimatus’s misery is death.

The strangest beings Prometheans encounter are the Qashmallim. These angel-like beings are born directly of Pyros and can represent either Azoth or Flux. Each Qashmal is born with a mission and a limited supply of Pyros. They will attempt to fulfill this mission above everything else and only last until the mission is completed, they are destroyed, or their supply of Pyros runs out. Most Prometheans consider them to be either help or hindrances on the Pilgrimage, but Qashmallim can enact great change in the world.

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