Intro to the Lore: London isn’t what it used to be, but who would expect it to be what it used to be after a 4 mile wide hole opened up on the outskirts of the city on all hallow’s eve 1862 and King Finvarra and the Wild Hunt led an army out of the wound in the earth and attempted to conquer Britain? Fair old London quickly fell to the Unseelie armies and it seemed that all hope was lost, but emerging from St. Michael's church, atop Glastonbury Tor, came the hero Britain was promised centuries ago. Returning from Avalon, King Arthur led the remnants of the British forces on the Island and the reinforcements coming in from around the Empire against the fae. Under Arthur’s leadership the Unseelie Court was pushed back into the depths from which it came. Of course, London was not the only city beset by the Unseelie. St. Petersburg, Berlin, Paris, New York, New Orleans, Beijing, and Constantinople all faced the full force of the Unseelie invasion. While Arthur forced the Unseelie to depart from these lands when he defeated Finvarra, that didn’t undo the damage done by the invading armies. It’s now 1900 and while London is no longer the capital of the British Empire, Arthur choosing to rebuild Camalot in Somerset and what not, the city is one of the most important locations in the world. Magical artifacts and materials that have revolutionized the way we live (and die) are now pulled up from the great breech, creating vast industries and a degree of lawlessness in Deeper London (the new expansions of the city along the sloping walls of the cavern). But it isn’t London all the way down. The vast demilitarized zone marks the border between the the realm of man and the fairy kingdom. Here a great deal of profit can be made by lone prospectors willing to brave the dangers of this land, and my oh my are there dangers. Beyond the demilitarized zone lies the lands of the Unseelie Court. It’s best not to try and go there After Westminster fell into the Breech and the Unseelie emerged into our realm, Britain was left leaderless, but King Arthur’s return reversed that with his defeat of the Unseelie. So one really batted an eye when he took the throne. Of course that was nearly 40 years ago and parliament hasn’t been called back into session since. While King Arthur is globe trotting, looking for the Holy Grail, the Deep London Trading Company runs vast swaths of Deeper London, and Ser Bedivere and the not so secret police, the Knights of Avalon, rule over the British Empire with a velvet gloved iron fist, very literally in Ser Bedivere’s case. So it goes without saying that there are a few people who are less than satisfied with the state of things. -- Stats: The iconic Wheel system from our classic campaigns Fallen London, Ubergrupen III, and Stranger Personages makes a comeback. The stats of a character are broken up into two categories: primary stats, and secondary stats. The four primary stats (big text) are Speech, Finesse( Skill on this unchanged version), Body, and Mind(S, F, B, M). Each of these primaries governs four secondaries, but three of those four are shared with another primary. That means that of the 10 secondary stats, only 4 are solely improved by a primary. Every one point in a primary is worth one point in all three of the secondaries it governs. Thus, one point in Body is worth one point in Strength, Agility, Willpower and Intimidate. One point in Finesse is worth one point in Agility, Dexterity, Perception, and Bluff. A character with 1 Body and 1 Finesse would have 2 points in agility, since there's overlap between the two primaries. This is a stat synergy, and is useful in planning a character and picking a class. Most of the rolls you make in this game will be governed entirely by the stats on this wheel. A list of secondaries and what they do: (B) Strength: The primary stat for determining the power and endurance of the body, strength is one of -if not the most important- stats for melee combat. It increases HP and melee damage. (BM) Willpower: Will increases HP alongside strength as well as increases your mana pool alongside INT. It can also be used to push through difficult times like torture and situations that might send any sane person running for the hills. It will also protect you from foreign influences upon your mind. (M) Intelligence: Reading, writing, analyzing, and understanding, are the primary uses of Intelligence outside of combat situations, but the stat provides half of what goes into determining your mana pool, which governs how many magical spells you can cast. (MS) Education: A stat determining the breadth and depth of one's knowledge, education is used both in checks for understanding esoteric material, recalling academic knowledge, and provides scholarship points used to unlock greater understanding of different fields of study as well as being used to learn new spells. (S) Eloquence: Used for convincing and arguing one's case, as well as creating works of art, eloquence is useful for argumentative, clever characters who can construct their own viewpoints and essays. (SF) Bluff: You lie like a dog. Although a somewhat narrow range, bluff will be important to the Great Game being played by the many factions within the setting. (F) Dexterity: you’ll be using Dex for rolls that involve fine motor control, stealth, use of a firearm, and attack speed. High enough dexterity can translate into multiple attacks per turn. (FB) Agility: This stat governs your gross motor control, agility can be used for dodging, acrobatics, flexibility, movement speed, throwing skill, and bows. (MS) Perception: A narrow stat, perception is used to spot all manner of hidden or distant objects, sizing up people, sniffing out a lie, and overall accuracy. High perception can give bonuses to hit, and every eight points past five lowers the crit threshold on attacks by 1. (BS) Intimidate: Terrify your enemy into surrendering or running away. It might seem like a rather narrow stat, but it’s going to feel great grimacing at someone and sending them running into the night. An ability of 1 is so low that it borders on being subhuman or childlike, an ability of 5 marks you as being perfectly average, 10 is above average/impressive, 15 is peak human, and 20 is essentially superhuman, once in a generation levels of ability. Every stat point past 10 adds a boost of 1 to any roll governed by that stat. -- Connection Points: London and Deeper London are filled with factions competing for power and support, many of which have interests that are diametrically opposed to one another. Cultivating connection points with these factions is important to being a major player in the city. Connection points are divided into “Knowledge” points which equate to the players understanding of a faction, of how it works, who’s who in the organization, what it’s goals are, ect. You generally won’t lose Knowledge after you’ve dedicated points to that faction. The other area that connection points go are into Favor with a faction. Favor is a currency like any other, it can be gained through trading services and can be spent similarly. Some factions have a lot more to give for favor than others, but all can help you out in some way for the price of a little favor. You will begin with 10 connection points to place as you see fit and will gain 3 new points every odd level after that. In addition you can gain connection points from doing faction aligned quests. Connection points in any specific faction max out at 20. Factions you can gain connection points with include: 1. The Knights/Government: The Secret Police, the government, and the protectors of the realm. 2. High Society: Socialites of the highest order, and the elites of London can be very influential friends and very terrible enemies. 3. The Public: maybe they can’t send hitmen to rip you in half or blow you up with a magic beamu, but it’s probably a good idea to have the common folk on your side. 4. Les Apaches: When things went south in Paris, a large number of people fled to Britain where they would establish to Blue Quarter in Deeper London. Along with such icons as Jules Verne came one of the most dangerous gangs of the era, Les Apaches. Inventive and ingenuitive, it’s best not to get on their bad side. 5. The Fisher Kings: One of the big three gangs of Deeper London, the Fisher Kings is filled with half mad social rejects that are cripplingly addicted to Snuff of Heaven (ground up mana crystals which they snort). They collect items most would sell for massive profits and are generally unpleasant. 6. The Deeper Blinders: A loose confederation of small gangs that somehow manages to be fairly organized in their crimes and how they execute them. A great web seems to connect them together. One wonders who or what might have built that web. 7. The Republicans: The least revolutionary revolutionaries you will ever meet. They’d very much like to go back to when (the right) people could vote for their government rather than being ruled by an absolute monarch. If a friend found you with Republican propaganda, they might tell you that you should be ashamed of yourself and that they don’t want to catch you with such things again, but they probably wouldn’t turn you over to the Knights of Avalon.