Advantage on Arcana

Playable Peoples of the Lakelands

Many different peoples now inhabit the post-apocalyptic Lakelands, and player characters are not limited to regular humans. For now, I have seven Lakelands "peoples" from which players can choose, though there are other sapient beings yet in the Lakelands and beyond.

Below I have drafts of a few paragraphs for each of these seven peoples; although I have two or three pages written about most of them, at a certain point I realized I would need something that players could reasonably digest during a Session 0. I therefore wrote these brief introductions, which should also work as an introduction for you.

You will find mechanical expressions of these peoples in their descriptions. Fate Core, the system I plan to use, does not have a built-in method for handling anything analogous to Dungeons & Dragons's races, and the option in the Fate System Toolkit does not quite work for me. My plan instead is to require each character to take a sixth aspect called a peoples aspect, which would (with one exception) simply be the name of whatever people they're a member of. For example, a character's aspects might look like this:

     Kitjel (kit-zheel)
     High Concept: Peripatetic Junk Scavenger
     Trouble Aspect: Rusty Social Skills
     Peoples Aspect: Drakemantid
     Other: Pet Skunk Named Zarila
     Other: Quick With A Quarterstaff
     Other: Phlegmatic Manner

A Peoples Aspect would work like a normal aspect, and I have laid out ways to invoke and compel each of them to ensure that players and GMs are on the same page. Of course, these are not meant to be exhaustive lists; if players think of other ways to invoke or compel their peoples aspect that fits with the established lore of that people, they should be free to do so. These aspects also permit player characters to take certain stunts. I have left mention of these stunts in the descriptions not because you could possibly know what they mean, but because I hope some of these names are evocative and give you a better sense of each people.

Humans

Humans may still make up a majority of the Lakelands' inhabitants, but not all of them are Homo sapiens now.

Mundane Humans

Once the only sapient people in the Lakelands, humans are much the same as they ever were: bipedal primates evolved to chase down prey in the savannah, able to use tools in the hunt thanks to their free hands and big brains. Now in post-Arrival North America they are not the only sapient people, though humans are still on average better at running and throwing than the others are. Although many just call themselves human, sometimes a distinction must be made between unaltered Homo sapiens and geminites or half-nymphs, and in these circumstances Lakelanders use the term "mundane human."
     Of course, the humans of the Lakelands are not always mundane, exactly; like anyone else in the region they have occultists among their members and people who have learned to manipulate the Weird. Even those without such powers have had to adapt to the long shadows of the Unbound. What the mundane humans have that non-humans lack, however, is an ancestral connection those ones who lived in the Lakelands before the Arrival, and nearly every mundane human community is oriented in some way around that history and the knowledge it provides.      You can invoke "Mundane Human" as a peoples aspect on rolls representing the following situations:

Because of the last two situations, you can also invoke this aspect on any hand-eye coordination task in good lighting. However, this aspect can be used for compels in the following ways:

Two peoples-specific stunts are available to characters with the "Mundane Human" peoples aspect: Human Cultural Patrimony and Human Scientific Patrimony.

Geminites

Geminites look like typical humans except for one thing: they are always born as dicephalic conjoined twins. No one knows exactly why the Hallowed Instar had its captive scientists make them like this, but whatever the reason, it has been nearly eighty years since they began spreading out from the laboratory in which they were made. Now multiple generations of geminites, also occasionally called aristophaneans, make the Lakelands home.
     Each pair of siblings is identical and dicephalic, meaning they are born conjoined and share a body from the shoulders down. Twins share – or compete for, as the case may be – motor control and physical sensation of their torso and limbs, but each can only move and feel their own neck and head. Despite having the same genes and nearly identical upbringings, conjoined geminite siblings still have independent, and sometimes quite different, minds; they really are two people in one body. In all other respects, geminites are physically indistinguishable from mundane humans.
     You can invoke "Geminites" as a peoples aspect on rolls representing the following situations:

Because of the last two situations, you can also invoke the aspect on any hand-eye coordination task in good lighting. However, this aspect can be used for compels in the following ways:

Two peoples-specific stunts are available to characters with the "Geminites" peoples aspect: A House Divided and Shadow And Light.

New Hominids

Made in the Black Hills of North Dakota by an Unbound called the Howling Rustic, these primate people resemble the early hominid ancestors of modern humans – and indeed that might be what they are. No one knows for sure whether they are extinct humans resurrected in the present or the Howling Rustic's original creation. Whatever the truth, they stand on average 3' 11" and for their height they have proportionately longer arms and shorter legs than mundane humans do; they also have coarser body hair. Despite what the Homo sapiens sometimes expect, the new hominids are just as smart as anyone else in the Lakelands.
     Due to strange time-dilation effects in the Black Hills, the new hominids have had several generations to establish four nascent cultures before arriving in the Lakelands: the farming new hominids live in sod houses behind earthworks, the mining new hominids work in underground communes, the fishing new hominids follow rivers in houseboats and canoes, and the herding new hominids range with their livestock.
     You can invoke "New Hominid" as a peoples aspect on rolls representing the following situations:

This aspect can also be used for compels, such as the following:

Characters with the "New Hominid" peoples aspect have access to two peoples-specific stunts: In A Hole In The Ground and Not All Those Who Wander.

Fungal Symbiotes

Certain fungus species in the Lakelands have begun to magically retain a pattern of the human form, allowing the mould nymphs and half-nymphs to emerge.

Mould Nymphs

A strange people that have so far appeared only in the Lakelands, the mould nymphs are walking fungus colonies in the shape of human beings. The resemblance to Homo sapiens is uncanny, but their bodies are visibly made out of mushrooms, polypores, lichens, and mould, not skin and flesh and hair. Healthy nymphs can recover from injury faster than most other people and can digest nearly anything organic as food.
     Because of the spores that mould nymphs produce, many Lakelands communities do not want to let them anywhere near their houses and food stores; mould nymphs instead live in hamlets outside other peoples' settlements or in towns of their own. In these communities they develop a culture more in keeping with their biology, avoiding clothes that are vulnerable to decay and growing elaborate lichen and moss gardens.
     You can invoke "Mould Nymph" as a peoples aspect on rolls representing the following situations:

The aspect can be used for compels, however, in these ways:

There are two peoples-specific stunts available to characters with the "Mould Nymph" aspect: Fungal Regeneration and Advanced Fungal Regeneration.

Half-Nymphs

When a human infected with a mould nymph's spores is grievously injured and near to death, there is a chance that the spores will grow into fungal tissue, replacing whatever tissues are damaged and saving the person's life. Such a person, human but possessing body parts made up of fungus, is called a half-nymph.
     Because many people are anxious about mould nymph spores, half-nymphs are not welcome to stay long in most communities, often including their hometown. The circumstances of the half-nymph's apparent death and resurrection might also make things awkward. Being mostly human, however, they are sometimes uncomfortable in the mould nymphs' villages. As a result, those who have strong social ties often live on the edges of their hometowns, and the rest usually take up a life on the road. Some half-nymphs might try to hide the change, but this gets harder over time: any injury, even the slightest scratch, can heal back with fungus instead of flesh. The truth will out.
     The "Half-Nymph" peoples aspect is unique because it needs additional information. You can invoke the aspect in any way that the "Mundane Human" peoples aspect can be invoked, with one exception that you must choose at character creation. You choose this exception by deciding what part of your character's body is replaced with fungus. For example, you could give up long-distance running invokes and indicate this with a "(Fungal Lung)" addition to the aspect, or give up invocations for visual inspections with "(Fungal Eye)." You can choose any body part that makes sense, so long as both you and your GM understand which of the usual "Mundane Human" aspect invocations you will not use. The final aspect would be written like "Half-Nymph (Fungal Lung)," as an example.
     This peoples aspect can also be invoked to recover from physical consequences in the same way as the "Mould Nymph" peoples aspect, and it can be used for the same compels as the "Mundane Human" peoples aspect.
     With the "Half-Nymph" peoples aspect, three peoples-specific stunts become available to your character: Fungal Regeneration, Human Cultural Patrimony, and Human Scientific Patrimony.

Extraterrestrials

One of the Unbound craved worship not from North America's resident humans but instead from its former servitors in a distant galaxy, whom it has now contrived to bring to Earth.

Amazons

In the local alien creole, the word for these short extraterrestrials is shinala (shine-ul-uh); in English they are called amazons for the simple reason that they are always female. An Unbound called the Sulphur Herald brought them to Earth from the planet Yir (yire) and the moon Sdikga (sdike-guh), though most of the amazons who now inhabit the Lakelands were born in North America. Amazons are on average 3' 1", with four arms and two legs. Superficially resembling velvet worms, they have two long thick tentacles protruding forward from their faces, small weak eyes, and round unexpressive mouths. They are carnivores and, having evolved in a different atmosphere than Earth's, they must inhale certain mineral vapours a few times a day to remain healthy.
     There are many cultures on Yir and Sdikga, but the amazon diaspora on Earth is far removed from those worlds. In the Lakelands, if they do not assimilate into a local culture, amazons will tend toward one of a few diasporic extraterrestrial cultures. Regardless of their upbringing, almost all amazons share a psychological trait: the desperate, burning desire to be part of a group united in one activity, purpose, or belief.
     You can invoke "Amazon" as a peoples aspect on rolls representing the following situations:

The aspect can also be used for compels, such as the following:

There are also two peoples-specific stunts available to characters with the "Amazons" peoples aspect: Stories Of The Homeworlds and Too Many Hands To Watch.

Drakemantids

The Lakelands' taller species of extraterrestrials are called tatiskajeda (tut-ice-kuh-zhee-duh) in the local alien creole; in English, they are drakemantids, so called because the insectoid people vaguely resemble mantises. Like the amazons, they were first brought to North America from the planet Yir and the moon Sdikga by the Sulphur Herald; also like the amazons, most of the drakemantids now living in the Lakelands were born on Earth.
     Standing an average height of 6' 2", but potentially up to 7' 0", the drakemantids are not truly insects: for instance, they have two arms and two legs and they are warm-blooded. They do look much like insects, though, with a tough carapace and mouthparts that resemble those of a grasshopper or mantis. They are herbivores, incapable of digesting meat, and like amazons they must inhale a mineral vapour daily in order to compensate for Earth's thinner atmosphere. But one of their most notable traits is psychological: having evolved in a commensalist relationship with creatures called plover mites, drakemantids have a deep emotional need to spend time with pets, livestock, or other friendly animals.
     You can invoke "Drakemantid" as a peoples aspect on rolls representing the following situations:

The aspect can also be used for compels, such as the following:

Two peoples-specific stunts are available to any character with the "Drakemantid" peoples aspect: Chiton Carapace and Stories Of The Homeworlds.

As with all other Lakelands posts, everything here is only provisional.

Preview image credit: Katie Musial at Unsplash, 2021 (cropped)

#Fate Core #amazons #drakemantids #geminites #half-nymphs #mould nymphs #mundane humans #new hominids #the Lakelands