Chapter One, part 2 - Full Text (Patreon)

Touchstones

Deviant souls burn white-hot — like the reactor cores of nuclear power plants. Touchstones act as coolant systems that, as long as they are functioning, leech away the excess heat of the nuclear reactions. Without them, the fire of the Broken’s soul reaches a temperature that exceeds its metaphorical melting point. Unlike a nuclear power plant, however, his soul has no reactor shielding and no failsafes to shut down the reaction if it gets out of control. In the absence of steady coolant pressure, this meltdown causes further damage to the Remade’s soul (Instability) and can lead to a catastrophic meltdown (the End Stage Condition).

Not all Deviants rely on the same coolants or cooling systems. They have many different ways of expressing Conviction and Loyalty, and they have a wide range of options in whom (or what) they choose as their Touchstones.

Self-Expression

A Deviant does not need to express her hatred of a Conviction Touchstone with immediate and outright murder. Nor does Loyalty compel her to constant acts of self-sacrifice in the name of protecting her Touchstones from harm. In practice, both scenarios are rare compared to less drastic interactions.

Expressions of Conviction

Deviants aren’t necessarily murderers. True, they only heal major Instability by destroying a Conviction Touchstone, but even that doesn’t always mean “kill”. Remade need their Touchstones, and killing a Conviction Touchstone at the earliest possible opportunity is usually wasteful. After all, choosing and affirming a new Touchstone takes time, and eliminating all the Broken’s Touchstones permanently worsens their damaged state (making them Ferals). Unless the Deviant is suffering from extreme (major) Instability, small acts of defiance, opposition, and sabotage can soothe her soul’s injuries for a long time. Some Remade grow so dependent on a Conviction Touchstone for their Stability that they maintain their quiet animosity for years — regularly needling, harming, or inconveniencing the target of their rage.

If the Broken’s actions set off a chain of events that leads to the Touchstone’s death or permanent incapacitation, this still heals a major Instability, even if the Deviant isn’t the one who pulled the trigger or plunged the dagger into her heart.

The Deviant also heals a major Instability if he places the Touchstone into an apparent certain death situation, such that any reasonable person would presume they had died. If a Conviction Touchstone later comes back from the “dead”, the Broken may immediately replace an existing Touchstone (either Conviction or Loyalty) with the returning Touchstone, who is not considered Wavering, although this counts against the limit of naming one new Touchstone per chapter.

At the Storyteller’s discretion, the Deviant may also heal a major Instability if he completely transforms the Touchstone or irreversibly destroys his victim’s life. Forcibly subjecting the target to the Divergence or sabotaging her intended Divergence so that it does not bestow the desired benefits or imposes much worse disadvantages than expected often qualifies. Inflicting an injury sufficient to change the victim’s personality, or one that permanently bars her from her chosen vocation (cutting off the hands of a professional pianist, for example, or destroying the eyes of a sniper) may also suffice. Certain kinds of scandal can likewise drive a politician, financier, or government worker from their professional arena and prevent them from returning to it. For some Remade, alternatively, so thoroughly reforming a Conviction Touchstone or convincing him of the error of his ways that he wants to leave behind who he is and make amends for his past crimes can also qualify.

Below are 15 ways Deviants might express their Conviction without resorting to killing the Touchstone in question. Taking action to oppose a Conviction Touchstone should take some amount of gaming-table time to heal Instability. Locking a Touchstone in your basement and taunting (or torturing) him off-camera shouldn’t count — although it’s certainly something a Deviant might do — but foiling his escape attempt or convincing the cops not to come inside to investigate the screams the neighbors reported coming from your house usually will.

Bully: The Remade gains professional power over the target and uses this position of authority to make the Touchstone’s life miserable in ways small or large — from setting unrealistic goals to creating an unpleasant working environment to levying unfair punishments for perceived failures. While most bosses don’t wield life-and-death power over those who report to them, if the Deviant does and he uses it to get his Touchstone killed (such as a commander who can order a soldier on a suicide mission), it can permit the Broken to heal a major Instability.

Dehumanize: The Remade causes or forces the Touchstone to suffer some indignity. This often has a physical component (a bucket of pig’s blood poured on the victim, for example) but it’s primarily a psychological attack. It either makes the victim act in ways that are contrary to his self-identity (committing cannibalism, for example, or killing a friend in order to save his own life) or embarrasses him in front of either a large group of strangers or a smaller group of people he wishes to impress.

Discredit: The Remade targets the Touchstone’s professional or social reputation. Because of the Broken’s intervention, the children’s entertainer is shown to be a sex predator, or the academic’s papers are works of plagiarism, or the preacher is caught on camera laughing at how he has fleeced his clueless flock to make himself rich. This usually heals a minor Instability, although it can heal a major Instability if it leaves the target’s reputation so badly stained that he can never participate in a field or mingle in a social circle again.

Drive to Suicide: The Remade uses Variations or psychological warfare to convince the Touchstone to kill himself. Some Broken even worm their way into the victim’s confidence so that they can execute this strategy more effectively, although this can risk Faltering if the proffered aid is significantly greater than the control it grants the Deviant. This method of expressing Conviction can heal a major Instability if the Touchstone successfully kills himself.

Enforcing Rules: The Remade watches the Touchstone and reports any potential transgression she makes to an appropriate authority — whether it is the local home-owner’s association, a teacher, Child Protective Services, or the police. Legitimate reports are much more likely to stick (and less likely to get the Broken into trouble), but sometimes a convincing fabrication that puts the target under an investigative cloud for a long time is worth the higher likelihood that they will eventually clear their name. This method of expressing Conviction can heal a major Instability if the accusation leads to the target’s death (whether through swatting or capital punishment) or permanent incapacity.

Foil: The Touchstone wants to accomplish something, and the Deviant takes action to prevent him from achieving it. The specifics can range from the petty (making him miss the bus or ensuring that his date goes badly) to the significant (preventing his research from getting funding or making sure he doesn’t get the promotion he has been pursuing single-mindedly for a year) to the deadly (preventing him from calling 9-1-1 while he’s suffering a heart attack or bleeding out). Paradoxically, it can extend to protecting those the Touchstone is attempting to hurt or victimize.

Frame: The Broken convincingly frames the Touchstone for a crime they didn’t commit. This can be a minor violation set up on the spur of the moment — such as planting an object on the target in a store and making sure he gets caught shoplifting. It can instead be a serious crime that takes months of planning and preparation to set into motion — such as placing him at the time and scene of a murder and ensuring there is enough evidence against him to get him convicted.

Frighten: The Deviant frightens the Touchstone or ensures she is placed in a frightening situation. This could be something not immediately harmful (leaving dead animals on her lawn), something with explosive potential (convincing a violent drunk that she insulted him), or something potentially fatal (cutting her brake line).

Injure: The Broken seriously injures or maims the Touchstone or deprives him of essentials. This can be a single, quick strike or something that unfolds slowly as the result of torture or extended periods of deprivation. This can heal a major Instability if the injury is permanent and life-altering.

Malicious Compliance: The Remade complies with the Touchstone’s requests or demands but does so in a way that twists the spirit of her orders. This is most common among Broken who are placed at their Touchstone’s command and can’t fight back in more overt ways.

Poetic Justice: The Deviant ensures that the victim suffers in a specific way that flatters her own sense of poetic justice. It might mean causing him to suffer the way he made the Remade or others suffer. It may instead reflect or draw attention to one of the Touchstone’s character flaws. It might be meant to cause the target to die a fitting death, but it could instead be aimed at convincing him to rethink his life and reform his behaviors. This expression of Conviction tends to require considerable preparation but can be tremendously satisfying when it works — sufficient to heal a major Instability.

Stalk: The Broken follows or watches the Touchstone or otherwise gathers information about his routines, interests, and potential vulnerabilities. This is usually a precursor to more direct action, although this kind of information gathering can leave behind evidence that frightens the target.

Target Associates: The Remade targets the Touchstone’s friends, family, or close associates, subjecting them to the kinds of treatment she would normally reserve for the Touchstone. This can result in a considerable escalation if the Touchstone is a Deviant, and the associate is one of his Loyalty Touchstones.

Taunt: The Deviant mocks the Touchstone’s flaws and vulnerabilities. Alternatively, she uses herself as bait but remains tantalizingly beyond the Touchstone’s reach or lures him into a trap. This can take place face-to-face or via some other media — letters, emails, or even hijacked TV signals.

Threaten: The Broken directs threats at the Touchstone. These can involve physical harm, but they can also target her reputation, close associates (including friends and family), or possessions. Likewise, he can deliver it in person or by other means — from a text message sent from a burner phone, to an anonymous letter tied to a brick and thrown through a window.

Don’t Be a Creeper

Roleplaying interactions with Touchstones can reinforce the revenge tragedy theme and simmering hate mood of a Deviant chronicle. However, some of the ways the Remade may express their Conviction and Loyalty — even the ones we spell out here — will not be appropriate for all groups or chronicles.

Some methods of opposing a Conviction Touchstone can get very dark — darker than many players may feel comfortable with. Before locking an enemy in your basement and narrating lovingly detailed descriptions of how your character is torturing them, make sure such visceral horror is welcome. Remember your safety tools. Discussing what is off-limits before the chronicle starts is better than running afoul of those limits mid-chronicle. Halting a graphic description (or fading to black) in the middle of a scene is better than waiting until the end of the gaming session to express discomfort. Even discussing lingering feelings of discomfort about something that already happened is still a mature way to handle things; we don’t always realize how much something upset us until later. Any discussion at all is always better than ignoring the problem, and it is usually better to err on the side of being less graphic rather than more in describing scenes of horror — especially in the company of gamers whose expectations and limits you don’t yet know well enough to navigate confidently.

Some methods of expressing Loyalty can also be fraught. The examples we provide include many largely healthy approaches, but Deviant is a horror game whose protagonists often suffer from serious boundary issues. So, we also include many decidedly unhealthy or toxic ways that Loyalty can be expressed. They include behavior patterns members of your troupe have almost certainly seen in real life, potentially in ways that were traumatic for them. Be just as conscious of your safety tools when describing your interactions with your Loyalty Touchstones as when describing the ways you oppose your Conviction Touchstones.

Two situations deserve particular attention when naming members of your cohort as Touchstones:

First, it’s usually not a good idea to make a fellow player’s character a Conviction Touchstone, as it can make group cohesion more difficult within the cohort. It can work, but you’ll want to establish clear rules of engagement with the other player and have periodic check-ins between sessions to ensure both of you are still enjoying the arrangement. An unfriendly rivalry that encourages sniping and risk-taking behavior could make for an interesting dynamic — particularly if the long-term goal is for Conviction to turn to Loyalty as you come to trust one another. Knocking out another player’s character, sticking them in the trunk of your car, and dumping them in a lake with heavy weights tied to their feet is more likely to be disruptive or lead to out-of-character arguments than to be fun.

Second, naming a player’s character as a Loyalty Touchstone is usually fine if you stick to the wholesome “I’ll give you whatever you want if you promise not to hurt her” kinds of tropes. However, discuss limits with that player and get their consent before you indulge in any of the more extreme, creepy expressions of Loyalty. Specifically, if your crush is in your troupe, naming their character as a Loyalty Touchstone without their explicit consent is the wrong choice. Trust us on this one.

Expressions of Loyalty

Although the mere fact that the Remade relies upon them for her survival often puts Loyalty Touchstones in harm’s way — forcing her to protect or rescue them — Deviants express Loyalty in many ways, any of which can restore their Stability. As well, the intensity and social acceptability of their behavior depends on the individual’s personality and often how much Instability they have accrued. Broken who have few Touchstones are more likely to resort to desperate means than those with many, as are transformed who have a lot of Instability.

Most expressions of Loyalty can look like perfectly normal gestures of friendship and love. This doesn’t change the fact that they are critically necessary for the Broken. The Remade don’t just feel lonely or suffer mental and physical health issues if deprived of opportunities to engage with their Touchstones. They manifest increasingly terrible and numerous Scars until their powers go nuclear and kill them. Maintaining and deepening relationships with Touchstones is of deadly importance to them. Stripped of their Integrity, Remade are naturally less restrained in their behavior, so it isn’t so surprising that they sometimes take things too far.

Some Deviants can count on their Touchstones to initiate meaningful contact with them. Maybe her best friend invites her out for dinner and drinks almost weekly, like clockwork. Most Remade must engage in a bit of give-and-take. That same friend starts dating someone she’s really into, and while she’s sometimes free on the usual night of the week, the Deviant needs to make plans with her at other times to continue getting her fix. Broken who get desperate may resort to manufacturing circumstances to ensure that their Touchstones spend time with them. The Remade in the other examples, jealous of the one who she feels has taken her friend away from her, secretly sabotages the relationship or, in a worst-case scenario, kills him so that she can have her friend to herself. Oftentimes, jealousy is an expression of fear and neediness; the Deviant needs regular contact with at least some of her Touchstones and is afraid that if they forge bonds with someone else it might mean they have less time for her, or that they will abandon her entirely.

Similarly, some Deviants express Loyalty with no strings attached. They give of themselves because they want their Touchstone to be happy and healthy, seeing this as its own reward. Such unconditional love can leave them open to exploitation, however. Other Deviants recognize their own needs and make bids for their Touchstone’s time, attention, and energy. While these can be reasonable, a minority of Remade try to get as much out of their relationship as possible, trusting in their Touchstone’s good nature or lack of less toxic relationships to ensure that they continue to meet the Broken’s needs. Most Broken need to learn to balance these two approaches — sometimes giving freely, and sometimes expecting (or at least asking for) something in return — but this can be difficult for them, especially those whose shrunken number of Touchstones and/or rising Instability make them desperate for their Touchstone’s continued attention.

Below are 15 ways Remade can express their devotion to a Loyalty Touchstone. Each includes both benign and toxic versions. As with taking action to oppose a Conviction Touchstone, deepening one’s relationship with a Loyalty Touchstone should take some amount of gaming-table time to heal Instability. Going to bed with your Touchstone lover for the first time certainly counts, but sharing a bed with them for several uneventful weeks — and presumably having sex some of the time — shouldn’t. It isn’t that it must put either of you in peril or cause you significant injury (although Renegades can regain Willpower if they take risks or suffer harm in doing so), but that the event should further the story of your relationship or, at the very least, set the table for events that will threaten or alter it.

Accompany: The Deviant participates in a social activity with his Touchstone — anything from a fishing trip or sporting event to a stake-out or heist. The key is that it gives the Remade an opportunity to share an experience with the Touchstone. This becomes toxic if the Broken invites himself along on activities when his Touchstone doesn’t want him there, particularly if he stalks or stows away to stay close to them long enough to find an opportunity to insert himself into their activity. It can also be unhealthy if the Touchstone chooses an activity that is dangerous, illegal, or is one the Deviant doesn’t (or can’t) enjoy — particularly if the Touchstone chooses it for that reason.

Depend: The Touchstone takes care of the Deviant. This can range from tending her injuries or posting her bail, to picking up after her or insisting that she take better care of herself. This becomes toxic if she intentionally puts herself in harm’s way so that he can care for her when she gets hurt, or if she defers simple maintenance tasks until they come to his attention so that he can perform them.

Finance: The Broken gives the Touchstone money or pays her way. This can become toxic if the Deviant expects to be repaid or demands some non-monetary favor in return, especially if his “charity” is something that will place the Touchstone deeply in his debt and so gives the Remade leverage over her. It likewise becomes unhealthy if the Touchstone constantly takes advantage of his generosity because she knows he can’t refuse her, leaving him less able to provide for himself.

Gift: The Broken gives tokens of his regard to his Touchstone — from small tokens like cards, candy, or a meme that made him think of them, to lavish gifts like expensive clothing, cars, or jewelry. This can become toxic if the gifts are unwelcome — either because they are things the Touchstone does not want or need, or because they give the impression that the Deviant has some ulterior motive for his generosity.

Manage: The Remade provides professional advice or guidance to her Touchstone with the intention of making him more effective or efficient at the job. This can become toxic if the Touchstone exploits her faith in him to shirk any real work or to protect himself from scrutiny. It likewise becomes unhealthy if it degenerates into micromanagement or if the Broken discourages the Touchstone from looking for other opportunities (even ones that could lead to greater professional growth) because it will mean he is no longer working on her team.

Mentor: The Deviant teaches the Touchstone a skill he possesses, or shares his knowledge and experience with the intent that she learn from it. His pedagogical approach can range from guided self-study to regimented courses, and from exercises with a clear purpose to ones that do not appear to be educational at all. This becomes toxic when the Remade ceases to encourage learning through positive reinforcement and instead resorts to punishing failures “for the Touchstone’s own good.”

Nostalgia: The Broken seeks to restore the Touchstone to some remembered version of itself. This is most often applied to places and objects, where it isn’t usually toxic, although it may put the Deviant in conflict with those who do not share her nostalgia. When directed at a person, though, this way of expressing Loyalty is rarely healthy or welcome; even an aging athlete hoping to recapture his glory days is more likely to simply injure himself in the attempt.

Protect: The Remade sets himself as sentinel over his Touchstone’s safety. Many Broken focus primarily on the physical, as preserving someone from injury, abduction, and death can be challenging enough when conspiracies are involved.  However, it can extend to emotional or even moral jeopardy if the Deviant has the luxury. This can be toxic if the Touchstone does not want the Remade’s protection or if it prevents her from meeting her other needs. It can likewise lead to problems if others who care about the Touchstone do not agree with the Broken’s definition of “protecting” or if they don’t like him for other reasons — both of which are also common if the Touchstone is a place.

Reform: The Deviant sets out to change her Touchstone for the better. When applied to a person, it usually concerns her moral growth or the elimination of a bad habit (or the adoption of a good one). When applied to a place or thing, it often means some form of renovation or customization. This can become toxic if the Remade uses violent or abusive methods to promote this change or attempts to transform a person into someone they aren’t.

Rescue: The Broken removes his Touchstone from a bad situation, whether it is imprisonment or a bad relationship. This can become toxic if she doesn’t want to be rescued or doesn’t want to be rescued by him. It is likewise unhealthy if the Touchstone becomes reliant upon the Deviant’s willingness to rescue her and constantly engages in risky behavior that tests its limits.

Romance: The Deviant draws their Touchstone into a romantic or sexual relationship by any of the usual means, many of which are socially acceptable and harmless, or even welcome and healthy. This can become toxic if their attentions are unwelcome or if they attempt to force the issue despite glaring incompatibilities ranging from sexuality to mutually exclusive life goals to not wanting to get romantically involved with a confessed murderer currently on the lam from both law enforcement and a shadowy biotech firm willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. It can also be toxic if the romantic partner is abusive or unfaithful.

Serve: The Remade performs a service for her Touchstone. This can range from low-effort, low-stakes services like making him a meal or doing his laundry to dangerous tasks like killing his rival or clearing his name. It can likewise encompass favors he asks of the Broken, as well as ones she grants proactively or habitually. This can become toxic if the services the Deviant renders are unwelcome, but it is more likely to become so because the Touchstone takes advantage of her pliability or when it enables his unethical or criminal behavior.

Show Off: The Remade introduces others to his Touchstone so that they can admire it, or he tells them all about it to prove his familiarity with it (if a place or thing) or the strength of his relationship with her (if a person). While impressing strangers with his praise of the Touchstone can count as deepening his relationship with it (and so heals Instability), he cannot affirm a Wavering Touchstone this way, as that requires a direct interaction with the Touchstone in question.

Study: The Broken learns something new about her Touchstone, whether this information comes firsthand from his own mouth or as the result of her research or observations. This can become toxic if the Deviant forces the Touchstone to reveal himself or resorts to stalking to gather new information. It can likewise become unhealthy if the Touchstone offers the Broken opportunities to study him that come with strings attached in the form of questionable favors.

Take Charge: The Remade takes the initiative in a situation involving his Touchstone, whether it’s life-or-death or simply deciding it’s time to rest because she’s clearly exhausted. It can be a one-time decision with few moving parts or something that requires extensive contingency planning, but the key is that the Broken takes the burden of making a decision out of his Touchstone’s hands. This can be healthy, even welcome, if her Scars, medical circumstances, or state of intoxication make it a bad idea for her to make these decisions for herself. It can become toxic when the Deviant makes decisions that are contrary to the Touchstone’s wishes or best interests, or if the Touchstone uses the Broken’s willingness to take charge to avoid having to make a plan or take responsibility herself.

Forms of Faltering

In the simplest terms, a Deviant Falters when he has an opportunity to further a Touchstone but fails to do so either by his action or inaction. In general, this is mitigated if such action or inaction now permits a greater opportunity to fulfill that Touchstone’s dictates in the foreseeable future. If the Broken is sneaking into a Conviction Touchstone’s house to murder him in his bed, for example, she can be forgiven for not smashing the good stemware in his kitchen when she walks past it.

Faltering also includes actions that directly contradict the Remade’s feelings regarding her Touchstone — even if she receives a greater benefit in exchange or creates a potential opportunity to fulfill that Touchstone in a greater way in the foreseeable future. If a Conviction Touchstone pleads for his life by promising to give the Deviant the secret location of a more powerful figure within the conspiracy, accepting that offer may very well further the cohort’s larger goals, but it still counts as Faltering. However, if the same desperate villain offers the secret location of another of the Broken’s Conviction Touchstones, he instead forces her to choose between Faltering towards himself or the other Touchstone, perhaps hoping that she will briefly forget the proverb of what a bird in the hand is worth.

Once a Deviant successfully acts in accord with his Touchstone in a scene, he usually cannot Falter towards that Touchstone through inaction alone during the same scene. Any action relieves some of the pressure to act more outrageously. Given a chance to kill his Conviction Touchstone, for example, the Broken may instead choose to only write a threat on her bathroom mirror in lipstick without Faltering for failing to kill her. In this way Remade build up to the final confrontation with their Conviction Touchstones or increase their bond with a Loyalty Touchstone. This does not protect them against Faltering in regard to different Touchstones, however.

Actions that contradict a Touchstone are another matter entirely. Most of the expressions of Loyalty earlier in this chapter, when turned towards a Conviction Touchstone, can be counted as Faltering against Conviction unless intentionally deploying a toxic version of the expression. On the Loyalty side of matters, some specificity is helpful. A Deviant Falters against Loyalty when:

•            She refuses an attempt to contact her that she knows is coming from a Loyalty Touchstone.

•            She refuses a Loyalty Touchstone’s request or command outright, although she may try to talk him into rescinding or modifying it.

•            She hurts a Loyalty Touchstone through her actions (whether physically or emotionally), even if the damage was accidental. This can even extend to merely criticizing the Touchstone, if he insists that her criticism was unwarranted.

•            She breaks a promise she made to a Loyalty Touchstone, unless she first convinces him to release her from her promise.

•            She abandons or ghosts her Touchstone without getting forgiveness from him in advance, even if this abandonment does not place him in danger or preserves him from it.

•            She knowingly puts her Touchstone in harm’s way, and he suffers harm as a result.

Note that this can lead to no-win situations, such as if a Loyalty Touchstone orders the Broken to leave him behind in a potentially dangerous situation. The Remade may have to weigh the likelihood that her Touchstone will suffer harm against the importance of honoring his wishes. Usually, if leaving the Touchstone behind puts him at risk of death, the Deviant will refuse the request and stay — making a Faltering roll rather than risk suffering a medium or major Instability if he dies.

Just as furthering a Conviction Touchstone can cause a Deviant to Falter towards a Loyalty Touchstone (or vice versa), multiple Conviction Touchstones or multiple Loyalty Touchstones can create an unavoidable Faltering roll. The Remade might be forced to choose which Loyalty Touchstone to save, for example, or he might have to choose which Conviction Touchstone to run down and brutally kill.

No-win situations for the character aren’t no-win situations for the player. Deviants being torn between two Touchstones is a staple of the game and of the inspirational media that informs it. These make for dramatic moments within the narrative.

Note that in a scene where the Remade can’t personally further a Touchstone, he can still avoid Faltering if another member of his cohort does what needs doing on his behalf, such as if he picks up his unconscious grandmother while an ally carries his beloved daughter — or even if he holds off enemy soldiers while his cohort spirits away his family members.

Optional Faltering Systems

The mechanic of rolling Conviction or Loyalty to determine whether a Touchstone becomes Wavering (or fades entirely) is an abstraction to represent the Broken’s despair at having failed to follow through on the dictates of one of the few relationships in his life — especially considering that those relationships are the only criterion he has left against which to measure himself, since Integrity and Anchors no longer guide him, and Aspirations are greatly weakened. Because it reflects a player character’s feelings towards another character, rather than how that character feels about the player character, different troupes — and even different players within the same troupe — do not share the same opinion about how useful it is.

To that end, we present several optional systems for the Faltering rules, which troupes can adopt, ignore, or mix and match:

Player-by-Player: By default, all players in a troupe adhere to the same agreed upon Faltering system. Under this variant, each player decides how they will handle Faltering for their own character — whether from the whole list of options or a narrower range agreed upon by the troupe. If the troupe wishes, they may even decide that players may choose how to handle each Faltering incident on a case-by-case basis.

Let Fate Decide: This is the default system except that Willpower cannot be spent on Faltering rolls, since these rolls are primarily a roleplaying aid or creative prompt, rather than an action that can succeed or fail.

Simplified: Some troupes may feel a roll of the dice is a straitjacket for how they roleplay Faltering. In this variant, whenever a character Falters, the player may choose one of the following:

•            The Touchstone is now Wavering (or lost, if already Wavering) and the Deviant suffers a minor Instability.

•            The Touchstone remains steady, but the Deviant suffers a medium Instability.

Nuanced: Some troupes may like having Faltering rolls as a creative prompt or to keep them honest about their characters’ damaged capacity for human relationships. This variant uses the default system but imposes bonuses and penalties to Faltering rolls based on the circumstances under which the character Faltered and the severity of the Instability she is currently suffering:

•            Character Faltered when not doing so would have been a terrible idea, such as if it would have undone months of planning, gotten one or more members of the cohort killed, and achieved little more than a fleeting moment of satisfaction (+2 dice).

•            Character Faltered when not doing so would have carried a serious risk, such as if he might have been able to hurt a Conviction Touchstone but may not have survived the retaliatory gunfire of the six bodyguards protecting her (+1 die).

•            Character Faltered when not doing so carried some or no risk (no change).

•            Character Faltered when not doing so would have been somewhat advantageous, such as if she refused an invitation from a Loyalty Touchstone even though she would have enjoyed herself, had no other plans, and foresaw no risk to herself or the Touchstone (–1 die).

•            Character Faltered despite obvious negative consequences that would likely result, such as executing a frontal assault even though he knows his Loyalty Touchstone is a hostage (–2 dice).

•            Character had no Instability when she Faltered (+2 dice).

•            Character had no medium or major Instability and had no minor Instability in the last three boxes when he Faltered (+1 die).

•            Character had no major Instability but either had at least one medium Instability (but none in the last three boxes) or minor Instability in the last three boxes when she Faltered (no change).

•            Character either had at least one major Instability (but none in the last three boxes) or medium Instability in the last three boxes when he Faltered (–1 die).

•            Character had major Instability in the last three boxes when she Faltered (–2 dice).

Loyalty and Minimum Doors

Social maneuvering involving Touchstones often reduces the number of Doors the Remade has. While subtracting at least one and as many as three Doors is no small advantage against a Deviant (especially in addition to a bonus to the Touchstone’s roll), no reduction can reduce the starting number of Doors to less than one. However, given that refusing a Loyalty Touchstone’s request usually prompts an immediate Faltering roll, it is usually safer to go along with whatever a Loyalty Touchstone wants.

Reversals

Faltering is not the only way to effect a radical change on a Deviant’s relationship with a Touchstone. Under the right circumstances, a Loyalty Touchstone can become a Conviction Touchstone (or vice versa) in an instant. A heretofore obedient Devoted can suddenly snap and lash out at her Progenitor, for example, or a Renegade can spend years intent upon an enemy Devoted’s death only to abruptly forgive him when he risks his life to save hers.

Such reversals, although abrupt, are not arbitrary. Something prompts the Broken’s change of heart.

Conviction to Loyalty

Generally, dissuading a Deviant from taking revenge involves convincing him that the Touchstone is a friend, not an enemy. Given the single-mindedness with which Remade hate their Conviction Touchstones, this is no mean feat, requiring either patience, magnanimity, or careful involvement of other Touchstones.

A Conviction Touchstone can make an argument in his own favor by providing aid to the Broken even when it doesn’t obviously benefit him — and especially if it demonstrably costs him something significant. This is particularly effective if the aid is something the Deviant desperately needed. Even a Remade can appreciate someone who saves their life.

Any of the methods of expressing Loyalty can win over a Deviant gradually. How long this takes depends on the magnitude of the devotion the Conviction Touchstone conveys through her actions. Some Remade recognize this tactic and regard it as an attempt to manipulate them, which can turn simmering hate into immediate overwhelming violence. Further, most Broken respond unfavorably to nakedly toxic entreaties — or even more subtly toxic ones, if they’ve been burned by false friends before.

A Conviction Touchstone at the Remade’s mercy can sometimes delay a Deviant’s revenge against himself by helping her bring down a more powerful or elusive Conviction Touchstone. Offering up actionable intelligence might stay the Broken’s hand once. Proactively offering useful information or material support can sometimes convince the Remade to extend her hand in forgiveness — if not friendship.

Attempts to force a reversal are much more effective when they pit the Deviant’s feelings for one Touchstone against her feelings for another — whether Conviction or Loyalty. Offered the choice to hurt one Conviction Touchstone while letting the other go forces the Remade to choose to Falter against one or the other — or to claim one Conviction Touchstone as a Loyalty Touchstone with whom she can cooperate freely. This is not assured, however, especially if the Broken believes she can harm the supplicant and still benefit from the information or assistance he is offering. When dealing with a Deviant who wants you dead, maintaining leverage over her is simply self-preserving common sense.

A Loyalty Touchstone vouching for or interceding on the behalf of a Conviction Touchstone can achieve a similar effect. As with pitting Conviction Touchstones against each other, a Deviant forced to choose between Faltering against Conviction or Loyalty may regard a temporary alliance as an acceptable compromise (although this can backfire if he instead decides to move the Loyalty Touchstone to Conviction). While it lasts, however, the Broken must faithfully act with Loyalty towards this ally. However, while Touchstones are mechanically equal, a Deviant can (and often must) favor one over the other when given a choice between them, so there is little risk that a temporary Loyalty Touchstone can manipulate the Remade into harming a longer lasting Loyalty Touchstone — although such trickery isn’t out of the question.

Finally, a Deviant can voluntarily change a Touchstone from Conviction to Loyalty based on the evidence of her eyes. Usually, this is because she realizes that the Conviction Touchstone is as much a victim as she is. Less often, she comes to respect or even admire her enemy. Regardless of the impetus, the Remade typically offers an olive branch. If the Conviction Touchstone accepts it and so affirms the correctness of the Broken’s decision, he becomes a Loyalty Touchstone. If he rejects the entreaty outright or doesn’t accept it gratefully enough, the opportunity passes, and he remains a Conviction Touchstone.

It’s especially rare that two Deviants with mutual Conviction overcome that shared hatred long enough to turn Conviction to Loyalty. Most of the time, even putting aside their differences for a moment counts as Faltering. Situations where it doesn’t can arise, most of which involve teaming up against a shared Conviction Touchstone or banding together to protect or rescue a mutual Loyalty Touchstone.

Loyalty to Conviction

The circumstances that turn Loyalty to Conviction usually boil down to deception, betrayal, abandonment, or violation. As with Conviction-to-Loyalty reversals, the magnitude of the crime is often a determining factor. Not all Loyalty is surrendered with equal ease or reluctance. A Deviant given some reason to turn Loyalty to Conviction may reject the opportunity, especially if the bond is very strong or goes back many years. Nothing forces the Remade to turn against a Loyalty Touchstone, although circumstances that put Touchstones into conflict make reversal more likely.

Most Renegades are used to being lied to. Conspiracy agents lured many into the Divergence with promises they never intended to keep, or downplayed its disadvantages to get them to sign on the dotted line. Once recruited, even more were held captive by additional lies. The Broken are understandably slow to trust anyone, and their Loyalty Touchstones are ones they want to trust — the ones they need to trust. Presented with the possibility that a Touchstone has lied to them in a material way, the Remade often rationalize or dismiss the deception. Confronted with undeniable evidence that a Loyalty Touchstone has lied to them, Deviants can become irrationally angry. With the loss of trust sometimes comes the enmity of Conviction.

Renegades are keenly sensitive to the risk of betrayal. Given the ubiquity of the Web of Pain, they usually come to assume that anyone they meet could be a conspiracy cat’s-paw and have lost count of the number of times they have sought help from someone who later turned them over to the conspiracy or attempted to leash them personally. Most are conscious of how the intensity of their devotion to their Loyalty Touchstones can make them vulnerable to exploitation, and while they don’t want to believe their loved ones capable of such a thing, once bitten often makes them much more than twice shy. Among the worst forms of betrayal a Loyalty Touchstone can commit is in siding with or aiding a Conviction Touchstone — with service to an enemy conspiracy being nearly as egregious. Such breaches of trust can turn a Deviant against longstanding Loyalty Touchstones, and an apology (however sincere) is unlikely to sway him. This isn’t absolute. Sometimes a Loyalty Touchstone can advocate on the behalf of a Conviction Touchstone convincingly enough to change the Deviant’s mind about a foe from enemy to friend.

For some Deviants, rejection and abandonment are soft, insidious forms of betrayal. Although it sometimes involves the Broken making a bid for the Loyalty Touchstone’s attention and being turned down (whether gently or cruelly), it more often involves greatly reducing or cutting off social contact with the Remade. Many transformed can accept this even as it pains them to let go. The Remade is dangerous to be around because of the conspiracies that pursue him. Maintaining a relationship with him is frequently exhausting. Intellectually, the Remade may completely understand his Loyalty Touchstone’s point of view, but this doesn’t dull the pain of loneliness (which Deviants feel most acutely) or his fear that any abandonment could be a prelude to selling the Broken out to his enemies. Many Renegades bear a grudge against society as a whole for failing to protect them from the Web of Pain (both before and after their Divergence), and a Loyalty Touchstone walking away instead of standing with him can make a Deviant feel that this person he trusted is indifferent to him — no more worthy of his mercy than the conspiracy’s security guards and lab techs. Driven to desperation by a shrinking number of Touchstones and rising Instability, some Deviants will embrace a bitter hatred of a Loyalty Touchstone they feel has abandoned them.

Remade are often victimized — whether before or after their Divergence, and frequently both. Variations give them superhuman powers, true, but these come with Scars that make them easier to manipulate, as do the other side-effects of their broken souls. Deviants do not like being treated as curiosities or as resources to exploit any more than Baselines do, and those who test the Broken’s patience court disaster. Variations rarely afford additional protection from abuse, but they quite often make it easier to avenge those crimes. Any of the expressions of Conviction described above can push a Deviant’s regard for a Loyalty Touchstone into Conviction. As always, the more heinous the abuse, the less likely the Broken is to forgive its perpetrator. A reversal can also occur if one Loyalty Touchstone harms another.

Despite their reputation for violent reactions to outright harm or abuse, Remade are surprisingly tolerant of many behaviors when they come from Loyalty Touchstones. This isn’t because they’re oblivious to or approve of everything their Loyalty Touchstones do but because their need for these people and their fear of abandonment by them are so acute that they’re reluctant to do anything that will endanger these relationships. Outwardly, they tend to treat even toxic expressions of Loyalty as heartfelt and sincere, so these usually don’t lead to reversals. Subjected to abuse, they convince themselves that they can’t get better, might not deserve better. Although not all Broken fall into this pattern, most do, which makes it easier for conspiracies to keep them in line as Devoted. This adds another layer of tragedy to the Deviants’ plight.

In rare cases, Remade (mostly Renegades) deliberately reverse a Loyalty Touchstone by taking a petty slight or failure and blowing it out of proportion. Although frightening to witness, such reversals rarely indicate that the Broken’s loyalty is flawed or easily lost. More often, the Deviant intends it as a way to protect someone they care about a great deal — by driving them away to keep them safe from the Remade’s enemies. On those occasions when it works, the Broken usually prioritizes other Conviction Touchstones until he has Faltered enough to let go of the friend he drove away. When it doesn’t work, it is usually because the friend refuses to leave, instead performing an act of self-sacrifice or otherwise expressing their love convincingly enough to force another reversal back into the Deviant’s Loyalty. Those few exceptions to these two cases often end tragically, with the Broken taking matters too far and badly injuring or killing his once-dear friend.

Optional Reversal System

As with Faltering, Touchstone reversals are primarily a roleplaying device. Some troupes will never need or want a system to guide them regarding when they should reverse a Touchstone. For them, the sections above should provide lots of examples of situations that could cause a reversal without mandating when they should. The system below is meant for troupes who like to use dice as a creative prompt or who enjoy the structure a mechanical system grants. As with the Faltering systems, troupes should decide whether to use this system and whether all players should do so, or whether it is more of a personal choice (or something decided on a case-by-case basis).

Make a Conviction roll when any of the following circumstances arise:

•            Conviction Touchstone aids the Deviant or one of her Loyalty Touchstones.

•            Conviction Touchstone offers to help the Deviant oppose another Conviction Touchstone.

•            Conviction Touchstone demonstrates his humanity or gives the Remade reason to pity or respect him.

•            Reversal from Conviction to Loyalty would prevent the Deviant from Faltering as a result of being forced to choose between two Touchstones.

If the roll succeeds, the reversal does not occur. If it fails, the Touchstone is reversed. Willpower cannot be used to influence this roll. However, the Storyteller (or player) may apply situational modifiers:

•            Conviction Touchstone performed a major service for the Deviant, such as saving her life or that of a Loyalty Touchstone: –1 die

•            Conviction Touchstone performed a significant service for the Deviant, such as liberating a Loyalty Touchstone or providing valuable intelligence that allows the Remade to harm another Conviction Touchstone: No modifier

•            Service was minor, such as giving him a small gift or voting for a budget proposal that allocates money to a landmark the Broken cares about: +1 die

•            Conviction Touchstone clearly acting in his own interests by serving Deviant, such as if the Remade could kill him if he didn’t cooperate: +1 die

•            Conviction Touchstone’s motive for serving Deviant is unclear: No change

•            Conviction Touchstone clearly acting against his own interests by aiding the Deviant, such as taking a bullet for her: –1 die.

•            Reversal will prevent Deviant from Faltering when this would otherwise be unavoidable, such as when offered a chance to team up with one Conviction Touchstone against another or if a Loyalty Touchstone begs the Remade not to hurt the Conviction Touchstone: –1 die

Make a Loyalty roll when any of the following circumstances arise and the Remade is aware of it:

•            Loyalty Touchstone lies to the Broken (+1 die for a white lie; no modifier for most lies; –1 die for a serious lie).

•            Loyalty Touchstone betrays the Broken (+1 die for a trivial betrayal; no modifier for most betrayals; –1 die for a grave betrayal; –1 die if the betrayal aids a Conviction Touchstone or enemy conspiracy).

•            Loyalty Touchstone abandons the Broken (+1 for a partial or temporary abandonment; no modifier for long-lasting abandonment; –1 die for abandonment at moment of greatest need; +1 die if accompanied by sincere and reasonable explanation; –1 die if prefaced by cruel remarks or bitter argument; –1 die for abandoning the Remade in favor of one of his enemies).

•            Loyalty Touchstone expresses Loyalty in a toxic way (+2 dice for somewhat toxic behavior, +1 die for unambiguously toxic behavior).

•            Loyalty Touchstone violates the Broken (+1 die for minor expressions of Conviction; no modifier for most expressions of Conviction; –1 die for grave expressions of Conviction).

•            Reversal will prevent Deviant from Faltering when this would otherwise be unavoidable, such as if one Loyalty Touchstone demands that the Remade kill another Loyalty Touchstone (no modifier).

If the roll succeeds, the reversal does not occur. If it fails, the Touchstone is reversed. Willpower cannot be used to influence this roll.

Choosing Touchstones

As one of the primary sources of character motivation Deviants have (the other big one being the conspiracy’s actions), choosing Touchstones is an important step in the character creation process. They offer a window into who the Remade was before his Divergence and what he has been up to since. They also provide a glimpse of what he will be doing early in the chronicle — if not for its entirety.

Touchstones should be people (or places or things) that matter — not just to the Broken, but to the story. Some of the job of making them so necessarily falls to the Storyteller, but the initial sketch of an engaging character who will make the Storyteller excited about finding excuses to bring them into the current plot depends heavily on the player.

They should be (or should easily become) involved in the events of the chronicle. The CEO of the evil megacorporation isn’t likely to get her hands dirty putting in a personal appearance when the conspiracy goons show up to black-bag the Remade, but the trusted lieutenant who led the crew that captured the Deviant the first time is — even if he has since been promoted to Vice President of Security. For Loyalty Touchstones, this often means physical proximity to the events of the chronicle. An internet pen pal on the other side of the world is usually beyond the conspiracy’s ability to threaten, or else they are beyond the Broken’s reach to rescue them if they attract conspiracy attention. For Conviction Touchstones, it usually means they have their own reasons to show up in scenes involving the Remade — whether it’s at the head of a squad of armed goons or in a quiet café “just wanting to talk.”

All the “bad examples” above could work, however, as long as the Touchstone is someone you want to spend time with (or on). This is the most important aspect of choosing a Touchstone. The Storyteller has a lot to juggle tracking the conspiracy’s actions and coming up with “A-plots” that will draw in the entire cohort. Every player in the group starts with five Touchstones. In a small troupe (three characters), that’s 15 additional Storyteller characters; in a large one (six characters), it’s 30. When coming up with reasons to involve Touchstones, she’s going to latch onto the ones that are easy to incorporate into the story or that she enjoys roleplaying. The girlfriend who has her own apartment on the other side of town, a totally normal and boring job, no major personal drama or unique personality quirks, and no involvement with the Web of Pain isn’t a bad Loyalty Touchstone, but she’s probably never going to be a major character. If you want her to be important, you will need to take action during the chronicle to make her important.

How do you make a Touchstone that the Storyteller is more likely to involve in the action?

Choosing Awesome Conviction Touchstones

Make them complicated. Touchstones are (usually) people. Most aren’t evil to the core or equally awful to everyone around them, and even mustache-twirling villains have hobbies. They usually have friends outside of the conspiracy, and they may even have families. A Conviction Touchstone who is seemingly devoted to the principles of the conspiracy may be in it for himself or may have secret reservations about its methods or results.

Keep them involved. Part of this is giving them a reason to show up personally — whether it’s their role in the conspiracy or personal unfinished business between them and your character. Once play starts though, this means actively pursuing them and opposing their interests, rather than waiting for them to confront you.

Don’t be a rabid shark. The best way to ensure that a Conviction Touchstone is a recurring character is not to kill them at the earliest opportunity. Mechanically, there’s a benefit to beating a Touchstone senseless but leaving them alive, or just exchanging threats with them before going your separate ways: a Conviction Touchstone you kill during the first scene you share together heals your Instability only once, while one you keep around scene after scene can heal your Instability a thousand times before his death. Beating up or killing a bunch of faceless goons is workaday for some Remade but killing a Conviction Touchstone should always be special. After all, the media that informs the game rarely allows the first on-screen confrontation between a protagonist and antagonist to be the last.

Choosing Awesome Loyalty Touchstones

Make them messy. The world is filled with reasonable, well-adjusted people who haven’t yet borrowed money from a mob boss and might never investigate an abandoned house by themselves just because they saw lights inside. Fiction doesn’t usually work like that. Loyalty Touchstones are meant to be a source of outside motivation for the Remade who love them, so they need to be prone to getting into trouble. It could be an entanglement outside of their control (a relative who works for the conspiracy, for example, or a cursed inheritance) or a personality trait or vocation that leads them into trouble (fearlessness coupled with curiosity, for example, or a cop who has seen some shit while on night patrol).

Get them involved. It’s natural to regard Loyalty Touchstones as a game resource to safeguard. As a player, you know that the conspiracy (and the Storyteller) will use them to get to your character, so you might as well be proactive about it. Make some bad decisions. Go to them when you shouldn’t. Contact them when you (not your character) are pretty sure you’re being monitored. When choosing them in the first place, give them some room to have secrets that will come out later — or pitch some awful revelations to the Storyteller to use as she wishes. Loyalty Touchstones who are already entangled in or connected to the Web of Pain (or other known plot elements) from the start are easier for the Storyteller to incorporate into the chronicle than those that don’t have a clear role to play in the story.

Give them some interesting quirks. When designing your Loyalty Touchstones, keep in mind what makes a character fun to roleplay. Give yours pre-built quirks or habits that will make the Storyteller enjoy portraying them and will make the rest of the troupe glad they’re a part of the story — whether it’s filling a vital skill niche or offering much-needed comic relief.

Touchstone Etiquette

Just as it is reasonable to expect the Storyteller not to kill your Loyalty Touchstones arbitrarily, and just as it will give more opportunities for drama later if you don’t kill your Conviction Touchstones as soon as possible, exercise good etiquette regarding other players’ Touchstones.

First, don’t harm their Loyalty Touchstones unless you and the other player have talked out the consequences in advance. As hair-trigger as Remade can be, targeting their Loyalty Touchstones can lead to a messy conflict between members of the cohort. In some cases, this can be interesting and dramatic, but it can also spiral out of control and derail the overall arc of the chronicle or even spill over into hurt feelings between players.

In a similar vein, regard other players’ Conviction Touchstones as sacrosanct and always give them the right of first refusal when the time comes to destroy one. This is partially a mechanical consideration. “Stealing their kill” means they miss out on healing a major Instability, while killing a Touchstone prematurely cuts off any opportunity to harvest further minor Instability healing. From a narrative perspective, a Conviction Touchstone is a key component of a Deviant’s character — a story beat that they have been set up to resolve. If the Broken who spent the last year preparing for her final confrontation with the one who subjected her to the Divergence against her will never gets that catharsis because another member of her cohort got off a good shot with a sniper rifle, it’s going to be awfully anticlimactic.

If two Deviants in the cohort share a Touchstone, make sure to discuss what happens when one of you has a chance to destroy the Touchstone when the other isn’t around (such that only one or the other can resolve the Touchstone and heal a major Instability) before taking the shot. One of you might have a greater “claim” on a shared Conviction Touchstone — such as if they are the hated Progenitor to one of you but merely a recurring enemy that has pissed off the other. If you can both be involved in her elimination, both of you should gain the full benefit of destroying a Conviction Touchstone.

Every player’s character has up to five Touchstones. Not every Touchstone is going to come into play in every chapter. Remember to share the spotlight with your fellow players. Beats in Deviant are pooled for a reason. If you feel like your Touchstones aren’t getting enough attention, let your troupe know. However, it can often be remedied by simply taking the initiative in-character to oppose a Conviction Touchstone or reach out to a Loyalty Touchstone.

Unusual Touchstones

Deviant provides several examples of Touchstones that are typical of Renegades. Conviction Touchstones are usually connected to the Web of Pain in some way. Loyalty Touchstones are generally friends. Below are several Touchstones that don’t quite fit that mold.

Conviction

Corrupt Official: Through her behavior in office, an official has earned the Deviant’s enmity. Maybe she enabled the conspiracy or protected it from scrutiny and is therefore partially to blame for his Divergence. Perhaps her flavor of corruption — or the office she holds — is one the Remade held in particular contempt even before his Divergence, but now he feels compelled to act on that disdain in a way he never would have dared to when his soul was intact. As a public figure, killing her outright will surely attract the attention of law enforcement, and even less egregious crimes like stalking and harassment could land the Broken in plenty of hot water.

Criminal: The Touchstone is someone the Remade knows or strongly suspects to be guilty of a serious crime. Whether because he got off on a technicality already or because the only proof she has comes from Variations that certainly aren’t admissible in a court of law, she has determined to make herself judge, jury, and (ultimately) executioner. This can range in tone from a classic fist-pumping vigilante story to a much darker one involving punishing someone for a crime they haven’t yet committed.

Cursed Place: Whether it’s the childhood home where he was carefully groomed for service as a Devoted, the cave where he was exposed to the infernal energies that triggered his Divergence, or something unrelated to the event that broke his soul, there is a specific place the Deviant wants to destroy. It could be something that simply reminds him of the past, but it could also be a location he knows could cause more Divergences — or something even worse. This place should be one he can’t easily access or that is especially resistant to destruction. Perhaps it is a site sacred to a cult or a heavily guarded government building.

Monster: Conspiracy agents aren’t the only ones who can earn a Deviant’s ire. The Broken hunts a rival Deviant or some other monster. Perhaps it was entangled with her Divergence in some way, but it could just as easily have earned her enmity afterwards or even before.

Nuisance: Whether it’s the neighbor’s dog who keeps getting into his yard and destroying his garden, or the tenant in the apartment above his who paces and listens to loud music at one in the morning, the Deviant has developed a loathing for someone based on nuisance behavior. This can lead to a dark inciting incident for a story (“I killed my neighbor in a fit of rage, and now I’m on the run from the law.”). It can instead play up the darkness of the Renegade’s rage and loss of the normal human codes of morality (“I killed the last person who annoyed me as much as you’re starting to.”). It can also make for a recurring dark side-note, such as if the Broken nurtures an abiding hatred for a coworker which she must keep in constant check (limiting herself to passive-aggressive displays and bloody private fantasies) lest it turn into real murder.

Old Score: As traumatic as the Divergence is, it comes with some upsides — namely Variations. Some Broken went into the process with existing grudges. In a few cases, those old enmities might have been what drove them to seek Divergence in the first place. Armed with special abilities, they can now settle that old score. This might be a “starter” Conviction Touchstone meant to show the Deviant’s dark side — one quickly resolved and soon replaced with more challenging fare. It might also happen that this old enemy has found supernatural support of his own — or that the Broken’s attempt to kill him will trigger Divergence and make the old foe a force to be reckoned with for many chapters to come.

Terrible Memento: The Remade seeks to destroy a specific object. This should be a unique thing, whether because it has specific sympathetic value (not just any shackles, but the ones that held him while he was imprisoned, for example) or because it is one-of-a-kind (a mystical relic, Icon, or prototype).

Unwelcome Burden: A twist on the Terrible Memento, the object is something the Deviant has in his possession at the start of the chronicle (or acquires during play), perhaps something he has mixed feelings about (a second dose of the serum that triggered his Divergence, which he believes could be reverse engineered to cure him but could also be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands). He may even have the means to destroy it whenever he wants and doing so would be cathartic. However, it can’t be used to heal minor Instability (unless it is taken from him, in which case he can pursue it just like any other Conviction Touchstone), only destroyed.

Loyalty

Caregiver: The Touchstone cares for the Deviant, whether it’s a parent, court-appointed guardian, live-in nurse, or caretaker. Depending on the reason for the arrangement, the caregiver’s duties may be primarily physical, but they could also extend to legal guardianship or routine household tasks such as cleaning or shopping. The Touchstone could be dedicated to the Remade, might regard their role as an obligatory burden (or paying job), or may be using it to exploit the Broken or her abilities. The treatment they give may similarly range from devoted service to alarmingly abusive. Even the most selfless caregiver has other human wants that may put him on a collision course with the Deviant’s needs.

Celebrity: The Deviant has formed an attachment to a celebrity or other person who doesn’t even know she exists. Having met the object of her affection at least once, the Remade develops an alarming obsession with him. She takes it upon herself to help her Touchstone as best she can, whether it’s possibly unwelcome gifts or the elimination of his rivals. This can be innocent or light-hearted, but it can also be stalkerish or genuinely terrifying for the celebrity — not made better if he rejects her entreaties and becomes a Conviction Touchstone instead.

Collection: The Remade has or is in the process of building a collection of objects, be it shoes, books, or board games. She deepens her relationship by adding to her collection or spending a meaningful amount of time sorting, maintaining, or showing off her collection. She Falters when she loses or gives away any part of her collection or when she fails to immediately defend it when it is threatened. Her collection is considered destroyed if its component parts are scattered beyond her capacity to recover all or nearly all of them.

Keepsake: The Deviant treasures an object of great sentimental value (such as an heirloom) or significant monetary value (such as jewelry), or else something the conspiracy covets (such as her Progenitor’s diary in which he recorded the details of his methodology, without which further Divergences are impossible). She deepens her relationship by spending time maintaining, improving, or showing off her Touchstone (restoring an antique rocking chair, for example, or wearing a favorite jacket in public).

Pet: The Broken’s pet serves as a Touchstone. This could be something ordinary like a dog or cat, something unusual like a tarantula or snake, or something exotic like an alligator or Manticore. It could also represent a collective pet, such as an ant farm, beehive, or rats’ nest, in which case the habitat is generally treated as the Touchstone rather than the individual animals unless they suffer enough casualties to endanger the colony’s ability to sustain itself. He deepens his relationship by spending quality time with his pet, such as taking it to a dog park or improving its living accommodations. He Falters when he is unable to meet the pet’s physical or emotional needs in a timely fashion, as well as if he lets someone harm or act abusively towards it.

Stomping Grounds: The Remade has developed an attachment to a place, whether it is an apartment, tent city, or opera house. He might wish to keep it in its current state, restore it to its former glory, or renovate it according to his own creative vision. This Touchstone works best if the Deviant cannot readily accomplish his goal with the place, or when his vision for it clashes with someone else’s — particularly its proprietor’s. He Falters when an unwelcome change is imposed on the Touchstone, while violence he does in the name of seeing that his vision for the place prevails is considered deepening his relationship with it. Treat the Touchstone as destroyed when something renders his vision for it impossible, whether due to sweeping renovations or a catastrophic fire.

Vehicle: The Broken has a car, motorcycle, or other conveyance that he lavishes with money and attention, even when he has little of either to spare. He deepens his relationship by spending a meaningful amount of time customizing or cruising in the vehicle. He Falters when he lets someone else drive his baby. Even minor accidents or acts of vandalism (such as keying) count as harm done to the Touchstone, and it is considered destroyed if it is totaled or otherwise rendered irreparable.

Ward: The Touchstone is someone in the Deviant’s care, whether in an official capacity (such as her child or patient) or an unofficial one (such as an ailing relative, employer, or disabled friend). Regardless of the nature of the care, the Remade feels responsible for the Touchstone’s well-being. The Touchstone might be grateful for her aid, indifferent, or openly hostile towards it. He may spend a great deal of time insisting the Broken shouldn’t trouble herself, or make constant demands for her attention — or anything in between. Such a Touchstone is a ward for a reason; even if they aren’t prone to medical emergencies, they are likely to find trouble in other ways.