Chapter One Sample, part 2 - Forms of Faltering (Patreon)

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. Any 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).