The Infected Villains of Safinubi.pdf

Villains of Safinubi

Playtest v4

12/27/05

The Promise

In an ancient and beautiful city, isolated from the rest of the world, an air of peace and

tranquility rules the scene. But beneath that air is a stench of corruption. Those who have

power plot to keep it from those who don't. Those who don't, plot to take it from those

who do. Everyone seems to want something that they can't have, and everyone seems to

blame everyone else for their troubles.

That's where you come in. No matter who you are or what your place is in life

someone, everyone, seems to think that you're the key to their happiness. Some might be

concerned about your welfare and happiness as well as their own, maybe even more than

their own, but each and every one will try to play you to get what they want. Even when

they can reach their goals on their own they'd rather have you do it for them. Maybe

they're just under the illusion that they cannot do for themselves.

Who will you help? Who will you hurt? What will it take for you to get what you want,

and are you willing to pay the price? Who exactly are they anyway? And why do they

want you to do so much for them?

Your character, be he a villain or a hero, will be changed by the people around him.

And he will change them too. But how will he change? And how will he change those

around him? Will your character be a great creator or a great destroyer? Will he ever be

great at all?

LetÓs find out.

An introduction

Welcome to my first complete role playing game, The Villains of Safinubi.

Setting

The City

There is a land where endless clouds of crimson and lavender are the sea and great

cities of bronze and marble are the land. The greatest of these island cities is Safinubi

and that is where our stories take place. Not because Safinubi is the greatest city of the

land but because it is where the greatest heroes and villains of the land plot their greatest

plots and scheme their greatest schemes.

To the uninitiated observer the city appears composed entirely of grand ornate marble

palaces, marble and brass statuary, grand residences, and picturesque gardens. But that is

only the city that rises above the clouds. Below, bathed in the eternal crimson glow of

the misty lower skies is the under-city. This underbelly is where the iron and steam

machinery that keeps the city functioning resides, along with the myriad workers that

keep the machinery functioning.

But donÓt let yourself think that the citizens of Safinubi are polarized between the city

above and the city below. The divisions between the people of the city are much more

complex than that.

The People

On a dark street a man wearing the accoutrements of nobility and the features of a bear

face down a gang of snake-faced toughs. At the same time, blocks away, a raven in an

evening dress dances away the night, hoping to forget about the losses of the day.

The people of Safinubi are made up entirely of anthropomorphic creatures. Human in

many ways; standing, speaking, writing, worrying about the latest fashions, but always

with strong visible animal features. On any given day you might find a feline in fancy

clothing arguing over tax policy with a similarly well dressed snake. A snake who just

happens to be the tax arbiter for the district and a feline who just happens to represent the

BrassmenÓs Guild and who thinks the taxes are unfair.

The creatures that represent the citizens fall into three broad categories; mammalian,

reptilian, and avian. Furry people, scaly people, and feathery people. Within each

category there are countless variations and representations. This doesnÓt mean that you

need to have a thousand different species represented in your stories. A handful of

different races will almost certainly keep you entertained. Especially if you take the

opportunity to exploit their differences for conflict.

The Society

There are seven distinct social classes in Safinubi. ItÓs important to note that no oneÓs

family or heritage is a factor in determining their class within the city. At a young age a

child will receive a visit from a wiseman who will determine his or her place in the

society.

At the very top you have the ruling Council. It includes the current Emperor or

Empresse and is composed of members of the Aristocracy. Membership within the

Council is a lifetime appointment. Their responsibilities include the major lawmaking for

the city. The Council is in perpetual conflict with the Aristocrats and the Oversmiths.

Beneath the Council are the Aristocrats. They are responsible for adjudicating the laws

set down by the Council and for ensuring care and welfare of the citizens of Safinubi.

The Aristocrats are in perpetual conflict with the Council and the Guildsmen.

Under the Aristocracy are the Guildsmen. They are the artisans of the city. If you need

anything manufactured then youÓll go to a Guildsman. Their responsibility is to provide

the citizens of the city with the highest quality of merchandise both for their use and for

export to other distant lands. The Guildsmen are in frequent conflict with the Folken and

the Aristocrats.

Under them you have two different classes with very similar responsibilities. First are

the OverSmiths. These professionals are responsible for the maintenance of the

architecture of the city over the clouds. When bridges or fountains are in need of repair

itÓs the duty of the OverSmiths. Closely related but just below them in the pecking order

are the UnderSmiths. The city is built on an insanely complex amount of machinery that

floats beneath the clouds. These great steam engines and monstrous iron gearworks are

the responsibility of the UnderSmiths. The UnderSmiths are in constant conflict with the

OverSmiths and the Folken and the Oversmiths are in constant conflict with the

UnderSmiths and the Council.

Then you have the Folken. The common citizen that are the heart and soul of the city.

They are primarily responsible to themselves, but also take on the tasks of producing the

food and collecting the water for the people of the city. Nine out of ten people you meet

in the city are Folken. The Folken are constantly finding themselves in conflict with the

UnderSmiths and the Guildsmen.

The final class of person you might find in the city are the Oustiders. Just as the name

implies the Outsiders are people who arenÓt actually citizens at all. They include visitors

from distant lands and a few long term residents of the city who have just slipped

between the cracks. Everyone is in conflict with an Outsider who isnÓt spending money.

Under the hood on races and classes.

ItÓs very important that you never allow any race to become synonymous with any

class. The races and classes of Safinubi are there to provide a source of conflict for you

to play with. The crossing demands of both family and of social position are one of those

potential conflicts. Should you allow one class to be synonymous with one race then you

eliminate the possibility of that conflicting demand.

ItÓs also very important to note that no one player will be able to dictate which, if any,

of the conflicts proposed by the setting are vital to the story at hand. If the GM proposes

a conflict, any conflict, that doesnÓt catch the interest of any of the other players then that

conflict cannot be forced into the story. At best it can serve as a bit of color for the

background of the story that the players choose to create.

Some finer points

Safinubi is a society of ritual and tradition. Many of those traditions are an endless

source of conflict between itÓs citizens. Below are a few of those traditions for you to

sink your teeth into. But please donÓt let yourself think that these must be the only rituals

and sources of conflict that can come up in your games. These are merely a stepping

stone, a place to get your feet wet. Enjoy.

Weapons

While overtly carrying melee weapons in Safinubi is socially acceptable, ranged

weapons of any sort are commonly taken as a racial slur against Avians, depicting them

as thieves and miscreants. Overtly carrying a ranged weapon will gain you public

ridicule from Avians as well as private support from those that donÓt care too much for

the feathery kind.

Food

There are no non-sentient mammals, reptiles, or avians in Safinubi. Socially acceptable

food sources are plant life and occasional insect bits. Even side-produces of animals such

as dairy or unfertilized eggs are considered deviant. That doesnÓt stop some carnivores

from satiating their base urges with a bit of flesh now and then.

The Police

The Peaceforce is a Guild that answers to the Aristocrats of their district and

themselves. So, not only do the citizens of Safinubi have to deal with laws that may

change drastically from one district to another, but also with a corrupt police.

Caste Placement

Caste is, for the most part, a reflection of your immediate family. If your parents were

both Folken, for instance, youÓll probably be Folken. But there are some complicated

situations. The most common being when someone is born to parents who are of

different castes. Then there are the two castes who few are born to, but must be elevated

to later in life; councilor and emperor.

There is a Guild of old men whoÓs only job in life is to determine which caste you

belong to. When an there is a seat on the council open or a new emperor needs to be

chosen, this guild picks from the available Aristocrats. When a child is born, under any

circumstances, the Guild is traditionally invited to the third birthday celebration to

confirm the Caste of the child.

When itÓs determined that a child has been born under the wrong caste, which isnÓt

uncommon, then that child is often taken from the birth parents and placed in the care of

parents of the proper caste. Usually care is taken to make sure that parents who loose a

child to caste-placement receive a child who belongs in their caste but was born to

another.

Bribery is a popular scandal amongst the members of this Guild.

Vehicles

Automated vehicles are looked down upon as contrivances for the crippled. Personal

vehicles in vogue are sedans and pulled carts.

Now, whole moving houses? ThatÓs for the elite. Having your party move from one

block to another to change scenery for your guests is the ultimate way to express your

wealth and culture.

Artistic Expression

Those without the ability or desire to express themselves artistically, in some form or

another, is often treated as a pitiable inferior. ItÓs parallel in our own society is literacy

and reading. If one is unable or unwilling to read we feel sorry for them. The same is

true in Safinubi for those who are unable or unwilling to express themselves in art or

music.

Slavery

Slavery is not unheard of in Safinubi. ItÓs also not unheard of for a slave to murder

their master. What IÓm missing right now are the details;

Under what circumstances might a free person become a slave?

Under what circumstances might a slave become free?

What obligations does a slave have toward their master?

What obligations does a master have toward their slaves?

I want a rich situation here.

The Stiletto of Vengeance

There is a long-standing ritual whereby someone who is wronged, or feels theyÓve been

wronged, will engrave their name and the name of those that have wronged them onto the

blade of a very thin dagger. They will then carry this dagger around with them for years,

decades even, reminding themselves of the wrong thatÓs been committed against them,

and contemplating revenge.

Most of the time these blades are entombed with their creator upon their death, un-

bloodied. But sometimes they do find their way into the chest of their intended victim.

Death & Burial

There are two final resting places common to Safinubi. For those with the finances to

do so, the deceased are cremated and their ashes entombed, along with a handful of

selected possessions, in a specially made bit of stone or marble which is then

incorporated into the family household. For those without the finances for a ÒproperÓ

burial, the deceased are Òdedicated to the voidÓ, which means a fancy cloth wrap around

the corpse, a few nice words read, and then dropped from a chute out the bottom of the

city.

The Protagonist Players and the Game Master

One person sitting at the table will take on the role of the Game Master for the night

and the rest will be Protagonist Players. Each of the Protagonist Players (just Players for

short) will take responsibility for the stories of individual characters in the story. The

Game Master (GM) will propagate adversity for the other playerÓs characters and will

take responsibility for the secondary characters of the story.

Every player has an equal responsibility and authority in regards to creating the story.

You may notice later on that the GM seems to be given an extra measure of power in

controlling the flow of the story. This extra measure is in response to my expectation that

the other players may often pool their resources to overcome the challenges that the GM

presents. This main-character vs. GM adversity teamwork has a tendency to tax the

obstacles that the GM is capable of producing for the story. Therefore, we give the GM

that extra measure to be certain of entertaining and uncertain outcomes in our stories.

Protagonist Players

What the players do.

How to play a protagonist.

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