So let’s talk about Hulls.

So let’s talk about Hulls.

So let’s talk about Hulls.

The Hull PC can get a second frame, and so I feel like any damage taken is specific to the frame in use at the time (and the other is unscathed). I have been running it this way, and the player switches frames often so I am technically having the player keep two Harm tracks. Sounds OP but fiction seems right for it; right?

That seems kind of clear, but what about when the Hull gets another ability like Overcharge or Interface; is it frame-specific, or the character can use it no matter which frame is in use?

Also: who has stories or advice about Hull players selecting a master, or switching them? I have one player who was using another PC in the crew but now that player is gone, and I am wondering what to do with that (and Functions’ reliance on the master’s commands)

EDIT: clarity

14 thoughts on “So let’s talk about Hulls.”

  2. What I understand seems to indicate that it might just.. depend. I am inclined to rule the abilities work regardless of frame (it represents added potential for the Hull, not the frame, and “anything else would be uncivilized”). However, I could also see a case for abilities being specific to a frame. Compartments is a great example where frame-specific makes sense.

  3. Yeah feels like compartments is the only ability that is more like a feature of the hull. As to being without a master, that’s interesting. If we look at fiction for ghouls (pretty much what a Hull is), most Ghouls either freak out and go on a rampage when their master dies or they just keep following the last order. As the Hull is a PC, I’d say the later is more appropriate. Hulls may be creative in the moment but they aren’t creative when it comes to their own destiny — note they get experience when they ignore their human traits and follow orders. I’d say that without a master the Hull would grow mentally rusty and more stuck in the same gear. To get a new master would probably require that potential master to create a ritual. Of course maybe the Hull could realize that the only way to continue its existence without mentally calcifying would be to find a new master as their own long term project. Or they might realize their best course of action is to get their frame destroyed and become a ghost.

  4. A few sessions ago one of the PCs, a cutter called Sidewinder died. The leech built him a body, and through fell rituals bound his soul to an arcane matrix made of his polished bone and sinew, plus the index finger bone of Kingmaker, the leader of the crew. Because of Sidewinders fanatical loyalty and the bone fetish containing a piece of his beloved leader, he was reborn as loyal, if not more so, as he was in life. Changing leaders has not come up, but I have discussed it with Sidewinder, and he agreed that if someone were to replace the bone of his master with a different bone, he could change who was his boss. As far as alternate frames go, I would argue that most frames would have a specific purpose, wether sneaky crab infiltrator, or enormous war machine. So I would rule that upgrades are frame specific. I think you are right on for keeping separate tracks for each one, though.

  6. Nick Belleque cool story! no bone implant in this PCs body but I might talk about inserting some kind of fiction like that since that sounds fun and very lich-like which pleases me

    also, I agree with what you said. However, the confusion isn’t so much with the Frame Upgrade ability (that it is frame-specific seems implied with that one); I was asking about other abilities though. I am considering moving Compartments to the Upgrades ability so it is more clearly frame-specific. Right now I am ruling it on a case-by-case basis, which works fine for me (I am obviously going to rule perfectly, EVERY time lol) but that also means it is prone to vastly different interpretations until it comes up

  10. Actually… can hulls talk? It says hulls have “human-like strength and senses, by default,” but doesn’t say whether or not a hull can talk.

    I always assumed they could, for practical gaming reasons. But thinking about the golem/Frankenstein aspect, maybe speech is a deliberate omission? It certainly makes the phonograph upgrade more attractive.

  11. Our Hull, now called Mr. Business, doesn’t have the ability to speak. What he does have is a phonograph, and a variety of wax cylinders, which have recorded responses for everyday life. These include: “Hello, my name is Mr. Business”, “Please give me all of your money”, “I have never seen that man before in my life”, “What?”, “Thank you”, “Run!”, and more recently, “I am an abomination of nature, please leave me alone”. These are carried around with him in a leather case. He lost the recording that said “Everything is fine. Do not be alarmed”.

  13. Another possible great way to handle communication if a Hull can’t speak out loud would be through the use of a ticker tape machine. It would be pretty wonderful to have a Hull walk into a shop with a thin paper reeling out reading “This is a stickup. Please give me all your money.”

  14. Also ya know an interesting usage for Mr. Business’s wax cylinders is to upgrade it so it has a recording attachment. Apparently a lot of the wax cylinders solid during the late 1880s had a recording feature. After multiple plays on wax cylinders the sound would degrade but then you’d just shave it down and then record something new on it. The ability to record sound as well as play it back has some great uses for spying of course but also if you can record the sound of the head of the guards yelling “We’re being attacked in the west wing!” it would come in handy for getting access to the east wing.

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