One of the players in my Tuesday night game is going to play a Hull as her second character (her first overindulged and got lost). We introduced the character as an NPC last session, where the crew assassinated her abusive master.
I just asked my group what they’re interested in doing tomorrow night, and she had an interesting answer: “develop an intense malevolence against mankind for the injustices of my creation.” I doubt that’s going to happen tomorrow night, since hulls are servants with limited agency by default, but it seems like an intriguing character arc I’d like to explore. I’m thinking it’s a multi-clock long-term project, and that once it’s done, I might replace the default xp trigger for the Hull playbook with one about committing acts of rebellion against human masters.
How does that sound to you fine folks? Any advice? Any pitfalls I should watch out for?
I say, why not a LTP for this, provided the clock segments are filled by roleplaying how the Hull realizes, step by step, it has been shafted by mankind. Or it would be way too mechanical to just fill 1,2 or 3 segments just because time is passing.
Other than that I can’t see why it couldn’t be done this way, it’s an great idea from your player and will lead to very interesting developments. How will the Hull include its crew’s members in its hatred, etc.
The only thing that I’d watch out for is the “intense malevolence against mankind”, as it could run counter to any sort of group cohesion, depending on how it’s played.
I’m not suggesting that well-crafted inter-crew strife isn’t good play, only that having a magical cyborg who hates all the real kids could end one side rather quickly. 😉
That mentioned, I absolutely adore the idea of a hull pulling a Robocop and remembering its past. I almost see it as default play as the RAW place a PC hull in a subservient role, which some players may not enjoy. So, I will fully support a hull having a free will and alternate XP trigger.
There’s fantastic fiction in a hull regaining its memories, too. Even if rare, hulls are still common enough that a fully indepent one would be fascinating, frightening and possibly illegal (or heretical, depending on one’s views). This was a thing we started in a game that we never got to explore, sadly.
In any case, I really like hulls and the Frakenstien’s monster vibe they have. Please let us know what you do with this.
In the spirit of what Ben Liepis said, I would maybe have the player modify the “intense malevolence against mankind” to something along the lines of intense hatred of tyranny, or those that abuse power, or those that treat others as property. This might help with group cohesion and allow the player to develop friendships and bonds with other characters.
John Lewis …’and allow the player to develop friendships and bonds with other characters…’ … which is well & good but obviously not what the player intends to do !
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