- Character Design
- Full Quirk List
- Job Quirks
- Quirks of Fate
- Skillz 'n' Stuff
- People Quirks
- Mob Quirks
- International Quirks
- Engineering Quirks
- Esoteric Quirks
- Fairy Blood
- Ghoulish Quirks
- Kraelic Quirks
- Turnsheeting
- Money
- Burglary
- Seniority
- Engineering
- Sorcery
- Alchemy
- Session
HORIZON IS OVER!
The webpage remains up as a permanent archive of game material, mainly for the benefit of nostalgic players - although if you'd like to run a Horizon-inspired game for your friends, that's wonderful too. Horizon will be succeeded by Legacyin Trinity term of 2006.If you like you can look at the (sketchy, incomplete) GM notes as well.
Character Generation
Step 1: Dream up a character concept.Step 2: Choose your Price.
Step 3: Pick a district.
Step 4: Choose an Affinity.
Step 5: Choose quirks.
Step 1: Dream up a character concept.
Choose what sort of character you'd like to play. Think about his or her background, beliefs, hopes and dreams. Work out what your character would like to achieve, and consider what you, out of character, would like to do with your character during the course of the game. At this stage of the game, wee suggest consulting the Major Developments page to make sure recent IC history hasn't invalidated your character concept.
You should give thought to one particular feature of your character: their age. People who are around 60 years old or older will remember the days of the Last War and the Empire. People under 60 will not. Culturally speaking, this represents something of a generation gap. People over 60 look at Horizon and see a city much reduced from the glory of their youth, and hate the Imperialists because they remember what the Emperor was like. People under 60 look at Horizon and see a city that is gaining the sort of wealth, power and glory they can't ever remember it having, and hate Imperialists because they're lunatics who blow up buildings full of innocent people in the name of some guy who's probably dead anyhow.
Good ideas for Prices include:
Sometimes, people's priorities change. Perhaps they achieve their ultimate dream and, still discontent, seek new challenges. Or maybe a transformative event has happened in their life, leading them to re-evaluate their goals.
If you feel that your character's Price has changed over the course of play, simply tell us and we will take it into account. (Though if you change Price on a weekly basis we'll tell you to stop being silly.) Similarly, if you feel that your character has achieved their Price and wants no more of it, you may choose a brand-new Price for him/her - or even retire the character altogther, if you can't see any reason for them to stay in the game.
Each turn your character will be expected to pay protection money to your local mob. There are a few exceptions to this: Incognito Nobles have homes in the Noble district and pay protection to no-one, Beggars live nowhere and likewise have no responsibilities, and if you happen to be a member of the mob that controls your district you need pay no protection money.
Protection money is a Minor payment, unless you live in the Slums, in which case it is Trivial - the Family knows full well that the folk living there can't afford higher payments, and so they don't bother asking for more. However, you will only be able to get the worst variety of accomodation in the Slums - Trivial rent, and in terms of security it'll be Wide Open. Furthermore, with the government essentially absent the Family will exert much more influence over your life. You'll effectively be living in their own little feudal kingdom, and if you're not a member of the Family they'll tend to regard you as a serf.
Protection money is a covenant between you and your local mob: in return for this payment, not only will they refrain from breaking your kneecaps, but they will also give you a helping hand if other mobs are planning to break your kneecaps (within reason - if you've been going out and stirring up trouble for yourself, your local mob will expect you to face the consequences of your actions). If some thug burgles your house, beats you up in the street, or dishonours your daughter, your local mob will pull strings to ensure that you get at least some justice. If those who have done you wrong are members of other mobs, of course, your local mob's ability to pull strings will be limited; if they aren't members of any mob, they will regret crossing you for the rest of their lives. Which won't be long.
The Watchdogs are the police force of Horizon, so you may be wondering why they're listed as the local mob for the Imperial Ruins. They aren't technically a criminal gang, although it's widely suspected that the corrupt units within the Watchdogs outnumber the honest ones. They are a power within the Imperial Ruins, and living close to the Watchdogs means that they will protect you from violent crime in much the same way as local mobs will, although they will tend to throw people who've done you wrong in jail instead of the river. If you're living in the Ruins, you still pay "protection money" to the Watchdogs. On an in-character level, this consists of a tax levied on people residing in the Ruins by the government (which is only fair - people living in the Ruins enjoy the Watchdogs' protection more than people in the rest of the city do), and of money extracted from your pockets by corrupt Watchdogs through methods ranging from frivilous fines to pickpocketing to a good old-fashioned shakedown (which isn't fair at all, but hey, what can you do?).
The Trading District and the Steam are contested territories. The Dockyard Rats and Inmack's Boys are fighting a turf war over the Trading District, whilst in the Steam the Family are trying to spread their influence and meeting the resistance of the Watchdogs. The upshot of this is that if you live in either of those two places you must choose which of the two organisations in question you wish to pay protection money to. Paying it to neither is not an option - both organisations will treat you like shit, and you'll have nobody to turn to. Paying it to both is not an option - neither organisation will trust you, and thus neither will protect you. There is one advantage to living in these territories, though: the rent is cheaper (see below) so you will be able to afford a nicer, cleaner, more secure house than you otherwise would.
In theory, the Magic Ghetto would qualify as part of the Lower City. However, people really, really don't live there. There are too many third-rate alchemists tossing botched experiments into the street, too many sinister experiments and arcane rituals afoot.
You'll also want to think about what sort of place you live in, since you'll need to pay rent on it unless you own your own place.
People with Classy or Magnificent incomes can afford to buy houses of their own (such things being Major investments, and Moderately Secure by default), and are assumed to have done so before game start. They need pay no rent per turn. Incognito Nobles live in their own family's mansions in the Noble Quarter (Moderately or Well-Secured, depending on their parents' circumstances), and don't pay rent. Beggars, obviously, are also exempt.
Otherwise, rent is a Trivial payment per turn for Slum accomodation (which, as previously stated, is filthy, horrible, and terribly insecure - Wide Open by default, and with little possibility of making it more secure), a Minor payment per turn for low-quality accomodation outside the Slums (Weakly Secure by default), and a Notable payment for nicer rented homes (Moderately Secure by default).
In the Steam and the Trading District rent is cheaper due to the fighting; the upshot of this is that in those districts, the rent on low-quality accomodation is a Trivial payment per turn, and on nice accomodation is a Minor payment per turn.
Your Affinity describes which of your esoteric ancestors you take after the most. It has little to do with bloodline; sometimes entire families can show strong inclinations towards the Land, but just as often two Oceanic parents will have a Divinely-inclined child. Think of it more as a star sign; it has a slight influence on your personality, and perhaps gives you an instinctual tendency towards particular skills. It is claimed by mystics and wizards that through further exploration of your Affinity you may foster unusual natural talents, though at the cost of increasing the extent to which your Affinity's tendencies and weaknesses hold sway over you; similarly, it is whispered that if you desire it you may even overcome your Affinity if you follow a different path.
A few things to note:
Divine
Land
Ocean
Sky
Fire
Stars
Grey
The Grey affinity is about the union of opposites. In Grey technology, this takes the form of forcing steam and clockwork - opposing principles - to work together. This can also involve grafting machinery - dead things - onto living bodies, convincing bitter enemies to form an alliance, using alchemy to mingle Star and Fire essences, and so forth. If you adopt the Grey affinity, you may have a love of contradictions and paradoxes (as distinct from the love of sheer chaos and illucid nonsense espoused by the Fire). You could be a peacemaker, reconciling apparently incompatible positions, or perhaps you happen to have contradictory aspects to your personality or background. A nobleman who masquerades as a beggar, or a spy who has become a double agent are two examples of people who may have a Grey affinity.
A quick note on Job quirks. Job quirks describe what you do most of the time. Each job quirk has an Income level associated with it - these do not stack. Each job is also denoted "Day Job", "Night Job", or "Undercover Job". Day Jobs are entirely legal and above-the-board. Night Jobs are dodgy, involving either outright illegality or surfing the edge of the law. Undercover Jobs involve the muddy waters and ambiguous loyalties of the world of espionage.
These labels imply nothing about what time of day you actually carry out these jobs - a lot of the time, you'll be working them in parallel. A taxi driver could, for example, sell drugs from our of his car, and a mobster could give his mooks their orders during his lunch break at t' factory.
You may have only two job quirks, and you cannot hold down two Jobs that are of the same category.
You will note that with a few exceptions Night Jobs and Undercover Jobs make more money than Day Jobs.
Be aware! Several quirks refer to resources that imply some constant investment of money to maintain - alchemists need to pay rent for their labs, and mob bosses need to pay their mooks' wages, for example. You do not need to work out how much these things cost to upkeep each turn; all quirks come with enough money per turn to maintain them. In some cases it may be possible to free up the money bound up in a quirk at the cost of losing the quirk (for example, you could stop paying rent on your alchemist's lab). In other cases, it's less appropriate - for example, a mobster's mooks tend to "pay for themselves" with the revenue they bring in through shaking people down for protection money. Talk to the GMs if you are not sure.
To underline the point: resource-based quirks come with the money required to maintain them. Your spending money per turn is the money you have left over after you've paid the maintenance on these resources. If you "liquidate" these resources, you may not get the quirks back, and you are more likely to get a one-off payment than a permanent income boost.
Below is a table showing all the different quirk categories. We've put them into two columns: one where the categories are universally applicable to any and all character concepts, and one where the quirks are more specialised - there's no need to glance over the esoteric quirks, for example, if you're not going to be a cultist, shaman, sorcerer or alchemist.
WE STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO TAKE A JOB QUIRK. You must buy a Job quirk if you want your character to have a regular income, and lacking a regular income will prove very disadvantageous to your character.
Step 2: Choose your Price.
Anyone can be bought if you offer them the right incentive. Your character's Price is the object, principle, possession or person they will willingly break laws secular, natural, and cosmic in order to achieve, gain, protect or serve. This is mainly a roleplaying point to help people think about their character's motivations, and to help us find ways to get you involved in things should you find yourself at a loose end, although we will cough meaningfully if we notice you, say, spurning a dozen different opportunities to chase your Price.
Important note: Your Price is not the only thing your character cares about. Your Price is the thing which is most likely to inspire him and her to action. If someone kidnaps your Twue Wuv, turning around and saying "actually, since my Price is Political Power I don't care about love" isn't big or clever; it's just taking the piss.
Step 3: Pick a district.
All characters in City of Traitors, except for Incognito Nobles and Beggars, have homes in the Lower City. Each underworld mob controls at least one district of the Lower City - two districts, the Steam and the Trading District, are areas of conflict:
Step 4: Choose an Affinity.
All living things in the True Lands are descended from the union between the Gods and the Powers of Land, Sky and Ocean. Later, life in the Treacherous Lands were created when the Land, Sky and Ocean betrayed the Gods by lying with the Fire and the Stars. One of several consequences of this is that, since everyone is descended from the Gods and the Powers, just about everyone has a certain instinctual sympathy for one of them above the others.
You have a forceful and distinctive personality and have the potential to be an inspirational leader. People tend not to forget you after meeting you once. You are very much an individualist, although at the same time you do enjoy the admiration of others. The downside is that you can tend towards egotism and narcissism if you are not careful. Often people with Divine parentage end up taking sides in a struggle for personal glory, not because they necessarily agree with the principles they are fighting for, and find that they are reluctant to accept the authority of others. Actors and politicians tend to have high Divine affinities.
The natural world feels like home to you, and wildlife is a little less afraid of you than of other men. On the downside, you do tend to let your natural instincts override your common sense; you are more easily swayed by good food, wild parties, or seductive members of your preferred gender. Farmers, the lecherous, luddites and anyone who parties hard tend to have a high Land affinity.
Secrets are your forte. Perhaps you are particularly secretive, and love to know what others don't. Or maybe you are intensely curious, and love to uncover juicy gossip and other people's dirty laundry. Sometimes it's hard for you not to let someone know your secrets, or the secrets of others. Journalists, detectives, and those who would seek to confound them are both liable to have high Sky affinities.
The mercurial forces of the air are associated with travel and bending the rules. Maybe you enjoy travel and exploration; perhaps you have a rebellious spirit and are never satisfied with the status quo; it could be that you are perfectly happy sticking to the rules, but enjoy finding and exploiting loopholes. On the downside, your restless nature can get you into trouble. Revolutionaries and explorers both tend to have high Sky affinities.
You often find yourself moved to defy the authority and expectations of others over you, for in your spirit burns the lawless anarchy of the Fire. However, those with Firey temperaments tend to have a volatile personality and are quick to anger. You can often be whimsical and capricious, prone to allowing luck to choose your destiny. An idealistic anarchist yearning for the death of government would have a strong Fire affinity, but so would a violent sociopath.
The stars are distant, cold sources of illumination, and are closely associated with reason and blind, uncaring order. You love - in a kind of cerebral, cold way - getting to grips with any kind of logical system, whether this be a magical ritual or a clockwork engine or a governmental bureaucracy. However, the stars are cold and impersonal, and those who have astral personalities can end up hurting those they care about through sheer oversight. Chances are you live your life by a strict set of rules, although those rules could seem highly unusual - indeed, incomprehensible - to others.
A rationalist scholar, modelling the universe with equations and formulae would have a high Star affinity - but so would an obsessive madman who compulsively counts the mouse skulls he collects in his pockets.
In recent years a new affinity has arisen; it is not apparently connected to the Gods or the Powers, although there does seem to be some connection between it and the Grey Order's magic and technology. Occultists fiercely debate whether the Grey Order created this strange new force, or whether the Grey Order's deeds are merely early manifestations of it.Step 5: Choose quirks.
What Quirks Are
Quirks define the skills, resources, abilities and affiliations your character possesses. Choosing quirks probably takes the most time of any stage of character generation, and your quirks will be referred to frequently by the GM team in the course of turnsheeting. Quirks run on a points-based system: quirks which give your character an advantage (sometimes referred to as merits) have a positive points cost, quirks which hinder your character (sometimes referred to as flaws) have a negative points cost.
All players have 12 quirk points to spend on their characters.The Quirks Themselves
The full quirk list is kinda long, but some people find it nice to have everything in one place: it is here.
Universal Quirks
Specialist Quirks
Jobs earn you money. Having money is important.
Three flavours of Job quirks are available:
You may have up to two Job quirks, and they may not be two of the same type.
International Quirks relate to foreign lands.
You should buy International Quirks if you want your character to:
Quirks of Fate involve your character's ultimate destiny.
You should buy Quirks of Fate if you want your character to:
or if it would ruin the game for you utterly for your character to die.
Engineering Quirks relate to the production of fabulous inventions.
You should buy Engineering Quirks if you want your character to:
Skillz 'n' Stuff covers the personal skills and the physical assets your character possesses.
You should buy Skillz 'n' Stuff if you want your character to:
Esoteric Quirks relate to the occult forces who would rule us all.
You should buy Esoteric Quirks if you want your character to:
People Quirks are all about the people in your life.
You should buy People Quirks if you want your character to:
Fairy Blood is a quirk with numerous complications, and so it has its own section.
If your character has Fairy Blood, they can:
Mob Quirks relate to secret skills and knowledge possessed by members of particular criminal gangs.
You should take a look at these quirks if your character is a member of the Dockyard Rats, the Family, Inmack's Boys or the Watchdogs.
Ghoulish Quirks relate to ghouls.
You should buy these quirks if you want your character to:
Kraelic Quirks relate to Kraelings.
You should buy these quirks if you want your character to: