Hiding Chaos

[Ochoa]

Is there a canonical way for chaotic or chaotic-tainted creatures to hide themselves say from a Storm Bull`s detection powers? 

[PhilHibbs]

Illumination. A state of "enlightenment" in which you realise that chaos and creation are not at odds with each other and can exist in harmony. Over-simplified, of course. Also rumoured to provide immunity to cult spirits of reprisal.

Edited April 30, 2019 by PhilHibbs

[Ochoa]

So a run of the mill ogre infiltrating a tula, for example, has no canonical recourse?
As a quick and dirty hack I'm thinking of having a successful sense chaos check allow for a POW contest, but I'm curious as to preexisting magical solutions.

[Shiningbrow]

I don't believe Ogres automatically register as chaotic.

The Bestiary says they can join any Rune cult, and that might even include Stormbull... however, that's then sort of contradicted by the "other chaotic creatures will recognise ogres by their aura" (which is itself weird... shouldn't that require a type of mystical vision?)

Lastly, Stormbullies aren't exactly the most popular people to have a round a tula. They tend to be quite aggressive (even psychotic), and would normally be kept apart from the everyday humdrum of life (and that is canon!) Besides which, Sense Chaos is only effective to 15m. In the past when I played a Stormbully, we required the attempt to be conscious and focussed - ie, you had to intentionally concentrate on sensing - not just a passive sensation when Chaos came near. (by, YGMV...)

[Wrestlepig]

If an ogre runs into a storm bull, their main defense is saying 'cmon guys, I'm a regular, hardworking orlanthi just like you and me. this guy's probably just drunk. I totally can't spit acid or eat people. Are you going to trust a crazy asshole who's spent more time in Prax than our lands, or me, the farmer who lives on the outskirts and can lift a cow over his shoulders?'

Sometimes works, I guess.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Wrestlepig

[Bohemond]

If your clan has ogres as its Ancient Chaos Enemy, it's highly likely that members of the clan suffer a penalty on efforts to detect them as chaotic.

[Dissolv]

This has always been a problem for me.  If nothing else, you'd think that a Divination would do the trick if a Storm Bull accuses someone.   I mean, you can detect an assassin at a moment's notice if you are Humakt, how are you hiding a cosmic taint from the followers of the Deity who are on the look out for it? 

So far the best I have come up with is that Storm Bull worshipers just don't hang out around the Tula.  Nor are there typically chaos problems.   Those things both interact away from the Tula in most cases.  In the event that Chaos comes knocking, the Storm Bull initiates start to show back up, hunting it.    This limits Chaos to the wilds, Chaos spawning grounds, and sometimes a secret evil.   This kind of seems in line with the published material, so /crosses fingers.

[Austin]

19 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

In the past when I played a Stormbully, we required the attempt to be conscious and focussed - ie, you had to intentionally concentrate on sensing - not just a passive sensation when Chaos came near. (by, YGMV...)

That's interesting to me. In the past one of my friends played a Stormbully (love that btw) and our GM played it as entirely passive. Anytime Chaos was around (and occasionally when it wasn't) he'd roll the player's Sense Chaos and let him know if he felt any. If he felt any, the player's adventurer was compelled to kill/destroy the thing he thought was Chaos. If the GM had rolled a fumble Surprise! wasn't actually Chaos.

It never ended up happening, but this always made us worry a little more when he'd start tossing dice while we were in a town. God forbid poor little Sally's secretly a Chaos horror...

[Kloster]

The way we played it (in RQIII), it was both active and passive, but all the rolls were made by the GM. Most of the time, the player told the GM he was trying to sense and the GM rolled and answered. From time to time, the GM rolled and once, told of detected chaos without having a player's request to roll.

I also like Stormbully, but we played in french and the play on word does not work.

[davecake]

It is important to remember that an ogre etc avoiding Storm Bulls isn't usually particularly suspicious. Avoiding Storm Bulls is generally considered sensible. 

 

 

[kirinyaga]

Well, as others said, it isn't because you have a percentage in "sense chaos" that you will immediately know for sure someone is chaotic or is not. Stormbullies don't want to be called "kinslayer" because they fumble a sense chaos roll around the son of the khan ...

As I see it, sense chaos just give them the feeling something isn't right with this guy, a feeling that grow stronger and stronger over time, with a speed depending of their sense chaos skill (an "average" over time of the result of their sense chaos rolls). And for other peoples, the stormbully who keep saying them "you should not trust that guy", be very rude with him, probably provocating him, is just doing usual annoying stormbully stuff. Specially if the new guy is friendly and sympathetic, they'll just tell the uroxi to shut up and go look if the block is still there in Prax.

While meeting total strangers in the middle of nowhere on the other hand, storm bulls will just rely on their first impression and attack on sight every time their sense chaos alerts them.

[Richard S.]

Iirc, Chaos Sense in "canon" is a passive ability that lets a storm bull know when chaos is nearby. It doesn't point out any one specific person, it just gives the Uroxi a sense that something is wrong. Of course, this is less something like Spiderman's spidey-sense and more like "Hrng, Khan, I'm trying to get drunk and bang cows, but the scars from my initiation are burning like the fires of hell and the pain keeps alerting me to the presence of chaos." Of course it can also manifest as a bad smell or taste, a red haze over the eyes, or something more exotic.

[soltakss]

Ogres had a False Form spell, from Cacodemon, that hid their Chaotic Taint. I think it might work against Sense Chaos, but am not sure. It certainly hides their sharp teeth.

[soltakss]

1 hour ago, Richard S. said:

Iirc, Chaos Sense in "canon" is a passive ability that lets a storm bull know when chaos is nearby. It doesn't point out any one specific person, it just gives the Uroxi a sense that something is wrong.

Unless you are a Storm Khan, then you can use it once a day as a Detect Chaos, making anything chaotic within your POW in metres glow to any nearby Storm Bulls. We have used that a few times.

[Ochoa]

I had already told the Stormbully his sense chaos checks would be mostly determined by me either through a secret roll or my asking him to roll, so I'll stick with that and adjudicate. For eventual infiltrated big baddies, I'll add the POW contest on top, with failure determining a sense of present chaos but no specifics.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Ochoa