So, why did we do that to Paulis Longvale, eh?
Two reasons, really. We wanted to have Paulis in the freeform (as he's a
Lunar almost everyone's heard of), but couldn't initially see how to make
him particularly powerful -- in a game where other players command armies,
satrapies, empires, mystical powers, etc., it's kinda hard to be drawn as
"the author of Cults of Terror". (It was kinda tempting to use MOB's
"embittered Paulis" from years ago, but even so we didn't see how to make
this fly). And we needed to have a Chief Feeder of the Crimson Bat, but
couldn't at first see how to make him interesting. The eventual solution
wrote itself.
I was particularly glad to see there's nothing in the ethos of the Crimson Bat cult to prevent its priests dressing up in terrifying batlike robes and pulling criminals off the streets to feed them to the Bat. Once we knew that the Crimson Bat sometimes lives on the Red Moon (confirmed in Greg's piece in Tales #16, though we suspected it earlier), we even had the Glamour location and the all-important Bat Cave.
Paulis's power cards in the freeform included the following:
Crime Fighting
Once per hour, you can dress in the costume of the Bat Man and fight crime
on the streets of Glamour City. Your success in doing so provides the
criminals who will be fed to the Crimson Bat. See the Directors.
Kapow!
You can attack another character and maybe knock him or her unconscious,
perhaps for later feeding to the Bat if he or she's a murderous criminal.
You must win or draw in paper-scissors-stone to succeed.
Derring-Do
You may perform any remarkable act, so long as it is flashy and exciting. If
the chosen act is in fact impossible, you may only be partially successful.
If conflict may arise, see a Director for use.
Escapology
You are accomplished at escaping chains, cells and guards, and can always
make a Fair Escape if you are imprisoned. This ability may be used either
five minutes after you are first imprisoned, or mere moments before you
would otherwise be slain.
Wane Manor
This stately property on the exclusive Craterside outskirts of Glamour is
the ancestral home of the Longvale family.
Cowl and Cape
Clad in this terrifying costume, you are recognisable only as the Bat Man,
the scourge of Glamour City's criminal underworld.
Mask and Robes
Clad in this awe-inspiring costume, you are recognisable only as the Chief
Feeder of the Bat, high priest of the Cult of the Crimson Bat.
:::: Email: <mailto:Nick_Brooke_at_btinternet.com>
Nick
:::: Website: <http://www.btinternet.com/~Nick_Brooke/>
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