The Seven Sorrows

From Guidebook

The Seven Sorrows (simply called Sorrows) is a custom made table of effects the Cursed experience when they roll Cinder for magic use. The Sorrows themselves are a table of twelve different results that you must roll a twelve sided die (a d12) every single time your Cursed character uses their magic, the number result is the Sorrow that triggers. Seven of these have negative effects, hence the name.

Creating the Sorrows[edit]

The Sorrows are defined by the player, designed to suit your character and whatever they may be cursed with. The table of Sorrows should use the flavour of the curse and show unique effects that suit the character and the nature of their curse. 'Generic' Sorrows are allowed, of course, such as a power overload, but it has to be customised to the character.

When you create the twelve cursed effects, seven of these curses must have a negative or harmful effect directly impact your character. Whatever these might be are completely up to you. While you may have more than seven, you may not go below seven. The remaining five may be neutral, with one possibly having no effect at all.

In your character profile, the Sorrows table should be in the 'Other Magic Notes' section and every Sorrow should be numbered.

Tips for the Sorrows[edit]

You may change your selection at any time (without admin approval) as your character develops, but stick to the guidelines of at least seven negative Sorrows and the tips below.

  • A well-crafted Sorrow has a moderate impact on a post, with some variation.
  • A Sorrow should have an immediate effect in the post, not a delayed effect.
  • A Sorrow works best when it wont pass unnoticed, but stopping short of stealing the scene.
  • Give other players a chance to react!
  • A Negative Sorrow should be an obvious drawback, either painful or troublesome, but not dip into something too severe or lethal.
  • Allow the Sorrows enough breathing room that they do not discourage a Cursed from using magic.
  • The true risk in the Sorrows is in stacking multiple, so leave room for characters to invite that risk.
  • If a Sorrow includes a mechanical penalty, do not make this the only negative impact.
  • The Sorrow should justify and explain why the mechanical penalty is there.

Involving Dice Mechanics[edit]

Players can choose to involve mechanics in their Sorrows if they think it would be fun, but this is not required. If you do tie in mechanics, you may not include mechanics that affect DC or Thresholds. We recommend sticking to small dice penalties, re-rolls, or a minor penalty to Luck. If we find a Sorrow involves too much custom dice rules, we will ask someone to revise.

In the event of the Sorrows impacting other PCs through area of effect attacks/explosions, any mechanical penalty is limited to a single post.

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