Emotion: Spinning of the Gears

[89157Z]

Those who study deterministic machines too much often tend to come into the belief that all the world operates this way. Combining basic knowledge of Natural Philosophy and Astrology with advanced knowledge in Clockworks, those who feel the Spinning of the Gears can look at the world with an absolutely grounded perspective that boosts the Intelligence of the individual by a point and makes them more Observant. The conviction that the people around you are mechanistic does no favors for your social skills; you lose a point of Charm while you're under the sway of the Spinning of the Gears.

 

This worldview is not threatened by stress or fatigue... but a focus on Society, on Social Skills, or on Befriending others will tend to make it feel untenable. It also isn't compatible with extreme emotional states, be they positive or negative, although those tend to suppress the Spinning of the Gears only temporarily.

-<>-

 

A proposed emotional state to add to the game. I was finding myself disappointed that knowledge of Clockwork couldn't cause any kind of emotion. I don't know why I felt that way, but I hope it is a pleasing inspiration to others.

[Legate of Mineta]

This is pretty awesome, actually!

[CremePudding]

Agreed A question though; does Observant here mean a bonus to Observation?

[89157Z]

Agreed A question though; does Observant here mean a bonus to Observation?

 

Yeah, that was the intention.

[Adrian]

This is pretty sweet! I can sort of relate to when I was a kid. Everything had to be in a system, connected and tested. Social interactions were just messy and didn't fit in anywhere! What a drag. Still, not everything lasts. Maybe this emotion only works as long as your befriend or social skills are lower than your Clockwork?

[89157Z]

This is pretty sweet! I can sort of relate to when I was a kid. Everything had to be in a system, connected and tested. Social interactions were just messy and didn't fit in anywhere! What a drag. Still, not everything lasts. Maybe this emotion only works as long as your befriend or social skills are lower than your Clockwork?

 

I actually really like that idea. I wonder if conditionals like that work, so the emotion triggers when Clockwork rises above Befriend, and ends when Befriend rises above Clockwork.

 

I still think it should require some familiarity with Astrology. That may not be necessary in the real world, but in this setting, using Astrology to predict the future really works. Not to mention that there are several clockwork machines used in astrology referred to in the game. Orreries are clockwork creations!

 

Natural Philosophy may not be appropriate. It's so rare, and you probably don't need it in order to become convinced that natural order has a rigidity. Maybe replace Natural Philosophy with... Uhm... 'Nothing' may be appropriate. Clockwork is already a rare enough skill that your average player character is unlikely to accidentally stumble into a state where they're more skilled with machines than people.