Dweller on the Threshold, Have you met the bridge-keeper to the metaplanes? Options

[Zormal]

To travel to the otherworlds, the metaplanes of astral space, an initiate must first pass the trial of the Dweller on the Threshold. This mysterious entity may be a creature living on the narrow, misty border between the etheric plane and the dark depths of astral space or it may be nothing more than living embodiment of the magician's own subconscious fears and insecurities trying to sway the traveler from his course. In the end, it makes little difference which is the case. The Dweller always challenges the traveler at the Threshold of the metaplanes themselves. The Dweller seems to know every dark secret, every hidden thought, the magician has ever had, and it uses the knowledge to try and convince the questor to turn back and give up the journey. Passing the Dweller on the Threshold and the dark revelations it offers is very difficult for new initiates to conquer. Little do they know it is only the beginning.

What have you done with the good ol' Dweller? Any particularly juicy stories?

[Stahlseele]

I played a Cat-Shaman. Once.
Phobia mild and Allergy Medium against Dogs.
The Dweller was a wet, dirty big fugly Dog . .
that was not funny <.< . .

[Falrien]

I have been wondering how to handle the Dweller. Also, how would it work for group astral quests? Would each person have their own trial?

[Falrien]

I have been wondering how to handle the Dweller. Also, how would it work for group astral quests? Would each person have their own trial?

[Dashifen]

For a group astral quest, I made based the dweller off of the various gods in history that have more than one face (e.g., the Roman god Janus). Each face spoke with a different personality and purpose toward each of the members of the group.

As for other times, the mage had a phobia of insect spirits, so the dweller was the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Prime Mover]

Always set it up as a single quest for the group but still have the Dweller reveal something about each person with the others present.

[DireRadiant]

It's got to be revealing to the other PC's when the Dweller speaks to you about you, or interacts.

There's nothing like the Dweller revealing to the rest of the team that it was my character that actually killed off some former teammates (same players), a secret that had been kept for years by the GM.

[child of insanit...]

i just ran my group through a meta-quest. they all had dirty little secrets... almost got the newb killed... oops:/ but funnily enough one of the characters already had all her dirty secrets aired previously... and the rule is _something_ has to be revealed. i couldn't think of anything so he faded out, then back in remembering to get her with her real name and sin... lame i know:p
but one of the characters is a fox shifter, another is ex-SAS, and a third ex-azzy spec ops with the mysterious cyberware flaw.
he appeared different as he talked to each shifting as he did, mystique style.

[hyzmarca]

Secrets don't have to be big. They can be little embarrassing things that give flavor to the character. I very much suggest a GM and player work together on them, to help flesh out the character's history.


For example, the hyper-macho ork heavy weapons guy might be confronted with the fact that his family was so poor that they couldn't afford to buy new clothes for him when he was a kid, so he had to wear his dresses that his older sisters had outgrown.

Perhaps the social adept once went to a wild Hollywood party at a club that caters to leonized 2D stars who are looking to make comebacks in the trid and sims and after imbibing far too many intoxicants had a regrettable homoerotic encounter with Richard Dean Anderson and then, after snorting even more novacoke, got the Macgyver logo tattooed onto his butt. The ink has since been removed, but the memory of that night has never faded away, in spite of a great deal of money spent on PAB memory reprograming. It's why he joined NA and it's what keeps him clean.

[child of insanit...]

Secrets don't have to be big. They can be little embarrassing things that give flavor to the character. I very much suggest a GM and player work together on them, to help flesh out the character's history.


For example, the hyper-macho ork heavy weapons guy might be confronted with the fact that his family was so poor that they couldn't afford to buy new clothes for him when he was a kid, so he had to wear his dresses that his older sisters had outgrown.

Perhaps the social adept once went to a wild Hollywood party at a club that cateres to leonized 2D stars who are looking to make comebacks in the trid and sims and after imbibing far too many intoxicants had a regrettable homoerotic encounter with Richard Dean Anderson and then, after snorting even more novacoke, got the Macgyver logo tattooed onto his butt. The ink has since been removed, but the memory of that night has never faded away, in spite of a great deal of money spent on PAB memory reprograming. It's why he joined NA and it's what keeps him clean.

dude... you're my hero of the day :lol

[BIG BAD BEESTE]

Heh, way cool. Nothing says drunken night of debauchery like a mysterious morning tattoo and the inexplicable aches and pains of a visit from the Bruise Fairy. BTW, also love the idea about the Caterpillar from Alice - some good literature and pop culture projections are always cool for metaphysical encounters.

Never quite got any of my players to the stage where they went on an Astral Quest, although I did have a "burnt-out" Mage who might have gone there but couldn't go astral because of a previous encounter where he assensed the true pattern/aura of a free-form "Spider" spirit. (The one from Total Eclipse - if you know that scenario then you generally get the idea of how screwed up assensing that would be. Think Cthuluesque Bibble moment.) The main reason that I choose to implement that negative quality was to save or GM from headaches and plot breaking as he didn't really get Astral Space and all it was capable of - IE: assensing your Johnson who turns out to be something non-human or just plain lying to you.

As for using the Dweller and groups of astral questors, old fluff stated that you'd all meet up together as the Threshold, no matter where your meat body was located. Everyone gets challenged but the Dweller reveals some dark/hidden knowledge or secret about each questor present. That way everyone risks something and gets to learn a little more about their team-mates. I've always liked to stick in the character's embarrassing childhood experiences/memories - there's always smething that players can relate too.

[Dakka Dakka]

On a related note, does a mage have to face the dweller on the threshold each time he wishes to go to the metaplanes? Does the dweller reveal a new saecret each time and does the mage have to face new fears each time? If he doesn't have to deal with new secrets each time doesn't it get a bit boring after the first time?

[hobgoblin]

i guess i frequent traveler to the metaplanes could get a "oh, you again" from the dweller (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

best done if in the shape of hades from the disney movie hercules, or something similar (IMG:style_emoticons/default/silly.gif)

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Secrets don't have to be big. They can be little embarrassing things that give flavor to the character. I very much suggest a GM and player work together on them, to help flesh out the character's history.


For example, the hyper-macho ork heavy weapons guy might be confronted with the fact that his family was so poor that they couldn't afford to buy new clothes for him when he was a kid, so he had to wear his dresses that his older sisters had outgrown.

Perhaps the social adept once went to a wild Hollywood party at a club that caters to leonized 2D stars who are looking to make comebacks in the trid and sims and after imbibing far too many intoxicants had a regrettable homoerotic encounter with Richard Dean Anderson and then, after snorting even more novacoke, got the Macgyver logo tattooed onto his butt. The ink has since been removed, but the memory of that night has never faded away, in spite of a great deal of money spent on PAB memory reprograming. It's why he joined NA and it's what keeps him clean.

Now that was awesome... Kudos Man

[Draco18s]

i guess i frequent traveler to the metaplanes could get a "oh, you again" from the dweller (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Reminds me of a horse my mother met who had a "free pass" to the world of the dead (or whatever you'd like to call it). Meaning that she'd been alive and dead so many times she was free to visit at any time.

(Yes, my mom met a horse who could astral project (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) )

((Believe me, it's less weird than talking to cats))

[Windling]

On a related note, does a mage have to face the dweller on the threshold each time he wishes to go to the metaplanes? Does the dweller reveal a new saecret each time and does the mage have to face new fears each time? If he doesn't have to deal with new secrets each time doesn't it get a bit boring after the first time?

Simple answer; mostly yes to meeting the dweller and always yes to new secrets. (Although they can build off of old secrets. More at the far bottom.)

Slightly longer version: When projecting; Always, yes. When entering from other sources some bypass the dweller. For example a spirit's astral gateway power and astral phenomenom that catipult someone into the metaplanes. (Although, any astral phenonenom that gates you into a metaplane is far scarier than meeting with the dweller. Especially if you consider that you don't know where you are....and unless you are an initiated mage you don't know what to do to get home without help.)

Secrets:

As a GM you could go for new secrets each time or turn the dweller into an evolving conversation about the same/similar topics. Astral quests involve mythological elements of self discovery and trials that test the person's right to obtain / access what they seek. It's up to the GM, but the point should be that the dweller probes and prods at the character in a way that could allow the character to grow or learn; the dweller is the first trial and the gatekeeper to the quest. Often, the things that embarass us the most we regret b/c we know we made a bad decision.

[Dhaise]

Rotgut: Troll Street Sam: Wet the bed until he was 11.

Hypercam: Accidently ran over his best friend, twice. After sleeping with his girlfriend.

Raver: What does a Saeder krupp deep cover agent actually spend money on?


And so on. I save the game breaker sins for the BIG metaquests.

[Windling]

Dhaise makes a good point I left out. Sometimes the lesson in Mythology is simply humility....

[AllTheNothing]

Once a mage of mine was shown the immage of himself killing a child; the team members almost killed him afterward, just to discover later that my character was the child in the picture, and was an escaped clone whos mundane source tried to kill stealing his awakening. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohplease.gif)

[toturi]

Perhaps the social adept once went to a wild Hollywood party at a club that caters to leonized 2D stars who are looking to make comebacks in the trid and sims and after imbibing far too many intoxicants had a regrettable homoerotic encounter with Richard Dean Anderson and then, after snorting even more novacoke, got the Macgyver logo tattooed onto his butt. The ink has since been removed, but the memory of that night has never faded away, in spite of a great deal of money spent on PAB memory reprograming. It's why he joined NA and it's what keeps him clean.

You winz da internets.

[Prime Mover]

Meta-Planar quests used to be alot more involved. I used to have a little worksheet I'd give to my caster types which included a questionnaire about dark secrets and embarrassing moments.

After passing the Dweller the quest would continue through a list of steps each a separate test on the quest.
Battle,Charisma,Destiny,Fear,Knowledge,Magic,Spirits and finally the Citadel were the quest would reach its conclusion.

Alot like the original decking rules this has thankfully been streamlined but I can't help but reminisce over the flavor of it that brought me to Shadowrun.

[Demonseed Elite]

Alot like the original decking rules this has thankfully been streamlined but I can't help but reminisce over the flavor of it that brought me to Shadowrun.

There's no reason why they can't be just as involved. But the one thing I never liked was the whole idea of rolling dice to determine the structure of a metaplanar quest; that's the part we aimed to remove in 4th Edition.