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Playing a Passive

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Mistreated, mistrusted and misunderstood, passives live a hard life. If they are not driven out of Brunnhold and major cities, they are forced into slavery for the University, usually as punishment for an invented crime; they are not allowed to own property or money, cannot get married, and cannot be in contact with their parents.

Galdori believe passives are cursed by the gods. While they may appear to have no magical ability at all, this is not entirely true - terrible events have sometimes shocked a powerful spell from the most hopeless of passives, a magic they cannot control or predict, called a diablerie. The mona have the final say in what becomes of a passive's ability. Perhaps that is why they are feared and hated by the galdori.

Some even say that passives have a special connection to the gods...

Pros of playing a passive

You're a rare breed - there won't be many characters like you. Humans feel sorry for you, and wicks will protect you from the galdori who persecute you. If you're stuck in Brunnhold, it's not all bad - there's a big sense of camaraderie among Brunnhold passives, and you've always got the Stacks if you want to go get guttered. And above all else, you have the benefit of living at Brunnhold - often, passives have inside knowledge of the University that wicks and humans don't, and can act as useful agents for the human resistance.

You may have one powerful spell that can aid you in a time of dire need - you can choose what it is, but you cannot choose when it manifests itself.

Cons of playing a passive

You must always be on your guard. Not all galdori hate and fear you, but most will - and most would be happy to make your day horrible. If you make one mad, you run the risk of getting forced into slavery, or worse. A passive's life is always at risk as long as they're around galdori, and in Anaxas, it's really hard to avoid the galdori.

You have no magic - or at least, no control over what little magic you have.


Passive Beginning Skills

Because their lives are often spent as servants, factory workers, or rejected members of society, passives have racial limitations on their Aptitude Skill choices. Their Physical skill cannot begin at Poor and their Social skill cannot begin at Good.


Aptitude Skills

Mental : Poor
Physical : Good
Social : Average

Mental : Average
Physical : Good
Social : Poor

Mental : Good
Physical : Average
Social : Poor

Focus Skills

An adult passive has their choice of starting the game with 1 Proficient Professional Focus Skill and 4 Beginner Focus Skills of your choice, but cannot choose from Magic—ever, as far as you know. A child passive can begin play with 5 Beginner Focus Skills.

A Gated passive can only choose from domestic and servant-style Professional Skills. Please don't hesitate to ask the Brunnhold moderator if you're unsure of what these Professional Skills would be.

At creation, a passive PC may exchange 1 Focus Skill slot to raise a tier in the Aptitude Skill of their choice to demonstrate their determination despite having limited educational opportunities under oppression (which means a passive is able to start the game with no Poor Aptitude Skills or choose to have one Excellent Aptitude Skill). You may spend one more additional Focus Skill to go up another Tier in any Aptitude Skill, but you cannot move any Aptitude Skill above Excellent. A child passive may only advance one Aptitude Skill one tier in this way.

In order to further customize your adult character, you also may exchange 1 Focus Skill slot to raise any Beginner Focus Skill up to Proficient. A child character must advance from Beginner to Proficient in gameplay.

Getting into Character

You could choose a common story - your passive was arrested at a young age, and now lives at Brunnhold, working as a slave. Or you could have your passive grow up among either wicks or humans. Either way, they're going to be parentless - galdori parents alone can produce a passive galdori, and they won't be allowed to keep you even if they wanted to (which they probably didn't.)

Passives live troubled lives, and often have no sense of cultural identity; they identify themselves with whatever culture accepts them, but never feel completely at home. Perhaps your backstory could reflect this conflict. Or, it could be completely different - your passive could have been incredibly fortunate!

Remember, if your passive does live at Brunnhold, they will have a bunkmate who will also be assigned to work beside them. This person can be an NPC, or you can work it out with another player beforehand to bunk together.

Passives in Combat

Though a weaker combatant than most humans (due to their weak galdori genes), passives can be the most dangerous person in a fight. At any moment, their token spell may unleash itself on their opponents (and, sometimes, on their friends) with incredible fury.

A passive has generally formed a nice set of muscles from a life of hardship and heavy lifting. They tend to adopt the fighting style of whichever race raised them, and play a little bit like a wild card - their small stature makes them ideal for sneaking into tiny spaces.

Get a Job!

You are allowed to choose the work your passive character will do. If they are gated, there are a limited number of jobs available to start, but your options will grow as you gain the trust of the galdori. If they are free, they have every option of the race they live with.

Some jobs that a gated passive might be assigned to:

  • baker, cook, server
  • dishwasher, sweeper, window-washer
  • general maid, working in all areas of the University
  • handmaiden or butler to a professor

If you work as a butler or handmaiden, you will have to stay put in that job until you are fired or the professor in question dies.

Passive Goals

Have the gods really cursed you? Are you bound by the limitations of your genetics? Is being a passive really a disability or is it a boon no one has yet discovered the secrets of? Are you bound to servitude in Brunnhold? Would you like to be free? Are you free but lost within a society that doesn't want you? How can you define yourself without a culture to call your own?