14. Emotions & Humanity.

Emotions.

Robert Plutchik's theory says that the eight basic emotions are:

• Fear → feeling afraid. Other words are terror (strong fear), shock, phobia.
• Anger → feeling angry. A stronger word for anger is rage.
• Sadness → feeling sad. Other words are sorrow, grief (a stronger feeling, for example when someone has died) or depression (feeling sad for a long time). Some people think depression is a different emotion.
• Joy → feeling happy. Other words are happiness, gladness, ecstasy.
• Disgust → feeling something is wrong or dirty (morally or ethically)
• Trust → a positive emotion; admiration is stronger; acceptance is weaker
• Anticipation → in the sense of looking forward positively to something which is going to happen. Expectation is more neutral.
• Surprise → how one feels when something unexpected happens

Despair

Amazement/Awe Surprise Distraction

Rage Anger Annoyance

Loathing Disgust Boredom

Grief Sadness Pensiveness

Hope

Admiration Trust Acceptance

Ecstasy Joy Serenity

Terror Fear Apprehension

Vigilance Anticipation Interest

You enter an emotional state at 0, preparing for stronger emotions to be invoked. Players may trigger this at anytime as an indicator of where they want their emotions to be heading, but they may still be hijacked.

GMs can inflict it at anytime, and can call for an immediate Emotions roll. In response to a GM call, Players may chose to escalate if they want, no roll required.

You can only have one emotion at a time (for simplicity), if emotions were to conflict make an Emotions move, 10+ lets the player chose, 6- the GM.

Getting to +2 in some way has to be detrimental, with the negative emotions it is easier, but how do you make positive emotions bad for the character…both cause Stress.

All 2s drain from you, so they give you a mod of 2, but it starts to drain you. Going further must be ‘out of control’... so 2 is actually 2 with drain.

Why would a player increment a negative… not just something the GM does, has to be something they want out of it… experience.

GMs promote despair, the negative scores, but they can still give a + to certain types of rolls and responses… all of them can. Rage doesnt help you talk calmly to someone.

Players can ‘resist’ or ‘embrace’ their emotions, +1 modifier

EMOTIONS MOVE (Roll+level) (Resist/Embrace)

The player is attempting to evoke stronger emotions in response to events occurring around them. Strong emotions may give modifiers to rolls, both good and bad. Maintaining level 2 of an emotion is draining, the player will suffer +1Stress each move they make whilst at this level.

10+ Emotion escalates one level (changes).

7-9 Remains the same, costs 1 Stress.

6- GM option. The GM may swap your emotion to another, generally at level 1. The player may elect to bar one emotion from that choice if they wish. The new emotion will be at level 1.

An emotional level of +2 makes you Reckless (tag), which is the opposite of Busy, you must take the next action if the last action was by another player.

If you are able to escalate from +2 you will move to Hope or Despair, as indicated, generating one point. Only one such point is created per encounter, regardless of whether others follow. The character who generates that point will gain the benfits ontop of their Emotional effects, as if they had just burnt Hope or generated Despair.

Hospitaliers can use drugs to apply +_1 to any Emotion roll. Uses up a dose, use a Help move.

Hope or Despair can be used to reset everyone. Burn/Create it.

Gain experience for gaining an extreme (2).

Extreme emotions can infect others, especially NPCs.

After effects of extremes… extreme Fear can give psychosis or phobias. Etc

GM Move - inflicts powerful emotions.

Humanity

Is a rating each player has that reflects not only their sanity, but their belief and adherence to basic human beliefs - such as not killing people without good reason, about not being cruel and about showing mercy and kindness, about having empathy and concern.

Life in the Rift is essentially de-humanising. Working for the City is de-humanising, the people of the City are what you become when you lose your humanity.

The good thing about humanity is that you can regain it. You can learn back what you have lost, either through contact with other humans over a period of time, or from sudden and traumatic revelation - ‘what have I become!’