Corruption

Through the use of IRIS, humanity has become something greater than human. Today we are stronger, faster and healthier than any time in our history. It might seem logical then, that whoever uses the most IRIS would be the most powerful, but remember stranger, that not everyone is created equal. Plenty of people have reached for more power than they could wield and returned from the experience changed… or never returned at all. Some believe that as a person integrates more IRIS, it begins to manifest its own consciousness somewhere in the back of a person's mind. That it waits for vulnerable moments and then pushes a person towards exaggerated responses. They say that each time a person gives in, they become slightly less themselves and slightly more of whatever the IRIS is making them, until eventually, they may not want to resist it at all. If these ideas are right, then if a person ever embraces that alter ego entirely, the IRIS takes over and whoever they were before is gone forever. Whatever the real reasons are, it's common knowledge that the change is extremely violent. It's as if the person's brain finally realizes what's about to happen and instinctively makes a last fight-or-flight effort to resist, but by this point it's almost always too late. We call these lost souls, “Ferals” or “Wendigos”; creatures with human bodies, but living like animals in the wilderness or the ruins of old places. Sometimes, they're quiet and watchful. Other times they're violent and territorial; each is different and unpredictable, just like the people they once were. Perhaps because of this, there are rumors that they may still hold echoes of their past personalities, or that the person they once were is still in there somewhere, fighting to get out. Some claim they've seen Ferals show a preference for places or things they liked before the change, but most of that is hearsay at best. Few people have spent any time interacting with Ferals and they tend to keep to themselves, though every now and then a small, remote settlement population all shows up dead, as though killed barehanded. You can shape your own belief about what lies on the other side of the change, Stranger; and who or what the Ferals really are, but what matters for you now is that it's impossible to know exactly how far a person can go before they start to change. Some resist better, others worse, but the more IRIS you take into yourself, the more you risk. Everyone has a limit - even you - and to pass that point means losing who you are forever. We call the gradual descent into that madness, “Corruption”.

Every Character will have some amount of Corruption, so don't be concerned that your brand new Character will go Feral any time soon, unless you're going really crazy with your Character's IRIS. Specifically, this includes any bonuses to your Character's Traits, Augs or Skills you enhance your Character with. As you play, any further Trait ranks, Skill ranks and Augs you buy will also increase Corruption, so be cautious with your choices. Weapons, Armor and Equipment have no impact on Corruption.

• Characters begin with 0 Corruption
• Each CP (Character Point) spent on Skills, Traits or Augs increases Corruption by the same amount. This includes the increased cost of buying rank 6+ for Skills and Traits.
• For example, spending 2 CP on Skills, 4 CP on Traits and 5 CP on an Aug would lead to an increase of 11 Corruption. (2 + 4 + 5 = 11)
• In certain circumstances, such as emotionally charged events or extreme danger, your Corruption may be “triggered” as the IRIS attempts to influence you in your vulnerable state.
• When Corruption triggers, the IRIS exaggerates your own natural inclinations. Caution becomes Aversion, ethics become Fanaticism and focus becomes Fixation. When you encounter this influence, there are several ways you can respond.
  • To Break Corruption, you must make an Endurance Skill test. Success will end the effect immediately with no adverse effects, while failure will still end the Corruption effect, but with penalties to all your actions for 12 hours afterwards, as you're left mentally reeling from the strain. Whether you pass or fail, your Corruption level will not increase.
  • To Tolerate Corruption, simply say you are doing so. This will grant small bonuses to any actions that are in line with the Corruption, but cause small penalties to any actions that are not. Tolerating Corruption increases your Corruption level by 2 points.
  • To Embrace Corrupuption, simply say you are doing so. This will grant large bonuses to actions that are in line with the Corruption, but cause large penalties to actions that are not. Embracing Corruption increases your Corruption level by 4 points.
• The bonuses, penalties and difficulty of the Endurance test to Resist are all dependent on your Corruption level. More Corruption means bigger bonuses, bigger penalties and higher difficulty to Resist.
• Corruption level can be reduced at a cost of 1 CP per 5 Corruption.

Caution > Aversion
Ethics > Fanaticism
Focus > Fixation
Table to follow.