OK, really it's Of Dreams & Magic, but it's abbreviated ODAM, so.
The Game: Of Dreams & Magic
The Publisher: ODAM Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
I bought ODAM at...Origins, I think? Some years back. The production values are pretty impressive, and the cover is pretty dope. Having now read the book, said cover doesn't really convey what the game is about, but it definitely hooks you into "modern fantasy," so that's good.
The game sounded pretty familiar to me as I read it. Dreams matter, there are nightmares that pursue people out of dreams sometimes, but really the enemy is the Doubt, a kind of Fantasia-esque Nothing that convinces people that there's no magic. The setting is very much a blend of Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, and Shattered Dreams, which is fine, lots of fertile ground in dreams and nightmares for a modern fantasy RPG.
The writing didn't really hook me. The comparisons to OWoD continue, as some of the prose is interesting and easy to read and some of it is just kinda sloggy and dull (and the font is too small for my taste, and the page layout really needs some more art or something to break it up because it's like reading a textbook). I was interested in the characters, though - basically you're a normal person who goes through something called a Crux, during which you defeat your own personal nightmare and become an Animus, which can be a superhero, a fantasy knight, whatever. And then in the Waking World, you can call on elements of dreams (but of course, normal folks don't see it, because Doubt).
Which all sounds very cool, so let's see how this chargen thing goes. The first thing I'm invited to do is come up with a concept, no surprise there. Hmm.
You know, I don't make characters with military experience very often (mostly because, never having served, it's a whole culture and world I'm not familiar with), but I've been thinking a lot as I read this game about how dreams...actually kinda suck sometimes. I have nightmares several times a week, and they leave me exhausted and edgy. I haven't had a dream I would describe as "good" in years. Fuck dreams. So anyway, I think I shall make a character who kinda sees the danger inherent in nightmares and the Doubt, but doesn't have any particular love for dreams. He served in Army, saw combat in the Middle East (I'm not being more specific because I don't feel like spending my morning doing this kind of research), came home, and hasn't been able to work because of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. He lives in his brother's basement, and locks and bars the door when his symptoms start to get really bad. It was at the end of a week-long bout of depression that he finally slept, and experienced the Crux. We'll say his name is Kent Conley.
Oof, well, that's fuckin' cheery. Maybe I'll do Dinosaur Princesses next. Anyway, what's the next step? Prioritization! There are four categories of traits: Inherent, Learned, Magical, and Material. I get to pick one to be Excellent, two to be Good, and one to be Average.
Well, I think Kent needs to have the Excellent in Learned, since that represents things he's been trained in. Goods can go in Inherent and...hmm. Do I want to put the Average in Material or Magical? Either makes sense. I think I'll put the Average in Material and the other Good in Magical.
OK, then, on to Inherent. As the chart says, I get 30 Attribute points and 3 Trait points. Which means what? Well, it means I could give myself a 5 in all 6 Attributes and be average across the board, but do I really want to do that?
Actually, I think maybe I do. If I raise anything beyond average, it's at the expense of something else, and I don't really see Kent being deficient anywhere. Maybe a little under in Charm and/or Intellect. Yeah, sure, I'll bump Charm and Intellect down to 4 and jack Strength and Endurance up to 6.
3 points in Traits, then. Some of these "cost" zero points and are more like flaws. I can't see a benefit to them, mechanically? There's one I want, called Plagued by Nightmares, though. And then I'll also take Freakish Strength and Spatial Awareness, those are cool.
Man, this sheet just does not give you much room to write. Moving one! Learned things! I get 40 Skill points, 30 Advanced Skill Points, and 8 Technique points.
I like the idea behind skills, here: skills are broad based, but to be really good at something, you've got to specialize. As such, you can take Firearms and have some broad proficiency will all guns, but if you want to be good with a shotgun that's an Advanced Skill. Don't know if this would work in play, but heck, let's try it.
Oh, wait, goddammit. I just realized that you start with 1 in Attributes, not zero. Nowhere that I can find in the chargen instructions does it say that. Grr. OK, so that effectively means all my Attributes get bumped up one. That puts Strength and Endurance at 7, Agility and Perception at 6, and Charm and Intellect at 5. Yeah, that's fine. OK, back to Skills.
Skills don't get a free point. I get 40 points to split up into the Basics. Is there a maximum? Skills go to 20, but it doesn't say I have to stop before that (that would, of course, eat half my points, so I won't).
Well, are there any I don't feel the need to put points into? The only ones I could potentially see Kent having no ability in are Social and Creative, but like, that sucks. There are 9 of these, meaning that they could all get 4 with 4 left over, but I don't think I need to do that. Instead, let's put Firearms, Manual, and Athletics to 10. That only leaves me 10; I'll put 2 each into Academics, Computers, Creative, and the other four into Fighting. That's not perfect, but it'll do.
Advanced Skills! I get 30 points here, and my score in an Advanced Skill can't be higher than its controlling Basic Skill. I'll put one into Arabic under Academics (he speaks a little, though not fluently by any means). I'll put three points into Close Quarters Combat under Fighting. Firearms, here we go. 7 points in Assault Rifle, 5 points in Handgun, 3 in Machine Gun. That's 19 spent, 11 to go.
Ugh, too much disparate shit under "Manual." Well, I want 5 in Auto Mechanic, 3 in Search, 3 in Stealth, that's it. Now, 8 Technique points. Well, a bunch of these have pre-reqs, so I'll take Focused Reload and Quick Draw because I can. That eats 3 points. I'll take Quick Fixer and Sleight of Hand (3 more), which leaves me 2. Huh. Cool, there's literally nothing else I have the pre-reqs for. I don't feel like rejiggering my points, so oh well, I lose those last two. Wait, I can take Broad Jump. Sure.
That's all for Learned, now for Magical! I get 2 Control Points or 1 Control Point, 5 Tradition Points, and 1 Practice. What...does all that shit mean. Hang on.
OK, so, Control Points refer to Dreamscapes. Basically with Control, I can use Remnants, which are specific, ranked powers referring to a particular Dreamscape. This is all a little narrower than I'd like. But on the other hand, Traditions are real-world magical belief systems, that work in ODAM because people believe in them hard enough. Practices...oh, those are part of Traditions. Hmm. I don't love any of this, honestly.
Well, let's take option 2, one Control and 5 points in Traditions/1 Practice. For my one Control, I need to pick a Dreamscape. These are divided into three rough categories, and Exulmus, which are dreams taking place in a world like our own, seems the most likely. I'll further pick Shadow Chronicles (which is basically the World of Darkness, let's not fuck around). The first Remnant (jeez, this terminology is thick) is Shadow Minions, which lets Kent summon up little demon-imps to screw with people's minds. Seems a little off-brand for Kent, but I like that - his dreams have pretty much come down on the side of nightmares, after all.
And then a Tradition. Hmm. I'm gonna take Witchcraft. Let's say that Kent's girlfriend is into wicca, and while Kent doesn't much buy into it, since the whole Crux thing he's taking it more seriously. There are two rank one Practices I can take, Magical Altar (which gives a bonus to other Practices, which is fuckin' useless at chargen) and Crystal Pain Manipulation (which allows you to remove pain with a crystal and redirect it to someone else, that's pretty dope).
OK, then. Material! I get 2 Possession or Artifact points. Possessions are mundane items, Artifacts are magic. I'll go with Possessions and take riot gear, a .45, and...oh, this is cute, the book lists an AK47 as costing $15,000. Quick google search tells me that's a hell of a markup. Anyway, I'm bored already, so let's assume that any reasonable GM (sorry, Dreamweaver) would let me use my Possession points to take guns, since this is MURICA.
Cool, now I generate the derived traits (done), and move on to making my Animus. You can pick one of the listed archetypes, but to really do things right, you gotta strangle yourself a fresh one. So we know Kent is familiar with the Shadow Chronicles. Let's say his Crux took place there, but in a war-torn, monster-filled crumbling city. He had dreams of his team getting snatched into the shadows and eaten, and then one night he finally managed to save them. He did that not by being a badass combatant, but by watching the shadows, helping his men beat back their fear, and getting everyone home. His Animus is called Sarge.
So I need to pick a Passive Aspect for Sarge. I think Defender makes sense. I get +3 Endurance, +10 Health, and I can summon a shield.
Now I pick five Animus Abilities. I would only actually be able to use the first one, but all five are set at chargen, for reasons that are badly explained.
Well, let's see. I'm thinking Advanced Reflexes makes the most sense for Rank One. For Rank Two, Attack Coordination, that's easy. Rank Three, ooh, Empowered Asset (Sarge can grant his powers to another soldier temporarily). Rank Four...hmm. There's one that lets me switch places with an ally, and another that wards an area (or person, or thing). I think I'll go with the latter ("get some sleep, boys, I got first watch"). Finally, at Rank Five, I'll go with Concussive Blast, because I think it'd be cool to build up to it. ("GRENADE!")
And finally, the Nemesis. This is a personalized nightmare that can, eventually, come for the character. I don't want a violent one, at least not overtly. Kent's Nemesis is just called "Civvie." It looks like...well, a civilian, whatever is appropriate depending on the dream. It pops out of nowhere, runs into gunfire, and otherwise serves to get itself killed in horrific, gruesome fashion, screaming for help and crying in pain.
And I do believe that's it! Phew, long process, this. As is often the case, I like this character, but I'm in no hurry to play this game. Too many moving parts, too much terminology, and as fucking weird as the system is, I think I like Shattered Dreams better.
