One of the odder quirks of
TFT, given that it is a Fantasy RPG, is that its gameworld of Cidri and related
campaigns did not have much in the way of any religious aspects. While a couple
pages in ITL discussed religion, and there are a couple of talents, there is
nothing like the deities in Dungeons & Dragons, with various human,
demi-human, and even thoroughly inhuman gods and godlike beings, nor is there
much of anything in the way of rules for handling priests and the like.
As an aside, my suspicion is
that Howard Thomas, who is a very staunch atheist, probably had a strong
influence on this aspect of TFT. Also, too, the approach taken in D&D with
deities and clerics perhaps motivated an "equal and opposite" sort of
reaction.
The upshot is that the
closest thing we have to gods in TFT is the subject of this post, the Mnoren
(and, no, I am not certain how one is supposed to pronounce that…), or, to give
their proper taxonomy, Homo Sapiens
Mnorenensis. Here is what is said about them in ITL, pg. 4:
"The Mnoren were human - and a little bit more. They
had the ability to move unaided between the many alternate worlds that co-exist
with Earth in other time-streams. One ability - but it was enough. The first
Mnoren used his talent only six times, and then stopped forever in fright and
confusion. But those six trips made him a wealthy man. His power bred true. His
children read his journals, and wondered, and experimented. They became the
secret rulers of their home planet. Their children did not bother with
secrets... they merely ruled.
The Mnoren multiplied and prospered. Three hundred years
after Jen Mnoren's first jump, his descendants had found, mapped, and conquered
three hundred seventy-one alternate Earths. Three had space travel; eleven had
magic. All of them honored the Mnoren rulers.
The key to the Mnoren dominance, of course, was
knowledge. Knowledge is power, and the knowledge of one world is power
unimaginable in another. Jen Mnoren’s six trips yielded two simple devices and
one book, and made him rich. His children imported inventions, techniques, and
gold... And the Mnoren power grew. A Mnoren was effectively invulnerable,
wherever he traveled. A dozen different protective devices, physical and
magical... intelligent bodyguards from strange worlds... and, most formidable
of all, a very long lifetime of experience. Anything that could extend his life
was of interest to a Mnoren; the medical techniques of 371 worlds made old age
merely a measure of experience.
In the "Flora and
Fauna" section of ITL, on page 57, the Mnoren are described a little bit
more:
"Technically, the Mnoren – the builders and one-time rulers of Cidri
– are (were?) human, with one slight difference – the power to travel between
alternate worlds. This power made them masters wherever they went.
…
The power and experience of a Mnoren make him effectively immortal. If a
Mnoren is attacked, you may be sure that he will have been aware of hostile
intentions as soon as they were formed – and he will certainly have magical,
physical, and technological defenses…"
So though they are
considered gods, and indeed wield great power, they are really just like us
when stripped of their gadgets and magic items (and, perhaps, genetic
modifications, nanotechnology, etc.). Except for that one detail about being
able to traverse alternate realities…
Let's focus on this aspect
first. Happily, there is an excellent, almost spot-on, science fiction
reference to this sort of ability from the now ended TV series Fringe.
This show was a bit like X-Files and followed the cases of a group under
Homeland Security that investigates incidents and crimes perpetrated by means
of "fringe" science, whether radical bio-tech, devices that can make
it possible to alter a solid wall on a molecular level to allow a person to
walk through it, and so forth.
Most relevant to this
discussion, though, is the lead character Agent Olivia Dunham who, when
enhanced with a drug called Cortexiphan,
could actually "shift" into a parallel Earth which was similar in
many respects, but radically different in others. I'll avoid going into much
more detail, since I highly recommend this show to any who have not seen it
(and you can get it off Netflix, hint, hint) but I will use some of the aspects
of how the shift occurs to illustrate how the Mnoren's singular power might
work.
In the series, there are two
possible ways to shift to the parallel Earth. One is by using advanced
technological devices and the other through enhanced mental ability. It also
helped to be at certain locations where the barriers between the two realities
were weakest.
The shift, itself, is sort
of like teleportation, only you end up in the same location in the alternate
Earth. Of course, this could end up being rather dangerous! Suppose the
location you "shift" to is in the middle of an Ice Age and you end up
buried under a mile of ice! It seems to me, then, that this Mnoren ability has
to have some sort of an "emergency shift back" feature built in, or
perhaps an ability to "peer ahead" to the intended destination, else
I have a feeling very few Mnoren would have survived were they to accidentally
shift to an Earth that was dangerously hostile to life (the Sun went nova,
atmosphere never developed, alternate Earth hit by large asteroid and rendered
lifeless, etc.).
In "Treasure of the
Silver Dragon" the following statement is made:
The Mnoren of Cidri, the world of THE FANTASY TRIP game system, have
access to many alternate universes. This access is reputedly the source of the
strange variety of life inhabiting Cidri's huge expanse. The existence of
alternate universes is a product of creation. Each universe represents a
different set of physical laws. Some universes are very similar with minor
apparent divergences. These universes may be accessed by Mnoren where the
difference is not grotesque. Drastically differing universes aren't accessible.
Also, for the most part, you
just end up shifting to an Alternate Earth. You cannot "shift" to,
say, one of Jupiter's moons… at least not from Earth. Now, if you first shifted
to one of the three Alternates that had space flight, in theory you could jump
on a ship, fly to one of Jupiter's moons, and then explore
"alternate" moons from there.
Another point raised in Fringe
is that, while anyone can use a device to travel between alternate universes,
only people with the innate ability can do so without suffering severe (and,
given enough trips, lethal) side effects.
It is also worth noting that
the shift is usually not instantaneous, nor automatic. Agent Dunham at one
point required not only the Cortexiphan but also the use of a sensory
deprivation tank to shift – and then the shift was only temporary before she
passed back to her start reality. (However, some shifts were accomplished with
less help.)
It is also likely that,
while the ability to do this is at its heart innate, one has to train oneself
to some degree, perhaps even significantly. Therefore, the following talent is
proposed for any Mnoren who shift between alternate universes:
REALITY
SHIFT (3). Prerequisite: To learn this talent you must be of Mnoren descent. In
conjunction with the specific gene that permits travel between alternate
realities, this talent reflects the intense mental discipline and training that
is required to enable shifting between universes. A shift requires a successful
4/IQ roll and costs 5 ST of exhaustion hits. Success allows the Mnoren to peer
ahead into the alternate reality, and can opt to either continue the shift or
pull back. The figure can shift itself, along with up to double its weight in
"cargo" – to include anything worn, carried or held (thus, a Mnoren
could shift another individual, assuming they were small enough). A figure can
attempt to shift additional multiples of mass, but must roll an additional die
vs. IQ and incur 10 ST of exhaustion hits (so if a shifting figure wanted to
move up to three times his mass, then he would roll 5/IQ, four times would be 6/IQ,
etc., and the cost would be 10 ST and 15 ST, respectively). If the roll is
failed the exhaustion hits are accrued but no shift occurs.
With that, one must ponder
where the Mnoren came from and how they conquered the 371 worlds that made up
their multi-universe empire. This requires a bit of sleuthing.
So where did the Mnoren come from? A clue can be
found here, where it is revealed that Jen Mnoren's six trips yielded, "…two simple devices and one book "
It stands to reason that if that was the source of his wealth, then he came
from either a magical world or a world without developed magic, for if he had
originated from a high tech world it is doubtful that a couple of simple
gadgets would have been the source of any wealth at all… Going beyond that, one
of the speculative explanations for the Mnoren disappearance was that they died
out because, "…their eldritch strain
[was] weakened by time and the weight
of empire." The word "eldritch" means "unearthly,
supernatural, eerie" which lends a lot of weight to the conclusion that
they came from a "magical" world, without any high technology.
How, then, did they manage
to conquer so many worlds? On the surface this seems easy, even trivial, for as
stated previously, "Knowledge
is power, and the knowledge of one world is power unimaginable in another."
Wouldn't that always be true?
It depends. Magic in
TFT is really quite limited. There is nothing in the TFT spell list that is
remotely comparable to, say, a Tomahawk missile with even a conventional (let
alone nuclear) payload. TFT spells
are designed around one-on-one combat, and have little or no application on a
larger scale, unlike the more battlefield focused magics found in Dungeons
& Dragons. Further, it would be easier for a technological society to
deal with hostile magic than the other way around.
For example, how
effective would an Invisibility spell be in our world? Certainly useful, but
not nearly as effective as one might hope. Assuming it only affects visible
light, then certainly any figure using the spell would be spotted quite easily
on thermal imaging equipment. Seismic sensors are another possible way of
detecting an invisible figure, along with millimeter wave scanners, etc. Other
methods may certainly be devised.
And how awed would
we be by real magic that we saw? Wouldn't many assume it is just some high tech
gadget or neat special effect? So there may not be any widespread "shock
and awe", as it were.
Thus, it is less
likely that technological worlds would be "conquered" in a
traditional sense. Rather, it is more likely done through subterfuge and
stealth, with the subjects not really realizing that they are ruled by the
Mnoren. I could readily see using Invisibility and Unnoticeability spells to
spy and gain sensitive information, which would then be used to blackmail
people in positions of power or obtain useful technology to help with their
schemes (or both). Assassinations could be done with simple Magic Fist spells,
which could easily be undetectable and would fuddle any investigators ignorant
of magic ("Strange! I've never seen
anything like it in my 25 years as a CSI! The Senator's body was found in a
secure zone surrounded by metal detectors and surveillance cameras and suffered
massive blunt force trauma consistent with being hit by a sledge hammer, all in
front of eye witnesses who could not explain how it happened…").
Money, perhaps in the form of gold brought in from other worlds, might be
useful (depends on the society); certainly bringing in gadgets, magic, or even
raw resources from other Earths might also raise funds to influence politics on
a higher tech world, enabling the set-up of a shadow government a la the game "Illuminati" by Steve
Jackson Games.
This supposition is
supported by the statement in ITL that, "His children read his journals, and wondered, and experimented. They
became the secret rulers of their home planet..." After this, Jen
Mnoren's grandchildren simply ruled their planet, but one wonders if on higher
tech planets (with or without spaceflight) they maintained their rule behind
the scenes?
Indeed, this may
explain a great deal about our Earth
– who knows, perhaps the members of the infamous Council on Foreign Relations
and other alleged "secret" societies are really Mnoren – or at least
answer to them!
Then again, perhaps
the Mnoren truly have left everyone else alone. This is hinted at in the
Dragonodon universe of the Treasure of the Silver Dragon and Treasure
of the Unicorn Gold, where it is stated that, "The humans of Dragonodonia know that
their Earth has been used by the Mnoren in the past. Numerous life forms
haven’t evolved on their Earth and they know it by magical perception. As far
as they know there is no current Mnoren presence or influence, as with our
Earth."
And perhaps there
are other worlds with ultra-high tech that defied easy influence, let alone
conquest – a star empire, for example, where Earth was simply a used up husk,
as presented in the backstory to Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity universe,
or maybe turned into an uninhabited "nature preserve" for study and
research while the rest humanity has the galaxy as their playground. With no
real way of connecting with the civilization (since they can only shift readily
to the Earth itself, and likely cannot "shift" a starship with them)
they might not really be able to "conquer" anything. Also, what of a
world where dread Cthulhu has risen from corpse city of R'lyeh and the Earth
overrun with various Eldritch horrors?
There is also a loosely
related work of fiction by Robert Heinlein entitled "The Number of the
Beast" which uses an invention called a "Continua" device to
travel both through time and into fictional universes (in the book, the
protagonists traveled to the Land of Oz and Barsoom. In addition to the obvious
tie in about traveling to alternate realities, a contributor on the TFT Mailing
List suggested that one of the reasons the Mnoren vanished was because they
started to explore fictional universes, rather than limiting themselves to
parallel Earths.
For purposes of this article, I will assume that Mnoren reality shifting only
works on parallel Earths, but it is good to at least be aware of this other
possible interpretation.
So what became of the
Mnoren? In the Labyrinth says this:
Where did they go? Ahhhh... another good question! There
are many theories. Perhaps they simply died out, their eldritch strain weakened
by time and the weight of empire. Perhaps the assassin's game that their wilder
types enjoyed (what prey was really worthy of a Mnoren but his deadly
relatives?) drove them into hiding on other worlds. Perhaps they built a
grander playground somewhere else. Perhaps they're still here, wise and
immortal, watching but not taking part. That's what the villagers believe. They
threaten bad children with demons, orcs, and Mnoren."
Probably all of the above. I
can see the Mnoren gene becoming less prevalent with time, unless they closely
intermarry, which creates a whole mess of problems in and of itself (though
perhaps such problems can be cured by magical and high tech medical
techniques). One can also speculate that perhaps being in charge isn't as much
fun as one might imagine, and shifting to a parallel Earth that has no sentient
life might be a nice alternative.
Which does bring up an
interesting point, namely that while "only" 371 worlds were ruled by
the Mnoren, there must have been many more that were either unusable, or
perhaps were "virgin" planets, unexploited by other sentient forms.
Can you imagine what it would be like to take yourself and perhaps select
others, and colonize an Earth just like ours but without all the congestion,
busybodies, etc.? Talk about the ultimate "Galt's Gulch," assuming
you could get the necessities across worlds!
Finally, how should one use
Mnoren in a TFT adventure? Obviously, one can have them as sort of
"gods", but I'd like to make another suggestion: how about a group
composed of characters of Mnoren heritage who discover their abilities some
time long after the Abdication, and start their own explorations? They lack all
of the magic items and gadgets of the "established" Mnoren who left
long ago, being descendants of elicit affairs, etc. so they lack the temporal
power but retain the ability to shift between worlds.
Another possible approach
would be to explore Mnoren gates (no doubt set up to assist transfer of people
and goods between worlds in a way that shifting could not accommodate) in a
fashion similar to Stargate SG1; indeed, one could use the show's
premise wholesale by starting your characters as modern Earth soldiers tasked
with exploring these gates and the worlds connected to them! While it would
probably be a headache for a GM to run, the concept does have a vast range of
possibilities… "So, what Earth do we
want to visit, today?"
If anyone does try such a
campaign, do report back as to how it turns out!
