If you were keeping up with last week, you know how much of a fan we are of Masters of the Metaverse (a fine RPG show on Hyper RPG’s Twitch and Youtube Channels), and the underlying concept that it runs with. For those that aren’t familiar, the idea is that the player characters have the ability to hop into the bodies of people from parallel worlds and can take control of them to interact with their world for a variety of different reasons. The tagline for the show is that it’s sort of like Quantum Leap and Sliders had a baby.
One of the other things in this universe that i have a great appreciation for is the Savage Worlds Role-playing Game from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. I came for the Deadlands and stayed for the multiverse of possibilities. Realistically, that’s what Savage Worlds represents, a multiverse of potential game play that allows you to splash together a dozen different characters from different worlds and put them together on one grand adventure.
These two ideas seem like the peanut butter and chocolate that will become the Reese’s global empire, but how do we get them all up into each other? Well, let’s see what this sort of looks like.
New Edge
Metapilot (Novice, Special)
Metapilots have an extraordinary ability to transmit their consciousness into the bodies of other people throughout the Multiverse. Using this ability, they can assume control of another living creature and in most cases, use their abilities from their borrowed body. There are varying levels of control that a Metapilot can exert, ranging from a passive observer to total control.
While using their Metapilot ability, The Metapilot is not in their body, and they have to be careful where they leave their bodies. A Metapilot can have an extraordinary range of abilities, skills and edges, and experienced ones have usually picked up a trick or two from the worlds they visit.
Stages of Control
There are 5 stages of control for a Meta Pilot. They represent the level of active control the Meta Pilot is exerting on their avatar, and give you a rough idea of how the two personalities interact with each other. It’s important to keep in mind that maintaining control of an avatar can be taxing, and the Meta Pilot’s ability to maintain control for an extended period can be limited. In game terms, this means that a Meta Pilot chooses one of their attributes to be their primary Meta attribute. They can accumulate a number of Stress Points equal to the highest face of their Meta Attribute Die before suffering the fatigued condition.
Stage 1: Passive Observer
At this stage of control, the Meta Pilot is in their avatar but aren’t doing anything to actively take control of the situation. The Avatar (still under the control of the player), goes about their usual business and has full control over themselves. They can’t use any of their Meta Pilot’s edges or abilities. A Meta Pilot at this stage eliminates 1 Stress Point per hour spent in this Stage.
Stage 2: Active Observer
At this stage of control, the Meta Pilot is in their avatar and are actively engaging with the Avatar’s personality. They provide an additional set of eyes and sensors to the situation and can provide additional information and make skill checks using their mental abilities. This gives the Avatar a +1 step bonus on all checks to notice, detect and find things, and a bonus to avoid being surprised. The Meta Pilot can also use their mental attributes to make mental skill checks for the Avatar. A Meta Pilot at this stage eliminates 1 Stress Point per 3 hours spent in this stage.
Stage 3: Wide Awake
At this stage of control, the Meta Pilot can exert physical control over their Avatar and can perform physical actions. This allows them to use edges and skills their avatar body is capable of performing (for example, it’s very hard for a horse to fire a revolver), and they do so at their normal skill ratings. The personality of their avatar assumes a backseat role and while they are observing and commenting, they are not as capable as a Meta Pilot, and don’t offer the bonuses that Stage 2 offers. They can also force a test of Wills to stop the Meta Pilot from performing an action they don’t want to do. This stage neither accumulates nor reduces Stress Points, and is considered the default starting point for a Meta Pilot.
Stage 4: Limited Control
At this stage of control, the Meta Pilot is in their avatar and are actively taking control of the Avatar. The Avatar’s personality is suppressed and the Meta Pilot is capable of using their own abilities (or the abilities of the Avatar). If they share abilities, their combined skills make them both better at the task, giving them a +1 Step Bonus to any tests they perform with their shared skills. At this level, the Gamemaster has to spend a Bennie to force a test of Wills for an action that the Avatar doesn’t want to perform. This Stage causes the Meta Pilot 1 point of Stress for every hour they spend in it.
Stage 5: Total Control
At this stage of control, the Meta Pilot is in full control of their avatar and can use the Avatar’s Edges, Skills, and other abilities alongside their own. This does give them access to most arcane backgrounds and other abilities as well. The Avatar is incapable of resisting the Meta Pilot’s control and are completely suppressed during this stage. This stage causes 1 stress point per half an hour the Meta Pilot spends at it.
The Game Master or the Player can spend a Bennie to change the Stage of control. If the Meta Pilot accumulates enough Stress to Fatigue, they are automatically shifted down to Stage 3 and can’t shift back up until they reduce their stress to the point they can gain more stress.
Conclusions, next Steps (Full Cray)
Now these are characters that work best as a group of Meta Pilots, with every player controlling a Meta Pilot of their own as a cast of characters that are all reality hopping. Where this shines is using the length and breadth of the Savage Worlds catalogue to go jumping across all the realities. Want to go hunt Dinosaurs? Savage has your back. Want to experience the amazing world of Savage Rifts? We got you. Want to experience any number of possible cool settings but aren’t sure you can get your friends to buy in? Savage Worlds can handle all of those ideas.
The neat part, to me as a GM, is that Meta Pilots don’t necessarily know which Avatar they are going to jump into, which means that as a GM i can design a party of adventurers for the story i want to show them, and then they can randomly bounce into one of these adventurers. The heavy lifting is my responsibility.
Savage Worlds does a hellacious job of giving you Archetypes and concepts to work with, and in many cases you just need to decide on a few specific ideas, abilities and names, and you’ve got your party of Avatars ready to go. Now these are prototype rules, and i want to give them a play test and i hope you tinker with them as well.
Also, keep in mind these are the rules for novice Meta Pilots, and there are additional edges and options available to more experienced travelers. As i tinker with these ideas a little more, we might take a closer look at these rules and then maybe consider how to build a Meta Pilots campaign.
We’ll see you all at Joe’s Diner, and make sure you tune into Masters of the Metaverse tonight at 6 PM PST, on HYPER RPG’s Twitch Channel (There’s a link over here ---------------------->) Game On, Game Fans.
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