[UA] Cabal Design

[Royal Minister of Stuff]

--- Chad Underkoffler <chadu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>  
> Interesting question: when running a UA campaign, do
> you have
> little groups of cobweb
> farmers/boozehounds/fleshworkers in
> their own cabals, or are most of them just
> catch-as-catch-can?

Most of my Cabals end up having maybe one or two
adepts, maximum.  I liked the examples in the back of
the main book and PoMoMo and I figure the 'mancer in
the group is going to be one of the reasons it formed
(or has lasted) in the first place.

Cabals do tend to have themes though and I like to
arrange them like the suggested player groups in the
main rulebook (Circle of Friends, Reality Cops, etc.)

Some of the Cabals I've come up with are:

Division 6 (inspired by Conspiracy X and MIB, natch.)
A group of low-level government bureaucrats who all
know a little bit about magic, but value their G-6+
paychecks and benefits more than building a power base
which is as likely as not to bite you in the ass. They
dabble in the occult more as a way to releive the
stress of their jobs and "find themselves" more than
anything else.  They have one 'mancer, an Irascimancer
in IRS records named Pile.  This is what you might
call a quiet, overworked Magick Cabal.

The Great Pirates (ala Buckminster Fuller, the
Bilderbergers & "The Space Merchants")
Several extremely rich and powerful business
associates (they own gum, candy and cigarette
companies or advertising agencies which sell these
things) who are more of a clueless cabal than a real
force.  They dislike Alex Abel because he's "into" all
this magic nonsense while they sort of wade through it
as an occasional chore.  One of them, Bundy, is an
Avatar of the True King of, well, shoe salesmen (I
couldn't resist.)  His big client was a Miss Romauldez
(I know, I know, she shopped all over, just buying
several dozen pairs when one caught her fancy, but,
hey, why not?)  The group is well read and likes to
use pirate imagery, especially in their parties.  They
don't control as much of the world as even they
themselves beleive, but they sure can make things
miserable when they feel things are not going their
way. This is, essentially, a very powerful Circle of
Friends.

The Thaumaphages (I hadn't read PoMoMo when I
introduced these guys.)
One of them is a Cliomancer and another is an Avatar
of the Savage, but this group of Reality Cops try to
hunt down and eradicate "bad magic."  To be honest
with you, they're actually based on Alan Moore's
Watchmen, particularly Rorshach, Nite Owl and both
versions of the Silk Spectre.





=====
-- Rp Bowman, Royal Minister of Stuff
The Electronic Nation of Yokeltania:
http://www.geocities.com/yokeltania/

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