Forged by the first Queen of the Court of Comedy, Lisl Eishaende, at some point after her bargain was struck, the Contracts of the Absurd are a set of powers centered around comedic effects against the target.
Note: The Court of Comedy and the Court of Tragedy are drawn from the Homebrew Courts and Freeholds found on the Onyx Path Forum topic found in the references section. These Courts were made by @Mad_Maudlin for use in CTL 2e; I made the related Contracts for a translated 1e version. Prod the Straight Man and Made the Jester are drawn from the Mantle 2 and Mantle 5 benefits, respectively. The rest are original.
Abilities[]
Prod the Straight Man:
Humiliation of a victim, however cruel it might be, has long been a staple of comedy. This clause draws from that history.
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 1 Glamour
Dice Pool: Wits + Mantle (Comedy) – Target’s Power Stat
Action: Instant
Catch: The target has spurned the caster’s joke within the last minute.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The attempt to embarrass the victim is made at a -2 penalty. Additionally, if it fails, it automatically counts as a dramatic failure.
Failure: The clause fails to activate.
Success: Gain successes bonus dice to mundane rolls to humiliate or embarrass someone else. Maximum of +5.
Exceptional Success: The extent to which the humiliation was tailored to the victim makes him believe that the caster knows more than he does. If the connected roll succeeds, the victim takes the Leveraged Condition.
Hammerspace:
Cartoons often make use of absurdly large objects which, bizarrely, can vanish behind a tree or into a purse for the sake of humor.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Comedy) 1 or Court Goodwill (Comedy) 3
Cost: 2 Glamour
Dice Pool: Wyrd + Occult
Action: Instant
Catch: The “out-of-sight” area is either behind a thin tree or in a small fanny-pack.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The object is made to stop existing. However, the caster cannot resummon it at will. Instead, it simply vanishes into nothing.
Failure: The object remains where it is.
Success: Mark an object; this object can, when moved out of sight, be made to stop existing. The caster can then re-summon it from out of sight at will with a success the same Wyrd + Occult roll.
Exceptional Success: Re-summoning the object no longer requires a roll.
Conversational Circles:
The nonsensical is commonly used in absurdist comedy. This clause draws on verbal nonsense, forcing it on a target.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Comedy) 2 or Court Goodwill (Comedy) 4
Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Mantle (Comedy) – Target’s Wits + Expression
Action: Instant
Catch: The target is on a stage.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The target, rather than facing conversational difficulties, gains a +2 bonus to their oratory rolls.
Failure: The victim can speak unhindered.
Success: Render the target capable of speaking only seemingly-profound nonsense for 3 × successes turns.
Exceptional Success: The target does not recognize that he is speaking nonsense.
The Aristocrats:
Jokes involving people or groups inevitably hold someone as the punchline. This clause points a target out as an opportune suspect, making her the "punchline" of an investigation. This is a Clarity 5 Breaking Point.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Comedy) 3 or Court Goodwill (Comedy) 5
Cost: 4 Glamour + 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Subterfuge + vs Target’s Presence + Expression
Action: Reflexive
Catch: The “innocent party” is guilty of another crime for which they have received no punishment.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The caster's willingness to name a guilty party backfires, drawing suspicion to her.
Failure: The clause remains unactivated.
Success: Direct the blame of one act to an innocent party. Clues in an investigation will seemingly point to said party. The caster is considered a person of interest, but is not expected to be the suspect.
Exceptional Success: There is no connection revealed between the caster and the crime.
Made the Jester:
What might be considered a tragedy can, with the right prodding and a positive mental attitude, be taken as a comedy of errors!
Prerequisites: Mantle (Comedy) 4
Cost: 4 Glamour + 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wyrd + Manipulation vs Target’s Composure + Power Stat
Action: Instant
Catch: The target has played a practical joke on the caster within the last week.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The clause backfires on the caster, inducing the Unlucky Condition upon him.
Failure: The clause fails to take hold on the target.
Success: Inflict the Unlucky Condition on the target (they lose 10-again on mundane rolls and cannot spend Willpower to increase dice pools; resolved by taking a dramatic failure without gaining a beat).
Exceptional Success: The Unlucky Condition is not resolved until a second dramatic failure has been taken.
References[]
Add "https://web.archive.org/web/20200704165527/" to the beginning of the link if the site ever goes down; it’s archived there.
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