History TabletopGame / PrometheanTheCreated

* WhoWantsToLiveForever:...when living is like '''this?'''

* {{Yandere}}: A Galateid suffering Torment.

* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Thankfully.
* UnstoppableRage: Torment, particularly for Frankensteins and Tammuz.

* WalkingTheEarth: The typical Promethean lifestyle. Otherwise...
* WalkingWasteland: If a Promethean stays in one spot for more than twenty-four hours, that spot ''becomes'' one.

* {{Splat}}: See the introductory text for a breakdown of the splats in this game.
* StagesOfMonsterGrief: The Pilgrimage and transition through the refinements mirrors the stages of monster grief.
* TheStoic: Osirans tend to be this way, particularly when in Torment.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Hi there, Furies! Subverted, however, in that Stannum is still a Pilgrimage Refinement - it's about the ''dark'' aspects of humanity, but its fundamental goal is learning to ''[[BadPowersGoodPeople control]]'' those feelings and turn them to productive ends.

* ShoutOut: The "Re-Animator" Bestowment for Zeka is actually a subtle one to ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'', and a number of other zombie movies where it is radiation that brings the dead to life. It's also named after [[Literature/HerbertWestReanimator Herbert West]].

* PlayingWithFire: Some Vulcanus transmutations.

* RidiculouslyHumanRobot: Unfleshed from ''Saturnine Night'' are machines brought to life by Azoth, and due to the nature of the Divine Fire, they are invariably humanoids - even if what they originally were was, say, a laptop. There's even an example in the book - Tachanka, who was originally a military UMV but is now a mecha-teenager with an ArmCannon.
** And then there's the HiveMind of nanotech that walks like a man. It even calls itself [[IAmLegion Legion]].

* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Most lineages have no problem obtaining corpses to use in the generative act. Even the Ulgan, who require supernaturally-touched bodies, live in the '''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness''', after all. But Galateids, who require relatively young, unmarred corpses? Well, there are only so many ways young people can die without a mark on them, and it's ''so'' easy to just take a lover and smother or poison 'em or something...

* NighInvulnerable: Prometheans are all very tough and difficult to kill... [[TheChewToy and they need to be]].
** To give an example, one of the sample adventures in the sourcebooks punishes the party with a nuclear explosion if they screw up; if the players still have their free resurrection they can just wake up and move on. If a player power-builds a Tammuz to absorb damage, they have a (very slim) chance of being able to survive the explosion.

* MonsterLord: Sublimati, Pandorans with a high degree of intelligence. One actually created a UsefulNotes/{{BDSM}} ChurchOfHappyology.

* {{Mummy}}: The Osirans are a fairly gauze-free equivalent -- ritualistic creation based on the myth of Osiris (ruler of the Underworld), lordly bearing, and a resurrection process that's just a bit stronger than that of most Prometheans.
** Also, as a possibly ''literal'' MythologyGag, missing at least one part. The more mythologically aware get a nice large cleaver and take it to their intended offspring's crotch prior to resurrecting them. The sample characters miss various parts; out of one sample adventure, we have Osirans missing an earlobe, a toe, and... ''those'' bits. It's said that the ones who get the "classic" deformity don't really mind, except when they're asked which parts were taken.

%%* LovecraftianSuperpower: Pandoran Transmutations.
%%-->'''[[FrankensteinsMonster Mr. Verney]]''': It seems like a good idea until you grow a second set of genitals.

%%-->'''[[FrankensteinsMonster Mr. Verney]]''': It seems like a good idea until you grow a second set %%of genitals.

* LovecraftianSuperpower: Pandoran Transmutations.
-->'''[[FrankensteinsMonster Mr. Verney]]''': It seems like a good idea until you grow a second set of genitals.

* MadScientist: Technically, demiurges are Mad Alchemists.
* {{Mana}}: Pyros.
* {{Masquerade}}: If you don't follow it, you're screwed. Really. Screwed.
** Even if a Promethean tries to do normal, human things, like buy a house, get a job, interact with neighbors and other people on a regular basis, Wastelands and Disquiet will eventually lead to TorchesAndPitchforks being assembled against the Promethean in question. Breaking the Masquerade just makes it happen faster.

* KarmaMeter: As in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', the traditional "Morality" stat is replaced by "Humanity" but the difference is that the Prometheans begin knowing barely anything about themselves or the human condition, and are actually constructing their knowledge about how "real" humans should act through painful experience.
** Humanity is also the most important stat when a Promethean tries to achieve the New Dawn and be reborn as a mortal.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: But damn it, Prometheans still want to be one!
** To be fair, this isn't so much a case of HumansAreBastards as it is a case of EverythingTryingToKillYou. After all, the humans don't react any differently than the [[AnimalsHateHim animals]], or even the [[WalkingWasteland vegetation]], who all share as much vitriol for the poor Promethean.
** The ''Dark Eras'' companion mentioned that the Black Death saw large numbers of Prometheans becoming disillusioned with humanity for this very reason. After witnessing both how fragile humans are, and also how fear and desperation will drive them to commit atrocities, like slaughtering Jewish communities as scapegoats for the plague, some of them found themselves wondering why they ever wanted to be one of them, and embraced becoming Centimani.

* HatePlague: Disquiet becomes ''contagious'' at its worst level, and nothing short of [[MurderIsTheBestSolution the death of the Promethean causing it]] can stop it by that point.
** Goes FromBadToWorse -- you know all those ''other'' monsters in this setting? ''Disquiet affects them as well.'' As a small consolation, vampires and werewolves alone among supernaturals don't actually instinctively hate Prometheans. Instead, they find them so deeply ''unnerving'' that it becomes harder for them to resist their UnstoppableRage. [[TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial Beasts]], on the other hand, are flat-out [[NoSell immune]] to Disquiet thanks to their Kinship abilities.

* GlamourFailure: Using Transmutations exposes a Promethean's true face, which is ''not'' good.

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Each Promethean type is classed with a humour - Ulgan are odd men out, as their "humour" is ectoplasm.
** Temperament Ensembles make ideal throngs, since being in a branded throng with Prometheans of different Lineages weakens a Promethean's Disquiet, slows down the Wasteland effect he causes, and makes it easier to resist Torment. Being in a throng with those of the same Lineage, though, makes things worse.
*** Worth noting is that, while a full Temperament Ensemble dulls Disquiet and slows the spread of Wastelands, both still spread, and their effects are cumulative. If the group stays in one place for too long, the humans around them will suffer Disquiet and the land will become all of the various types of Wasteland. A throng with all different types is ideal for play, but if the group overstays their welcome, the result is disastrous, significantly more so than if the Prometheans had been alone.

** EvilCounterpart: The Pandorans themselves exist as foils to the Promethean condition and Sublimati darkly invert the personalities of the Lineages accordingly: Pandorans that would have been Wretched love to burn prey, Pandorans born of Tammuz failure love to enslave them, Galateids are hounded by beasts who hate beauty, and so on.

* ExternalRetcon: Frankenstein's monster claims the book was his evil "Bride's" idea, that she deliberately told Mary Shelley his story.

* EmergentHuman
* EpiphanicPrison: The Prometheans' 'Pilgrimage' has shades of this.
* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: The problem with pursuing the Centimani path.

* {{Expy}}: Qashmallim Ruby and Mr. Gold are expies for Series/SapphireAndSteel.
** The Kaiju of Nagasaki is an obvious expy of [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 Pyramid Head]].

* ExtremeOmnivore: Prometheans can eat virtually anything organic. Kind of a survival mechanism [[WalkingTheEarth considering their lifestyle]].

* DownerEnding: Not exactly a definite thing, but if a Promethean reaches New Dawn and is reborn as human, they can be killed by a random car accident as soon as they cross the street. A more TearJerker of a case is that once made human, they can still be reborn as Prometheans if they die.

* DoomMagnet: The whole goddamn species. In so many ways. For one, their coming ''near'' a Pandoran wakes the damn thing up (and is the ''only'' thing that wakes them up, at that!).
** It's really hard to even think of a Promethean doing anything without causing something terrible to happen...
** Even ''staying in the same place'' for more than a brief time causes bad things to happen, driving the humans (and other supernaturals) insane with Disquiet and blighting the very land with the Wasteland. Downplayed, but still present, in Second Edition.

* DarkIsNotEvil: The books explicitly mention that some Centimani are not evil, just selfish and tired of [[HatePlague Disquiet]]. Pandora's Book features a couple - an [[{{Mummy}} Osiran]] who thinks that understanding Flux is key to understanding humans, and a [[{{Golem}} Tammuz]] who simply has it as the first Refinement he learned. It even admits the Osiran has a point; the problem is his detachment from his work.

** 2E averts this for the Centimani - it's been clarified that is explicitly the Refinement that rejects the Pilgrimage and humanity altogether, instead focusing on chasing the nebulous goal of monster-hood for the sake of survival at all costs. It adds Phosphorum and Cobalus, though - the latter is all about learning to exploit human vices in the name of understanding them (so to later overcome them, natch), while the former's intellectual aspects have a distinct {{Necromancer}} bent.
* TheDarkSide: Centimani, Refinement of Flux. In 2E, it's actually impossible to progress on the Pilgrimage while following it, since it fundamentally is about becoming ''anything but'' human. [[DarkIsNotEvil That doesn't mean Freaks are always evil]] [[SubvertedTrope (in the first edition only)]], but it does mean they are at the very least embittered hermits, and the majority abandon humanity by defying the positive aspects and sanity.

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Prometheans are literally running on magic, so they can keep going until that burns out.
** To expand on the point above, with enough damage, you will start to take penalties on your rolls. If you take Bashing damage, you will need to roll to stay conscious. Take Lethal damage or get Bashed hard enough, and you will start to bleed to death - and you die. Further damage would turn into Aggravated damage, in essence mutilating the body. Prometheans take no roll penalty, do not need to roll to stay conscious, and will not bleed to death. The only way to kill them is to deal enough Aggravated damage - either by mutilating the body beyond recognition (easier said than done, given the body in question is most likely still moving and actively resisting), [[KillItWithFire or by fire]].

* RobotWizard: The Unfleshed are a kind of Promethian arisen from broken machines rather than dead people. They can still use the magic-like Refinements, using the Divine Fire imbued into their beings, in an effort to cure their PinocchioSyndrome.

* PinocchioSyndrome: The entire point of the Pilgrimage.

Terminology: Prometheans each belong to a ''Lineage'' descended from a ''Progenitor'' created by a human ''Demiurge''. The five in the first edition core claim descent from Frankenstein's Monster, Galatea, Osiris, Tammuz and Ulgan, but more exist; the Zeka are radioactive, the Unfleshed are made from robots and machines rather than human corpses, and there are other, rarer ones which can be created by freak occurrences. They travel in groups called ''throngs''. They follow one of ten ''Refinements'' to focus their Pilgrimages. Their powers are alchemical ''Transmutations'' fueled by their internal store of ''Pyros''; Pyros in turn is empowered by their ''Azoth''. Their KarmaMeter is ''Humanity'', their ability to comprehend and mimic human behavior and morals. All Prometheans follow a ''Pilgrimage'' to find humanity, without clear direction; if they find their way successfully, they may achieve their Great Work, or ''Magnum Opus'', and become fully human.

** More so for the [[ILoveNuclearPower Zeka]]; they're in constant pain, they're [[WalkingWasteland radioactive,]] and not a single one has reached their [[BecomeARealBoy New Dawn.]] And the [[TheDarkSide Refinement of Flux]] is easier for them to access than any other Promethean - in game terms, if the player says "My Zeka changes to Centimani", it ''happens'' (normally it takes in-game months)... and it takes them twice as long to climb back out.

* ILoveNuclearPower: The Zeka, the so-called Nuclear Prometheans, introduced in ''Saturnine Night''. Where other Lineages have an affinity for electricity, the Zeka have an affinity for radiation. Their Wastelands manifest as fallout zones.

* NuclearNasty: Many Zeky, in particular [[FisherKing Tsar Bomba]] and [[TheMafiya Oleg Wormwood]], a pair of {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s with a desire to NukeEm all.

* RedScare: A [[NuclearNasty Zeka]]'s Disquiet is an allegory for this, as it drives those around him to fear, paranoia and witch hunts towards other groups.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: When you've never heard a name before, and don't really know what names ''are'', you can get a little creative. Hell, one of the sample characters is named "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter." Which is, [[DontExplainTheJoke for anyone who doesn't know]], a ShoutOut to one of the founding albums of hippie culture.