Promethean: The Created

Promethean: The Created
RPG published by White Wolf
Rule System	Storytelling System
Authors	Justin Achilli et al
First Publication	2006

The New World of Darkness' attempt to do something exotic, in the form of "Frankenstein's Monster: The Roleplaying Game". You are a Promethean, an incredibly rare unliving (not undead; your body isn't really alive, but you are a whole new entity, albeit of artificial origins and often made from corpses in some way) creature stumbling through the World of Darkness. In lieu of a soul, you have a storehouse of Pyros, the raw energy from which all life springs, but which isn't meant to exist in such a concentrated form. As a result, reality itself hates you - and that's not hyperbole. Ordinary humans and other supernatural beings hate and despise you on sight, animals flee from you, plants wither and die in your presence- even hanging around in one place too long eventually fucks it up as the land is corrupted and unbalanced by your presence.

Your goal, then, is to master the understanding of humanity. Through this, you can use spiritual alchemy to hone your Azoth (the power of the Divine Fire honed into a form suited for creation), and eventually transmute it into a human soul, giving up all your mystical powers to become just an ordinary human... but at least reality no longer hates you, so, it's worth it, right?

Promethean has the dubious honor of being the NWoD's equivalent to Wraith: The Oblivion or if you're generous, Mage: The Ascension, in that it's a game where people read it, but don't play it. The setting is incredibly bleak, even if the tone the game is trying to go for is optimistic (since it is canon that you can achieve the New Dawn and become human... but the rules are complex, it requires a hell of a good Storyteller to be run successfully what with the whole "the world itself despises you" thing, and frankly not a lot of people actually want to play a game where your goal is to go from a superpowerful monster to a squishy human. Especially when that squishy human then has to live in the World of Darkness.

In a way, it's the most Humanity Fuck Yeah fanboyistic of the Chronicles gamelines. Yes, you play as a super-powerful golem ala the Frankenstein's Monster archetype, but the whole point of the game is "all this power is meaningless because You're Not Human", with the drive of every single campaign being to find a way to ascend from your cursed state to the blessed form of humanity.

Until 2015, Promethean was also the only game that did not have an earlier version in the Old World of Darkness. Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Changeling, Hunter, Mummy and Demon all have a version in each. Geist is more of a spiritual successor to Wraith, as they deal more or less with the same subject. Orpheus is the only unpaired in the Old World of Darkness, but it deals with the underworld and is more akin to Wraith and Mummy. It since had to share the position with Beast: The Primordial, although they can be somewhat argued as a rework on the core concept of Changeling: The Dreaming.

2016 saw the release of the second edition of Promethean: The Created. Playtesting is in progress.

Lineages and Refinements

Prometheans have two splats: the "racial" Lineage that determines their origin and general outlook as well as giving Bestowments (racial boons), while the "class" Refinement determines how a Promethean is looking to develop itself and the Transmutations (powers) it gains.

Lineages

Lineages describe where a Promethean came from: how was it created? What is its view of the world?

Frankensteins

The Wretched. As their name suggests, the Frankensteins are made from pieces that were put together. Most frequently of human bodies, but they can also include nonhuman or even inorganic parts. Because of their fractured nature they can be quite contrarian: questioning everything they see to learn from it. They see their existence as a challenge, fully putting their abilities to the test. They revel in such challenges, willing to take them on to test and expand their limits. This makes them rather forceful and zealous in nature.

Galateids

The Muses, aka the social ones. Galateids are creatures of love for good and ill, from the purest of love to the darkest of obsession. They are prone to obsession and crave company of all kinds. They aim to please, even if this means enduring abuse. Because of their closeness they gain insight into humans that the other Lineages lack, but they tend to fall apart when they're on their own. They are based on the legend of Pygmalion and Galatea.

Osiris

The Nepri, named after the last of Osiris' creations. The Osirians are the product of, you guessed it, Osiris. Much like their progenitor the Osiris are not whole. Though while he lacked a dick the Osiris can be missing just about anything on their bodies. The scholars amongst the Prometheans, they have great intelligence and mental fortitude with a knack for gathering information, artifacts and secrets. They are emotionally distant though, which suits them just fine given their cerebral approach on their Pilgrimage.

Tammuz

The Named. Aka, golems! Tammuz are, much like the Golem of Prague, inscribed somewhere on their body. This can be a Hebrew word written upon their forehead, or take the form of any holy or unholy phrase, or even tattoos or scars that will not go away. The Tammuz are builders and creators. They start out simple (building walls, digging wells) but as they continue on their Pilgrimage their creations become more and more complex. Do NOT call them servants though, and the best way to turn a Tammuz violent is to disrepect its work, forego paying it for its work or trying to enslave it. Not working is an alien concept to the Tammuz and one of the most important and difficult things for them to learn. Being creations of words, Tammuz have a knack for language, and they often learn many languages while on their pilgrimage.

Ulgan

The Riven. Ulgan are shamans, dealing with the spirits all around them. Much to their dismay, for the Ulgan want nothing more than to escape the constant attentions of the spirits. This forces them into roles of diplomats to be able to handle the constant botherings by spirits. This is because they are made from a dead body and ectoplasm, the stuff of spirits. When not being constantly pestered Ulgan reveal themselves to be quite macabre with a dark sense of humor. The weight of their burden is an extra risk to them, putting them at risk of becoming spirits themselves.

Unfleshed

The Manufactured, aka motherfucking robots. From manikins and statues to clockwork devices and cutting-edge machinery, the Unfleshed are the vegetarian option of Promethean: they contain 0% meat. Because they are machines they are, of course, beings of extreme logic and literal of nature. They were built with a purpose in mind, and an Unfleshed that cannot fulfill this purpose will frantically search for a way to do so. However, they do not consider themselves tools despite them being built as such. Treat them as tools anyway and they are hit with a wave of emotion, which will frequently end with the offender getting an arm ripped off. The most difficult part of their Pilgrimage is to learn how to be imperfect: how to fail, be bad, let their judgement cloud their minds and so on. Eventually they must become truly free-willed and be a tool that they wield themselves.

Extempores, the Matchless

• Humor: Varies
• Element: Varies

Byproducts of freak accidents in which enough Pyros manifested near a corpse to bring it to life as a Promethean. All other Lineages describe them with variants of "What the fuck are you?", making them the Special Snowflake Lineage. They come from may different backgrounds without any rhyme or reason to them. Most of them however are created through fate or sheer luck, others seem to be the embodiment of some location as if they were elementals. Can learn any Bestowment, but they have only one instead of the others' two. It's not known for sure if they're even capable of reaching the New Dawn, due to the often inexplicable means in which they were formed.

Pandorans

Pandorans are the malformed horrors spawned when a Promethean creation rite fails. Like Prometheans, they draw power from Pyros but cannot generate Azoth themselves. Instead, they harness the destructive aspects of the Divine Fire (called Flux) to steal the Azoth from Prometheans; if none are nearby, they enter a state of dormancy until a source of Azoth revives them.

First Edition

Note: The following information is gathered from the first edition of Promethean: The Created. This dates the information as it is succeeded by the 2nd edition book.

• Frankenstein
  • Humor: Choler (yellow bile)
  • Element: Fire

As the name suggests, Frankensteins are descended from the titular monster (in the NWoD, Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus" based on testimony given to her by the actual Bride of Frankenstein, who's become a Centimanus), who goes by the name "Verney" and is still running around. Their Disquiet causes people to become increasingly petty, small-minded, shallow and selfish. Their Wasteland manifests as distortions of electricity, causing unnatural thunderstorms and "dead spots" where electronics just won't work. When they succumb to Torment, they become stubborn, petty, vengeful and sadistically spiteful, dedicated to torturing whoever's pissed them off- much like the monster itself in the novel.

• Galateid
  • Humor: Blood
  • Element: Air

They claim descent from the Greek gods via the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, and so are one of the vainest types. Their Disquiet causes people to lose self-confidence and courage, becoming overwhelmed by shame and increasingly self-degrading in their pursuit of some form of licentious release. Their Wasteland makes the air grow still and messes with peoples' heads, erasing their ability to recognize anything or anyone. Their Torment manifests as unwholesome fixation - we're talking "stalk someone you find attractive to the extent of sneaking into their house at night, yanking their spouse out of bed and trying to rape them" fixated.

• Osirian
  • Humor: Phlegm
  • Element: Water

They claim descent from the Egyptian god Osiris, and tend to be dispassionate and thoughtful by nature. Their Disquiet makes people increasingly incapable of rational thought, compelling them towards insane, irrational emotion-driven outbursts. Their Wasteland fouls the water, causing droughts and transmuting standing bodies of water into noxious, undrinkable slime. Their Torment makes them thoughtlessly cruel, completely crushing any emotional feelings they have even as they fixate upon some particular problem that they need to solve.

• Tammuz
  • Humor: Melancholer (black bile)
  • Element: Earth

The golems of Hebrew folklore, they value their personal freedom above all else and are famous for their stubbornness and stoicism. Their Disquiet compels people to hunt the Golem and try to control it- a particularly unpleasant experience, as many Tammuz have either been enslaved in the past or fear the possibility of becoming slaves. In a Golem's Wasteland, the earth itself sickens and dies; mines go empty, sinkholes swallow whole buildings, once-fertile soil becomes lifeless dust and stone sculptures/buildings start to crumble and rot. Torment initially makes them go berserk and try to destroy everything in sight, but they quickly become lethargic after a few minutes.

• Ulgan
  • Humor: Ectoplasm
  • Element: Spirit

These unusual Prometheans have close ties to Twilight; some say their Progenitor was a shaman who was torn to pieces by spirits and then reassembled from the remains. Whether or not this is true, their instincts are rarely in error and their ability to communicate with spirits is valued among their kind. Their Disquiet has one of two effects; the closed-minded become increasingly so, winding up as virtual mindless zombies just begging for the spirits to hop into their heads and run around in their bodies, whilst the open-minded find themselves increasingly able to see into the spirit world. Neither outcome is good for any average Joe's sanity, and the spirits are less than grateful towards the Ulgan. As you might expect, their Wasteland rips open the barrier between the worlds of flesh and spirits, allowing the denizens of both to intermingle. When controlled by Torment, they begin acting randomly in emulation of some mad spirit, which leads them to perform incomprehensible rituals and bizarre actions until they snap back to their senses.

• Zeka
  • Humor Any, tainted with radiation
  • Element: Any, tainted with radiation

The Zeka are freaks even among the Prometheans, with the only real connection between Zeky being the massive amounts of radioactivity involved in their creation and the constant pain they suffer as a result of said radiation. This radioactivity also has a tendency to make them rather unhinged at the best of times and completely insane at the worst. Disquiet? Unreasoning paranoid fear, a la the Red Scare of the 1950s but worse. Torment? The Zeka goes into a mindless killing spree, exhausting all of his/her Pyros in the pursuit of killing anyone and everyone he/she can find. Wasteland? The nuclear variety, of course: the land becomes smothered under cold, sun-blocking clouds that rain down poisoned ash and snow, mutant insects proliferate whilst everything else dies, killed by the spiritual radiation contaminating the land. These guys are screwed even by the standards of Prometheans; for some fucking insane reason, a Zeka takes "radiation damage equal to their Azoth" if they complete the New Dawn. But, see, you need a minimum fucking Azoth of 4 to achieve the New Dawn. And a 5-dot dose of radiation? Is instant fucking death. It's no surprise that most of them embrace their monstrous nature and become Centimani for relief, something that is easier for them than any other kind of Promethean.

Later splatbooks introduced Constructs (any of the above, but made from inanimate matter rather than flesh), Extempores (created by freak accidents where a corpse was exposed to enough Pyros to become a Promethean in the absence of a demiurge), the Unfleshed (robots and machines who have become Pyros-souled "Promethean kinsfolk") and even weirder variants, like Prometheans that were dreamed into existence, or created by supernatural demiurges.

Refinements

The "class" splats. Refinements are not a "pick one now and forever" kind of deal. With every splat comes a number of Roles. If a Promethean can fulfill these Roles they become closer and closer to the New Dawn and finally become human. A Promethean has to fulfull at least the majority of ten Roles picked from at least four Refinements to be able to attempt the New Dawn. There are 10 refinements in total: five simple and five complex. Starting with a simple refinement a Promethean can, upon completing its Role, either perform another role in the same Refinement or switch Refinements. The complex Refinements require someone to teach it, and a Promethean can never have more complex than simple refinements. Each Refinement grants two Transmutations, aka classes of power.

Simple

Aurum, Refinement of Gold

The Mimic hold that the best way to learn how to be human is to *be* human. Or at least, act like they are. By indulging in the little things that make people human the followers of Aurum hope to become more human themselves. Their Roles are:

• Compassion: By living as an equal amongst humans (friends, lovers) wants to learn intimacy and human interaction.
• Follower: Through trust and deferrence the Promethean wants to learn from a single person. Some take it too far and become obsessed with someone.
• Leader: By taking charge themselves they learn how to care for people, whether this is actual care or more in a mentor-like way.

Cuprum, Refinement of Copper

The Pariahs deal with the rejection and loneliness that comes with being a Promethean. For a Pariah the most important thing is to learn how to come out of their shell, bit by bit, to emerge as something new. Their Roles are:

• Herimit: By seeking solitude and inflecting on themselves a Hermit seeks to learn about itself, emerging as a new person.
• Sage: Living in solitude, Sages are willing to have others in their company for some time so that they can instill wisdom upon the visitors, but in reality just having them over is enough.
• Watcher: Stalkers, in more way than one. By hiding and following someone the Promethean can learn stealth, hunting and how to find hidden targets.

Ferrum, Refinement of Iron

The Titans seek out struggle and overcome it, learning from the experience. This is mostly in the form of physical conflict: the Promethean grows stronger and takes its next step on the way to the New Dawn. Their Roles are:

• Exemplar: It's no use being the biggest badass on block when nobody around you grows along with you. Training others trains you as well, in ways you could never train yourself.
• Martyr: You're a badass. Use it to protect those les badass than you. You can take it.
• Soldier: Learn how to protect yourself. Through that, protect others.

Plumbum, Refinement of Lead

The Originists look at what they are, instead of what they want to be. It studies the condition of being a Promethean, how Disquiet and the Wasteland work and how to lessen their impact. Because oft this Lead a favorite for a Promethean's first Refinement. Their Roles are:

• Ascetic: By being alone or with fellow Ascetics a Promethean can learn what it is liketo be a Promethean without endangering others with their powers. Groups tend to not last very long but they can get shit done fast.
• Chronicler: Essentially a historian. By talking to other Prometheans they discover what they are, where they come from andwhere to go next.
• Pilgrim: Travelers who seek where they came from and from there decide where to go next.

Stannum, Refinement of Tin

The Furies have given into their Torment, using it and hopefully learning from it before it consumes them. The angriest of all the Prometheans, they seek to aim their destructiveness somewhere where it won't do too much damage. Their Roles are:

• Outcast: Living on the fringe of society a Promethean can learn from the farthest parts of humanity in the hopes of coming closer to it.
• Savage: Weaponizing their Disquet, a Promethean can get things done by reveling in their monstrosity.
• Vigilante: By establishing themself as the protector of a community, the Promethean can be the justice where there is none.

Complex

Aes, Refinement of Bronze

The Sentries are the upholders of hierarchies, putting the good of the group before their own. Through sacrifice and service they hope to learn of compassion and caring. Their Roles are:

• Bodyguard: By protecting some charge a Promethean learnshow to deal with people on their terms instead of the Promethean's own.
• Seeker: Tending to theemotional and spiritual needs of a group, the Promethean learns that sometimes people need to hear things they should hear, instead of what they want to hear.
• Servant: By taking up the burdens of others a Promethean learns how to adapt inmayways: to suit others, how to fit in and fortering empathy.

Argentum, Refinement of Silver

The Mystics are, in a word, curious. Curious about the other things that go bump in the night of the World of Darkness. Vampires, werewolves, mages and all other wonderful critters that hide in the dark are their focus. Their Roles are:

• Envoy: The unlucky bastards who get to make first contact and hopefully convince the other game lines that they mean no harm, hopefully before the werewolf rips your head off because it thinks you're possessed by a spirit. Which, if you're an Ulgan, is not entirely incorrect.
• Observer: The bookish ones, keeping logs on what the other game lines are and what they can do in an attempt to learn from them and not get brutally murdered.
• Wardens: The Prometheans who are LARPing Hunter: The Vigil. No idea what they're up against, but they carry everything that might help against the monsters out there.

Cobalus, Refinement of Cobalt

The Cathars seek perfection through imperfection. By knowing their limits and fallibilities the Promethean can learn how to endure, and in that grow stronger. Their Roles are:

• Confessor: By helping others overcome their weaknesses and deal with their sins the Promethean learns more about why people do bad things.
• Deviant: Sex, drugs and rock & roll, baby! By indulging in vice and sin the Promethean gets a first-hand look at what it's like to sin. This can also include things like self-mutilation, checking into a mental ward or even become part of a hate group. Empty a Glock on Count Orlok!
• Provocateur: Instead of indulging in vice the Promethean pushes it. Be a fucked up whore, a drug dealer, incite crowds into violence or lurk internet forums and troll them.

Mercurius, Refinement of Quicksilver

The Savants are the wizards amongst Prometheans, learning how to do Alchemy beyond the abilities of their fellow kin. Despite being a bunch of nerds they can grow immensely powerful. Their Roles are:

• Craftsman: These Prometheans simply build and make thing, just to say that they can.
• Explorer: The world is filled with answers, and these Prometheans try to match them to the right questions.
• Scientists: By experimenting with their abilities in the scientific method, the Promethean can figure out just what it can and can't do. Unfortunately they tend to place their science above any kind of ethics.

Phosphorum, Refinement of Phosphorus

The Light-bringers know that the path to the New Dawn takes long: years, if not decades. They don't want to wait though: they want to be human, and fast! As such, the followers of this Refinement want to feel alive more than anything else, spurring themselves and other Prometheans forward. Their Roles are:

• Daredevil: Live fast, die young. Preferably more of the former. They do dangerous and stupid things to the point of Chaotic Stupid because it makes them feel alive.
• Psychopomp: To truly appreciate life you must know death. By studying death in some way or form the Promethean hopes to learn about life from it.
• Whip: Spur others onwards to JUST DO IT. If they don't act, they don't live and need to be dragged into life, kicking and screaming if it must be.

Centimanus, Refinement of Flux

The Hundred-Handed have effectively given up on the New Dawn entirely; as far as they can see, if the world is going to keep treating them like monsters then they may as well become monsters in reality too. Between their mastery of Flux- the destructive aspects of the Divine Fire- and their ability to command Pandorans, other Prometheans view them with pity at best and at worst feel they have to be destroyed for the good of the rest of their kind. Centimani have no roles, as they can make no progress on the Pilgrimage as long as they remain on the Refinement of Flux.

First Edition

Note: The following information is gathered from the first edition of Promethean: The Created. This dates the information as it is succeeded by the 2nd edition book.

Prometheans are divided by their "Refinements", their philosophical approach to undertaking the Great Work and achieving the New Dawn. Unlike most social splats in the World of Darkness, because each Refinement focuses on a very specific concept of spiritual refinement such as Aid, Mortality, Torment, Source, etcetera, it's understood that a Promethean will change between Refinements on a relatively regular basis, instead of trying to stick to just one for the entirety of their existence. All Refinements take their name from the Latin name for a particular metal, such as Stanneum (Tin), Aurum (Gold), Cuprum (Copper), Aes (Bronze) or Argentum (Silver). Because of their philosophical nature, Refinements also affect and influence a Promethean's study of how to manipulate Pyros, and so each is associated with two specific Transmutations.

Aurum

Refinement of Gold

Concept: Mortality

Associated Transmutations: Deception, Mesmerism

The thing about prometheans that you need to remember is that they don't come into the world with an instruction manual. When they wake up, they don't know anything. Humanity in particular baffles and confuses them; they don't have the advantage of decades of conscious and subconscious social tutelage to fall back on to teach them about things. So, followers of Aurum, known as Mimics, focus on trying to better understand humans and blend in. As the New Dawn is the ultimate goal of Prometheans, it's a natural fit, but it doesn't hold all of the answers.

Cuprum

Refinement of Copper

Concept: Self

Associated Transmutations: Metamorphosis, Sensorium

One of the most philosophical of the Refinements, the "Pariahs" focus their efforts on attempting to find rebirth through understanding the soul. With some slight resemblance to Buddhism and Taosim, the Refinement of Cuprum preaches that the superiority of the soul to the body of and of nonresistance to fighting. Pariahs withdraw from human contact, adopting hermit-like lifestyles wandering the world and attempting to understand their place in it with the hope that this will eventually convince the world to accept them as part of it.

Ferrum

Refinement of Iron

Concept: Corpus

Associated Transmutations: Corporeum, Vitality

Somewhat confusable with Stannum, Ferrum is a mirror to Cuprum in that it focuses on the physical aspects of the Promethean rather than the spiritual. Titans strive to master their bodies, becoming stronger, faster, better in the belief that when they have mastered their flesh, they will have attained the physical perfection needed to shed their impurities and attain the New Dawn.

Mercurius

Refinement of Quicksilver

Concept: Pyros

Associated Transmutations: Alchemicus, Vulcanus

Prometheans are creatures born of alchemy and the Divine Fire, and it's only natural that some seek to find the keys to completing the New Dawn by unlocking the secrets of Pyros. It is one of the deeper and more thought-provoking Refinements, and requires a certain level of introspection to even contemplate.

Stannum

Refinement of Tin

Concept: Torment

Associated Transmutations: Disquietism, Electrification

There are many philosophical arguments that one could make to justify the Refinement of Tin, from the fact that Torment and Disquiet clearly are natural parts of the world as far as Prometheans are concerned, to the need to understand the propensity for destructive rage that lurks within the Created, but ultimately it all boils down to something simple. The Prometheans have to put up with a lot of shit in their day to day lives. And sometimes, it's good to be able to dish out a little payback.

Centimanus

Refinement of Flux

Concept: Monstrosity

Associated Transmutations: Pandoran

The Refinement no Promethean likes to talk about, Centimanus is the complete opposite of all other Refinements in that it focuses on embracing the alien and evil aspects of Promethean nature. Centimani reject the New Dawn as either impossible or simply not worth it, instead focusing on becoming the greatest monsters that they can.

Aes

Refinement of Bronze

Concept: Aid

Associated Transmutations: Benefice, Corporeum

Born from the union of copper and tin, the Refinement of Aes shares some similarities with both Cuprum and Stannum, but is entirely its own thing. Only practiced by Prometheans who have managed to form a Throng (a traveling group of Prometheans), it focuses on the idea of sacrifice and of team-work, striving to become the best they can in order to ensure that others are helped and guided.

Argentum

Refinement of Silver

Concept: Mystery

Associated Transmutations: Sensorium, Spiritus

The natural counterpoint to Aurum, Argentum is basically the same "let's learn about the neighbors!" mindset, but applied to the other creatures of the night instead of humanity. Now, this might seem counter-intuitive at first glance, but remember the point made in Aurum; Prometheans don't really know anything about humans, they juset know they need to become one. So, Argentum, as the Study of What Humans Are Not, is a valuable philosophy to them. It does kind of suck if your StoryTeller is adamant on running a game where you don't meet any other kinds of supernatural phenomena beyond Prometheans and their little bubble of Azoth-related weirdness.

Cobalus

Refinement of Cobalt

Concept: Impurity

Associated Transmutations: Contamination, Deception

As you'd expect of a place called the World of Darkness, the world that Prometheans live in is not a happy place. And, likewise, humans are far from angels. Practitioners of Cobalus devote themselves to study of the darker and seedier aspects of life; sin, vice, madness, cruelty, evil, all so they can learn to better identify the purities in their own souls and expel them. This is a very difficult path to walk, as such focus on humanity's ugly side and the Promethean's own flaws can lead to disillusionment that ultimately guides them down the path to Centimanus.

Plumbum

Refinement of Lead

Concept: Source

Associated Transmutations: Disquietism, Saturninus

The counterpoint mirror to Aurum, practitioners of Plumbum make the rather reasonable argument that if you want to become more like a human, you should probably figure out exactly what the hell you are and how that makes you different first. The Refinement of Lead focuses on studying the base Promethean condition, identifying just what makes them tick and how they tick in order to make reasonable deductions into why.