{"id":1759,"date":"2013-06-20T05:56:35","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T12:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/?p=1759"},"modified":"2013-06-18T09:03:07","modified_gmt":"2013-06-18T16:03:07","slug":"the-villains-glass-a-new-gadget-for-better-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/06\/the-villains-glass-a-new-gadget-for-better-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"The Villain’s Glass – A New Gadget for ‘Better Angels’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px\"<\/a>Written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

The Villain\u2019s Glass<\/h1>\n

If you look at someone through this magnifying glass, you know the worst thing they ever did.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s let that sink in for a moment.\u00a0 Think, O Reader, about the worst thing you\u2019ve<\/i> ever done.\u00a0 Now think about what a villain might do to you if he knew it.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not blackmail material\u2014after all, RPG fans with exquisite taste can\u2019t be too<\/i> bad, can they?\u2014but just in terms of emotional abuse, that sort of knowledge is a very big stick to swing.<\/p>\n

Now suppose you were a defense lawyer, or a judge, or a cop.\u00a0 (If you are employed in one of those positions, imagine that you\u2019re in a different one.)\u00a0 What would you do to keep your secret hidden?\u00a0 What would happen if you didn\u2019t knuckle under and the story went around?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the sort of mischief the Villain\u2019s Glass enables.<\/p>\n

The blurry bit of the equation, of course, is how one defines \u201cworst\u201d and, in this case, it\u2019s what society considers most reprehensible, but \u201csociety\u201d is almost as squishy as \u201cworst.\u201d\u00a0 So we\u2019ll call it \u201cthe majority view of the people in your city or state\u201d and be done.\u00a0 Thus, asked to identify the \u2018filthiest sin\u2019 of someone residing in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, the glass might reveal that he once blew a guy. If he moved to London and was subjected to the Villain\u2019s Glass again, it might instead show that he beat up his wife pretty bad.<\/p>\n

But vagaries of tolerance aside, the Villain\u2019s Glass generally reveals the act that would get someone most frequently spat on in public, or would cause the most reputation damage\u2014even if victim doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s wrong, and even if it might be accepted in a more tolerant (or misogynistic) corner of the world.<\/p>\n

In addition to unveiling reviled deeds, the glass provides more-or-less plausible clues indicating why one might deduce<\/i>, Sherlock Holmes style, the infraction in question.\u00a0 Obviously this gives better material if you do it where the sin happened and within hours or days of its commission.\u00a0 But the glass tries to work with what it has.<\/p>\n

Activating the Villain\u2019s Glass requires a Cunning<\/b> Espionage<\/i> roll.\u00a0 It provides +1 to +3 secret Advantage to rolls that benefit from the knowledge of someone\u2019s social transgression.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n

Written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013 The Villain\u2019s Glass If you look at someone through this magnifying glass, you know the worst<\/p>\n

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