Wonderland - Jags

Descent to Chessboard One
Level of Subtly: High. A character who is “getting the hang of
Unsanity” will often have an ‘aura’ or feeling before the onset of an
Episode or will know that ‘something has shifted’ when it comes on.
However, for many characters who are totally inexperienced nothing
will tell them things have gone strange—until they do.
What’s the Effect Like? Usually there is no ‘effect.’ Maybe some text
seems to change before your eyes—but even that is rare. Mostly things
seem ‘mostly normal’ but disturbingly abnormal in a subtle fashion.
Other than a feeling there is usually no visual change.
Descent to Chessboard Two
Level of Subtlety: High if in an inhabited zone (just like Chessboard
One)—low if in an abandoned zone. None if in an Insane Zone.
What’s the Effect Like? Descent to Chessboard Two tends to happen
in a sane inhabited zone. Usually if an Episode is coming on, it’ll wait
until you’re “above one” and dropping into it doesn’t fell like much.
It’ll also wait until you are alone. So maybe you go to the washroom
and when you come out, your office is an abandoned, vandalized
wasteland crawling with monsters.
However, sticking with people and in crowded places is only
something of a protection (some claim you should do exactly this—but
it’s seen as a bad idea by most support groups). When it comes, there
will often be a period of disorientation or a sensation like “passing out”
(you may even fall down).
Other people have had terrifying incidences of seeing people around
them blink out of existence (and those who they go to for help don’t
help them at all—the person is on Chessboard One and is talking to
shadows). After the people are gone, then, rapidly, the place decays or
warps.
Then the monsters come.
Going Deeper
Level of Subtly: None. Going to Chessboards Three or Four or
even lower often means dramatic changes in the world around you.
However, as with everything Wonderland, that is not always the case.
What’s the Effect Like? This depends on whether you undergo what
is called Controlled or Uncontrolled descent.
The Linear Maze
If reality is a stacked series of chessboards, the connections between
them and throught them are the lines between the squares. In the
lexicon of Wonderland this conduit (which seems to be both a natural
artifact of creation and an engineered architecture) is called the “Linear
Maze.” The Linear Maze is what Alice fell through when she tumbled
Curiosity
The Lower Chessboards have
chutes and ladders—physical
passages further down and some
‘back up.’ Some of these are
newly appearing doors. Some
are ‘open mirrors.’ Some may be
other things (a new stop on the
elevator). People who explore
these often have far, far stranger
experiences than those who do
not.
To the Underground this is
“embracing the delusion”
and is the mark of someone
who is going to die or vanish
very quickly. It is considered
poisonous to others around them.
Player Empowerment
Issue: The general rules
of JAGS Wonderland mean
that the characters will have
Episodes when the GM wants
them to—they are part of the
game and most characters can’t
resist them. However, depending
on how the level of playerempowerment
in the game is
being handled, Infecteds who
are more experienced often do
get a say in whether or not they
trigger.
See Mastering Unsantiy for a
description of how this works.
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Deeper Mysteries - Overview