textfiles/occult/boggles

                             BOGGLES

     A Boggle is a Disorder spirit.  As such, it requires the GM
to have a certain attitude and aptitude.  A Boggle should never
act predictably--except when no one could have predicted it
would.  A Boggle delights in breaking things, true, but also in
more sophisticated mischief.  To run a Boggle, the GM should give
vent to every malicious (but not necessarily lethal) urge that
strikes him.  He should strive to amuse, rather than annoy, the
players, but may do both.
     A Boggle's appearance is no more predictable than his
behavior.  Some appear as long-limbed and long-nosed humanoids,
others as talking anthropomorphic animals (coyote, crow, giant
spider, rabbit, goat), still others as unclassifiable in-
betweeners (coyote with a human head, hyena with bat's wings,
etc.).  Few will recognize the being as a Boggle.  A Disorder
cultist may do so with a successful Cult Lore (or Human/Troll/-
etc. Lore) roll.  Others will not recognize the being unless they
have studied the manifestations of Disorder.
     Boggles always appear singly, leading some rash scholars to
the conclusion that only one exists in the whole world.  We
should be so lucky.  
     The Boggle always gives a name different from any name a
Boggle (or The Boggle) has used in the past.  One time it
appeared as a huge, gangly duck with bright red plumage, called
itself Humuhumunukunukuapuaa, and claimed to be a travelling
salesman.  It always speaks the characters' language.  It almost
always lies, usually unconvincingly.  
     A Boggle will remain and bother a person or group as long as
it amuses him to do so.  He may leave within a few seconds, or
stay for the rest of a person's life (which may come earlier than
expected).  He may leave and return semi-regularly for a while,
and then vanish just when people were getting used to him.
     Dealing with a Boggle always poses difficulties.  Boggles
tend to make themselves impossible to ignore, by doing things
like stealing a PC's allied spirit.  One can trick a Boggle, but
one cannot persuade it through reason.  A tricked Boggle always
disappears, but it may reappear later.
     A Boggle can cast any spell, but rarely does so.  It prefers
to use physical means of harassment, such as theft and sabotage. 
One of its favorite tricks is substitution, such as putting long,
skinny beans in place of a person's arrows, or trading two
characters' swords.  If the two characters had different foci on
their swords, or one or both had a bound spirit, there will be
confusion and possibly accusations of theft.  Some Boggles use
large feathers to tickle characters at inappropriate times.
     Attacking a Boggle creates some strange situations, best
handled by going outside the game system.  Normal weapons rarely
damage the Boggle.  Only a successful surprise attack will affect
him, and it usually will only knock him down.  He stays down a
number of Strike Ranks equal to the damage he took.  While he is
down, he can be struck, but such blows only tickle him.  Once a
Boggle has been surprised in a particular way by someone, he will
never be surprised that way again by that person or anyone
present when the surprise occurred.  
     A critical success with a surprise attack causes the
Boggle's eyes to cross and then roll up in its head, after which
the Boggle's body goes stiff and it falls over backwards,
disappearing.  Any character with a sense of humor will laugh at
this sight.
     The manner of a Boggle's disappearance varies constantly. 
Sometimes he just fades away, other times he disappears in a puff
of smoke, and other times he breaks apart into sand.
     Most spells have no effect on a Boggle.  Often, the spell
will simply reflect onto the caster or a bystander.  A spell cast
with surprise may have the same effect as a surprise physical
attack.  A Boggle may pretend to be affected by a spell, but then
snap out of it.  Demoralize has sometimes caused a Boggle to
become sentimentally morose, weeping for his lost Ticklelandia,
where the wild Boing Tree whirs and the Gurgling River chortles,
but doesn't gurgle.  Befuddle sometimes turns a Boggle into a
sober, somber, no-nonsense Agent of Harmony.  Sever Spirit can
split a Boggle into two functioning halves.
     A spirit cannot affect a Boggle unless it has a physical
attack, and then only if it surprises him.
     Boggles have sometimes fathered beings on willing mortals. 
Such beings appear to belong to the mother's species, but have a
great many peculiarities.  One historical example always walked
and spoke backward, and died in a trap he'd set for someone else.
     A Disorder cultist may impress a Boggle by doing some
outstandingly amusing and effective trick.  On a rare whim, a
Boggle may give an impressive trickster a token of his esteem,
which can summon the Boggle once.  A typical token would be a
wooden coin, a gravy spoon, or a small pig figurine attached to a
chain.
     Of course, just because the Boggle shows up doesn't mean he
will help.  "Oh, you're in prison, are you?  Well, watch my hand-
shadow show, that'll cheer you up."