Falselings

Part 1 - Falselings

Part 2 - The City of Truth

Part 3 - Factions
Part 4 - Encounters and Hooks

Zion, from The Matrix, at least portrayed in the box office films, felt like a missed opportunity for me. Here you have an entire city (albeit a planned one) of people who have rejected the reality of the Matrix or consciously form their reality around its rejection, by whatever cause or reason, and the most we get of their culture are: looking like refugees, sexy slow motion dancing, and passive-aggressive tribunals.

What is a city when its entire populace consists of those who rejected the previous reality? When the previously insane, the philosophers, the drug-users, the oracles, the aesthetes, the ascetics, the undisturbed schizophrenics, the revolutionaries, the dreamers, the champions, the poets, and the freedom fighters form a society, surely there must be more?

And Tieflings are quite popular among 5e folk (my home group included), so I might as well kill two birds with one stone here.

I'm quite fond of this guy here (by Matthew Adams), and this post here.

Falselings (Tieflings in the vernacular) come into this world when they reject the Falsehood of their previous reality. There are many ways this can come about, but the line of commonality between them all is that they are extraordinary people. Not necessarily exemplary, mind you, but extraordinary.

They come from a False Realm, counterpart to ours, a plane of opposite conditional operators on a cosmic scale. It is a place of Falsehood with a capital "F", in which, by its own rules of reality, one may find truth and fact as well as any scientist or observer could in any consistent realm. There is, however, no Truth (big "T"). Even in statements devoid of contradiction within their own context (i.e. "all numbers that are integrally divisible by 4 are also integrally divisible by 2") will be False. Few will observe this, however. And if they can it is taken for granted and unquestioned.

Except by the Falseling.

They skew towards above-average Charisma and Intelligence, for the circumstances and professions listed above, of which a cross section reveals.

Their Darkvision is a product of their awakening, for in their previous life only darkness has been seen. 

The Innate Spells are remembered remnants of the False Reality, in which they may regretfully conjure. 

Flame, vestiges of lying tongues, has little effect upon them for it is Untrue.

d20	You were a(n)...	But now...	And your mark is...
1	Poet	What was mournful is joyous. Dirges are celebrations. Does the melancholy give way to hope, or will you persist?	A teardrop flame hovers just above your forehead. As you gain inspiration it grows in size.
2	Revolutionary	What new systems of oppression approach from the distance?	Your hair is replaced by spines, they grow long and sharp.
3	Philosopher	You have crawled out from the shadowed cave and into the sun. What does this new light of Truth promise?	There is a hole in your head which can be seen straight through. You could thread a string through it.
4	Schizophrenic	The voices have quieted forever. You may live your life, now in uninterrupted clarity.	Tall eyes and no ears. You now “see” sounds, like color or smell.
5	Ascetic	You have done it. The gate has been breached! Enlightenment! At last, your abstinence is no longer required.	The flesh holds tight to your bones, no matter the excess.
6	Aesthetic	All your conceptions of beauty are inappropriate and strange. They do not hold water in this new place.	The ears, nose, and eyes are enlarged and sensitive.
7	Split Personality	You stand, face to face, with the aspects of yourself. From each personality a new vessel has been divided. You and your mind are whole and indivisible.	Any number of twins, one for each personality. They may be conjoined. You may have multiple heads, each for one.
8	Dreamer	This place feels more real than the waking world. You feel real... but will it always be so?	Roots grow from the skull like bonsai trees stretching to become dragonfly wings.
9	Drug Addict	The substance and all dependency on it has been cleansed from your body and mind. You are sober.	A long prehensile tail with a mind of its own. It behaves like a nanny, constantly mothering and scolding you.
10	Oracle	The visions have stopped. The chain of events is broken. This experience was meant to be, but now the future is uncertain.	The eyes are opaque and glow with a muted light, like a deep sea fish.
11	Dementia Patient	The veil that has clouded your mind has been lifted, but with it has gone all memory.	Amnesia of before, but now a perfect memory. Birthmarks shaped like major life events coat your skin.
12	Olympian	You have peaked, but beyond this mountain lies a greater one still. Your old glorious body is gone, replaced by this form.	Your joints bend backwards, though still functional.
13	Mathematician	Everything you had known is wrong, and now you can prove it.	Incalculable false proofs are imprinted on your skin in ni-unreadably small font, giving the impression of spots.
14	Blind, Deaf, and Dumb	You experience the world as a babe: everything is new, and nothing is taken for granted.	A resonating crystal bell on the sternum - People nearby start to experience your emotions as you do.
15	Astrologer	Do these strange skies always tell lies?	A faint halo of celestial light surrounds your wrists and ankles. Not visible during the day.
16	Child	Your adaptation to this new place will be swift. Power of a True nature is yours for the taking. You are immortal.	You do not age and you do not grow. Your body shall remain a child’s forever.
17	Prophet	You must hide your past and your memories, for there were only false prophets in the False Realm.	A forked tongue, which you must hide for your own safety.
18	Hedonist	What happened to the party? You have one hell of a hangover.	Your fingers, hands, and nails all double in length.
19	Sacrifice	The incomprehensible pain and terror has torn open the veil of reality. In this new place you feel different.	A long neck, twice the length as before. You also feel no pain, though may experience discomfort.
20	Sovereign	You are humbled. The powers by which you have derived your authority are utterly distant. You are in an unceasing, muted pain.	A crown of nails, embedded under your skin, forever. Every second the spikes prick at your brain and your thoughts. It is worse when you attempt to exercise authority.

Next post: The City of Truth