TEXT: ICON – Experience Questions 
   
   
  THE MESSENGER 
   
  The fleet-footed Messenger brings news, prayers, and omens to wherever the faithful might be.  
  • 
  Did you personally deliver unheard of news to a follower of the messenger? 
  He is sometimes called the Whisperer, the one who knows all your secrets, or the Seducer who drives people mad.   
  • 
  Did you demonstrate your knowledge of someone’s secrets to them?  Did you use someone’s secrets to 
  drive them to a foolish act? 
   
  THE DANCER 
   
  The Dancer is the Icon of inspiration and perseverance.   
  • 
  Did you demonstrate perseverance in the face of great adversity?   
  • 
  Did you come up with an inspired suggestion/proposal? 
  The Dancer represents the bond formed in the life union between two lovers, but also unbridled lust when 
  appearing as the Musician, playing a nine-string lyre or a cirra.   
  • 
  Did you demonstrate new love, or satiate your inner lusts? 
  Darker folklore speaks of the Beast, representing mankind’s true nature and, according to some, her inherent evil. 
  Sacrifices to the Dancer are a small but exquisite meal, a dance, or a beautiful song, but preferably all three 
  combined.  
  • 
  Did you prepare a meal, sing a song and dance for your guests? (Maybe a one-off award for the first time 
  this is done) 
   
  THE GAMBLER 
   
  For the adventurous, the intelligent, and the gifted, the Gambler is a perfect fit. Curious children who speak the 
  truth as they see it and think quickly on their feet are the Icon’s protégées.  
  • 
  Did you think on your feet during the scenario?  Did you think outside the box?  Did you propose a risky 
  manoeuvre but with potential for great reward? 
  Myth and folklore across the Horizon usually describe the Gambler as a trickster, such as in the forms of the 
  Laughing Hyena on Algol, King Macaque on Mira, or as juggling tarrab.   
  • 
  Did you carry out any practical jokes? 
  On Mira, one incarnation of the Gambler is the Ensnarer who comes for the cowardly and the weak that are afraid to 
  take risks in life.  
  • 
  Did you destroy/harm any people who were cowardly, weak, afraid to take risks? 
   
  THE DECKHAND 
   
  The Deckhand can bless homes, ships, and stores, if they’re well-kept and the right offerings have been made.  
  • 
  Did you ensure that your ship/home was in order (above and beyond the usual)?  
  The Deckhand protects the unfortunate as the folklore always depicts the Icon sharing their fate – tricked out of a 
  well-earned reward.  
  • 
  Did you protect the unfortunate, or assist someone who has had a bad turn of luck? 
  Some stories describe the Deckhand a bit differently, as a rascal that disturbs commerce, destroys electronics on 
  ships, or makes sure the shelves in the shops are dusty and crooked.   
  • 
  Did you carry out any sabotage, physical or electronic? 
   
   
   
  
  THE MERCHANT 
   
  The portly Merchant is the Icon of prosperity, forward thinking, and success.  
  • 
  Did you demonstrate your forward thinking by proposing a plan which had a successful outcome 
  (particularly in terms of prosperity)? 
  The kind and generous side of the Icon is often depicted as an elderly, smiling woman giving alms to the poor.  
  • 
  Did you sacrifice something of yours to aid the poor / less well off?  Did you carry out an act of charity? 
  The Miser has an insatiable lust for birr, precious stones, and power, and is oblivious to the consequences.   
  • 
  Did you demonstrate a disregard for others in your pursuit of wealth or power? 
   
  THE JUDGE 
   
  The Judge’s realm is that of justice and due punishment, hence the name.   
  • 
  Did you ensure that Justice was carried out, ignoring personal thoughts on the matter? 
  The only sacrifice the Judge desires is confession of one’s failings and lies, and remorseful penance.   
  • 
  Did you demonstrate remorse and carry out penance for your actions? 
   
  THE TRAVELLER 
   
  For free traders, caravaneers, explorers or colonists, the Traveller stands for protection.  
  • 
  Have you provided protection to vulnerable travellers (e.g. traders, caravaneers, explorers or colonists)? 
  The malicious side of the Traveller is the Spider, who controls the web of star ways and traps reckless ship crews in 
  the darkness between the portals.  
  • 
  Did you ensnare someone who acted recklessly into something they weren’t expecting?  (e.g. goaded them 
  into stealing from someone, who unbeknownst to them, has a lot of connections in high/low places) 
   
  THE LADY OF TEARS 
   
  On their way toward the Judge’s justice, the Lady of Tears accompanies the dead. She also consoles the ones still 
  living.   
  • 
  Have you provided solace to those bereaved?  Have you respected the dead? 
  A dark aspect of the Lady is the Butcher or the Executioner, who cuts or hacks off body parts until nothing is left, but 
  still leaves the ghost trapped.  
  • 
  Did you carry out any mutilations but leaving the host alive? (very character specific).   
  • 
  This could also take the form of non-physical severance (e.g. separating someone from their family, or 
  cutting them out of their business) 
   
  THE FACELESS ONE 
   
  On stage, the Faceless One is portrayed as a masked figure all in black that sneaks about the set, rearranging the 
  props and giving or taking away objects from the actors.  
  • 
  Have you carried out any actions, giving or stealing, without being detected? 
  The most common aspect of the Icon is the Shadow, although for a long time many thought of it as an evil spirit 
  rather than an Icon. The Shadow brings madness by luring the soul out into the Dark between the Stars.  
  • 
  Have you tempted anyone into a foolish blasphemous act, attracting the dark between the stars.? 
  Unsubstantiated but persistent rumours claim that certain unsavoury cults on Mira and Dabaran worship a 
  perverted aspect of the Faceless One with human sacrifices to quench the Icon’s thirst for souls.   
  • 
  Have you purposely killed in order to dedicated someone’s death to the faceless one (i.e. not an 
  afterthought to dedicate it)? 
  THE PEOPLE OF THE HORIZON 
  235 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Coriolis RPG (Year Zero Engine) [multi]/3rd Party/Icon Questions.pdf