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Corruption: The Slippery Slope
Written by specificNihilism
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The author would like to extend profound thanks to otherwiseGent for assistance in editing.
She would also like to express her gratitude to grindingGodliest for his work on his Glitch FAQ and for allowing her to add supplementary information on this topic.
Thanks to all those who helped her gather data and refine ideas: genesisArtificer, tungstenTinkerer, ventricularPipefitter, mislaidLullaby, extropianDreamer, and chaoticVoyager. Your assistance was greatly appreciated and helped to better form this article.
Finally, the author would like to take a moment to dedicate it to those who gave the most to help bring it into being: the players who suffered from corruption, whether they were consumed or bystanders affected in its wake. Hopefully, this guide will prevent any more from suffering what they have. No one should have to be corrupted.
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SBURB is fraught with danger and pitfalls for its players. It has dangerous lands and more dangerous quests, glitches that have been known to derail a session entirely, and enemies that can wipe the floor with an unsuspecting player. Players themselves can be the problem: get a Berserk Trigger or a player killer and one’s day gets a great deal more complicated very, very quickly.
Lurking underneath those concerns, however, is a more subtle problem. Corruption, if left unchecked, can cause and then outshine all of the above dangers. It’s a devious, sneaky force that creeps up on a player and ensnares them before they’re fully aware of what’s going on. The scariest part is that most people have no idea that they’re suffering from corruption or believe that they’re immune.
No one is safe from corruption.
In this article, the author intends to familiarize you on any number of topics related to the matter of corruption.
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[Table of Contents]
1. Causes and Symptoms of Corruption
2. Mechanics of Corruption
3. How to Cure Corruption
4. How to Fight a Corrupted Player
5. Aftereffects of Corruption
6. FAQ
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[Section 1]
[Causes of Corruption]
Most players, in one way or another, have had some experience with corruption. Many see it in their first session, when none of them are familiar with the form and function of the Others or Angels. Some might have seen coplayers fall prey to corruption; others might have suffered it themselves.
Despite this, it’s sometimes hard for the uneducated to realize how they’ve been corrupted. Corruption is a quiet and subtle force: more than one person has slid down the slope without ever realizing it. As such, the basics of what can cause corruption need to be listed as well as common symptoms. By no means is this an exhaustive list - new accounts and causes of corruption come in every timestamp.
[Others Corruption]
The first kind of corruption is caused by the Others. These entities include creatures such as Flthulu, Nrub’yiglith, Oglogoth, and "the Noble Circle of Horrorterrors," among others, and are found almost exclusively in the Furthest Ring beyond the border of the Incipisphere. For those with a universe in which H.P. Lovecraft existed and wrote horror, these are the creatures about which he spoke.
Due to Derse’s proximity to the border of the Incipisphere, dreamers on the purple moon may catch glimpses of the Others while doing their dream quests. This usually is not a problem; in fact, if not sought out or abused, the quiet whispers that one can hear while on Derse are as useful as Prospit’s clouds. Refraining from looking out at the Furthest Ring for any amount of time is advised. However, under no circumstances should one be outside during a Dersite eclipse. The Others are especially close to the moon at that time and their corrupting influence will make short work of even the most hardy of players. There are very few situations that warrant risking travel during an eclipse.
The symptoms of Other Corruption start in a subtle but still concerning manner. Slight cases of corruption cause some players to plot strange things that aren’t related to properly playing SBURB or advancing their plot. Like MeGaLoVania, the player will cease caring about their maturity quests and leave their land to wither under the destruction caused by their Denizen or simply neglect it. Players may speak of breaking the game, especially after their first session, and devote a worryingly high amount of time to subverting the rules of SBURB. The player will likely withdraw to work in isolation. The final sign of a low-level case is this behavior being driven by the guidance of an arcane source; if a player admits to this, there is a very good chance that you will soon have a high-level case on your hands. Note: there are many players who will hide the source of their knowledge. Keep this in mind.
Usually spurred by emotional trauma, a low-level case of corruption can quickly explode into a far worse level. It is immediately obvious when this happens: a player’s skin will darken to a steely gray color and jet-black shadows in the shape of thorns or tentacles will writhe around them. Their speech - and, often, their text - will be completely unintelligible: this is the language of the Others, known also as the broodfester tongues. While their text might have proper words, it will be hidden under bleeding ichor to the point of illegibility. Finally, the Others’ interference will black out scrying, visions, or other forms of remote viewing. A player’s stats will jump and become remarkably high, especially their Pluck, Flummoxie, and Mangrit.
If a player starts to declare themselves in somewhat-coherent terms to be “the Speaker of the Furthest Ring,” you have a critical situation. At this point, the player has essentially been overrode by the Others and is serving as their puppet. While the person is still in there, getting them back at this point is nigh impossible. Even Might and Hope Players would be hard-pressed to bring someone so corrupted back from the brink.
Note: It’s important to keep an eye on your Void Player, especially since they have the tendency to be Derse dreamers. Void not only tends to be out of sight and block scrying in the first place, but it causes difficulties in determining a player’s wellness. A Void Player may be suffering corruption in advanced stages and very few people would know. It’s imperative to make sure that they’re not suffering this affliction. There are very few powers better suited to Others Corruption than a Void Player’s thanks to their affinity with the Furthest Ring.
Critical note: Others Corruption tends toward the destruction of game abstractions and the complete derailment of a session via the corruption the Genesis Frog. Whatever you do, do not let a corrupted player anywhere near your frog breeding. Try to keep them away from the Scratch Device and the carapacian royalty as well.
[Angel Corruption]
The second form of corruption is induced by Angelic influence. These constructs are found in the Underwold of a player’s Land. Unlike the Others, these entities do not seem to have any purpose beyond haunting the Underworld. They simply fly around and prevent you from completing your work when you’re trying to get to the Heart of your Land. At least, that’s all that the author is aware of. Unfortunately, since every Land has an Underworld, every player has to cope with the risk of Angel Corruption.
The symptoms of this kind of corruption are harder to spot than that of Others Corruption. While they share the same tendency to speak of breaking the game and scheming the same plots, they don’t change their behavior dramatically. They don’t isolate themselves; instead, they keep to their normal socialization habits. They will, however, develop arrogance or have their ego inflate. They’ll cultivate charisma and tend toward grandiose speeches. Finally, a last sign of this stage of corruption is that a player will try to save other players or bring salvation to them from real or imagined despair in odd and disturbing ways. The joke about taking care of a broken finger by amputating the arm comes to mind here.
Like high-level Others Corruption, there are obvious physical and mechanical changes when a player passes a certain threshold of corruption. A white, hazy aura will surround the player; some people have claimed that it forms wing-like shapes or flowing garments at especially high levels. A yellow halo will glow above their head after they reach critical levels of corruption. Any abilities will automatically glitch and affect large areas. The faint sound of choral singing will follow them wherever they go. Ranting and raving about salvation and apocalypses is common. Like Others Corruption, their stats will increase dramatically. The "Singer of the Infinite Choir" is the Angelic counterpart to the "Speaker of the Furthest Ring."
Note: The Mage Class acts not unlike a person suffering from personality aspects of Angelic Corruption normally. It’s very worth watching them to ensure that it’s just your Mage acting like any member of his Class or if it’s an actual case of corruption. Left unchecked, Mages will be some of the worst corrupted players as far as this case goes, especially Mages of Law.
Critical note: Angelic Corruption usually results in PK sprees. Evidently “salvation” means killing everyone and then yourself.
[Causes of Corruption]
[note: this is not going to be a debate of religion and its effect on corruption; the author has heard enough arguments on the matter and has no love for them]
The causes of corruption vary between that caused by Horrorterrors and the kind caused by Angels. There are a few that remain the same between them or are very similar:
- Anything alchemized with remarkably high stats for very low grist cost when combined with items listed below in the individual sections.
- If it looks like an endgame item and has stats like an endgame item when you’ve just entered the Medium, it’s not worth risking.
- Anything alchemized that bleeds or oozes white or black ichor.
- A sprite prototyped with an item of corrupting influence.
- Critical threat: Spending too much time in the presence of the corrupting influences; that is, spending too much time in the Underworld or near the Furthest Ring.
Others Corruption has dark and horrifying roots. Some of these are changed over to create more “friendly” versions such as some universes’ interpretations of Seuss and the Squiddles. These are still dangerous despite the fact that they appear benign.
- Items related to Squiddles are best left alone. While plain, unaltered Squiddles items are usually safe, alchemizing with them can lead to dreadful results.
- The Grimoire for Summoning the Zoologically Dubious should be an obvious case. The Necronomicon is another. Any tomes of this sort are best left well enough alone.
- Any works by either H.P. Lovecrat or Dr. Seuss should not be used in alchemy. Even should your universe’s interpretation of them be benign or harmless, the Others are still drawn toward these items.
- Some Scratched worlds possess a book titled Complacency of the Learned and related accessories. It’s almost as bad as the Grimoire. Somehow it also manages to have a light charge of Angelic Corruption, though they don’t nearly cancel out.
Angelic Corruption stems from oppression under the trappings of glory and righteousness. Most items to be avoided are hard to spot until you know what you’re looking for. Luckily, there are some obvious ones as well.
- Angel feathers are a terrible idea, as are corpses of angels. The author can’t imagine that anyone would think that this is a good idea, even first-session players. You wouldn’t want to alchemize your Denizen; why do it with an even worse game abstraction?
- Religious texts that refer to angels multiple times as any sort of power are generally best left alone. For example, the Old Testament of the Christian Bible has a very large Angelic charge.
- Imagery of figures with halos or other strong angelic influences should not be experimented with.
- Hoarding or using items looted from the tombs in the Underworld is not suggested.
- The pomegranate fruit carries a strong corrupting factor for alchemization.
[How to prevent corruption]
As always, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. It’s always better to try to prevent and head off corruption rather than trying to cure it while a player is on a rampage. Avoid alchemizing with anything listed above. Don’t spend too much time in the Underworld or in the Furthest Ring. Avoid Dersite eclipses and don’t seek out advice from the Others. Keep in touch with your coplayers and watch each other for signs of corruption. Your friends will be your first line of defense against corrupting influences.