Tribe 8

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Tribe 8
RPG published by Dream Pod 9
Rule System	Silhouette
Authors	Philippe R. Boulle, Stéphane Brochu, Joshua Mosqueira-Asheim
First Publication	1998 (1st Edition) 2004 (2nd Edition)

Tribe 8 is a late 90s genre-blender roleplaying game by Dream Pod 9 that combines Post-Apocalyptic, Stone Age and Urban Fantasy elements with New Age-y spirituality and feminist overtones. No, we're not kidding; the 1st Edition Player's Handbook literally describes Tribe 8's world as "Neo-Gothic/urban tribal barbarians worshipping feminist totems, fighting off mind-shattering tentacle-demons from another demon using swords, some sort of new-agey magic, and a heaping dose of "technology bad, grunting and berries good" sort of deal, set mostly in Canada".

It is... perhaps not quite as bad as you're fearing.

The World of Tribe 8

The setting of Tribe 8 is a post-apocalyptic version of Earth that has only recently largely shaken off the control of body-snatching hedonistic demons called the Zbri. In the mythologies of the Tribes, the humanity was created by "The One Goddess", but in the distant past they lost their connection to her and thusly to the River of Dreams, the source of magic. After generations of this spiritual disconnect, they forget their true origins and came to believe that the World of the Flesh was the only world, and built a great empire of machines. This angered the Goddess, and she sent the Z'bri to remind humanity of the World of Spirits, the River of Dreams, and Herself. However, whilst she turned her back to allow the Z'bri to do what was necessary, the Z'bri became seduced by the corruption of what humanity had built, now known as the World Before. They betrayed the Goddess and enslaved humanity, declaring themselves its gods. This led to the closing of the Fold, and the creation of the Camps.

But then the Goddess grew curious and turned her attention back to the World of the Flesh at last. Enraged by the Z'bri's betrayal, she sent the Wanderers to father eight children who would bear the holy essence of the One Goddess, called the Fatimas; seven daughters, and a single son - Joshua, the bearer of her wrath. The eight Fatimas liberated humanity from the Z'bri, after which Joshua sacrificed himself, as he no longer had a purpose. The seven female Fatimas took those of humanity who had learned the Goddess' lesson to the land of Vimary, where they promised they could live without want or strife. Each of the surviving Fatimas took a portion of the people to follow her, with one Fatima, Mary, being reborn as Agnes to symbolize humanity's new beginning.

All of this happened nearly four generations before the present day. The land of Vimary is actually "Ville-marie", or as we know it today, Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. The Tribals live in the western end of the downtown core. The Keepers live in and around the site of the 1967 Summer Olympics. The Fallen live on "Hom", the islands which now house Le Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal Casino, and the amusement park of La Ronde. The current explored Outlands extend west through to Rhanto (Toronto) and into the Canadian Praries, south to Hattan (Manhattan), northeast beyond Capal (Quebec City) and East out across the Atlantic to Sanjon (Saint John's in Newfoundland).

The Eight Tribes

The Nation of Vimary is made up of the Seven Tribes, the neo-barbarian nations organized around the worship of one of each of the seven Fatimas, and the Fallen, or Eight Tribe, which is made up of outcasts and runaways from the Seven. There are other human civilizations still alive in this ruined world, but the Seven Tribes cling to their religious beliefs which preach that they alone are the only "true" humans, for only they have accepted the Goddess and attained salvation through the gift of Synthesis. Foreigners are literally believed to be soulless, and so the Nation does its best to ignore their very existence.

To ensure the Tribes remain unified even as their particular religious observations keep them separate, each Tribe is focused on a single aspect or need for the Nation's survival as a whole. This helps them to live without competing for scarce resources but also makes them dependent on the well-being of others to survive as a whole.

Each Tribe is broken into a number of clans - extended families who trace their lineage from one of the major heroes from the era when the Fatimas battled the Z'bri. Guilds are a newly emergent structure which is competing with the clans for the traditional role of structuring the Tribe. Clans further break down into families, the most important and fundamental building block of Tribe politics and life.

Agnites

Devotes of Agnes, the Fatima who was originally Mary. A Tribe of children who shun adulthood, revering play and seeking to be young forever. Those who have aged to maturity are exiled to the fringes of the Tribe, tolerated only so long as they produce new generations of children and commanded to obey the young, or else.

Summary: "We are the future, you'd better be nice to us!"

Dahlians

Nomads who seek to teach through trickery and deceit.

Summary: "The lesson may not have been what yoiu expected, but you learned it didn't you?"

Evans

The dominant agricultural power amongst the Nation. Their motivation is even summed up as "to nurture the Nation like a mother nurtures her child".

Summary: "Farmers, healers, and mothers, we are the living embodiment of the Goddess."

Joanites

Originally the Nation's warriors and protectors, the Joanites are shifting to more of a law enforcement role as the Nation unwittingly rebuilds itself into something larger than a mere tribe. Their motivation is described as "To serve the Nation's will - for better or worse.

Summary: "We are the strength of the Nation. A sword or shield to be used against any threat - internal or external."

Magdalites

The traders and entertainers of the Nation. Motivation: "to remind the nation that toil is not the only thing in this world."

Summary: "We are celebrants of the holy temple of the body and the heart"

Shebans

The self-established leaders of the Nation, the Shebans have begun slowly eroding the soverignty of the other Tribes through their control over the Watch and the Inquisitions. Their motivation is simple: "maintain and extend authority.

Summary: "We are the lantern that lights the way of the Nation, and the law which keeps it upon the path."

Yagans

The opposite of the Agnites, this tribe focuses on cherishing and supporting its elders even to the detriment of their younger generations. They make up the Nation's fortune tellers and ritualists.

Summary: "We are the end of life and the guardians of the Goddess' salvation."

The Fallen

The Fallen, the Eighth Tribe, are the outcasts of the Nation. Those who commit a crime serious enough to warrant being exiled are ritually scourged before their tribe in what is known as the Rite of the Seven Deaths; physical beatings and rape can accompany the ritual, but the true focus is on declaring the Fallen to be a soulless thing before casting them out of polite society, shunned and never to return. The Eighth Tribe is made up of those who survive the Seven Deaths and who have banded together with their fellow outcasts to survive in a hostile world, as well as children born to Fallen parents.

This doesn't mean that all Fallen think or act the same! In fact, there are a number of different sects or miniature tribes within the ranks of the Fallen, referred to as the Outlooks:

• Doomsayers: Seek to see and understand the omens and avoid the hidden threats. "We are the Eye that looks within, into the darkness, in order to See."
• Guides: Seek to guide the Fallen to their destiny. "The path is before you, our only question is - why do you not walk it?"
• Herites: Seek to live free of the Seven Deaths by any means necessary. "For too long the destiny of humanity has been dictated by others - the Z'bri and the Fatimas - fight for the day when we will live without demons and spirits ruling us."
• Jackers: Seek to continue the crusade to cleanse the world of the Z'bri, to avenge the wrongs done to the Eighth Tribe, and live according to the ideals of Joshua. "Forward!"
• Lightbringers: Seek to unify the fractious and self-defeating Fallen and lay the foundations of a society worthy of the future. "We are the Children of Prophecy, the only ones who can make the future are us, together."

Outsiders

There are two major groups of Outsiders, human civilizations that live within close proximity to the Nation, but have no cultural ties two it.

The first are the Keepers, who inhabit the Rust Wastes. The Keepers reject the religious dogma of the Fatimas and seek to learn more about the World Before so they can rebuild it. "We will not forget what we were - not animals, not superstitious witches, Men - the masters of this Earth."

The second are the Squats, descendants of humans who escaped the Z'bri Camps and managed to survive by reverting to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Inhabitants of the Outlands, they are a fractured and pathetic lot, desperate to find a way to survive as free people. Many Squats even seek to find a way to enter the far more prosperous Nation, which is far more civilized than they are.