The Foolers

PhilosophyNo one's perfect. Not everything can be understood. Not every obstacle can be overcome. At least, not when going the direct way.

The Foolers are probably one of the weirdest sects in the Planes, but they gain followers extremely fast. They were founded just some cycles ago when a Cipher and a Xaositect met and found out how much they had in common.

The members of this sect believe that, no matter how good you are, there's always someone better than you. No matter how powerful you are, how much endurance you have, there can always be a situation you can't handle. And they believe that everyone gets into such a situation sooner or later. But, most important, they think they've found a solution. Their philosophy includes both Cipher and Xaositect elements. Where a Cipher says you have to act before thinking, the Foolers say you've got to act WITHOUT thinking, relying on luck alone. And where the Xaositects say that the multiverse is a wonderful thing, because the multiverse is chaos, the Foolers try to use that chaos to bring them the luck they hope for.

There's more behind it than just avoiding getting killed, though. The Foolers believe that, if they give in to the chaos of the multiverse absolutely, avoiding any interference from their own minds (which, as they think, are forced into false laws by society), they will become one with the multiverse.

Their philosophy goes farther than the typical Cipher philosophy, though. They believe that to really ascend to the next stage of existence, everyone has to embrace the chaos. The Foolers think that no individual person can ascend, and that the multiverse can only reach its intended goal when everyone has become one with all.

Interestingly, despite being a chaos-loving sect, this belief leads to Foolers avoiding extreme individuality. Every Fooler is an individual, for sure. But they believe that all beings have many things in common, and that most of what is considered "individuality" is nothing but a disguise of common features. The Foolers drop this disguise, trying to find those things that exist in all sentient beings. By the way, the sect's name is mainly a joke. Okay, they do fool their enemies more often than not with their surprises. But the name is especially meant to say: "We know that we fool ourselves; if we didn't, we would've ascended already. But at least, we admit that we fool ourselves; all other people fool themselves and everyone else far more than we ever could."

Plane of InterestAs they believe in the multiverse as one thing, they don't want to concentrate on any particular plane. Foolers tend to be travelling people, though not all of them are. Interestingly, it's been noticed that many of them travel the Prime Material Plane (probably because that plane is between the Inner and the Outer Planes, and thus the most "general" place in the multiverse, where every concept can be found).

Enemies and AlliesOne could think the Foolers are allied to Ciphers and Xaositects, but this isn't really true. Both factions dislike that the fast-growing Foolers "steal" away possible recruits from their factions. Still, they occasionally work together with the Foolers (they aren't the Guvners, after all).

The Athar hope to convince the Foolers that the greatest frauds in the multiverse are the powers, and to achieve the Foolers' goals, the powers must be overcome. Up to now, both groups have worked together well, but the Foolers seem to be resistant to the Athar influence so far. The Guvners and the Harmonium have established special groups to stop the "dangerous" Foolers (who state that law is a wrong thing!), while the Believers of the Source are quite fascinated by this young sect, and still try to find out more about them. The Mercykillers hate the Foolers, for with their tricks they try to avoid the punishment for their mistakes, and thus the Red Death works closely together with the Harmonium against the Foolers. The Bleakers aren't yet sure what they think about the Foolers; on the one hand, they say the current state of existence doesn't make sense, on the other hand they say there is a meaning to the multiverse.

The Fated have not given any statements about the Foolers up to now, but it seems they dislike them for using tricks to get along instead of really earning what they get.

The Anarchists just love the Foolers, and there have even been one or two cases in which a Fooler was allowed to also join this faction. After all, both groups want to bring down the current society; it's just that the Foolers already have an idea for what should come afterwards. The Doomguard like the Foolers, but aren't allied to them; they just enjoy that the Foolers want to bring down laws and end all thinking (although they of course dislike the "ascension" ideas of the Foolers).

The Dustmen feel a strange sympathy for the Foolers, viewing them as the other side of their own coin. A few contacts, almost shy, have been established between the two groups. And despite the official ascension ideas of the Foolers, many members of the sect think that the Dead could be right, at least partially.

The Sensates and the Sign of One have more or less ignored the Foolers up to now.

EligibilityNo lawful characters can join the Foolers, but some neutral ones have. Most of them are chaotic, though. Also, the Foolers dislike people that show arrogance towards others (e.g. no Fooler would call someone from the Prime Material Plane "Clueless"). Their belief that all people share common things would mean that, if they call the inhabitants of one plane stupid, they call themselves stupid. This is also a reason why the Foolers earn friends so fast.

AdvantagesWhenever in a dire situation, a Fooler can try to let chaos work for him. For example, if he was hunted by a Horde of Pit Fiends in Nessus, and all he had was a bottle with water in his hand, he could try to use his ability. He states he tries to *somehow* use the bottle to help him. Then, he makes a Wisdom Check. If it succeeds, something absolutely impossible happens:

In the example, he could start shaking the bottle, and through some weird accident, the water inside the bottle becomes a vortex to the Elemental Plane of Water. Suddenly, he is sucked into that Plane, and just the next moment, the vortex closes again. The Fooler then finds out that just a few yards away, a bubble of air has formed while the Vortex was active, so he doesn't even drown. Of course, getting out of the Plane of Water again, and not getting killed by the Planes inhabitants in the mean time, is another thing again.

If, on the other hand, the saving throw failed: He would start shaking the bottle, but the bottle falls out of his hand and hits his toe. He yelps then jumps on one foot and tumbles, falling to the ground. Then, the pit fiends reach him...

In short, the "chaos help" allows rescue from any situation (even when gods are involved!) if a Wisdom check succeeds, but leads to even bigger problems if the check fails. A Fooler can use the Chaos Help once a day, or if they haven't used it for more than a month, twice a day.

PenaltiesThe Foolers dislike any kind of law. Thus, they never care if they break any laws, cannot become part of a government, and if they set up a shop, they certainly wouldn't pay any taxes. They don't strive to break laws; they just utterly ignore them. This often leads to big trouble for the Foolers and their companions, and even creates problems within the sect. There are some high-ups in the sect, but they only want to make sure the Foolers' ideas aren't twisted into something they were never meant for. Still, only the high-ups can allow those to join the sect, which is in itself, a very lawful situation. The Foolers are still considering a better solution, but they fear it could take some time... maybe they will not even manage it before they aren't ready for ascension.