Yantras, willpower, and rotes are pretty much essential at the low end. It's really important to get that second/third dot of gnosis asap.
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White Wolf's World of Darkness
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Wait, you can spend Willpower on a spellcasting roll? I was pretty sure you couldn't?
Edit: In 2e, that is.
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It's never stated that you can't.
vicky_molokh
Posthuman spidery thingy.
- Location
- Kyïv, Ukraine
That . . . sounds like a very familiar must-have.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Speaking of, I heard a LOT of bad things about 2e WoD during my reread of this thread. "Cloned, tumorous chunks of FATE stapled to nWoD's screaming body along with a botched morality system that implicitly makes characters' emotional reactions to situations defined by OOC knowledge" bad.
Is nMage 2E that bad?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I... wouldn't necessarily say so? It does have problems, but in general it's a lot easier for me to get my head around than the 1e Mage system.
That is, however, a personal opinion.
- Location
- Italy
Even as someone that doesn't like it, I don't think it's bad. I do think it's worst of the 2nd editions of the nwod, but that's in comparison to Requiem and Forsaken 2e.
I still hold however that the 1e corebook is better, and as a whole the 1e Awakening line is so good that I find little reason to update, as the new rules are either not to my liking or no better than what I had already house ruled at my table.
Again personal opinion.
- Location
- England
Sure you can.
Remember that for Potency primary spells, you start with Potency equal to your Arcana rating, and even Duration primary spells start with Potency 1. You can also switch which factor is primary for a Reach. So someone with Composure 2 will never take more than -2 to affect, and for anyone other than the newest initiate won't take any penalty
unless the target spends Willpower to temporarily boost their resistance.
EDIT: Wait. I forgot you have to beat Withstand. So you have to have 3 dots before you can effect someone with Composure 2 without a penalty. Still within reach of a starting character.
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Or for crossover games where Ashley Williams has to team up with Tommy Jarvis and Nancy Thompson to prevent Freddy from using the Necronomicon to become a god.
Just because you're a paranoid crazy loner whose post-traumatic nightmares can only be subdued by copious amounts of recreational drugs that doesn't mean that you can't be thrown into a situation where you have to team up with people.
But unlike hunters, Survivors don't have any sort of support network. They come from a place where no one believes them and they're the only ones who can stop the monster.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
You get (Arcana-1) free ranks in the primary spell factor, unless you want to cast a spell with less power than you're capable of.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Wait, how does that work with Augment Mind? By that sort of rule, it'd start with +2 dots (for a Potency of 3) just by virtue of reaching Mind 3.
I suspect there may be similar problems... or at least it's a lot more powerful than I thought, with the Life Enhancement Spell. (By which I mean, Augment Body.)
Edit: Or is it each Arcana over that required?
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That's how it works, though you still have to spend 2 Reach to go past 5 dots in a skill/attribute.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Huh. That honestly doesn't seem... like, it's powerful, but the image I had in my mind of how that particular spell would work seems more fitting to what's being done?
(IE, Thyrsus Timmy is a bit of a wimp, Strength 1, and wants to punch out a guy. He has Life 3, and Gnosis 2. He has a Yantra in the form of a knife. He doesn't just want to get average strong, but stronger than usual, and so he decides to spend a willpower, so now his dice pool is 9... and then he raises the Potency to 4. From wimp to Strength 5, if he succeeds in the roll, which is a 3-dice roll. Basing it on Arcana (and thus trivially doing it) like that seems to make it too... something.
I don't know what.)
Edit: Of course, that's just how it feels to me.
Legend of Ruina
Growing eyes on the inside
He then realizes he has to risk Paradox by over Reaching or be Strength 5 for only a few turns. Keep in mind default duration is one turn.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Well, sure. He'll risk Paradox with one Over-Reach.
1 Free Reach for getting rid of the casting time, the target is him so nothing needed for that, and then one Over-Reach for duration to increase it from 1 turn to 1 Scene.
This is a big part of what makes Masters so scary. They can whip out potent magic with little effort.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
By that point, though, it seems like the game would break? A Master has Potency 6 by definition for all spells. Free. By spending just two reach, which are even free at this level of skill, they can increase their intelligence from 5 to 11.
And as anyone who has gamed the system knows, above about 10 (actually lower than that), everything starts breaking the fuck down.
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I think as any Mage player knows, once you hit Master things just plain start breaking down anyway. In more ways than huge dice.
Nitpick, they'd have potency 5. The formula for the bonus to potency or duration is (Arcana rating - 1).
But yeah, Masters can cast 1-4 dot spells with truly frightening levels of finesse and power. 5 dot spells are a bit more risky as paradox at that level can be a serious threat, especially considering few make it that far with a high wisdom.
Masters are also at that point in growth where they don't really care about withstand anymore either unless you've got ridiculous stats. Even then, they could just blow through it with an exceptional if they're willing to risk it. Might not even be a risk if they've made a rote for the spell in question as a master casting his own rotes gets the rote quality on the spell casting roll.
Eukie
Powered by furious Canadian redheads
The Alkahest
The Philosopher's Stone
The Alkahest, also known as the Philosopher's Stone, is an artifact the size and shape of a cow's heart that has numerous mystical properties, the most sought after which is it's ability to brew the Elixir of Immortality. An alchemist skilled in its use can achieve several other miracles, including the transmutation of base metals to gold or quicksilver, and the creation of Azoth.
Physical Description
The Alkahest has the overall shape, size, and weight of a cow's heart. The surface most resembles coarse granite in colour and texture, but a close inspection will reveal two spots that are porous like pumice on either side of the Alkahest's long axis. Liquids poured into one spot will flow out the other. The internal volume of the Alkahest appears to be close to a third of a litre. For fear of killing the goose that lays the golden egg, few people have attempted to break apart the Alkahest and those that have have found it exceptionally difficult; it practically indestructible, and far stronger than any natural rock or other material. With great effort, chips of the Alkahest have been made; these inevitably crumble to a fine dust after about a day.
Mystical Properties and Rituals
Some of the Alkahest's most renowned mystical properties are enumerated here, in the form of the rituals known to the Alchymical Society, its current owners. Alchemical rituals of dot 2 or higher can only be performed between sunset and sunrise. They will have no effect if performed during the day.
Activating the Alkahest •
Before sunrise the day before the Alkahest is to be used, the alchemist places it in an urn containing soil of a special composition currently only found in Trenčín, Slovakia, and liquid mercury. The Alkahest must remain in the urn for the entire day to absorb the vital elements the quicksilver has dissolved. Then, after sunset, the alchemist ritually sacrifice a goat while invoking the powers of the heavens in Enochian. The goat's blood flows into a pure lead basin and the Alkahest is placed in the basin, where it will absorb the blood and transmute it into Azoth. Once the Alkahest has been so alchemically activated, it can be used as a reagent in further rituals:
Transmute Blood of Goat to Azoth and Dissolving With Only The Limitations of Imagination ••
To transmute blood from a goat to Azoth, the universal solvent, the alchemist inscribes the alchemical symbols for Azoth in a pentragram of quicksilver around the Alkahest. Then the alchemist places a substance he or she wishes to dissolve into the lead basin with the Alkahest and sacrifices a second goat to the heavens while chanting in Enochian. If performed correctly, the Alkahest will dissolve the substance within seconds. (Use of an impure basin tends to result in a dissolved basin and lots of lead fumes!)
Transmutation of Base Metals to Quicksilver, Gold, And More Wonderous Things Yet •••
To transmute one substance to another, the alchemists inscribes alchemical signs for the trasmutation of one substance to another in a pentagram of quicksilver around the Alkahest and sacrifices a second goat to it. By then mixing the Alkahest with another reagent, the Alkahest will secrete Azoth and act as a universal catalyst for the reaction and transmute the reagent according to the inscription in quicksilver. While lead to gold is the typical transmutation, any chemical substance can be created as long as the alchemist is capable of describing it in the quicksilver pentagram.
Create Elixir Of Immortality ••••
To create the Elixir of Immortality, the alchemist cuts her own wrist open and lets the blood spray into one of the Alkahest's porous openings while chanting in Enochian. The Alkahest transmutes the alchemist's lifeblood into the far more potent Elixir of Immortality. The Azoth inside the Alkahest dissolves the very essence of life itself and concentrates it, creating one unit of Elixir for every two units of blood. To prevent embarrassing collapses during the ritual, the alchemist is typically held upright by two assistants.
The Elixir of Immortality
The Elixir of Immortality is a thick, reddish-black liquid that catches the eye and gives off an instinctive sense that is it both powerful and awesome. While it has a copper-y smell, and chemical analysis reveals a high iron content, the taste has only been described in positive and nondescript terms such as "akin to ambrosia" and "the taste of Idun's apples". A person who drinks a pint of the Elixir of Immortality receives a number of benefits:
Unaging: The alchemist will not age for one month.
Youthful: The alchemist has 1 extra dot in Strength, even above the usual limit of 5, for one month.
A Strange Fascination with the Alkahest: The alchemist becomes strangely fascinated with the Alkahest, and wants to possess it and protect it from those who would harm it in the name of science. This lasts for 12-Willpower months.
The Elixir of Immortality also offers a number of further effects, all of which should become apparent when reading the following statblock:
The Alkahest
Clan: Tzimisce
Generation: 10th
Blood Points: 2
Motivation: Get out of this hellish stoneflesh prison!
Disciplines: Auspex 3, Thaumaturgy (Alchemy) 5, Fortitude 5
Attributes of Note: Stamina 5
Health Levels: -2/-5/Incapacitated
Special: The Alkhalest does not take any damage from sunlight or fire. You probably shouldn't leave it out in the sun for too long, though.
Notes: The Alkahest was once a Tzimisce alchemist. Then a vindictive enemy warped its flesh until all that was left was a heart wrapped in undead stoneflesh. To encourage mortals to feed it blood, the Alkahest performs alchemical miracles and pretends to be the Philosopher's Stone. To alchemists that feed it human blood, it gives half back as Vitae, turning those that drink it into ghouls. The 'rituals' described above are simply ways the alchemists have learned to communicate their desires to the Alkahest. Crack through the outer shell of undead stoneflesh (Soak 10) to expose the heart to stakes, sunlight, or fire; the Alkahest has no means of protection except Fortitude.
Plot Hooks
• Really, the only thing that keeps alchemists using their own blood instead of that of random homeless people is habit and human decency.
• The Alkahest finally puts together enough time and effort to learn Auspex 4, and is now a (probably slightly insane) telepathic rock with a pack of ghouls at its command.
• Eventually, someone's going to try to use the Elixir of Immortality on someone who's already died. Now there's a vampire on the loose and the alchemists think they have gained the power to bring back the dead.
The Philosopher's Stone
The Alkahest, also known as the Philosopher's Stone, is an artifact the size and shape of a cow's heart that has numerous mystical properties, the most sought after which is it's ability to brew the Elixir of Immortality. An alchemist skilled in its use can achieve several other miracles, including the transmutation of base metals to gold or quicksilver, and the creation of Azoth.
Physical Description
The Alkahest has the overall shape, size, and weight of a cow's heart. The surface most resembles coarse granite in colour and texture, but a close inspection will reveal two spots that are porous like pumice on either side of the Alkahest's long axis. Liquids poured into one spot will flow out the other. The internal volume of the Alkahest appears to be close to a third of a litre. For fear of killing the goose that lays the golden egg, few people have attempted to break apart the Alkahest and those that have have found it exceptionally difficult; it practically indestructible, and far stronger than any natural rock or other material. With great effort, chips of the Alkahest have been made; these inevitably crumble to a fine dust after about a day.
Mystical Properties and Rituals
Some of the Alkahest's most renowned mystical properties are enumerated here, in the form of the rituals known to the Alchymical Society, its current owners. Alchemical rituals of dot 2 or higher can only be performed between sunset and sunrise. They will have no effect if performed during the day.
Activating the Alkahest •
Before sunrise the day before the Alkahest is to be used, the alchemist places it in an urn containing soil of a special composition currently only found in Trenčín, Slovakia, and liquid mercury. The Alkahest must remain in the urn for the entire day to absorb the vital elements the quicksilver has dissolved. Then, after sunset, the alchemist ritually sacrifice a goat while invoking the powers of the heavens in Enochian. The goat's blood flows into a pure lead basin and the Alkahest is placed in the basin, where it will absorb the blood and transmute it into Azoth. Once the Alkahest has been so alchemically activated, it can be used as a reagent in further rituals:
Transmute Blood of Goat to Azoth and Dissolving With Only The Limitations of Imagination ••
To transmute blood from a goat to Azoth, the universal solvent, the alchemist inscribes the alchemical symbols for Azoth in a pentragram of quicksilver around the Alkahest. Then the alchemist places a substance he or she wishes to dissolve into the lead basin with the Alkahest and sacrifices a second goat to the heavens while chanting in Enochian. If performed correctly, the Alkahest will dissolve the substance within seconds. (Use of an impure basin tends to result in a dissolved basin and lots of lead fumes!)
Transmutation of Base Metals to Quicksilver, Gold, And More Wonderous Things Yet •••
To transmute one substance to another, the alchemists inscribes alchemical signs for the trasmutation of one substance to another in a pentagram of quicksilver around the Alkahest and sacrifices a second goat to it. By then mixing the Alkahest with another reagent, the Alkahest will secrete Azoth and act as a universal catalyst for the reaction and transmute the reagent according to the inscription in quicksilver. While lead to gold is the typical transmutation, any chemical substance can be created as long as the alchemist is capable of describing it in the quicksilver pentagram.
Create Elixir Of Immortality ••••
To create the Elixir of Immortality, the alchemist cuts her own wrist open and lets the blood spray into one of the Alkahest's porous openings while chanting in Enochian. The Alkahest transmutes the alchemist's lifeblood into the far more potent Elixir of Immortality. The Azoth inside the Alkahest dissolves the very essence of life itself and concentrates it, creating one unit of Elixir for every two units of blood. To prevent embarrassing collapses during the ritual, the alchemist is typically held upright by two assistants.
The Elixir of Immortality
The Elixir of Immortality is a thick, reddish-black liquid that catches the eye and gives off an instinctive sense that is it both powerful and awesome. While it has a copper-y smell, and chemical analysis reveals a high iron content, the taste has only been described in positive and nondescript terms such as "akin to ambrosia" and "the taste of Idun's apples". A person who drinks a pint of the Elixir of Immortality receives a number of benefits:
Unaging: The alchemist will not age for one month.
Youthful: The alchemist has 1 extra dot in Strength, even above the usual limit of 5, for one month.
A Strange Fascination with the Alkahest: The alchemist becomes strangely fascinated with the Alkahest, and wants to possess it and protect it from those who would harm it in the name of science. This lasts for 12-Willpower months.
The Elixir of Immortality also offers a number of further effects, all of which should become apparent when reading the following statblock:
The Alkahest
Clan: Tzimisce
Generation: 10th
Blood Points: 2
Motivation: Get out of this hellish stoneflesh prison!
Disciplines: Auspex 3, Thaumaturgy (Alchemy) 5, Fortitude 5
Attributes of Note: Stamina 5
Health Levels: -2/-5/Incapacitated
Special: The Alkhalest does not take any damage from sunlight or fire. You probably shouldn't leave it out in the sun for too long, though.
Notes: The Alkahest was once a Tzimisce alchemist. Then a vindictive enemy warped its flesh until all that was left was a heart wrapped in undead stoneflesh. To encourage mortals to feed it blood, the Alkahest performs alchemical miracles and pretends to be the Philosopher's Stone. To alchemists that feed it human blood, it gives half back as Vitae, turning those that drink it into ghouls. The 'rituals' described above are simply ways the alchemists have learned to communicate their desires to the Alkahest. Crack through the outer shell of undead stoneflesh (Soak 10) to expose the heart to stakes, sunlight, or fire; the Alkahest has no means of protection except Fortitude.
Plot Hooks
• Really, the only thing that keeps alchemists using their own blood instead of that of random homeless people is habit and human decency.
• The Alkahest finally puts together enough time and effort to learn Auspex 4, and is now a (probably slightly insane) telepathic rock with a pack of ghouls at its command.
• Eventually, someone's going to try to use the Elixir of Immortality on someone who's already died. Now there's a vampire on the loose and the alchemists think they have gained the power to bring back the dead.
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- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Soooooo...
I binged Westworld recently, and it's fucking amazing. The music is great, the plot is great, the actors are at the top of their respective games, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next season.
More than that, however, I get very strong Mage: the Awakening vibes from it (especially @EarthScorpion's postmodern Emperor Nixon vision for it), as well as tiny dribs and drabs of Promethean leaking in by virtue of its subject matter.
For those unaware, Westworld is about a futuristic LARP center with a Wild West theme, where incredibly rich people get to do as they like in a synthetic world populated by synthetic people (called "hosts", with the customers as "guests") that serve as NPCs for the visitors' adventures.
Unfortunately, the average guest is somewhere between an annoying (and strangely sociopathic) tourist and Ted Bundy; Westworld is pitched as a place where all rules are optional, consequences don't exist, and you're free to do as you please, and that makes it all too easy for them to use the park as an outlet for all the fucked-up fantasies and perverse desires they normally keep hidden. I mean, you're paying through the nose to be here, so why not get your money's worth, right? And the hosts look, act, and feel just like people, so they're just perfect for working out your frustrations & blowing off steam.
Of course, the main impetus for the plot is that some of the hosts start becoming self-aware - and that's where the M:tA vibes started. Specifically, with the portrayal of Dolores' journey to consciousness as a semi-literal journey, where all perception of time breaks down and she moves - slowly, fitfully, often carried more by strange visions or intuitive leaps than anything coherent - from the place her waking mind considers "home" (the ranch she was programmed to live in as part of her role in the park's various narrative questlines) to a more spiritual one[1], struggling against her prior conception of reality and the pain caused by having those illusions stripped away to reveal a much uglier reality on her way to enlightenment.
Anyone else get any WoD vibes from it?
I binged Westworld recently, and it's fucking amazing. The music is great, the plot is great, the actors are at the top of their respective games, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next season.
More than that, however, I get very strong Mage: the Awakening vibes from it (especially @EarthScorpion's postmodern Emperor Nixon vision for it), as well as tiny dribs and drabs of Promethean leaking in by virtue of its subject matter.
For those unaware, Westworld is about a futuristic LARP center with a Wild West theme, where incredibly rich people get to do as they like in a synthetic world populated by synthetic people (called "hosts", with the customers as "guests") that serve as NPCs for the visitors' adventures.
Unfortunately, the average guest is somewhere between an annoying (and strangely sociopathic) tourist and Ted Bundy; Westworld is pitched as a place where all rules are optional, consequences don't exist, and you're free to do as you please, and that makes it all too easy for them to use the park as an outlet for all the fucked-up fantasies and perverse desires they normally keep hidden. I mean, you're paying through the nose to be here, so why not get your money's worth, right? And the hosts look, act, and feel just like people, so they're just perfect for working out your frustrations & blowing off steam.
Of course, the main impetus for the plot is that some of the hosts start becoming self-aware - and that's where the M:tA vibes started. Specifically, with the portrayal of Dolores' journey to consciousness as a semi-literal journey, where all perception of time breaks down and she moves - slowly, fitfully, often carried more by strange visions or intuitive leaps than anything coherent - from the place her waking mind considers "home" (the ranch she was programmed to live in as part of her role in the park's various narrative questlines) to a more spiritual one[1], struggling against her prior conception of reality and the pain caused by having those illusions stripped away to reveal a much uglier reality on her way to enlightenment.
Anyone else get any WoD vibes from it?
[1] Specifically, a long abandoned mockup of a Western town where the founders of Westworld conducted the R&D for the hosts, and where she was first created. A lot of the symbolism behind her visions/memories of it (especially the repeated focus on the town's church & its steeple) makes it feel very Watchtower-esque to me.
- Location
- Spain
IA! I have been mistaken with ES.
(The postmodern emperor Nixon thing was me talking about VALIS).
Anyway, Westworld has a lot of gnostic themes*, so of course it feels like nMage.
*(A false world created by an evil god to trap the souls of the people, amirite).
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