"Halloween? Have power? Have spiritual significance? How ludicrous. Once it may have, yes, but Halloween as it now stands is a zombified, commercialised holiday which lurches onwards in pursuit of profit for major corporations. Look for insight in Halloween or real knowledge of the Superior World? Save your time and look for them in the autumn profit reports for sugar companies. They're the same thing."
"Halloween? Have power? Have spiritual significance? How ludicrous. Once it may have, yes, but Halloween as it now stands is a zombified, commercialised holiday which lurches onwards in pursuit of profit for major corporations. Look for insight in Halloween or real knowledge of the Superior World? Save your time and look for them in the autumn profit reports for sugar companies. They're the same thing."
Actually, you're wrong! Changelings actually have a real and meaningful Halloween. And Fall is in charge of such parties, not Spring. Halloween Bashes can depend on court, but many Fall Courts have an annual haunted house contest.
Autumn doesn't really do that kind of party. Haunted house contests, sure, but not the kind of relaxed, 'people getting pleasantly drunk & hitting on each other in costumes' kind of party I was talking about. That would be classic Spring Court - confronting a potentially unpleasant scenario with cheer, symbolically castrating Samhain into something safe.
"Halloween? Have power? Have spiritual significance? How ludicrous. Once it may have, yes, but Halloween as it now stands is a zombified, commercialised holiday which lurches onwards in pursuit of profit for major corporations. Look for insight in Halloween or real knowledge of the Superior World? Save your time and look for them in the autumn profit reports for sugar companies. They're the same thing."
Also this. The only reason there's a significant Arcadian threat on Halloween is that a good portion of the True Fae are both stuck in the past and painfully in love with cliche, and privateers can hide their own activities in the Devil's Night side of the holiday.
Autumn doesn't really do that kind of party. Haunted house contests, sure, but not the kind of relaxed, 'people getting pleasantly drunk & hitting on each other in costumes' kind of party I was talking about. That would be classic Spring Court - confronting a potentially unpleasant scenario with cheer, symbolically castrating Samhain into something safe
Autumn doesn't really do that kind of party. Haunted house contests, sure, but not the kind of relaxed, 'people getting pleasantly drunk & hitting on each other in costumes' kind of party I was talking about. That would be classic Spring Court - confronting a potentially unpleasant scenario with cheer, symbolically castrating Samhain into something safe.
Its the good kind of fear, controlled fear, when you get familiar with it without the real danger of it.
Plus you know, the actual court leaderships vary a huge amount from place to place.
Also, I actually mentioned this on Onyx Path Forums as far as something that would be interesting, but it would be nice to see more Spirit/Ghost/Goetia... or even Supernal Entity homebrew out there, the way there are for other things. I've done a little bit of that for my Mage: The Awakening Quest, but seeing more is always a good thing.
So, I'm wondering about making a Classic World of Darkness setting that is a crossover with the Mafia video game series. No metaplot, of course, and the gamelines Demon: The Fallen and Kindred of the East are both getting axed by use of Rule Zero.
The thing is whether or not I should go with the traditional 1950's and 1960's settings of the second and third games or do a more modernized version of a city like Lost Heaven, Empire Bay, or New Bordeaux?
As for the actual location of the project, I am definitely leaning towards Empire Bay, though I have had not ruled out New Bordeaux yet.
Of course, if you wanted, you could set a game in Lost Heaven in the 1990's and use the original Chicago by Night as a reference. That would be awesome.
Can someone give examples of how Influence works? It's easy to tell with both emotions (Create anger, etc, etc) and physical things (Create Trees at high enough Influence, etc, etc). But what about more metaphorical entities?
Can someone give examples of how Influence works? It's easy to tell with both emotions (Create anger, etc, etc) and physical things (Create Trees at high enough Influence, etc, etc). But what about more metaphorical entities?
How metaphorical are we talking? Abstract concepts like "mystery" or "alphabetization", or just unusual/rare ones like "action movies" or "pseudoscience"?
Can someone give examples of how Influence works? It's easy to tell with both emotions (Create anger, etc, etc) and physical things (Create Trees at high enough Influence, etc, etc). But what about more metaphorical entities?
So its influence largely governs things/people undergoing a significant change in state, generally involving putting aside previous defining aspects: someone choosing to set aside the party life & take responsibility for a child born of a one-night stand, a worn-down warehouse being refitted into a community center, a lifelong conservative casting aside their political ties and embracing a new political ideology.
Likewise, you have more direct manifestations, purely physical changes like people getting massive plastic surgery, sexual reassignment surgery, or other momentous transformative operations.
Hence, a spirit with Influence over Metamorphosis would be able to push people, institutions, and other elements of reality toward such shifts in status.
@GardenerBriareus has some really good suggestions. I would say that the more metaphorical the influence the more you have to grind down to what the thing is at it's heart. Metamorphosis is, when you get down to it, a complete and irreversible change. Anything in that wheelhouse should work if you're looking at it metaphorically.
"Halloween? Have power? Have spiritual significance? How ludicrous. Once it may have, yes, but Halloween as it now stands is a zombified, commercialised holiday which lurches onwards in pursuit of profit for major corporations. Look for insight in Halloween or real knowledge of the Superior World? Save your time and look for them in the autumn profit reports for sugar companies. They're the same thing."
I just had a thought, and I might do a small Supernal Entity homebrew in the next few days, but the thought was: how do Obscurity rules work? I think they could actually be pretty useful for Mage.
To clarify, I'm talking about the "Obscurity" thing that ES does for Demons. How does that work mechanically/otherwise, and how might you adapt something like that for Mage (mechanically that is)?
Because I think whether we're talking Lower Depths entities (high obscurity, and fuck it's always a bad idea to summon, but), Supernal Entities, Goetia, Spirits, or Ghosts (or other things besides that for that matter), there'd be, like, Grimoires and research you could do to try to find a specific one that'd make sense and fit thematically with Mage.
So, Obscurity.
Edit: Because from a thematic perspective, you know Mages would try to codify everything into big books of grimoires on every possible being that can be summoned and made to do your bidding and spend untold hours researching this shit. And then use it to do Paradoxical bullshit, of course.
Oh. I suppose because of how much ES invented/homebrewed, I assumed that was similar.
Hrm, Occult directly? Thinking about that. It could be similar with a measure of Occult. Or it could be a penalty to a roll based on how obscure it is? Not sure. I just thought that having an Obscurity that represents something about how difficult it is to learn of and research would be a useful element from both a storytelling and mechanical perspective.
I just had a thought, and I might do a small Supernal Entity homebrew in the next few days, but the thought was: how do Obscurity rules work? I think they could actually be pretty useful for Mage.
To clarify, I'm talking about the "Obscurity" thing that ES does for Demons. How does that work mechanically/otherwise, and how might you adapt something like that for Mage (mechanically that is)?
Because I think whether we're talking Lower Depths entities (high obscurity, and fuck it's always a bad idea to summon, but), Supernal Entities, Goetia, Spirits, or Ghosts (or other things besides that for that matter), there'd be, like, Grimoires and research you could do to try to find a specific one that'd make sense and fit thematically with Mage.
So, Obscurity.
Edit: Because from a thematic perspective, you know Mages would try to codify everything into big books of grimoires on every possible being that can be summoned and made to do your bidding and spend untold hours researching this shit. And then use it to do Paradoxical bullshit, of course.
There are two numbers. One determines if you have the common, basic knowledge about a spirit. Enough to get into trouble by summoning it without understanding it. The second basically gives you everything written in the write-up that's not a secret. Enough to deal with it and not get into trouble. The two numbers reference raw Occult score, but could easily be adapted to a roll or something. And then you can get situational bonuses from good reference materials and stuff, or reduce the difficulty, or something.
There are two numbers. One determines if you have the common, basic knowledge about a spirit. Enough to get into trouble by summoning it without understanding it. The second basically gives you everything written in the write-up that's not a secret. Enough to deal with it and not get into trouble. The two numbers reference raw Occult score, but could easily be adapted to a roll or something. And then you can get situational bonuses from good reference materials and stuff, or reduce the difficulty, or something.
Not quite. There are uses listed in Book of Sourcery Vol 5: Rolle of Glorious Divinity II, page 25-27:
Automatic: Compare the numbers vs (Occult - 2). Additionally, backings from relevant organizations can help: backing from an organization focused on demons can be directly compared with the numbers, otherwise it's (Backing-1).
Rolled: If you don't automatically qualify, you can roll Intelligence+Occult vs a difficulty of the obscurity. Getting successes equal to the first number gets the basic information, and getting successes equal to the second number+1 gives you everything.
Also, locations and the like are stated to be valid reasons to lower the numbers. The example given is a demon common in the west that normally has Obscurity 2/3, but for those in the west it's 1/3.
The Wraith of Eyes, Pandemonic Demon of Perspective
Name: The Wraith of Eyes
Kind (IE, what is this?): Wraith (Pandemonic Supernal Entity)
Rank: 2
Arcana: Mind 2, Space 2, Time 1*
Mana: 15/15
Virtue: Empathy, Vice: Cruelty
Attributes: Strength 0, Dexterity 4 (when it matters, almost never), Stamina 3, Intelligence 5, Wits 4, Resolve 6, Presence 5, Manipulation 7, Composure 6
Size: 5 (or nothing, it's incorporeal normally)
Corpus: 8
Defense: 4
Willpower: 10/10
Speed: 5
Ban: Cannot look through the eyes of any being that is not, and has never been, human. (Spirits, other Supernal Entities, Goetia, etc, etc).
Bane: The touch of a blind man.
Numina:
--Dement: The entity may torture its victim's mind via psychic assault, rolling Manipulation+Rank. This Numen costs one Mana. The activation roll is contested by the victim's Intelligence + Gnosis. If the entity succeeds, the victim suffers an irrational fit, automatically rolling a chance die for any action involving composure, ranting and raving on often-paranoid delusions. This lasts for a scene.
--Superior Hallucination: The Wraith of Eyes may create an illusion experienced by a single target, using its Intelligence+(Rank*2): It can be anything from a sight or sound to an imaginary person who holds a conversation. The Numen costs one Mana and is contested by the victim's Wits + Composure + Gnosis.
--Supernal Sympathy: For all magic involving scrying, in relation to their service, they automatically have a Strong connection to any target whose name they know, and a Connected Sympathy if they are provided with the target's Sympathetic Name. Using this power costs 3 Mana.
*Alternate Rule: 2e notes that it rolls Power+Finesse instead of Gnosis+Arcana, it is altered here to instead be Rank*2+Arcana, because I decided to listen to ES and elminate the whole 'thing' of having Power, Finesse, Resistence or whatnot. Thus a Rank 5 Supernal Entity is rolling a truly absurd set of dice (10+5), because fundamentally it knows its magic better than any Mage, and can do things so impressive that even the strongest Mage might seek them out for aid.
*I'm not really sold on a lot of the mechanical stuff here, note. But it's something for you to use if you want to, or modify if you want to.
Description: The Wraith of Eyes is one of the better known Supernal Wraiths out there, a statement that does not mean that it is frequently talked about, but while traumatic and sometimes dangerous in a mental sense, what it has to offer is often thought to be well worth it, and any library on Pandemonic Entities (Wraiths and Imps) will likely have a book with an entry on the being, and even some libraries that focus on Mastigos interests in general (Mind, Space, the Astral) are likely to have at least something on the being, making researching it far more viable than some more obscure entities.
It appears as a thousand eyes surrounding the summoner, eyes bleeding or weeping pus, but as the trial is passed, these eyes congregate until, for the summoner alone, they see only a single glowing eye almost surrounding them.
It has no physical form, and this itself is a hallucination that only the summoner can see: anyone outside would see merely a blurry, hovering shape, and only then if they use Mage Sight.
It is an understanding but brutal being: its ability to empathize with others is merely a tool for its testing torment, which always seeks to expose the weaknesses and flaws of its targets. For all of that, it has never been known to physically harm anyone, and even its greatest cruelty has not, at least in living memory and record, led to death.
Trial: When it appears, it does not waste its time. Instead it immediately barrages the summoner with its challenge. For the Wraith of Eyes is all about seeing from the eyes and perspectives of others. Using its skill at Mind and Space, it learns as much about the summoner as is possible, and then crafts hallucinations, in part made from memories it has seen, in part from its own empathic understanding of different people. These hallucinations are always tailored to their target.
The secret atheist living in an oppressive theocracy might have a vision of being a heretic burned at the stake: a hypochondriac might find themselves lying in a hospital bed, receiving chemotherapy, or the abuse victim might find themselves suddenly in the shoes of an abuser.
In all cases, they must endure and stand up without backing down--and at any time a person can choose to give up, and the Entity leaves--as the visions get worse, each carefully made to test the summoner.
In mechanical terms, it is an extended Resolve+Composure roll with a goal of five successes. For each roll after the second, they must spend a willpower (not in the roll, though willpower may be spent on it) to continue going on, up to their limit of Resolve+Composure. If they fail a roll, the Entity picks one, resolve or composure, and eliminates it: thus from then on they roll only Composure or Resolve. Failing a second time turns it into a chance die, and failing a third time means that the Wraith of Eyes leaves, often after using Dement as a parting gift.
Services: The service that it is most well known for is its ability to allow you to see through the eyes of anyone, enemy or friend. This 'view' lasts just a few minutes, and is based on what they are doing at the time. Thus summoners often time their summons so that it falls on an important time and place, since it is entirely possible to go through all of that work and the whole trial only to see nothing more than the inside of someone's eyelids or exactly what the Tremere Lich likes to cook for breakfast.
While few seek out other services, the Wraith of Eyes is also very experienced at the nature of minds, and can provide information and analysis both of the summoner and of others that are described, or otherwise conveyed to them (such as through opening one's mind for examination). Its empathy is often bizarre, in that it can understand the motives of mass murderers and explain them just as well as it can explain the motives of a victim, and with a similar level of deep understanding only sometimes clouded--after the trial is done of course--by its malice.
Obscurity and Summoning Guide: The Wraith of Eyes is relatively well known, as was said. One suffers no penalties to searching for basic information about the Wraith in any library that might have any material at all related to Supernal Entities or Mastigos interests, and a +2 to all extended research rolls in a library which covers/includes Pandemonic beings. Research in such an area, or among the memories of those who have successfully summoned the Wraith, can grant a +3 bonus to all research and actions done using Intelligence+Occult in order to prepare the way for the summoning. (As outlined in the 2e corebook, you can remove successes required for summoning by getting successes on an Int+Occult roll to set the stage. I'm pretty sure, however, that this could be altered to fit 1e if you wish.)
Some successful actions that have increased the likelihood of the Wraith of Eyes showing up are listed as follows. Blinding one eye, whether physically, magically, or merely through a patch, for a period of twenty-four hours before the ritual. Keeping ones eyes closed all throughout the summoning ritual, moving only by memory and perhaps one's understanding of Space. Covering the walls of the summoning area with representations of eyes. Removing the eyes of someone and placing them in the center of the ritual circle. Living for one day prior to the ritual as someone else, using Life or Mind magic to get into the perspective of a life drastically different than their normal one has been shown to create nuances of their mind that are reflected in their magic that the Wraith finds interesting. There are of course other ways, recorded in the various grimoires. By doing some combination of these, one can improve the ease by which it is summoned.
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A/N: This is really rough, and I think the mechanics are probably borked, but I liked the ideas and I think that while it's something of a long list, that the list of actions done as part of the ritual preparations for the summons helps captured how weird Mages should be.
It's something I'd need to work on, but I felt like I might as well release it and see what happens.
