Before I throw down my vote and toss my hat in the ring, I think I'll take the time to really reduce down these options—or at least reduce them down to how
I see them.
[ ] Magician, Arcana of Talent: Despite what the name might imply, your potential does not lie in the esoteric and otherworldly, though you are not without ability in that sphere, but rather, your talent lies in your ability to master the skills, talents, and aptitudes of mankind, and hone them to supernal degrees: given a knife and a tree, a master carver might craft something exceptional. Given a knife and a tree, you could carve something of near mythical quality. Gain Arcana: Magician, halving all skill requirements, increase progress gained from all skills, and increasing the cap on all skills by two stages (to Mythical from Heroic). Start with Sphere: Talent. Start with one skill at Heroic.
An intriguing option, while not giving us anything
truly unique in regards to powers, it does give us the ability to master—and potentially take even further—any mundane skill. Beyond that, it looks like it would vastly expedite the growth of our mundane skill sets similarly.
To me, this seems like the Jack of all Trades option. No true specialty, and nothing that any foes in the Warhammer universe wouldn't have dealt with before, but an extremely solid foundation in everything to the point that those mundane skills could amount to more than that when pitted together against the forces arrayed against us.
That being said… well, besides seeming a bit boring to me, it really doesn't give us anything truly unique and that is a huge disadvantage in my eyes. The mundane skills of humanity were at their very peak during the Dark Age of Technology and that still didn't save them from defeat.
[ ] Moon, Arcana of Intuition: Your talent lie in dreams. The ability to gain knowledge not through rigorous searching or interrogation, but through divination. Not the corrupted, treacherous divination of the children of Isha, or those among the corrupted who divine by trawling through the weavers loom, but something more powerful, more true. Gain Arcana: Moon, revealing expanded consequences from your decisions as well as the ability to perform minor acts of clairvoyance without invoking the Warp, as well as the Intuition (Minor) talent. Start with Sphere: Divination.
More or less still universally applicable, but far more specialized in what it does. Divination and clairvoyance aren't anything new to the Warhammer universe, but being able to use it so freely and without consequence is
very powerful… despite the preparations likely already in place that specifically defend against this very thing.
A solid option, similar to the first, but once again it just doesn't stand out to me. Powerful yes, somewhat unique, yes, but nothing
surprising… and that seems like a bit of downside to me.
That aside, it also feels like a very passive skill set, where we would have to act through outside forces because we possess so little force of our own; and considering perpetuals are known to be at least somewhat vulnerable to the predations of the galaxy? Yikes.
To me, this is more or less what the Eldar tried to do and failed at. Out-scheming the schemer.
[ ] Devil, Arcana of Pacts: A deal is only as good as someones ability to enforce it. Therein lie your ability: not only are your pacts imbued with a degree of power in order to enforce themselves, with you lying as the final arbiter, from these deals lie your source of power, taking and giving in measure based on what you wish to give and what you desire for yourself. And woe betide any who decide to BREAK a pact... Gain Arcana: Devil, allowing you to make Ephemeral Pacts, mystically enforced contracts, deals, and trades that can, among other things, give and take intangible qualities from those who agree to them. Start with Sphere: Curses.
Now this,
this is exactly what I was looking for when I was reading through the options. Still very versatile, more or less universally applicable, but also with a bite of its own. It's unique, as far as I am aware, both in regards to the universe at large but also when compared to the other two options.
This power doesn't deal in only the physical, it can target the intangible just as well, and can both give and take. It can target the mundane, the warp, the qualities within a person, and even more with a little imagination. It's not too passive like the second option but also isn't more or less wholly focused on the self like the first option.
Balanced, powerful, has some bite to it—and sounds really really cool on top of all of that…
And most importantly it's coming at the problem from a different angle rather than just the typical human or Eldar approach.
[X] Devil, Arcana of Pacts
