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The Obsidian Rose: A Taylor Hebert Mage Quest

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    • I been struggling how to work this vote into the next chapter and can't find a way I like, so I'm just going to toss it to the audience to keep things rolling along.

    Taylor will have one Obsession and several Aspirations.

    An Obsession is a magical phenomena that is an area of long-term study, not something that can be completed. You are never compelled to study or look into this, but, like a PhD student tempted with new data for his thesis, you will always be curious. Taylor will narratively be drawn to the topic chosen and will tend to look into it if there is nothing else going on. Investigating and discovering new data about your Obession will generate Arcane XP, which is how you level up your magic.

    I came up with a few examples based on Taylor's actions so far, but I also welcome write-ins (with revision/veto authority if it doesn't make sense).

    [][Obsession] Exploring the fabric of reality and the forces that warp and manipulate space
    [][Obsession] Understanding the nature of souls and how they are bound, purified, or corrupted.
    [][Obsession] Write in

    Aspirations, on the other hand, are concrete goals that Taylor can accomplish. Setting an aspiration will generate actions or a side quest to have Taylor make progress on this. Completing an Aspiration (or making progress towards it) will generate Normal XP, which can be used to level up any part of your character. Taylor can have 3 Aspirations at a time and will have a starting aspiration of "Become a Hero". You can set the 2nd Aspiration now and I'll open up the 3rd slot in a few updates once we get into the plot.

    [][Aspiration] Write in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X][Obsession] Exploring the fabric of reality and the forces that warp and manipulate space

    [X][Aspiration] Destroy the Endbringers

    can't come up with any other aspirations right now.
     
    UndeadFlowerBoy said:
    [X][Aspiration] Destroy the Endbringers
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    That sounds like a much to big thing for the first Aspirations of a Taylor that hasn't even really started on being a cape, I think?

    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat of the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang).

    This gives us relatively concrete steps: find out about the gangs and/or other threats. Decide on how to combat them. Succeed with smaller steps, like raiding a gang's stash, defeating one of their capes and so on. Until we have finally managed to get all the capes of the gang we're targeting behind bars (or wherever else we might end up putting people with our powers over Space and Death...).
     
    [X][Obsession] Exploring the fabric of reality and the forces that warp and manipulate space

    [X][Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul
     
    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat of the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang)
     
    [X][Obsession] Find out what happens to souls after death.
    [X] [Obsession] Understanding the nature of souls and how they are bound, purified, or corrupted.

    [X][Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul

    At first, Taylor's whole Cape activity was just an escape from reality. I categorically do not believe that if Taylor had learned about the existence of the soul she would not have tried to find out what happened to her mom's soul. After all, she's a traumatized teenage girl and not a gang-destroying machine for villains.
    But at the same time, the goal of resurrection seems too hasty Taylor must first realize how immense her power over reality is.
     
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    [X][Obsession] Exploring the fabric of reality and the forces that warp and manipulate space

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat of the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang)
     
    [][Obsession] Study Parahumans and the source of their powers

    [][Aspiration] end the bulling
    [][Aspiration] find out what changed Emma
    [][Aspiration] rescue someone from trouble
    [][Aspiration] get the trio in trouble

    Some ideas for aspirations, i kept them at what she would like and small for now, no need to throw ourselves at lung.

    A question, can an Aspiration be droped?
     
    [X][Obsession] Exploring the fabric of reality and the forces that warp and manipulate space

    This sounds like it will eventually lead to dimensional shenanigans. Remember, the Space Arcana is also focused on sympathetic connections between places, objects, and entities. And I am willing to bet Parahumans have a sympathetic connection to their Shards. It likely won't be one Taylor can understand much less follow any time soon but the potential is there.

    [X][Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul

    This seems like a reasonable response to her interaction with the souls of the monks.

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat to the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang)
     
    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat of the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang

    Huh, sounds interesting as a write in option!
     
    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat of the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang
     
    [x] [Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?
    [x] [Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul
     
    I found in The Adamantine Arrow one interesting and useful spell that was not in other sources and for which Taylor should have all the arcana.
    By means of this spell, a mage discerns the hidden vulnerabilities in any form of cover behind which her enemies might hide during the heat of
    battle. There is a significant difference, after all, between shooting through all of the moving parts inside a car door, and shooting through nothing more than a thin sheet of metal on one side, a bit of plastic one the other and nothing but empty air in between.
    Practice: Unveiling
    Action: Instant
    Duration: Prolonged (one scene)
    Aspect: Covert
    Cost: None
    Each success of Potency assigned to this spell counts as an extra success of damage, solely for the purposes of overcoming the Durability of a piece of cover (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 162–163), making it that much easier for the willworker to cause harm to the target behind said cover with a ranged attack. Note that this cannot cause the attack afforded by successfully breaching the cover to benefit from more dice that would have been rolled were the cover not there in the first place.

    Adamantine Arrow Rote: Nowhere to Hide
    Dice Pool: Wits + Athletics + Matter
    No barrier can ward away the weapons and offensive magics of a dedicated Arrow. This rote enables such a mage to penetrate even the most stalwart defenses, striking at the enemies of the Pentacle, no matter how or where they might try to hide from the perils of battle.
     
    The Mage five Orders
    • The Adamantine Arrow: spiritual warriors and masters of conflict, who claim a heritage going back to the First City's defenders. Currently, the Order of the Arrow could perhaps be described as something akin to a knightly sect, though bushido and other warrior codes find a place in The Arrow. These mages conduct intensive physical and mental training, honing the minds and bodies of other members into deadly weapons which magical society may then wield against its enemies (such as vampires, werewolves, Seers of the Throne, and so on).
    • Guardians of the Veil: spies and conspirators who claim their descent from the intelligence officers and enforcers of the First City's laws. Currently, they bear a resemblance to a combination of many occult conspiracies, such as the Thule. Many obscure their activities and identities even from other mages, and act as a check on humanity's dangerous curiosity for "that which man was not meant to know".
    • The Mysterium: dedicated to pursuit of magical lore and the acquisition, cataloguing, and study of mystical and occult knowledge and artifacts. The "mystagogues" (as they are called) continue the ancient heritage of the scholarly and intellectual of Atlantean society. Their internal structure often resembles the academic structures of the part of the world in which they reside. The Mysterium gathers, catalogues and maintains items of all types of magical and historical significance.
    • The Silver Ladder: dedicated to ruling, guiding and reshaping the world, the viziers, senators and priests of the First City remain in force. Politicians and authoritarians, the théarchs believe in creating a perfect hierarchy (with themselves at the top, of course) which will seize control of reality, subjugating it to the will of mankind; this dream is not without its altruistic appeal. As a member of the Ladder might point out, control over reality could bring an end to human suffering in all its forms.
    • The Free Council: modernists who wish to create new forms of magic, a union of mages who have discovered ways of using magic that do not adhere to the Atlantean methods, joining the other orders during the Industrial Revolution after their previous form rejected an offer from the Seers. The "Libertines", as they are also called, possess a strong belief in democratic process and anti-authoritarianism.
     
    [X][Obsession] Exploring the fabric of reality and the forces that warp and manipulate space
    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?

    [X][Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul
     
    [x] [Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?
    [x] [Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul
     
    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?
    [X] [Aspiration] Am I the only one experiencing this? Find out if anyone else has experienced this.
    [X] [Aspiration] Find a mentor.
     
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    [X][Obsession] The Supernatural and its source(s). How does her power work? Where did it come from? What about all those other powers? How do they work?

    [X][Aspiration] Bring low a supernatural threat of the city (e.g., "defeat" a parahuman-backed gang).

    [X][Aspiration] Find out what happened to her mothers soul
     
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