SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Ascension or Awakening? Because you might have to work to differentiate that paradigm from the existing mechanics in Ascension.
White Wolf's World of Darkness
- Location
- USA
Ascension. I have a lot ideas about it. I will get what I got already give me a second.
Gale said:
And here we are once more. Ok I am going to sleep. I will try to talk to anyone later. Sorry if I am being a pain.
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grommile
nasty-minded old cynic
- Location
- NERV-Mercia
- Pronouns
- Traditional/Animate
In Ascension, I'm pretty sure that's basically the Akashic Brotherhood's schtick...
- Location
- USA
I would not think so give they think of Consensus as Samsara, the Consensus of Illusion and there is the fact they use the Wheel of Ages. So I don't think so.
Has anyone done anything cool with the Dark Eras books for Chronicles?
My most ridiculously ambitious idea would be a giant time-jumping crossover inspired by Assassins Creed where the player characters in the present channel the life experiences of different characters from different gamelines at different points throughout history to unravel clues about some crazy conspiracy or other.
My most ridiculously ambitious idea would be a giant time-jumping crossover inspired by Assassins Creed where the player characters in the present channel the life experiences of different characters from different gamelines at different points throughout history to unravel clues about some crazy conspiracy or other.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
If it's a known quantity going into the AO, the main trick would probably be to start off by sending in multiple unarmed teams, operating at sufficient distance that they couldn't all get caught within the effect simultaneously. Now, for the AoE whammy effect, I'm assuming it's something that has a significant distance limitation from whatever produces it, and that it's a fairly blunt "turn people into mindless zombies that go where they're told, but don't expect them to convincingly fake normality" effect, rather than letting them gain access to the memories of the victim.
Given that... if it's a bunch of wizards chanting over a rune circle, then the unarmed teams go into the AO to figure out where the wizards aren't, and once they've removed all other possibilities they have a single person with a .22 pistol and no backup mags head into the suspected ritual site and see if he can't get a couple of them before the whammy sets in.
At that point, optimally, the wizards send their new puppet out to try and kill his buddies, they send in some people in full body armor to taze him, and then a mortar team pumps a few canisters of nerve agent into the building at 500 yards.
More generally, the method for dealing with that sort of threat in the context of a strike mission would be:
If the whammy allows for access to the memories of the victims, then the task force plans the op to ensure that having that information wouldn't be of any use to the target - the above examples largely fit that parameter, but it would also become necessary to screen the personnel used for the operation and remove anyone who possesses high-value information to avoid possible breach of INFOSEC.
If the whammy persists once the victim leaves the original AoE, then multiple kill teams spaced around the AO may be necessary, as this raises the possibility of the target having one or more already-compromised individuals in the AO that it can deploy offensively, but other than that the necessary precautions would take place before and after the operation itself (such as periods of confinement for the operatives post-mission.)
Type Greens whose abilities are limited to their immediate environment are best handled with a similar scout/kill model and RoE, but with modifications based on the specifics of the target's capabilities. For example, if they are able to transmute matter, then chemical irritants would be of little use for flushing them out; instead, the kill team should use remote neutralization methods which can be either hidden from the target's awareness until lethality occurs (odorless, colorless nerve agents, for example) or which cause lethality too quickly for the target to react and nullify them (shaped charge explosives, sniper rounds, etc). If the Type Green can revert harm to themselves, then priority must be given to destroying whichever part of their anatomy holds their seat of consciousness and/or will prevent such regeneration from taking place.
Type Greens capable of rendering conventional remote neutralization measures ineffective (such as by generating a force field around themselves which screens out incoming matter/energy, shunting harmful phenomena into other realities, etc) are best dealt with via more conventional assassination tactics such as poisoning, or determining target locale before the operation via longterm surveillance and attempting to neutralize the target while they are asleep or otherwise incapacitated.
If such a target should become the initiating party in an aggressive action against large civilian populations or strategic task force assets, then primary priority should be given to asset denial, secondary priority to counterintelligence and management of the public to obfuscate that an anomalous event has taken place, and tertiary priority to clearing the target's surroundings of potential hostages/victims. Neutralization under such circumstances is to be assumed infeasible in the absence of an individualized tactical plan devised and approved ahead of time by senior operatives and command personnel which can circumvent the target's particular method of rendering conventional neutralization ineffective.
Attempted neutralization without such a plan is to be done only as an absolute last resort; success is only possible in that scenario via the deployment of anomalous assets or veteran operatives, neither of which are easily replaceable should the neutralization attempt fail. Likewise, any operative who is cornered or otherwise forced into confrontation with the target without access to the aforementioned exceptional assets is to be assumed KIA, and nearby operatives are to prioritize ensuring their own escape over attempting to rescue their comrade from the target, as this will only result in further casualties.
Given that... if it's a bunch of wizards chanting over a rune circle, then the unarmed teams go into the AO to figure out where the wizards aren't, and once they've removed all other possibilities they have a single person with a .22 pistol and no backup mags head into the suspected ritual site and see if he can't get a couple of them before the whammy sets in.
At that point, optimally, the wizards send their new puppet out to try and kill his buddies, they send in some people in full body armor to taze him, and then a mortar team pumps a few canisters of nerve agent into the building at 500 yards.
More generally, the method for dealing with that sort of threat in the context of a strike mission would be:
- split the team into two portions, a smaller 'scout team' that actually enters the AO and a larger 'kill team' which remains at the edge of the AO.
- only send in assets for the scout team that can be easily neutralized by the kill team (preferably nonlethally), as the scouts are the most likely to be compromised by the effect.
- maintain constant radio contact with the scouts, assume any break in contact means they're compromised, and instruct scouts whose comms are disrupted to halt in place, periodically announce their location into their radio, and wait for retrieval after the target has been neutralized - any other action will be interpreted as evidence that they have been compromised. That scout's location will be marked as a possible target locale which all other scouts are to avoid in favor of eliminating other possibles.
- once only a handful of possibles remain, a single scout is sent in to confirm and attempt neutralization, which the kill team is to assume will not succeed. Immediately prior to this, the other scouts retreat to a prearranged point on the edge of the AO, within LOS of the kill team but sufficiently distant that should they somehow be compromised all at once, the kill team will have time to react.
- Once target locale is confirmed, the kill team acts to neutralize the threat from extreme range - chemical weapons, high explosives, and other weapons which can neutralize a target inside of a structure are preferred, but if the AO does not permit this then flashbangs, CS gas, malodorants, etc are to be used to bring the target out of the structure and into range of a long-range sniper rifle or other method of remote neutralization. Time is to be permitted for the scout who made entry to escape or be sent after the rest of the team before this, if the specifics of the compromising effect mean that the target is unlikely to be able to escape during that interval (such as a ritual or large, stationary machinery).
- only send in assets for the scout team that can be easily neutralized by the kill team (preferably nonlethally), as the scouts are the most likely to be compromised by the effect.
- maintain constant radio contact with the scouts, assume any break in contact means they're compromised, and instruct scouts whose comms are disrupted to halt in place, periodically announce their location into their radio, and wait for retrieval after the target has been neutralized - any other action will be interpreted as evidence that they have been compromised. That scout's location will be marked as a possible target locale which all other scouts are to avoid in favor of eliminating other possibles.
- once only a handful of possibles remain, a single scout is sent in to confirm and attempt neutralization, which the kill team is to assume will not succeed. Immediately prior to this, the other scouts retreat to a prearranged point on the edge of the AO, within LOS of the kill team but sufficiently distant that should they somehow be compromised all at once, the kill team will have time to react.
- Once target locale is confirmed, the kill team acts to neutralize the threat from extreme range - chemical weapons, high explosives, and other weapons which can neutralize a target inside of a structure are preferred, but if the AO does not permit this then flashbangs, CS gas, malodorants, etc are to be used to bring the target out of the structure and into range of a long-range sniper rifle or other method of remote neutralization. Time is to be permitted for the scout who made entry to escape or be sent after the rest of the team before this, if the specifics of the compromising effect mean that the target is unlikely to be able to escape during that interval (such as a ritual or large, stationary machinery).
If the whammy allows for access to the memories of the victims, then the task force plans the op to ensure that having that information wouldn't be of any use to the target - the above examples largely fit that parameter, but it would also become necessary to screen the personnel used for the operation and remove anyone who possesses high-value information to avoid possible breach of INFOSEC.
If the whammy persists once the victim leaves the original AoE, then multiple kill teams spaced around the AO may be necessary, as this raises the possibility of the target having one or more already-compromised individuals in the AO that it can deploy offensively, but other than that the necessary precautions would take place before and after the operation itself (such as periods of confinement for the operatives post-mission.)
Type Greens whose abilities are limited to their immediate environment are best handled with a similar scout/kill model and RoE, but with modifications based on the specifics of the target's capabilities. For example, if they are able to transmute matter, then chemical irritants would be of little use for flushing them out; instead, the kill team should use remote neutralization methods which can be either hidden from the target's awareness until lethality occurs (odorless, colorless nerve agents, for example) or which cause lethality too quickly for the target to react and nullify them (shaped charge explosives, sniper rounds, etc). If the Type Green can revert harm to themselves, then priority must be given to destroying whichever part of their anatomy holds their seat of consciousness and/or will prevent such regeneration from taking place.
Type Greens capable of rendering conventional remote neutralization measures ineffective (such as by generating a force field around themselves which screens out incoming matter/energy, shunting harmful phenomena into other realities, etc) are best dealt with via more conventional assassination tactics such as poisoning, or determining target locale before the operation via longterm surveillance and attempting to neutralize the target while they are asleep or otherwise incapacitated.
If such a target should become the initiating party in an aggressive action against large civilian populations or strategic task force assets, then primary priority should be given to asset denial, secondary priority to counterintelligence and management of the public to obfuscate that an anomalous event has taken place, and tertiary priority to clearing the target's surroundings of potential hostages/victims. Neutralization under such circumstances is to be assumed infeasible in the absence of an individualized tactical plan devised and approved ahead of time by senior operatives and command personnel which can circumvent the target's particular method of rendering conventional neutralization ineffective.
Attempted neutralization without such a plan is to be done only as an absolute last resort; success is only possible in that scenario via the deployment of anomalous assets or veteran operatives, neither of which are easily replaceable should the neutralization attempt fail. Likewise, any operative who is cornered or otherwise forced into confrontation with the target without access to the aforementioned exceptional assets is to be assumed KIA, and nearby operatives are to prioritize ensuring their own escape over attempting to rescue their comrade from the target, as this will only result in further casualties.
- Location
- Texas, US
Details from the V5 Sabbat book
I wonder if there's supposed to be any "real world meaning" to some Paths being abandoned. Like, I'm a Lilith stan, but maybe they're saying times have changed a lot since the 90s and that kind of stuff isn't as popular as it once was, in universe or out? I dunno.
The Path write ups are addressed throughout the book and how they handle everything from ghouls to interaction without other sect members.
The Path of Honorable Accord, Beast, and Lilith only get a couple of paragraphs each. They say these Paths have fallen out of favor and are only showing up in a few places.
The Lasombra defection is later established as a major reason why the Path of Honorable Accord fell out of favor since a disproportionate number of them defected. (Pg. 80)
The Sabbat also speculate the defection happened for no good reason and was just the Lasombra Antediluvian ordering it and them being powerless to disobey (pg. 80).
Path followers don't get Stains. They otherwise don't have any rules. However, it's stated that they don't lose Path points for diablerie because that would be stupid.
The Sabbat now make games of targeting Touchstones and Embracing/killing them just like people on the forum have been doing.
The Path of Sun is kind of a Sabbat off-shoot for Thin Bloods versus actual Sabbat. They're Gehenna cultists who want to kill all other vampires. A lot of Sabbat refuse to hurt them because they're signs of Gehenna.
The Gehenna War can be fought anywhere the Sabbat think it should be.
There is no current Regent of the Sabbat.
Cardinals are all independent warlords of the Sabbat.
Miami, Rio, Madrid (though disputed with the Camarilla), and other places are still ruled by Archbishops.
Vykos and Lucita are both considered Antitribu now.
Lucita is still Archbishop of Madrid or has been replaced with an imposter. The Path of Night is now considered a variant of the Path of Cathari.
The Book of Nod is now full of apocrypha and other texts as some Sabbat are starting to believe the book was an "Antediluvian trick" since they keep running into things that make no sense according to it.
The Sabbat has pretty much decided that there's way more than 13 Antediluvians.
Alamut is an eldritch location where all the humans around it are dead. However, the Second Inquisition has them penned up (possibly). Night never stops to Kindred who visit it with one being stretched to forty nights. Maybe Ur-Shulgi is in charge or maybe someone else is now.
The Path of Caine's scholarship is now mostly limited to studying Blood Sorcery, Noddism, and Auctorius Ritae. They are disdainful of ghouls and eschew associating with mortals
The Path of Death and Soul is now the scholarship clan with the vast majority of their actions devoted to studying when not killing.
The Path of Cathari are the largest sect of Sabbat by far.
Path of Power and Inner Voice hate giving up domain. No shit, really.
No Sabbat is on the Path of Humanity and the idea is ridiculous. Any Sabbat not fully indoctrinated is not a real Sabbat (so go @Taggie).
Some "Sabbat" are fakes and the Sabbat kill these.
Some really good art.
Lots of really good fiction bits.
The Sabbat can make zombies now. Lots of fleshcrafted monsters are listed as things created by Blood Sorcery or Vicissitude or Ritae.
Lots of Auctorius Ritae and occult ritual in the Nu Sabbat. A discussion of how every Path deals with the rites and how it performs them..
The Path of Honorable Accord, Beast, and Lilith only get a couple of paragraphs each. They say these Paths have fallen out of favor and are only showing up in a few places.
The Lasombra defection is later established as a major reason why the Path of Honorable Accord fell out of favor since a disproportionate number of them defected. (Pg. 80)
The Sabbat also speculate the defection happened for no good reason and was just the Lasombra Antediluvian ordering it and them being powerless to disobey (pg. 80).
Path followers don't get Stains. They otherwise don't have any rules. However, it's stated that they don't lose Path points for diablerie because that would be stupid.
The Sabbat now make games of targeting Touchstones and Embracing/killing them just like people on the forum have been doing.
The Path of Sun is kind of a Sabbat off-shoot for Thin Bloods versus actual Sabbat. They're Gehenna cultists who want to kill all other vampires. A lot of Sabbat refuse to hurt them because they're signs of Gehenna.
The Gehenna War can be fought anywhere the Sabbat think it should be.
There is no current Regent of the Sabbat.
Cardinals are all independent warlords of the Sabbat.
Miami, Rio, Madrid (though disputed with the Camarilla), and other places are still ruled by Archbishops.
Vykos and Lucita are both considered Antitribu now.
Lucita is still Archbishop of Madrid or has been replaced with an imposter. The Path of Night is now considered a variant of the Path of Cathari.
The Book of Nod is now full of apocrypha and other texts as some Sabbat are starting to believe the book was an "Antediluvian trick" since they keep running into things that make no sense according to it.
The Sabbat has pretty much decided that there's way more than 13 Antediluvians.
Alamut is an eldritch location where all the humans around it are dead. However, the Second Inquisition has them penned up (possibly). Night never stops to Kindred who visit it with one being stretched to forty nights. Maybe Ur-Shulgi is in charge or maybe someone else is now.
The Path of Caine's scholarship is now mostly limited to studying Blood Sorcery, Noddism, and Auctorius Ritae. They are disdainful of ghouls and eschew associating with mortals
The Path of Death and Soul is now the scholarship clan with the vast majority of their actions devoted to studying when not killing.
The Path of Cathari are the largest sect of Sabbat by far.
Path of Power and Inner Voice hate giving up domain. No shit, really.
No Sabbat is on the Path of Humanity and the idea is ridiculous. Any Sabbat not fully indoctrinated is not a real Sabbat (so go @Taggie).
Some "Sabbat" are fakes and the Sabbat kill these.
Some really good art.
Lots of really good fiction bits.
The Sabbat can make zombies now. Lots of fleshcrafted monsters are listed as things created by Blood Sorcery or Vicissitude or Ritae.
Lots of Auctorius Ritae and occult ritual in the Nu Sabbat. A discussion of how every Path deals with the rites and how it performs them..
I wonder if there's supposed to be any "real world meaning" to some Paths being abandoned. Like, I'm a Lilith stan, but maybe they're saying times have changed a lot since the 90s and that kind of stuff isn't as popular as it once was, in universe or out? I dunno.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think that type of development is common at White Wolf. Throgh I actually didn't find that much contradictions in Beast? What do you mean by that
Seven Days of Relics - QafianSage
QafianSage
Ascending Ape
- Location
- United Kingdom
So, over the last week I've been doing a minor project of my own over on the Onyx Path forums, and I'm gonna post the results of that here! I wrote one Relic for Mummy: the Curse 2e each day, moving through the six types (Amulets, Effigies, Regia, Texts, Uter and Seba, using my own rules for the latter), and then did a free choice one at the end. So, without further ado, I present
Seven Days of Relics
The Eleusinian Hearth (Regium ••••) - Wednesday 6th Oct.
Durability 2, Size 4, Structure 6
Said to be the source of the legend in which the goddess Demeter attempted to burn away the mortality of an infant prince, this relic takes the form of a stone hearth carved from a single block of dense sandstone, with every inch of the outside engraved with densely-packed lettering in archaic Greek script. The internal parts of the hearth are, on closer examination, composed of glass and subtly melted, as if a tremendous heat had vitrified the stone. There is just enough space inside for a person to stand with a fire built around their feet.
Power: A fire stoked in the hearth burns without smoke or other exudation or waste; even ashes are consumed. A mortal who enters the hearth while it is burning will find the flames rising higher and higher around them, blazing a pure magnesium-white. The flame inflicts 1 Aggravated damage per round to mortals, and 3 Aggravated damage per round to mummies.
However, by following the descriptions written on the Hearth (requiring first that those instructions be deciphered, the purchase of certain herbs and substances from Greece costing Resources 4, or Resources 3 while in or near Greece, and a successful Intelligence + Occult roll to perform the preparations properly), a concoction can be made which is fed to a mortal, before they pass into the flame. The mortal must suffer at least 3 Aggravated damage for each 'session' (requiring a successful Composure + Stamina roll with a -4 penalty to resist throwing themselves out of the fire each time, unless they are prevented from doing so). Each session constitutes a -2 Breaking Point, but provides one of the following benefits:
Curse: Though its powers to uplift mortals are nothing short of miraculous, the Eleusinian Hearth is imperfect. Its flames consume more than mortality; they consume memory. For each 'session' a character endures within the flames of the Eleusinian Hearth, they suffer the Persistent Amnesia condition with regards to some significant aspect of their life. With each further session, the consumption of their memory grows, though it never consumes any point after their first successful session in the Hearth. A person who uses the Hearth enough times will recall nothing at all before their 'rebirth'.
Mummies have sufficient skill with the occult principles required to prepare a person for the flames of transformation that the degree of memory consumed is lessened; perhaps a person forgets an old college acquaintance, rather than a close friend. The Mesen-Nebu have perfected these preparations almost completely, allowing them to negate the memory loss entirely if they achieve an Exceptional Success in the preparations.
The Wilkinson Shekel (Effigy •••) - Thursday 7th Oct
Durability 2, Size 1, Structure 3
An ancient silver coin found in the ruins of Tyre in the 1800s by tourist and amateur archaeologist Lawrence Wilkinson. The coin is a little more than an inch in diameter, and unusually thick, embossed on one side with the image of a face which does not match any known king or emperor, and on the other with a serpentine figure identified with the god Yam, a Canaanite god of seas and rivers. It was sold at auction after the son of the original Wilkinson died in a botched robbery, and has passed through many hands since, all of which it has enriched. Amongst the Arisen who know of it, some wonder if it represents an attempt by the coin's unknown maker, or even the Tef-Aabhi themselves, to grasp at the secrets of Dedwen held by the guild of alchemists.
Power: Acting as proof of the saying 'You need money to make money', the Shekel acts like a gravity well for fortune and wealth. Fate seems to conspire to magnify the holder's coffers, increasing her Resources Merit by 1 dot per week, to a maximum of three additional dots, to a maximum of 5. Such is her luck with money that she really can make a living off of lottery tickets, or gets called by the one get-rich-quick scheme that isn't a scam. If the Shekel leaves her possession, the money leaves at the same rate it arrived, as investments go bad and her luck with the lottery runs out.
Curse: Ostentatious wealth draws envy and desire, and the Shekel's curse is that it weakens its holder's defenses against such things. For every dot of Resources the Shekel provides, a dot in a Merit representing some protection the user has against theft is rendered inert. This usually targets Safe Place, Alternate Identity or Anonymity, but it may include Enigma, dots of Peril in a tomb, and similar. The Storyteller chooses which dots are rendered inert. Such dots are not permanently lost, normally returning at the same rate the extra Resources dots are lost upon loss of the Shekel. However, the user may choose to lose them permanently, converting them into Experience. Mummies suffer one less dot of loss than others would (e.g. only 2 dots of protective Merits for 3 bonus Resources dots), while mummies of the Tef-Aabhi suffer no loss at all.
Zeitfenster (Für Sextett) (Text ••) - Friday 8th Oct.
Durability 0, Size 2, Structure 2
Written by the composer and reputed magician Emil Hugo Melsbach in the early 1900s, Zeitfenster ('Windows of Time') was written for a sextet of violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet and French horn. It has a chaotic sound that few have described as pleasant, but is undoubtedly a work of musical genius. Each instrument's sound depicts a period of time, from the beginning of the universe to antiquity to the modern day, and can be played alone for a pleasant enough tune, but when all six are played together, the sounds clash, diverge and recombine to form a chaotic crescendo which reveals greater patterns. The original folio is yellowed and dog-eared, but quite readable, and able to be easily split into its six component parts.
It was only performed once for a full theater audience, and never again, as listeners complained of bizarre hallucinations, and many suffered mental breakdowns afterwards. Zeitfenster became a minor legend in the musical community, but Melsbach himself never saw it, as he vanished without a trace soon after the initial performance. According to the rumors, he was working on another piece of music, Türen von Weltall when he disappeared.
Power: Zeitfenster is not idly named. When a part of the music is played from the original copy, one person listening will experience hallucinatory visions. These are disorienting, but can provide insight into far-off times; the listener must state a number of questions about the past, and roll Wits + Composure to interpret these visions. For each success, one question is answered. Any successes over the number of chosen questions are lost, and once a question has been asked, whether it is answered or not, it can never be asked against by that person. These questions are limited in scope if only part of the music is played, depending on what instrument is used:
Curse: By listening to Zeitfenster, a person exposes their minds to the vast breadth and width of time's river, and it is easy to become lost in the flow. All characters who suffer the visions inflicted by the music suffer the Persistent Madness Condition. Mummies, their minds inured to the weight of ages, may roll Memory to resist, while the Sesha-Hebsu are immune.
The Pendant of Voices (Amulet •) - Saturday 9th Oct.
Durability 2, Size 1, Structure 3
The origin of this amulet is unclear, but rumor associates it with the Elizabethan lady and spy Ester Danet, though all tales agree that she received it from another - who, how, why and where vary from telling to telling. As the story goes, she uncovered more than a few plots against the Crown, but eventually grew so afraid of others spying on her that she locked herself in her chambers. Some tales end there, saying that she eventually recovered and returned to her courtly life, while the more colorful claim she ordered herself to be bricked up, save for a small slot for food and water, so that she would be safe from her enemies. Others say that her immurement was not her own will at all - that she learned a secret her masters did not wish her to tell.
Whatever the case, the Relic which is said by some to have precipitated these events takes the form of a pale opal the size of a quail's egg in a silver setting, with a small loop at the top to accommodate a chain, though it has been worn as a pendant, a brooch and sometimes simply kept in a pocket. In a quiet room, especially in darkness or moonlight, those nearby sometimes claim to hear a faint whispering sound, as if many people were speaking softly together, or the sound of cloth shifting at a little distance.
Power: If the wearer touches another person while wearing the pendant, she may spend a point of Willpower to leave a small, pale mark upon them, like a white scar a few millimeters across. This mark lasts indefinitely, but disappears if until the wearer loses the pendant. At any point thereafter, the wearer may raise the pendant to her ear and choose a mark they have laid to listen as if from the point of the mark. If the mark is covered, sound maybe muffled or indistinct.
This ability has become slightly obsolete, in this modern age of ubiquitous surveillance and miniaturized microphones, but in its day it was a miraculous tool, and it still has its utility as a nearly-untraceable method of eavesdropping.
Curse: As her ability to spy on others grows, so too does the user's paranoia about spies upon her. The wearer gains the persistent Delusional Condition, with regards to the idea that those around her are spying on her for their own reasons. The reasons she rationalizes do not have to be malevolent. Mummies only suffer this Condition in scenes in which they lay a new mark upon someone, and the Maa-Kep do not suffer it at all - they are used to the idea of watching and being watched.
Marks of the Beast-Blood (Seba •••) - Sunday 10th Oct.
The Keeper sought and taught the mysteries within, and brought forth this secret from the scarred flesh of a disciple, cutting him with knife and nail and hand into a shape that recalled an ancestry both bestial and numinous.
Power: Upon binding this Seba, the bearer collapses in painful convulsions, suffering the Insensate Tilt for a minute as its power draws out forgotten potence from their blood, bone and spirit. Once this process is complete, and so long as they remain in possession of the Seba, their being extends into Twilight in the form of an eldritch part-beast, part-monster, about which there are the faintest hints of lupine ancestry, scattered amongst constellations of eyes and protean limbs. This strange other-flesh is as much a part of their body as their physical form, and affords them the following abilities:
Additionally, if the bearer is at a Locus, they may spend 1 Willpower and make a Resolve + Composure roll with a penalty equal to the local Gauntlet strength - 2. On a success, the bearer may cross the Gauntlet and enter the Shadow, or leave the Shadow and enter the physical realm again. While in the Shadow, the bearer's other-flesh lays around her, manifest at all times, and she enjoys all of its benefits.
Curse: The Keeper's wisdom is never kind, and this cuts to the bone. During the process of transformation, the other-flesh bursts out of the body like a flower blooming, inflicting 6 - Stamina Aggravated damage, minimum 1. Furthermore, though these wounds heal, the anchorage of the other-flesh places stress on the body and confuses the nervous system. Once per session, the Storyteller may inflict the Seizure Tilt on the bearer, with a Potency of 4. Finally, if the character loses the Seba by any means, they suffer the same damage and Tilt as when they gained it, as their other-flesh painfully sloughs away.
Mummies, having bodies composed more of dust and necromancy than flesh, do not suffer the nervous difficulties associated with the Seba, while do not suffer the damage and Tilt upon binding it.
St. Cajetan of the Dice, 1548, unknown artist (Uter •) - Monday 11th Oct.
This life-sized portrait depicts Saint Cajetan, patron saint of Argentina, gamblers and the unemployed, standing beside a small table with a pair of dice falling from his hand into a bowl filled with silver coins. It was commissioned a year after his death by the Theatine Order he founded, and became an object of some curiosity in the art historian community in the late 1800s, as the particular shade of red of the inside of the saint's cloak was noted to be unique. Chemical testing of the pigment revealed it to be composed of human blood mixed with other, unidentifiable substances. This has only increased the curiosity surrounding the painting, especially as the pigment has been found nowhere else. Some say it was painted with the blood of the saint himself, and it has become a holy icon in the church in which it hangs in Apulia in southern Italy.
Power: If a person prays to the painting, they gain charges equal to their successes on a Composure + Resolve roll. Within the next week, they may spend one charge to either:
Curse: St. Cajetan rejected the wealth and corruption of the upper echelons of the Catholic church in his time, and his blessing aids only with sustenance, not the accumulation of vast coffers. For a month after invoking the blessing of this Relic, a character may not increase their Resources above 2, or raise them higher if they already have Resources above 2. If the latter is the case, their effective Resources are reduced for that month by 1, to a minimum of 2, as fate conspires to distribute their wealth.
Mummies' Resources ratings are not reduced if they are already above 2, and the Su-Menent are untouched by this curse, as their funds are already apportioned to holy purposes.
The Ring of Amenmeit (Regia •••••) - Tuesday 12th Oct.
A ring is a circle, and circles symbolize many things. They may represent the sun, the moon or the boundaries of the earth. They may represent perfection, eternity or the continuance of time. The Ring of Amenmeit represents all of these things and more. An unassuming golden band, wrought in a perfect circle without adornment, it nevertheless seems to possess a kind of warmth or radiance that has nothing to do with physical light or heat. For centuries, it has adorned the hand of the Mesen-Nebu Arisen Amenmeit, and has become a symbol of her power, such that it now even shares her name. As to its original source, the mummy is tight-lipped, but certain hints have been gleaned over the years, connecting it to the Rub al-Khali region of the Arabian peninsula, or possibly to one of the Guildmasters of the alchemists in Irem.
Power: The ring is a perfected channel for the mystic principle of Dedwen, allowing its wearer to perform incredible feats of transmutation, as an expression of the highest alchemy. The wearer may spend 1 Willpower or Pillar point while touching an object or objects of Size no greater than Resolve + Composure and roll Intelligence + Occult or Science + Ren with a penalty equal to the object's Resources value (or, if multiple objects, their collective Resources value, as adjudicated by the Storyteller). On a success, she may transform the object into any object or objects of the same Resources value, splitting or combining them as desired. This process takes place over the course of several moments, as the objects in question seem to superheat, melting into a brilliantly-glowing golden substance before re-solidifying into their new form. If the desired object or objects is complex (e.g. a car, a computer, a cellphone) the Storyteller may require a second Intelligence + Craft roll with appropriate penalties to determine whether it is formed correctly; if this second roll fails but the first succeeds the transmutation fails overall.
Alternatively, the ring may be used to perform similar transmutations upon living flesh. Make a Dexterity + Brawl - Defense roll to touch an unwilling target, then spend 1 Willpower or 1 Pillar point and make a Clash of Wills against the target. Net successes inflict 1 Lethal damage as flesh is transmuted to gold, lapis lazuli or other precious materials, ignoring Armor. Each point of Lethal damage dealt this way reduces the target's Speed and Initiative by 2, and inflicts a -2 penalty to Dexterity rolls. If this effect is used to kill a target, they transmute entirely into a precious statue. If a use of this power inflicts more damage than the victim's Stamina, you inflict one of the following Tilts upon them as relevant body parts are transmuted: Arm Wrack, Leg Wrack, Blinded or Deafened. These transmutations revert when the damage heals, but if the relevant parts are hacked off before that point (upgrading a relevant level of Lethal damage to Aggravated, and likely inflicting permanent Tilts and Conditions) they remain in their new forms.
Curse: Such is the power of the Ring that without great skill it is extremely difficult to prevent it from latching onto the Dedwen in one's own flesh. Whenever a character uses the Ring, they must make a Composure + Occult roll. For each success short of 5, they suffer 1 Lethal damage as the same transmutation described in the previous paragraph overtakes their flesh, including all secondary effects. Mummies add their Defining Pillar rating to this roll, and Mesen-Nebu need not roll at all.
Hope you all like these, find them interesting and so on!
Seven Days of Relics
The Eleusinian Hearth (Regium ••••) - Wednesday 6th Oct.
Durability 2, Size 4, Structure 6
Said to be the source of the legend in which the goddess Demeter attempted to burn away the mortality of an infant prince, this relic takes the form of a stone hearth carved from a single block of dense sandstone, with every inch of the outside engraved with densely-packed lettering in archaic Greek script. The internal parts of the hearth are, on closer examination, composed of glass and subtly melted, as if a tremendous heat had vitrified the stone. There is just enough space inside for a person to stand with a fire built around their feet.
Power: A fire stoked in the hearth burns without smoke or other exudation or waste; even ashes are consumed. A mortal who enters the hearth while it is burning will find the flames rising higher and higher around them, blazing a pure magnesium-white. The flame inflicts 1 Aggravated damage per round to mortals, and 3 Aggravated damage per round to mummies.
However, by following the descriptions written on the Hearth (requiring first that those instructions be deciphered, the purchase of certain herbs and substances from Greece costing Resources 4, or Resources 3 while in or near Greece, and a successful Intelligence + Occult roll to perform the preparations properly), a concoction can be made which is fed to a mortal, before they pass into the flame. The mortal must suffer at least 3 Aggravated damage for each 'session' (requiring a successful Composure + Stamina roll with a -4 penalty to resist throwing themselves out of the fire each time, unless they are prevented from doing so). Each session constitutes a -2 Breaking Point, but provides one of the following benefits:
- +1 to an Attribute, to a maximum of 6. (May be taken twice)
- Skin becomes 1/1 natural armor, which stacks with worn armor. (May be taken once)
- The Regenerate Numen, with the cost replaced with 1 Willpower (May be taken once)
- Gain 1 Pillar dot, with an associated Pillar point. This point can only be regenerated according to the rules for meditation. Once this has been taken, the mortal may manifest Soul Affinities as if she were a Sadikh. (May be taken twice, no more than once per Pillar)
- The Striking Looks Merit, at 2 dots (May be taken once)
Curse: Though its powers to uplift mortals are nothing short of miraculous, the Eleusinian Hearth is imperfect. Its flames consume more than mortality; they consume memory. For each 'session' a character endures within the flames of the Eleusinian Hearth, they suffer the Persistent Amnesia condition with regards to some significant aspect of their life. With each further session, the consumption of their memory grows, though it never consumes any point after their first successful session in the Hearth. A person who uses the Hearth enough times will recall nothing at all before their 'rebirth'.
Mummies have sufficient skill with the occult principles required to prepare a person for the flames of transformation that the degree of memory consumed is lessened; perhaps a person forgets an old college acquaintance, rather than a close friend. The Mesen-Nebu have perfected these preparations almost completely, allowing them to negate the memory loss entirely if they achieve an Exceptional Success in the preparations.
The Wilkinson Shekel (Effigy •••) - Thursday 7th Oct
Durability 2, Size 1, Structure 3
An ancient silver coin found in the ruins of Tyre in the 1800s by tourist and amateur archaeologist Lawrence Wilkinson. The coin is a little more than an inch in diameter, and unusually thick, embossed on one side with the image of a face which does not match any known king or emperor, and on the other with a serpentine figure identified with the god Yam, a Canaanite god of seas and rivers. It was sold at auction after the son of the original Wilkinson died in a botched robbery, and has passed through many hands since, all of which it has enriched. Amongst the Arisen who know of it, some wonder if it represents an attempt by the coin's unknown maker, or even the Tef-Aabhi themselves, to grasp at the secrets of Dedwen held by the guild of alchemists.
Power: Acting as proof of the saying 'You need money to make money', the Shekel acts like a gravity well for fortune and wealth. Fate seems to conspire to magnify the holder's coffers, increasing her Resources Merit by 1 dot per week, to a maximum of three additional dots, to a maximum of 5. Such is her luck with money that she really can make a living off of lottery tickets, or gets called by the one get-rich-quick scheme that isn't a scam. If the Shekel leaves her possession, the money leaves at the same rate it arrived, as investments go bad and her luck with the lottery runs out.
Curse: Ostentatious wealth draws envy and desire, and the Shekel's curse is that it weakens its holder's defenses against such things. For every dot of Resources the Shekel provides, a dot in a Merit representing some protection the user has against theft is rendered inert. This usually targets Safe Place, Alternate Identity or Anonymity, but it may include Enigma, dots of Peril in a tomb, and similar. The Storyteller chooses which dots are rendered inert. Such dots are not permanently lost, normally returning at the same rate the extra Resources dots are lost upon loss of the Shekel. However, the user may choose to lose them permanently, converting them into Experience. Mummies suffer one less dot of loss than others would (e.g. only 2 dots of protective Merits for 3 bonus Resources dots), while mummies of the Tef-Aabhi suffer no loss at all.
Zeitfenster (Für Sextett) (Text ••) - Friday 8th Oct.
Durability 0, Size 2, Structure 2
Written by the composer and reputed magician Emil Hugo Melsbach in the early 1900s, Zeitfenster ('Windows of Time') was written for a sextet of violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet and French horn. It has a chaotic sound that few have described as pleasant, but is undoubtedly a work of musical genius. Each instrument's sound depicts a period of time, from the beginning of the universe to antiquity to the modern day, and can be played alone for a pleasant enough tune, but when all six are played together, the sounds clash, diverge and recombine to form a chaotic crescendo which reveals greater patterns. The original folio is yellowed and dog-eared, but quite readable, and able to be easily split into its six component parts.
It was only performed once for a full theater audience, and never again, as listeners complained of bizarre hallucinations, and many suffered mental breakdowns afterwards. Zeitfenster became a minor legend in the musical community, but Melsbach himself never saw it, as he vanished without a trace soon after the initial performance. According to the rumors, he was working on another piece of music, Türen von Weltall when he disappeared.
Power: Zeitfenster is not idly named. When a part of the music is played from the original copy, one person listening will experience hallucinatory visions. These are disorienting, but can provide insight into far-off times; the listener must state a number of questions about the past, and roll Wits + Composure to interpret these visions. For each success, one question is answered. Any successes over the number of chosen questions are lost, and once a question has been asked, whether it is answered or not, it can never be asked against by that person. These questions are limited in scope if only part of the music is played, depending on what instrument is used:
- Violin: Questions must concern the prehistoric world, before three thousand years ago.
- Viola: Questions must concern the prehistoric world, before the arising of humankind.
- Cello: Questions must concern the primordial world, before the Earth was fully-formed.
- Flute: Questions must concern the last ten years.
- Clarinet: Questions must concern the last hundred years, but no closer than ten years.
- French Horn: Questions must concern the last three thousand years, but no closer than one hundred years.
Curse: By listening to Zeitfenster, a person exposes their minds to the vast breadth and width of time's river, and it is easy to become lost in the flow. All characters who suffer the visions inflicted by the music suffer the Persistent Madness Condition. Mummies, their minds inured to the weight of ages, may roll Memory to resist, while the Sesha-Hebsu are immune.
The Pendant of Voices (Amulet •) - Saturday 9th Oct.
Durability 2, Size 1, Structure 3
The origin of this amulet is unclear, but rumor associates it with the Elizabethan lady and spy Ester Danet, though all tales agree that she received it from another - who, how, why and where vary from telling to telling. As the story goes, she uncovered more than a few plots against the Crown, but eventually grew so afraid of others spying on her that she locked herself in her chambers. Some tales end there, saying that she eventually recovered and returned to her courtly life, while the more colorful claim she ordered herself to be bricked up, save for a small slot for food and water, so that she would be safe from her enemies. Others say that her immurement was not her own will at all - that she learned a secret her masters did not wish her to tell.
Whatever the case, the Relic which is said by some to have precipitated these events takes the form of a pale opal the size of a quail's egg in a silver setting, with a small loop at the top to accommodate a chain, though it has been worn as a pendant, a brooch and sometimes simply kept in a pocket. In a quiet room, especially in darkness or moonlight, those nearby sometimes claim to hear a faint whispering sound, as if many people were speaking softly together, or the sound of cloth shifting at a little distance.
Power: If the wearer touches another person while wearing the pendant, she may spend a point of Willpower to leave a small, pale mark upon them, like a white scar a few millimeters across. This mark lasts indefinitely, but disappears if until the wearer loses the pendant. At any point thereafter, the wearer may raise the pendant to her ear and choose a mark they have laid to listen as if from the point of the mark. If the mark is covered, sound maybe muffled or indistinct.
This ability has become slightly obsolete, in this modern age of ubiquitous surveillance and miniaturized microphones, but in its day it was a miraculous tool, and it still has its utility as a nearly-untraceable method of eavesdropping.
Curse: As her ability to spy on others grows, so too does the user's paranoia about spies upon her. The wearer gains the persistent Delusional Condition, with regards to the idea that those around her are spying on her for their own reasons. The reasons she rationalizes do not have to be malevolent. Mummies only suffer this Condition in scenes in which they lay a new mark upon someone, and the Maa-Kep do not suffer it at all - they are used to the idea of watching and being watched.
Marks of the Beast-Blood (Seba •••) - Sunday 10th Oct.
The Keeper sought and taught the mysteries within, and brought forth this secret from the scarred flesh of a disciple, cutting him with knife and nail and hand into a shape that recalled an ancestry both bestial and numinous.
Power: Upon binding this Seba, the bearer collapses in painful convulsions, suffering the Insensate Tilt for a minute as its power draws out forgotten potence from their blood, bone and spirit. Once this process is complete, and so long as they remain in possession of the Seba, their being extends into Twilight in the form of an eldritch part-beast, part-monster, about which there are the faintest hints of lupine ancestry, scattered amongst constellations of eyes and protean limbs. This strange other-flesh is as much a part of their body as their physical form, and affords them the following abilities:
- They can perceive and physically interact with the ghostly and spiritual frequencies of Twilight and the beings therein.
- They can articulate the First Tongue of spirits, though they do not instinctively know it.
- They add an additional die to rolls made with physical Attributes or Wits when interacting with Twilight.
- They can perceive the presence of the Claimed and Possessed Conditions, seeing inhabiting entities nestling within their hosts.
- Their unarmed attacks against beings in Twilight are treated as 1L weapons with no Initiative penalty. These attacks deal Lethal damage to ephemeral beings.
Additionally, if the bearer is at a Locus, they may spend 1 Willpower and make a Resolve + Composure roll with a penalty equal to the local Gauntlet strength - 2. On a success, the bearer may cross the Gauntlet and enter the Shadow, or leave the Shadow and enter the physical realm again. While in the Shadow, the bearer's other-flesh lays around her, manifest at all times, and she enjoys all of its benefits.
Curse: The Keeper's wisdom is never kind, and this cuts to the bone. During the process of transformation, the other-flesh bursts out of the body like a flower blooming, inflicting 6 - Stamina Aggravated damage, minimum 1. Furthermore, though these wounds heal, the anchorage of the other-flesh places stress on the body and confuses the nervous system. Once per session, the Storyteller may inflict the Seizure Tilt on the bearer, with a Potency of 4. Finally, if the character loses the Seba by any means, they suffer the same damage and Tilt as when they gained it, as their other-flesh painfully sloughs away.
Mummies, having bodies composed more of dust and necromancy than flesh, do not suffer the nervous difficulties associated with the Seba, while do not suffer the damage and Tilt upon binding it.
Description: Your body rebels against you, your nervous system firing chaotically.
Effect: Roll Stamina + Composure. Each success subtracts 1 from the Potency of this Tilt, to a minimum of 1. The Tilt lasts for one round per Potency, inflicting a -1 penalty and 1 bashing damage per round, increasing until it ends.
Causing the Tilt: Certain mental afflictions, supernatural powers, nerve damage.
Ending the Tilt: Penalties fade at a rate of one per turn once the Tilt ends. Any damage remains until the character can heal.
Effect: Roll Stamina + Composure. Each success subtracts 1 from the Potency of this Tilt, to a minimum of 1. The Tilt lasts for one round per Potency, inflicting a -1 penalty and 1 bashing damage per round, increasing until it ends.
Causing the Tilt: Certain mental afflictions, supernatural powers, nerve damage.
Ending the Tilt: Penalties fade at a rate of one per turn once the Tilt ends. Any damage remains until the character can heal.
St. Cajetan of the Dice, 1548, unknown artist (Uter •) - Monday 11th Oct.
This life-sized portrait depicts Saint Cajetan, patron saint of Argentina, gamblers and the unemployed, standing beside a small table with a pair of dice falling from his hand into a bowl filled with silver coins. It was commissioned a year after his death by the Theatine Order he founded, and became an object of some curiosity in the art historian community in the late 1800s, as the particular shade of red of the inside of the saint's cloak was noted to be unique. Chemical testing of the pigment revealed it to be composed of human blood mixed with other, unidentifiable substances. This has only increased the curiosity surrounding the painting, especially as the pigment has been found nowhere else. Some say it was painted with the blood of the saint himself, and it has become a holy icon in the church in which it hangs in Apulia in southern Italy.
Power: If a person prays to the painting, they gain charges equal to their successes on a Composure + Resolve roll. Within the next week, they may spend one charge to either:
- Turn a roll on a chance die into a roll on an ordinary die.
- Negate up to three points of penalties to a single roll to do with gaining employment, begging charity or compassion from another, or a game of chance on which something significant to them is being wagered.
Curse: St. Cajetan rejected the wealth and corruption of the upper echelons of the Catholic church in his time, and his blessing aids only with sustenance, not the accumulation of vast coffers. For a month after invoking the blessing of this Relic, a character may not increase their Resources above 2, or raise them higher if they already have Resources above 2. If the latter is the case, their effective Resources are reduced for that month by 1, to a minimum of 2, as fate conspires to distribute their wealth.
Mummies' Resources ratings are not reduced if they are already above 2, and the Su-Menent are untouched by this curse, as their funds are already apportioned to holy purposes.
The Ring of Amenmeit (Regia •••••) - Tuesday 12th Oct.
A ring is a circle, and circles symbolize many things. They may represent the sun, the moon or the boundaries of the earth. They may represent perfection, eternity or the continuance of time. The Ring of Amenmeit represents all of these things and more. An unassuming golden band, wrought in a perfect circle without adornment, it nevertheless seems to possess a kind of warmth or radiance that has nothing to do with physical light or heat. For centuries, it has adorned the hand of the Mesen-Nebu Arisen Amenmeit, and has become a symbol of her power, such that it now even shares her name. As to its original source, the mummy is tight-lipped, but certain hints have been gleaned over the years, connecting it to the Rub al-Khali region of the Arabian peninsula, or possibly to one of the Guildmasters of the alchemists in Irem.
Power: The ring is a perfected channel for the mystic principle of Dedwen, allowing its wearer to perform incredible feats of transmutation, as an expression of the highest alchemy. The wearer may spend 1 Willpower or Pillar point while touching an object or objects of Size no greater than Resolve + Composure and roll Intelligence + Occult or Science + Ren with a penalty equal to the object's Resources value (or, if multiple objects, their collective Resources value, as adjudicated by the Storyteller). On a success, she may transform the object into any object or objects of the same Resources value, splitting or combining them as desired. This process takes place over the course of several moments, as the objects in question seem to superheat, melting into a brilliantly-glowing golden substance before re-solidifying into their new form. If the desired object or objects is complex (e.g. a car, a computer, a cellphone) the Storyteller may require a second Intelligence + Craft roll with appropriate penalties to determine whether it is formed correctly; if this second roll fails but the first succeeds the transmutation fails overall.
Alternatively, the ring may be used to perform similar transmutations upon living flesh. Make a Dexterity + Brawl - Defense roll to touch an unwilling target, then spend 1 Willpower or 1 Pillar point and make a Clash of Wills against the target. Net successes inflict 1 Lethal damage as flesh is transmuted to gold, lapis lazuli or other precious materials, ignoring Armor. Each point of Lethal damage dealt this way reduces the target's Speed and Initiative by 2, and inflicts a -2 penalty to Dexterity rolls. If this effect is used to kill a target, they transmute entirely into a precious statue. If a use of this power inflicts more damage than the victim's Stamina, you inflict one of the following Tilts upon them as relevant body parts are transmuted: Arm Wrack, Leg Wrack, Blinded or Deafened. These transmutations revert when the damage heals, but if the relevant parts are hacked off before that point (upgrading a relevant level of Lethal damage to Aggravated, and likely inflicting permanent Tilts and Conditions) they remain in their new forms.
Curse: Such is the power of the Ring that without great skill it is extremely difficult to prevent it from latching onto the Dedwen in one's own flesh. Whenever a character uses the Ring, they must make a Composure + Occult roll. For each success short of 5, they suffer 1 Lethal damage as the same transmutation described in the previous paragraph overtakes their flesh, including all secondary effects. Mummies add their Defining Pillar rating to this roll, and Mesen-Nebu need not roll at all.
Hope you all like these, find them interesting and so on!
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Seba, Relics of the Deceived - QafianSage
QafianSage
Ascending Ape
- Location
- United Kingdom
And, for good measure, my homebrew rules for Seba in 2e:
Seba
The Relics of the Deceived are unlike those of other Guilds. Rather than physical objects, they are notional relics, words of cosmic power and artistic revelation. Not unlike Utterances, they exist as channels carved into the fundament of creation, perhaps by gods, perhaps by Fate, perhaps by sublime works of art.
For the most part, seba exist in the way that the angel exists uncarved within the block of stone, or the river exists without water to run in its bed: In potential. They are not, in any conventional sense, but await a power to awaken them, to fill their channels as a flood fills and empty river's banks and bring them to life like a mummy arising from henet.
Some seba are the creations of humankind, arising from uniquely-inspired works of art. These are not the artworks themselves, but are born from them, as writing on a piece of paper may impress patterns on a sheet behind. Artistic seba have a function that relates in some way to the aesthetic vision of the art that spawned them, though Fate dictates the specifics. Depictions of violence, clashing colors, discordant sounds and the like will usually yield aggressive or combat-oriented magic, while a mournful and melancholic painting might unleash subtle slow-building curses. What quality separates one artwork from another such that one produces – or perhaps summons – a seba and one does not is a mystery lost to the ages; even in the days of Irem, the Shan'iatu did not always enjoy success in beckoning the power they desired.
Beyond the works of man, however, are cosmic seba, the jewels of the infinite heavens. Formed not by the arts of mankind, but the numinous mysteries of Fate, cosmic seba are incarnate reminders that Sekhem is not confined to earth, but a force that flows throughout the universe. Like artistic seba they have no location or position until they become manifest, heavenly conjunctions and events bringing cosmic Sekhem into alignment so as to fill them with power. The Sothic Turns in particular are often associated with many such convergences. Some cosmic seba return on their own cycles, while others have been seen only once. Perhaps their cycles are so long that even the Deathless have not existed long enough to catch them twice – or perhaps their appearance was truly unique, a wonder without precedent or repetition. Sometimes, the Deceived catch far-off glimpses of these treasures in the night sky, moving like comets or wheeling stars – and, indeed, it was for these glimpses that seba were named.
In both cases, however, it seems that seba do not require an external source of Sekhem to be created. The sacrifice of another vessel or of human life can sometimes empower a seba further, but it is not necessary. It is generally believed by the Restless Stars that their vessels are the treasures of Fate itself, and their power is as a spark from Fate's infinite radiant Is. Some even go so far as to claim that seba are the source of the original power at the root of Irem – that when there were only few Pillars in the first city, the lives of men were not spent for power, and the Empire was a paradise sustained by the gifts of Fate and the first Guild.
Celestial Alignment
At the appointed time and place, a seba may become manifest, trickles from the cosmic flow of Fate running into its lines and giving it location. It remains invisible, however, and lacks even the spiritual substance of Neter-Khertet. Only those who have previously bound a seba can perceive these manifest vessels; without such experience even magic which allows perception of subtle supernatural effects, such as the Godsight Affinity, may grant only what faint and momentary glimpses Fate allows – usually to those destined eventually to bind a seba themselves.
To those who can perceive them clearly, seba remain mysterious; without form, they are difficult to define. From a distance they are seen like stars fallen to earth, diffuse light forming a halo around a core of mystery. As one approaches, however, they resolve into shining hieroglyphs in a tongue ancient when Irem was raised – some say the very language of Fate itself – whose form owes as much to the shape of thought, feeling, body and soul as to any line or glyph. They are power whose name may be known only by taking them into one's soul.
When, where and for how long seba manifest is ultimately up to the Storyteller. However, what follows are some suggestions.
Seeing as they lack any physical presence, and even their immaterial existence is generally passing, it may seem impossible to actually track down seba, or at least that happening upon one must be a result of either knowing their cycle (and hoping nothing's upset it in the meantime) or being present at the creation of an artistic seba. Fortunately, as they are treasures given forth by Fate, Fate sees fit to provide some guidance towards Its masterpieces.
Finding Seba
Deceived – and, once they have bound one, Arisen and Shuankhsen – are capable of tracking seba via kepher. However, this works slightly differently to normal kepher.
Firstly, instead of the Judges sending mummies to track them down, a mummy may attempt a special divination, reading the stars to glean a hint from Fate to begin a kepher investigation to find one. This is a (lower of Wits or Intelligence) + (lower of Occult or Expression) roll, which requires a direct view of the stars to attempt. Accurate maps or images of the stars may suffice, though they always impose a penalty. Success grants the first Clue in a kepher investigation to locate the seba, though not if the mummy has not yet completed a previous Fate-given kepher investigation. Exceptional success grants some other insight into the future or present, though not another Clue.
Secondly, such a kepher investigation will invariably reveal the time and place of a manifestation the mummy stands some chance of reaching, or the identity and location of the current bearer of a seba.
Those without the benefit of kepher may still attempt to track down such a conjunction. Doing so requires at least Occult 3 and a specialty in Iremite Magic, Nomenclature, Seba or similar, and success on an Extended roll with a goal number of 10 and an interval depending on the seba in question – a day for a 1-dot seba, a week for 2-dot, a month for 3-dot, 3 months for a 4-dot or and a year for 5-dot. This grants only knowledge of the time and place a seba will manifest, not assure that a character can or will reach it, or even that they know how to bind it.
Fate may occasionally grant a character visions and omens as if they were capable of kepher, leading them towards a seba and guiding them to claim it. This is often more a curse than a blessing, both because of the weight of Fate's treasures, and the fact that the Restless Stars are always on the lookout for the secret vessels of their Guild.
Binding Seba
Once a manifest seba has been found, it can be bound to one's soul to claim its power. This requires the character either be a part of the Lost Guild, have 4 or 5 dots of the Deceived Cult Initiation Merit, or have Occult 3+ and a specialty in Iremite Magic, Nomenclature, Seba or similar. Alternatively, if Fate desires them to, a character may bind a seba without such preparations.
Performing the binding requires that the character be within Occult x 10 meters of the manifest seba and spend 1 Willpower. If they have neither membership in the Lost Guild or 4+ dots of the Deceived Cult Initiation Merit, they must succeed on a Resolve + Occult roll with a penalty equal to the seba's rating to bind it successfully. On a success it momentarily flares, then implodes to those who can see it, Fate-given power coming to nestle amongst the Pillars of her soul like a tomb's Lifeweb. Arisen characters may bind as many seba as they wish, but mortals may only bind as many as they have missing dots of Integrity.
While bound, a seba is invisible, but when actively used those who can perceive manifest seba will be able to glimpse some manifestation of its power – blazing hieroglyphs, an impossible fluidity of motion in the bearer's form, or some other sign of their presence. Seba with constantly-active powers are constantly visible in this way, haloes and crowns on their bearers.
As with other Relics, non-mummies are subject to a seba's full curse, while mummies suffer a lesser version of it, and the Deceived are immune.
Seba bound within one's soul can be cannibalized like any other vessel, for the same benefits, but cannot be only partially drained. Doing so requires only the expenditure of a point of Willpower, which drains the vessel of the Sekhem which animates it, releasing it to the cosmos to exist in potential once more. Some seba can also be sacrificed to make use of their powers; this is done in the same way and has the same effects, but provides no other benefit besides the power. Seba drained or sacrificed can manifest again and even be re-acquired.
Example Seba
An Age to Come Hereafter (Seba ••••)
It is said that this Seba is a prophecy which once fell from the lips of an apprentice of the Poet Itself, of a world after unguided humanity has destroyed itself, and when men and beasts draw close once more.
Power: The bearer of this Seba may spend 2 Willpower and one hour telling a tale of this benighted age to up to Presence aware targets. Unwilling targets may resist with Resolve + Ka, with a penalty equal to the bearer's Manipulation. If the targets are willing or fail to resist, at the end of this tale they undergo a painful transformation, limbs and jaws elongating until they have become an unwholesome hybrid of jackal, hyena and humanity. This transformation lasts until the next dawn, and confers the following effects:
The Seba's bearer may also create this transformation in herself for 1 Willpower or a point of Sheut as an Instant action. Additionally, when she transforms an Inheritor or Sadikh, she may impart this secondary ability to that Inheritor, though not the ability to transform others.
Curse: The prophesied age is one of brutality and the bestial remnants of humankind squatting in the ruins of their forbears. Those transformed via this Seba suffer a -2 penalty to all Intelligence and Manipulation rolls, which lingers for a week following the transformation. Additionally, while transformed characters are incapable of comprehending written language, and must succeed on a Composure + Resolve test whenever they smell or taste human blood to resist gaining the Beserk Condition. Anchored by their connection to the first true civilization, Mummies do not suffer the penalties to Intelligence and Manipulation.
A Drink to Vanity (••)
The Thousand Eyes in One teaches the art of thoughtful deconstruction, the erosion of ideologies and anthropocentric follies as sand wears temples down to join the flowing dunes; indiscriminately and without mercy. In the face of such ultimate meaninglessness mortal hearts quail and seek escape in thoughtless revelry - where there is no thought, there can be no dread of futility, and so the Philosopher's teachings devour themselves.
Power: When the bearer speaks to another character on the subjects of time, eternity, mortality, hedonism, pleasure or its fleeting nature, they may roll (Presence + Occult or Science or Persuasion or Socialize + Sheut), resisted by (Composure + Ren + supernatural tolerance). On a success, your interlocutor immediately takes the Wanton Condition, which cannot be resolved until the end of the scene.
Curse: If mortal souls find it hard to bear the weight of cosmic futility when told to one, how much harder is it to keep that knowledge next to one's heart? The bearer of this Seba is inflicted with the Wanton Condition at the beginning of each scene. Mummies are more inured to the unsettling weight of eternity, and thus only suffer it once per session; the Storyteller chooses which scene it is inflicted in.
@Aleph , would it be possible to get this post, and the previous one, threadmarked?
Seba
The Relics of the Deceived are unlike those of other Guilds. Rather than physical objects, they are notional relics, words of cosmic power and artistic revelation. Not unlike Utterances, they exist as channels carved into the fundament of creation, perhaps by gods, perhaps by Fate, perhaps by sublime works of art.
For the most part, seba exist in the way that the angel exists uncarved within the block of stone, or the river exists without water to run in its bed: In potential. They are not, in any conventional sense, but await a power to awaken them, to fill their channels as a flood fills and empty river's banks and bring them to life like a mummy arising from henet.
Some seba are the creations of humankind, arising from uniquely-inspired works of art. These are not the artworks themselves, but are born from them, as writing on a piece of paper may impress patterns on a sheet behind. Artistic seba have a function that relates in some way to the aesthetic vision of the art that spawned them, though Fate dictates the specifics. Depictions of violence, clashing colors, discordant sounds and the like will usually yield aggressive or combat-oriented magic, while a mournful and melancholic painting might unleash subtle slow-building curses. What quality separates one artwork from another such that one produces – or perhaps summons – a seba and one does not is a mystery lost to the ages; even in the days of Irem, the Shan'iatu did not always enjoy success in beckoning the power they desired.
Beyond the works of man, however, are cosmic seba, the jewels of the infinite heavens. Formed not by the arts of mankind, but the numinous mysteries of Fate, cosmic seba are incarnate reminders that Sekhem is not confined to earth, but a force that flows throughout the universe. Like artistic seba they have no location or position until they become manifest, heavenly conjunctions and events bringing cosmic Sekhem into alignment so as to fill them with power. The Sothic Turns in particular are often associated with many such convergences. Some cosmic seba return on their own cycles, while others have been seen only once. Perhaps their cycles are so long that even the Deathless have not existed long enough to catch them twice – or perhaps their appearance was truly unique, a wonder without precedent or repetition. Sometimes, the Deceived catch far-off glimpses of these treasures in the night sky, moving like comets or wheeling stars – and, indeed, it was for these glimpses that seba were named.
In both cases, however, it seems that seba do not require an external source of Sekhem to be created. The sacrifice of another vessel or of human life can sometimes empower a seba further, but it is not necessary. It is generally believed by the Restless Stars that their vessels are the treasures of Fate itself, and their power is as a spark from Fate's infinite radiant Is. Some even go so far as to claim that seba are the source of the original power at the root of Irem – that when there were only few Pillars in the first city, the lives of men were not spent for power, and the Empire was a paradise sustained by the gifts of Fate and the first Guild.
Celestial Alignment
At the appointed time and place, a seba may become manifest, trickles from the cosmic flow of Fate running into its lines and giving it location. It remains invisible, however, and lacks even the spiritual substance of Neter-Khertet. Only those who have previously bound a seba can perceive these manifest vessels; without such experience even magic which allows perception of subtle supernatural effects, such as the Godsight Affinity, may grant only what faint and momentary glimpses Fate allows – usually to those destined eventually to bind a seba themselves.
To those who can perceive them clearly, seba remain mysterious; without form, they are difficult to define. From a distance they are seen like stars fallen to earth, diffuse light forming a halo around a core of mystery. As one approaches, however, they resolve into shining hieroglyphs in a tongue ancient when Irem was raised – some say the very language of Fate itself – whose form owes as much to the shape of thought, feeling, body and soul as to any line or glyph. They are power whose name may be known only by taking them into one's soul.
When, where and for how long seba manifest is ultimately up to the Storyteller. However, what follows are some suggestions.
- The length of a seba's manifestation is generally inversely proportional to its power; 1- and 2-dot seba generally manifest for several days or perhaps a week or two, 3- and 4-dot seba remain manifest only for hours, or at most a day, and 5-dot seba remain manifest for only one scene.
- The length of time between manifestations is proportional to its power. Discounting periods decided by the Storyteller for plot reasons, or the auspicious alignment of the Sothic Turn, 1- and 2-dot seba measure their interval in months; 3-dot in years; 4-dot in decades; and 5-dot in centuries. Roll dice equal to the relic's rating with a target number of 6. The period between manifestations lasts a number of intervals equal to (1 + successes rolled).
- Artistic seba always begin their first manifestation upon the completion of the work of art they are tied to, before beginning their cycle. They always manifest in places humans could – at least theoretically – reach with the means currently available to them.
- Any seba a character has bound to them when they die or enter a death cycle or henet immediately begin a manifestation which ends at the end of the scene.
Seeing as they lack any physical presence, and even their immaterial existence is generally passing, it may seem impossible to actually track down seba, or at least that happening upon one must be a result of either knowing their cycle (and hoping nothing's upset it in the meantime) or being present at the creation of an artistic seba. Fortunately, as they are treasures given forth by Fate, Fate sees fit to provide some guidance towards Its masterpieces.
Finding Seba
Deceived – and, once they have bound one, Arisen and Shuankhsen – are capable of tracking seba via kepher. However, this works slightly differently to normal kepher.
Firstly, instead of the Judges sending mummies to track them down, a mummy may attempt a special divination, reading the stars to glean a hint from Fate to begin a kepher investigation to find one. This is a (lower of Wits or Intelligence) + (lower of Occult or Expression) roll, which requires a direct view of the stars to attempt. Accurate maps or images of the stars may suffice, though they always impose a penalty. Success grants the first Clue in a kepher investigation to locate the seba, though not if the mummy has not yet completed a previous Fate-given kepher investigation. Exceptional success grants some other insight into the future or present, though not another Clue.
Secondly, such a kepher investigation will invariably reveal the time and place of a manifestation the mummy stands some chance of reaching, or the identity and location of the current bearer of a seba.
Those without the benefit of kepher may still attempt to track down such a conjunction. Doing so requires at least Occult 3 and a specialty in Iremite Magic, Nomenclature, Seba or similar, and success on an Extended roll with a goal number of 10 and an interval depending on the seba in question – a day for a 1-dot seba, a week for 2-dot, a month for 3-dot, 3 months for a 4-dot or and a year for 5-dot. This grants only knowledge of the time and place a seba will manifest, not assure that a character can or will reach it, or even that they know how to bind it.
Fate may occasionally grant a character visions and omens as if they were capable of kepher, leading them towards a seba and guiding them to claim it. This is often more a curse than a blessing, both because of the weight of Fate's treasures, and the fact that the Restless Stars are always on the lookout for the secret vessels of their Guild.
Binding Seba
Once a manifest seba has been found, it can be bound to one's soul to claim its power. This requires the character either be a part of the Lost Guild, have 4 or 5 dots of the Deceived Cult Initiation Merit, or have Occult 3+ and a specialty in Iremite Magic, Nomenclature, Seba or similar. Alternatively, if Fate desires them to, a character may bind a seba without such preparations.
Performing the binding requires that the character be within Occult x 10 meters of the manifest seba and spend 1 Willpower. If they have neither membership in the Lost Guild or 4+ dots of the Deceived Cult Initiation Merit, they must succeed on a Resolve + Occult roll with a penalty equal to the seba's rating to bind it successfully. On a success it momentarily flares, then implodes to those who can see it, Fate-given power coming to nestle amongst the Pillars of her soul like a tomb's Lifeweb. Arisen characters may bind as many seba as they wish, but mortals may only bind as many as they have missing dots of Integrity.
While bound, a seba is invisible, but when actively used those who can perceive manifest seba will be able to glimpse some manifestation of its power – blazing hieroglyphs, an impossible fluidity of motion in the bearer's form, or some other sign of their presence. Seba with constantly-active powers are constantly visible in this way, haloes and crowns on their bearers.
As with other Relics, non-mummies are subject to a seba's full curse, while mummies suffer a lesser version of it, and the Deceived are immune.
Seba bound within one's soul can be cannibalized like any other vessel, for the same benefits, but cannot be only partially drained. Doing so requires only the expenditure of a point of Willpower, which drains the vessel of the Sekhem which animates it, releasing it to the cosmos to exist in potential once more. Some seba can also be sacrificed to make use of their powers; this is done in the same way and has the same effects, but provides no other benefit besides the power. Seba drained or sacrificed can manifest again and even be re-acquired.
Example Seba
An Age to Come Hereafter (Seba ••••)
It is said that this Seba is a prophecy which once fell from the lips of an apprentice of the Poet Itself, of a world after unguided humanity has destroyed itself, and when men and beasts draw close once more.
Power: The bearer of this Seba may spend 2 Willpower and one hour telling a tale of this benighted age to up to Presence aware targets. Unwilling targets may resist with Resolve + Ka, with a penalty equal to the bearer's Manipulation. If the targets are willing or fail to resist, at the end of this tale they undergo a painful transformation, limbs and jaws elongating until they have become an unwholesome hybrid of jackal, hyena and humanity. This transformation lasts until the next dawn, and confers the following effects:
- +1 Size
- +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +3 Stamina
- +3 Speed
- +2 dice to perception rolls, climbing or chasing rolls, or to rolls to resist inhospitable environments
- Bite and claws become 2L weapons with no Initiative penalty
- The character may eat anything and gain nourishment from it, so long as it is organic in nature. Their bite attacks ignore 1 Durability, and they cannot be harmed, directly or indirectly, by ingesting anything (e.g. they cannot catch disease from fouled meat, they suffer no splinters for eating wood etc).
- While subject to the Berserk Condition, they regenerate 1 Bashing damage per round. If they have no Bashing damage remaining, they downgrade 1 Lethal damage to Bashing per round instead.
The Seba's bearer may also create this transformation in herself for 1 Willpower or a point of Sheut as an Instant action. Additionally, when she transforms an Inheritor or Sadikh, she may impart this secondary ability to that Inheritor, though not the ability to transform others.
Curse: The prophesied age is one of brutality and the bestial remnants of humankind squatting in the ruins of their forbears. Those transformed via this Seba suffer a -2 penalty to all Intelligence and Manipulation rolls, which lingers for a week following the transformation. Additionally, while transformed characters are incapable of comprehending written language, and must succeed on a Composure + Resolve test whenever they smell or taste human blood to resist gaining the Beserk Condition. Anchored by their connection to the first true civilization, Mummies do not suffer the penalties to Intelligence and Manipulation.
A Drink to Vanity (••)
The Thousand Eyes in One teaches the art of thoughtful deconstruction, the erosion of ideologies and anthropocentric follies as sand wears temples down to join the flowing dunes; indiscriminately and without mercy. In the face of such ultimate meaninglessness mortal hearts quail and seek escape in thoughtless revelry - where there is no thought, there can be no dread of futility, and so the Philosopher's teachings devour themselves.
Power: When the bearer speaks to another character on the subjects of time, eternity, mortality, hedonism, pleasure or its fleeting nature, they may roll (Presence + Occult or Science or Persuasion or Socialize + Sheut), resisted by (Composure + Ren + supernatural tolerance). On a success, your interlocutor immediately takes the Wanton Condition, which cannot be resolved until the end of the scene.
Curse: If mortal souls find it hard to bear the weight of cosmic futility when told to one, how much harder is it to keep that knowledge next to one's heart? The bearer of this Seba is inflicted with the Wanton Condition at the beginning of each scene. Mummies are more inured to the unsettling weight of eternity, and thus only suffer it once per session; the Storyteller chooses which scene it is inflicted in.
@Aleph , would it be possible to get this post, and the previous one, threadmarked?
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QafianSage
Ascending Ape
- Location
- United Kingdom
And another one for the road:
A Silence (Seba •)
There are no mortal words to truly articulate the cold and stillness of the void. No mortal being has known it bite her bone-deep and lived to tell of it. Immortals are not granted such mercy - but even they lack the ability to truly describe their experiences, save through the clinical, sanitized terms of modern science. And nevertheless, there are the seba known as Silences.
These cosmic seba only ever manifest in places suited to their nature; the depths of frigid caves or the deep ocean or the empty vastness of space. Perhaps they cannot endure anything more.
Power: As Reflexive action on her turn, the bearer of this seba may articulate true silence, speaking an un-word that freezes the body and stills all sound. Within an area out to Resolve + Sekhem meters, all sound is utterly muted. The silence lasts until the start of her next turn. No sound can be made within this area, nor can it enter or leave; this space is utterly silent, save for the soul-speech of an Utterance. Alternatively, if she wishes, the bearer may focus this silence upon an individual, or shrink the region of effect. Within a silenced area, hearing-based Perception rolls are utterly inapplicable, and the same applies to others attempting to hear anything within the area. A character who spends more than a minute in such silence suffers the Spooked Condition, which must be resolved by making noise in some manner, in rebellion against the unnatural hush.
Curse: One who bears this seba lives with primordial silence within her soul, and when contrasted against that constant awareness any degree of sound can seem deafening. The bearer suffers a -1 penalty to all actions when surrounded by noise above the level of two people talking quietly. This rises to -2 in noisier settings, such as a crowded room, and to -3 in a situation such as being next to a busy street or an airport. Noise is profoundly uncomfortable for them, and so they will generally seek to avoid such. Mummies reduce any penalty imposed by noise by 1, while the Deceived suffer no such penalties.
A Silence (Seba •)
There are no mortal words to truly articulate the cold and stillness of the void. No mortal being has known it bite her bone-deep and lived to tell of it. Immortals are not granted such mercy - but even they lack the ability to truly describe their experiences, save through the clinical, sanitized terms of modern science. And nevertheless, there are the seba known as Silences.
These cosmic seba only ever manifest in places suited to their nature; the depths of frigid caves or the deep ocean or the empty vastness of space. Perhaps they cannot endure anything more.
Power: As Reflexive action on her turn, the bearer of this seba may articulate true silence, speaking an un-word that freezes the body and stills all sound. Within an area out to Resolve + Sekhem meters, all sound is utterly muted. The silence lasts until the start of her next turn. No sound can be made within this area, nor can it enter or leave; this space is utterly silent, save for the soul-speech of an Utterance. Alternatively, if she wishes, the bearer may focus this silence upon an individual, or shrink the region of effect. Within a silenced area, hearing-based Perception rolls are utterly inapplicable, and the same applies to others attempting to hear anything within the area. A character who spends more than a minute in such silence suffers the Spooked Condition, which must be resolved by making noise in some manner, in rebellion against the unnatural hush.
Curse: One who bears this seba lives with primordial silence within her soul, and when contrasted against that constant awareness any degree of sound can seem deafening. The bearer suffers a -1 penalty to all actions when surrounded by noise above the level of two people talking quietly. This rises to -2 in noisier settings, such as a crowded room, and to -3 in a situation such as being next to a busy street or an airport. Noise is profoundly uncomfortable for them, and so they will generally seek to avoid such. Mummies reduce any penalty imposed by noise by 1, while the Deceived suffer no such penalties.
- Pronouns
- Him/He
Those are all amazing! Thanks for sharing them here Qafian.
QafianSage
Ascending Ape
- Location
- United Kingdom
Thank you! It means a lot.
For good measure, I'll throw out another one, for if you want to threaten an apocalypse.
Then Follow the Snows... (Text •••••)
Durability 2, Size 2, Structure 4
The name of this text is derived from a fragment of the Voluspa in Skamma, an ancient Icelandic poem describing Ragnarok, the prophesized ending of the world. The first thing any onlooker would most likely notice about this Text, however, is not the writing itself, but what it is written on: The severed head of a bearded, middle-aged man, undecayed despite its age; genetic analysis has placed the head as that of a Scandinavian man who lived around the 5th century AD. The head was found in Iceland, buried under what seems to have been a toppled runestone, in the remains of what might have been an ancient well or spring, filled in. The runestone's letters have been scratched out with a chisel, leaving only a carven image; a well, beside which kneels the stylized figure of a man, opposite a wolf.
The head is certainly quite dead, and grey with bloodlessness, but the color of its skin is almost impossible to see beneath the runes minutely tattooed and densely-packed across its skin. In Old Norse, these runes form a prophecy, or perhaps a recitation of history: They tell the tale of Fimbulwinter, the winter that shall span three summers, before Ragnarok arrives.
Power: To activate this Relic, the user must recite the three stanzas of the prophecy written upon the head. Each stanza takes one turn and 1 Willpower to recite, as well as an appropriate translation from the Old Norse (Intelligence + Academics, goal number 8, interval 1 day with reference texts, 1 week without). Once this is complete, the head's dull eyes open, and its dead mouth begins to recite the prophecy itself, never ceasing its until it is destroyed, or another person takes it in hand and recites the final three stanzas of the prophecy, taking the same time and expenditure as the first three.
So long as the head continues to recite, its prophecy spills out into the world. Immediately, an area out to one kilometer from the head comes under the effects of the Fimbulwinter Tilt. This area increases by one kilometer per hour that the head continues to recite. There is no maximum distance that this can reach to, save that the head will only speak for three years at a time.
Curse: The prophecy the head recites excludes none from its ravages. The Fimbulwinter Tilt affects all equally, including any who, and any creatures it sets loose bear no especial love or allegiance to the master of the Relic. Mummies are immune to the Breaking Points imposed by the Tilt, while the Sesha-Hebsu ignore all effects of the Tilt on a personal level if they were the ones to invoke it - though they can no more control or restrict its environmental effects than any other.
Fimbulwinter (Environmental Tilt)
Cold and snow steal over the world, attended by cruel winds and omens of doom. Ancient things rattle their cages, the dead walk and all that once was sure becomes uncertain.
Effect: This Tilt has the effects of the Extreme Cold and Blizzard Tilts, and often brings with it Heavy Winds, Ice and more. Furthermore, while this Tilt is in effect, the Gauntlet rating of the area it covers is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1. This reduction increased by 1 for every week that follows. Additionally, when the reduction reaches -3, all Avernian Gates within the area open, and remain open for the Tilt's duration, while Loci are treated as Verges for the purposes of crossing into or out of the Shadow. At the Storyteller's discretion, once the reduction reaches -5 (at which point it stops growing), caged or imprisoned creatures, such as spirits sealed within Fetishes or bound within magical prisons, may be able to slip their bonds.
Finally, for every full day spent within the effects of this Tilt, mortals suffer a Breaking Point. This interval increases to a week at Integrity 4, two weeks at Integrity 3, a month at Integrity 2 and three months at Integrity 1.
Causing the Tilt: This Tilt is imposed by certain dread supernatural powers, or the coming apocalypse.
Ending the Tilt: Break or stop the source of the Tilt, or avert the coming apocalypse.
Generalissimo
Generalissimo of SufficientVelocity
- Location
- Tropico, Tropico
Apocalyptic Record for Werewolf: the Apocalypse KickStarter has 63 hours to go!
- Location
- my house
So Exalted vs WOD revised just came out.
It looks really good!
It uses the 20th anniversary edition base rules, which I have never played. Are those any good?
It looks really good!
It uses the 20th anniversary edition base rules, which I have never played. Are those any good?
- Location
- Denver Metro, CO, USA
Depends on the game line! Vampire 20, Werewolf 20, and Changeling 20 are pretty good. Mage 20 has major editing issues and random-seeming directorial decisions that bloat the book and drop entire chunks of ruleset; I recommend using 2nd or Revised in their place.
I'llNameThisL8r
Bad at names
- Location
- Here
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I would second this and say that the M20 formatting is absolutely nonsensical and topics and mechanics are presented in seemingly the order that they occurred to the guy writing the thing. Wraith 20 is also pretty good, actually, just apropos of the earlier statement.
- Location
- my house
How would W20 stack up to the nWoD properties?
Also here are some Ex Vs WoD charms
Mark of Caine (Hell of Burrowing Maggots) (***)
It is the nature of Hell to punish Sinners, but it is not picky over what one considers a Sin. It would make every action a Sin, so that the world was full of Sinners.
System: The Infernal spends 2 Ess and rolls Manipulation + Expression against a difficulty of the Target's Willpower. The Target may attempt to rebut the Infernal's words by spending 1 WP and rolling (Charisma or Manipulation) + Expression roll of his own at a difficulty of the Infernal's WP. If he fails to do so, or fails to get more successes than the Infernal on this roll, then the target is condemned. All who meet him know instinctively that he has committed some abhorrent (but non-specific) crime. For the next (Infernal's Ess) weeks, the difficulty of all the target's social rolls increases by two and people distrust them on general principle. The infernal can extend this effect by 1 week (or day for the Signature effect) per Ess spent.
Signature Effect: When this charm is activated by an Infernal in the full glory of their Godbody, their target is branded not merely as a criminal, but an outlaw. Compare the Infernal's successes on the initial roll to all Backgrounds the target possesses. If any Background has a dot rating of less than (Initial Successes - 3), then the target loses access to that Background for the next (Infernal's Ess) days. This only applies to external Backgrounds such as (Resources and Fame) these fairweather friends abandoning the target in response to his heinous acts.
Not My Problem (Hell of Burrowing Maggots) (***)
The denizens of Hell have learned to ignore the suffering of others, less they themselves are targeted for that suffering.
System: Spend 2 Essence and roll Manipulation + Expression against difficulty 6. Everyone present whose Willpower rating is equal to or less compelled to ignore the actions of the Infernal as simply the way of things for the rest of the scene. They will take no actions to stop the Infernal for the rest of the scene, and any attempts to compel their action have their difficulty increased by 2.
Even once this scene ends, targets affected by this charm consider their actions (or rather, lack thereof) as justified. What happened was none of their business after all.
Devil Lord's Bloody Decree (****) (Lanka)
The Infernal makes a threatening gesture (it is tradition to rip the head off of a nearby subordinate) and bellows a single command. All nearby leap to obey, less they suffer the Infernal's wrath.
System: Spend 2 Essence and roll Intimidation + Expression against difficulty 6. Everyone present whose Willpower rating is equal to or less than the number of successes rolled obeys a single order bellowed by the Infernal. This effect lasts until the end of the scene.
This Charm does nothing to organize the mob's efforts. Indeed it can't, for the abject terror of the mob prevents any sort of rational planning. For this reason only the most rudimentary orders (such as "Kill that man!" and "Stop Her!") can be given by this charm.
Also here are some Ex Vs WoD charms
Mark of Caine (Hell of Burrowing Maggots) (***)
It is the nature of Hell to punish Sinners, but it is not picky over what one considers a Sin. It would make every action a Sin, so that the world was full of Sinners.
System: The Infernal spends 2 Ess and rolls Manipulation + Expression against a difficulty of the Target's Willpower. The Target may attempt to rebut the Infernal's words by spending 1 WP and rolling (Charisma or Manipulation) + Expression roll of his own at a difficulty of the Infernal's WP. If he fails to do so, or fails to get more successes than the Infernal on this roll, then the target is condemned. All who meet him know instinctively that he has committed some abhorrent (but non-specific) crime. For the next (Infernal's Ess) weeks, the difficulty of all the target's social rolls increases by two and people distrust them on general principle. The infernal can extend this effect by 1 week (or day for the Signature effect) per Ess spent.
Signature Effect: When this charm is activated by an Infernal in the full glory of their Godbody, their target is branded not merely as a criminal, but an outlaw. Compare the Infernal's successes on the initial roll to all Backgrounds the target possesses. If any Background has a dot rating of less than (Initial Successes - 3), then the target loses access to that Background for the next (Infernal's Ess) days. This only applies to external Backgrounds such as (Resources and Fame) these fairweather friends abandoning the target in response to his heinous acts.
Not My Problem (Hell of Burrowing Maggots) (***)
The denizens of Hell have learned to ignore the suffering of others, less they themselves are targeted for that suffering.
System: Spend 2 Essence and roll Manipulation + Expression against difficulty 6. Everyone present whose Willpower rating is equal to or less compelled to ignore the actions of the Infernal as simply the way of things for the rest of the scene. They will take no actions to stop the Infernal for the rest of the scene, and any attempts to compel their action have their difficulty increased by 2.
Even once this scene ends, targets affected by this charm consider their actions (or rather, lack thereof) as justified. What happened was none of their business after all.
Devil Lord's Bloody Decree (****) (Lanka)
The Infernal makes a threatening gesture (it is tradition to rip the head off of a nearby subordinate) and bellows a single command. All nearby leap to obey, less they suffer the Infernal's wrath.
System: Spend 2 Essence and roll Intimidation + Expression against difficulty 6. Everyone present whose Willpower rating is equal to or less than the number of successes rolled obeys a single order bellowed by the Infernal. This effect lasts until the end of the scene.
This Charm does nothing to organize the mob's efforts. Indeed it can't, for the abject terror of the mob prevents any sort of rational planning. For this reason only the most rudimentary orders (such as "Kill that man!" and "Stop Her!") can be given by this charm.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
I recently played this, and it's definitely interesting as both a fresh source of mythological idea fodder and as a source of flavor for nWerewolf and Twilight/the Hisil overall.
It's available on Steam for $1.74 if you get it today.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/574310/The_Mooseman/
It's available on Steam for $1.74 if you get it today.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/574310/The_Mooseman/
- Location
- my house
So Exalted Vs WoD has inspired me to start working on my Worm/WoD crossover (heavy on the Ascension side since that is the property I am most familiar with) so here is a rough timeline I whipped up fusing their backstories:
Initial Thoughts:
- 1947
- EDE-1753 Codenamed: Eden crash lands in Roswell, New Mexico and is shortly after killed by a young unknown psychic.
- The study of "Eden's" unique biology leads to several scientific breakthroughs, including the development of radar-invisible stealth aircraft which can be produced using contemporary masses technology. Advances in Enlightened Science are equally lucrative.
- Doctors Mother and Manton lead these efforts.
- 1950
- A golden man with long hair is seen flying over the pacific ocean. He saves one Andrew Hawke from drowning. He speaks one word (Scion) and leaves. Later medical work indicates that "Scion" cured Andrew's cancer as well.
- Designated Extradimensional Entity 2031 (EDE-2031) Codename: Scion.
- For the next several years, "Scion" travels the globe performing minor altruistic acts such as saving kittens from trees and saving people from burning buildings.
- Attempts to capture, contact or contain "Scion" are unsuccessful. He is deemed largely benevolent and inconsequential and so the decision is made to simply cover up his actions.
- 1981
- Reality Deviant Andrew Hawke (known publicly as Vikare) makes his debut as a costumed hero. He is not affiliated with any known Reality Deviant Organization.
- 1985
- The cold war ends. Many Soviet Unionists defect to the traditions or choose to enter a quiet retirement.
- 1987
- Dimensional Anomaly occurs, cutting off the Technocratic Union from most off-world assets. This includes the Board of Directors (is this the right term for the leaders of the Union?). The Reality Terrorist "Council of the 9" is similarly affected.
- Ancient Hemophage Ravnos (captured hemophage documents refer to him as the Ravnos Antediluvian. A semi-mythical progenitor of the Ravnos breed of hemophages.) awakens in India. Hemophages of his breed around the world begin attacking all living beings in sight. Technocratic and Reality Deviant forces act to contain this threat, but are stymied by the Dimensional Anomaly. Several other minor factions join the effort as well.
- EDE-2031 joins combat against "Ravnos". Both die in the ensuing fight.
- Shortly thereafter, videos, documents and witness testimony of "Scion's" heroics over the past 19 years are released to the general public. This is believed to be an Etherite plot. The technocracy fails to prevent general knowledge of "Scion" to spread.
- The failure of the technocratic Union in India emboldens Reality Deviants and EDEs (what does the TU call the other splats?) and they begin operating more openly.
- The India Incident will later be referred to as the first "Crisis Event" in masses media. This term will stick.
- 1988
- An interim Board of Directors is established to handle the day to day running of the Technocratic Union.
- Members include:
- Dr. Andrew Ritcher, Iteration X (Chairman)
- Dr. Mother, Progenitors
- Donald Spade, Syndicate
- Contessa Fortuna, New World Order
- Dr. Alex Graphe, Void Engineers
- Members include:
- To preserve resources, Technocratic Union policy shifts to make greater use of existing masses organizations. Low level operations are now carried out through proxies with minimal Union oversight.
- An interim Board of Directors is established to handle the day to day running of the Technocratic Union.
- 1989
- Dr. Ernest Hugh publishes her paper "On the Changing Delusions of Reality Deviants" in which she notes a sharp increase of Reality Deviants whose delusion is based in a belief in super-heroic powers. She hypothesizes this may be a reaction to the events in India. She makes the argument that Scion's iconography (glowing gold, white bodysuit, etc) tied into the existing super-heroic architype (see, "Superman, A Superheroic Ideal") and convinced these nascent Reality Deviants that they could imitate his feats. [BJ(1]
- Etherite "Archmagos" Miles Maise joins the Technocracy in return for access to "Scion's" body. He completes his doctorate that same year.
- 1991
- Recruitment of Enlightened Scientists from Technocratic Union internal sources (Damien School for Exceptional Youth, etc) decreases. This trend continues until 2013 when it stabilizes at that reduced level.
- In response to increasingly bold Reality Deviant actions, the Technocratic Union decides to introduce the public to previously hidden information in a controlled manner.
- Professor Haywire is debuted to the public.
- The Case #'s project is begun.
- The Triumvirate is formed.
- 1993
- Professor Haywire achieves the "first" successful transfer of matter between parallel earths.
- Emrys Pluto and Jordan Anargyros defect from the Union, several other key members of the Syndic follow. The Technocratic Union loses much of its control of the financial markets.
- The St. Petersburg occurs. This is generally considered to be the second of the Crisis Events. Hemophages (termed Case 17's to the public) are revealed to the Masses.
- 1994
- Cases 26, 35 and 42 are revealed to the public.
- 1995
- Case 53's are carefully released to various Technocratic aligned organizations. Their existence, and the entirely rational basis of their abilities, is leaked to the public.
- 1997
- Vikare dies attempting to stop a riot.
- The Protectorate and the PRT are created. Rebecca Costa Brown is picked to lead both despite the objections of Dr. Alex Graphe.
- Dr. Graphe dies in a Reality Terrosit Attack. He is succeeded on the council by Rebecca Costa (Now Dr.) Brown
- Dr. Andrew Ritcher dies in a Reality Terrosit Attack. He is succeeded on the council by Dr. Miles Maise.
- Donald Spade dies in a Reality Terrorist attack. He is succeeded on the council by The Number Man
- Dr. Mother becomes Chairman of the Board of Directors.
- The Triumvirate voluntarily place themselves under the authority of the Protectorate. Many other heroes follow suit.
- 1999
- Discrete talks are begun with the Etherites.
- The term "tinkertech" is released to the public.
- 2001
- Mass defection of Etherites to the Technocratic Union.
- Protectorate absorbs the large Tinker group Excelsior!
- The Council of 9 Traditions splinters into its component factions.
Initial Thoughts:
- Initially I wanted this to be very much a "The Technocracy Lost Control" timeline. You can still see some of that with the statements about bolder reality deviants and saving resources by making greater uses of Masses organizations. The basic idea was that the reason Superheroes were able to rise as a paradigm was that the Technocrats couldn't run damage control in the wake of Ravanos
- Unfortunately, because I fused them with Cauldron by the end of the timeline they are very much back where they started but in a different form. I could use some suggestions on how to dial them back a bit. Not quite sure what form I want that to take though. Was thinking of dropping the Protectorate entirely and just having the PRT which acts as a sort of civilian/police oversight. Basically the arm of the police which deals with supercrime and deputizes superheroes. Was also thinking about just giving the Union a lot less control over the Protectorate then Cauldron did, maybe even having them have to share control of it with tradition mages (eidolon would be a Hermetic here)
- Wanted to include some more stuff about the Traditions gaining more ground as Superheroics means magic is more accepted, but I couldn't think of how to include it.
- I futzed with the timeline a bit to keep Taylor roughly the same age in relation to everything.
- Scion died early so I don't have to deal with him
- Endbringers have been replaced by Crisis Events. This is another holdover from The Technocrats losing control of the Consensus. There is just a lot of stuff that they used to stop early that now has the chance to snowball.
- The Etherites got absorbed into the Technocracy because they are now a lot more accepting of gonzo science as long as you pretend its science.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
I think the term was "Control" not "Board of Directors"
- Location
- my house
Thanks, I wrote this on a slow day at work and didn't have access to any sources