Table of Contents
Notes
Prime shall remain the only way of dispelling magic.
Mage Weapons
Tara: do all manifest weapons do lethal damage by default, even if their manifest shape (e.g., quarterstaff) normally does bashing?
Anthony: is a manifest weapon upgrade to dishing out aggravated damage possible? what would the cost be like?
Chris: we need some minimum dice so that this is a more offensive game than defensive game.
Perhaps manifest weapons, like some magical exalted weapons (grand grimcleaver, grand daiklave, grand goremaul), do a certain minimum damage. Based on eminence? This could be an attribute of your eminence level? Mark: but then it becomes a plinking contest.
Tara: give the manifest weapon an affinity arcana flavor power that scales as you get more powerful? (e.g., matter gets keen edge, forces gets a blade of fire/ice/whatever, prime gets a mana-leeching blade, etc)
Manifest Arcana powers, static (non-scaling):
* space gets reach? how would this be defined though?
* Time gets reflexive manifestation? or gets +1 initiative?
* matter gets an extra +1 to attack? or gets +1 to disarm?
* death can be used to attack weapon/armor durability with a +1?
* forces gets an extra +1 attack from elemental damage?
* fate gets a +1 bonus to called shots?
* spirit can damage spirits in twilight w/a +1 bonus?
* prime can steal 1 mana from a person when striking the death blow? or can be used to attack a magical being's “mana” pool instead of health levels?
Arcana Streamlining (Mark)
Please note that the contents of the tables are very open to reallocation. The current items in the cells are meant as first-pass example data.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT
Each magical effect within a given Arcanum, be it Improvised or a Rote, can be completely described with the syntax <Verb> <Noun>, where <Verb> represents the effect and <Noun> represents the target.
Possible <Verbs> are capped by the Arcanum level itself, as per the Arcana chart below. Possible <Nouns> are determined by the Purview chart.
Examples:
- Influence Heat (Forces 1)
- Control Vermin (Life 2)
- Detect Zombie (Death 1)
- Analyze Aura (Prime 1 or Death 1)
Arcana Levels
- “Detect” = Determine the presence and location of a purview concept.
- “Analyze” = Determine the function, composition, and status of a purview concept.
- “Influence” = Affect or reshape the purview concept in some way. Successes (capped at Arcana dots) affect the target as a pool modifier.
- “Enhance” = Affect the target in a specific way, adding successes (capped at Arcana dots) to either: an Attribute, Health, Armor, or resistance rolls against attacks from the same Arcanum.
- “Attack” = Does damage to the target equal to successes (capped at Arcana dots) using flavor text from a purview concept.
- “Transmute” = Changes an inanimate target into an equal or lesser purview concept.
- “Control” = Compels an animate target of the appropriate purview concept to behave in a specified manner.
- “Create” = Spontaneously conjure a purview concept.
- “Destroy” = Spontaneously banishes a target purview concept.
Detect | Analyze | Influence | Enhance | Attack | Transmute | Control | Create | Destroy | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attribute > | WIT | INT | MAN | STA | COM | RES | PRE | DEX | STR |
1 | Self | Self | Simple | - | - | - | Simple | - | - |
2 | Other | Other | Minor | Self | - | Simple | Minor | - | - |
3 | - | - | Median | Other | Bashing | Minor | Median | Simple | Simple |
4 | - | - | Major | - | Lethal | Median | Major | Minor | Minor |
5 | - | - | Special | - | Aggravated | Major | Special | Median | Median |
- “Self” = Caster is recipient of the sensory effect
- “Other” = Caster touches another person to make him/her the recipient of the sensory effect
Note: The “Attribute” column designates which should be used in a related Rote.
Purview Concepts by Arcanum
Arcanum | Simple | Minor | Median | Major | Special |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Death :( | Ectoplasm/Ephemera/Shadow | Aura/Twilight | Mana/Spell/Ghost | Corpse/Zombie/Soul/Lifespan | Revenant/Willpower |
Fate :( | Die Pool/Final Name | Enigma | Oath | ? | ? |
Forces :) | Light/Heat/Sound | Fire/Electricity | Kinetics | Weather/Magnetism | Gravity/Radiation/Sunlight |
Life :) | Plant | Vermin | Beast | Sentient | Legendary |
Matter :) | Common Liquid | Common Solid/Rare Liquid | Common Gas/Rare Solid | Rare Gas | Alchemical Substance |
Mind :) | Vermin | Beast | Greater Beast | Sentient | Legendary |
Prime :( | Spell/Resonance/Enchanted Item | Aura | Soul/Tass/Phantasm | ? | ? |
Space | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Spirit | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Time | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Note: It'd be cool if each Purview Concept was linked to a single and flavor-appropriate skill, like Life's Plant = Survival, Vermin/Beast = Animal Ken, and Sentient/Legendary = Medicine. That way each spell effect would be very clear as to what its Rote pool would be. “Control Animal” would be a very logical Presence + Animal Ken + Life, in that example.
Die Pools
Casting
Time
- Normal Action: One combat action, just like an attack
- Reflexive Action: One reflexive action (note Willpower cost, below)
- Ritual: Per “Extended Casting Times” – casting an effect in Ritual allows for multiple characters to pool their Arcana, Mana, and Willpower
Pool
- Improvised: Eminence + Arcana
- Rote: Attribute + Skill + Arcana
Modifiers
- High Speech: +1 (spell becomes Obvious)
- Touch/Self: +1 (successful melee attack or willing target with physical contact)
- Sensory: +0 (target within sensory range)
- Multiple Targets: -1/additional target (first one is “free”)
Costs
Duration
- Instant/Turn/Concentration: 0 Mana
- Scene: 1 Mana
- Permanent (until dispelled): 1 committed Mana + 1 committed Willpower
- Reflexive & Improvised: 1 Willpower
- Reflexive & Rote: 1 Mana
Tara Reverse Engineering
- Initiate
- Insight: “Detect”
- Minor Influence: “Coax”
- Mage sight (Self)1)
- Apprentice
- Major Influence: “Summon (Minor)”2), “Command (Minor)”, “Enhance (Minor)”, “Degrade (Minor)”, “Transform (Minor)”
- Boost One applicable Skill/Merit (Self)
- Mage shield (Self)
- Disciple
- Minor Pattern Affecting: “Summon (Medium)”, “Command (Medium)”, “Enhance (Medium)”, “Degrade (Medium)”, “Transform (Medium)”, “Attack”, “Repair”
- Boost Multiple applicable Skills (Self)
- Boost One Applicable Attribute (Self)
- Ritual Gating
- Mage Attack: Bashing
- Adept
- Medium Pattern Affecting: “Summon (Major)”, “Command (Major)”, “Transform (Major)”, “Steal”, “Remove”, “Give”, “Transfer”
- Boost Multiple Applicable Attributes (Self)
- Instant Gating
- Mage Attack: Lethal
- Master
- Major Pattern Affecting: “Summon (Special)”, “Command (Special)”, “Destroy”, “Takeover”
- Creation: Generate (Major) mundane from nothing, Transform similar (Major) munane into (Special/Magical)
- Mage Attack: Aggravated