Idea for a legacy

[Recusant Lied]

So I was thinking about an idea for a legacy recently, it's a very early concept. The idea is that the legacy is based around fully embracing the symbolism of one's Shadow Name. I'm not entirely sure how legacies work. I know they grant attainments, which are like magic that comes from the person's soul itself. And I think they also have rites or something similar they have to do to become part of that legacy.

One of the rites I was thinking was that the person who wanted to follow this legacy would have to sever themselves from their sympathetic name(not sure if such a thing is possible.)

Thoughts? Ideas? Does something like this already exist?

[Epimetheus]

So I was thinking about an idea for a legacy recently, it's a very early concept. The idea is that the legacy is based around fully embracing the symbolism of one's Shadow Name. I'm not entirely sure how legacies work. I know they grant attainments, which are like magic that comes from the person's soul itself. And I think they also have rites or something similar they have to do to become part of that legacy.

One of the rites I was thinking was that the person who wanted to follow this legacy would have to sever themselves from their sympathetic name(not sure if such a thing is possible.)

Thoughts? Ideas? Does something like this already exist?

That'd be counter productive. The point of your shadow name is to hide yourself. It essentially makes it difficult to target you. To embrace your shadow name would be to make yourself completely vulnerable to other mages. Maybe it could work better if you gained a secret name divorced from anything you've been called before. It'd definitely be space primary the question is if it'd be mind secondary or maybe time/fate.

[Recusant Lied]

That'd be counter productive. The point of your shadow name is to hide yourself. It essentially makes it difficult to target you. To embrace your shadow name would be to make yourself completely vulnerable to other mages. Maybe it could work better if you gained a secret name divorced from anything you've been called before. It'd definitely be space primary the question is if it'd be mind secondary or maybe time/fate.

Wouldn't this make you more invisible in a sense? Nothing says you'd have to interact with sleepers under your Shadow Name, you could still use an alias when doing that.

I also don't understand the whole making your self more vulnerable to other mages. A Shadow Name wouldn't have any sympathy to the user still, so how would they become more vulnerable?

[Epimetheus]

Wouldn't this make you more invisible in a sense? Nothing says you'd have to interact with sleepers under your Shadow Name, you could still use an alias when doing that.

I also don't understand the whole making your self more vulnerable to other mages. A Shadow Name wouldn't have any sympathy to the user still, so how would they become more vulnerable?

The shadow name merit doesn't exist to protect you from sleepers. It exists to protect you from mages. One of the most important points of a shadow name is to conceal your normal name. In game terms, a shadow name applies it's dots as a merit against sympathetic range and temporal sympathy. That means if someone only knows you by your shadow name then they suffer from 1-3 withstand to target you. To turn your shadow name into your sympathetic name would be like turning your best defense into your greatest flaw because without an alias, aka a shadow name, your shadow name acts as your sympathetic name.

Edit- or it would turn your alias into your real name. You can't just annihilate your real name and have nothing fill the void unless it's a tremere legacy or archmastery.

[Epimetheus]

It occurs to me that I should elaborate my point on my edit. Switching your old name for a new one is something people do all the time. Legacy wise it seems like it should be capable. The archmastery spell that does it short cuts a lot of time and hides the name so well it takes magical experience for others to learn it. However, annihilating your own name and replacing it with nothing, seems very tremere in nature. You're basically erasing the core connection point people reference you with, leaving nothing behind. Is basically trading a portion of being to safely hide yourself.

[KaiserAfini]

I believe the closest thing you to what you want is the Blank Badges Legacy, who utilize a shared Shadow Name to be harder to track by their enemies and who believe in taking shared responsibility for their actions.

[proindrakenzol]

he idea is that the legacy is based around fully embracing the symbolism of one's Shadow Name.

This would be so broad and individualistic a "Legacy" as to have no meaning or shared attainments, it makes far more sense to find a Legacy that already aligns with your Shadow Name (or change your Shadow Name to align with the Legacy, a common occurrence).

If your Shadow Name is a crafting themed one, join a crafter Legacy: Uncrowned Kings, Thaumatech Engineers (#shamelessplug), Forge Masters.

If your Shadow Name is warrior themed, join a combat focused Legacy: Perfected Adepts, Onikaze/Demon Wind.

And so on. You could make a unique Legacy for your specific concept, but you're not going to have a satisfying and unified generic-Shadow-Name Legacy.

[Epimetheus]

This would be so broad and individualistic a "Legacy" as to have no meaning or shared attainments, it makes far more sense to find a Legacy that already aligns with your Shadow Name (or change your Shadow Name to align with the Legacy, a common occurrence).

If your Shadow Name is a crafting themed one, join a crafter Legacy: Uncrowned Kings, Thaumatech Engineers (#shamelessplug), Forge Masters.

If your Shadow Name is warrior themed, join a combat focused Legacy: Perfected Adepts, Onikaze/Demon Wind.

And so on. You could make a unique Legacy for your specific concept, but you're not going to have a satisfying and unified generic-Shadow-Name Legacy.

I think a legacy that makes you disappear from the world can work. It just depends on how far you take it which can lead to it being a lefthanded path.

[thenate]

The Al-i-batin (Subtle Ones) jump to mind, actually. Anybody do a 2e conversion, yet?

[KaiserAfini]

The Subtle Ones are here!

I am, like, in the busiest phase of my life. A few posts and Likes every now and then are within acceptable limits, but converting Legacies proves taking up too much time. I somehow managed to squeeze enough time for the Subtle Ones, except that I couldn't finish some of their fluff parts. But hey, at least the Attainments are finished, so I decided to post them right now and add later.

Next in line are the Legacies from Summoners, but God knows how long that'll take for me.

---

Subtle Ones

Origins

Parentage: Mastigos, Guardians of the Veil, Seers of the Throne
Background: The Ahl-i-Batin, or "People of the Inner Truth" as the Subtle Ones call themselves, are among the most engmatic Legacies. They practice a blend of sacred geometry and social engineering, placing themselves as architects who reflect Supernal harmony in Fallen civilizations. The Invisible Men have historically expressed themselves through the mystic traditions of the Middle East, and while their fall has diminished their central leadership, embrace of eclectic practices and insinuation into secular communities have spread them across the world.
Appearances:

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Space 2, Stealth 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Politics, Expression, Subterfuge, Larceny, Weaponry
Initiation:
Organization:
Theory:

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Space
Yantras: Bustling streets (+1); communicating with the subject using messages and proxies (+2); facial disguise and camouflage (+2); impersonation of others (+1, +2 when impersonating someone of social authority, such as a police officer)
Oblations: Watching multiple media to sense the social zeitgeist; teaching others; hiding from mages and other supernatural beings; encouraging social action without direct leadership

Attainments

First: The Subtle Song
Prerequisites: Initiation
detect secret messages
The Batini read broad cultural patterns, and intuitively derive knowledge from seemingly innocuous and even cacophonic flows of information. This Attainment augments the Subtle One's Space Sight so that she can detect sympathetic connections between subjects she is examining.
Moreover, the Subtle One's Peripheral Sight now responds to signatures encoded by other Subtle Ones using the Hidden Whispers Attainment. She scores automatic successes equal to her Space dots when decoding such messages.
Optional: Mind 1
Differentiating important signals from background noise is a stressful task, and the Invisible Man quickly learns to compartmentalize his mind to handle it better. A scene of meditation amidst a flood of media feeding him social patterns allows the mage to replicate the "One Mind, Two Thoughts" spell on himself. Reach is assigned to Advanced Duration.

Second: Hidden Whispers
Prerequisites: Space 2, Stealth 3
The Subtle One becomes one of the sending end of messages hidden in society. She designates a medium, a topic the medium conveys, and a person who is in a position to create or edit the articles of that medium. After interacting with the person for a scene, nudging him with carefully nuanced ideas through the vector of sympathy, the person subconsciously encrypts the mage's messages in his medium the next time he works with it. This person must be someone the Subtle One has a sympathetic connection of at least Medium strength with at the moment of activating the Attainment.
Optional: Mind 2
Sometimes too much subtlety hampers clarity, so the Invisible Man becomes just a little more visible. This Attainment replicates the "Psychic Domination" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use. When using this Attainment, the Invisible Man checks Withstand against the lower of his subject's Resolve or the Connection strength of his sympathetic link to the subject.

Third: The Subtle Dance
Prerequisites: Space 3, two dots in a second Skill among the initiation Skill list
The Batini can step outside notice by blending into the background, gaining a vantage point from which to engineer society. This Attainment duplicates the "Veil Sympathy" spell on the Subtle One's person. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. When someone attempts to uncover or use the veiled links, she scores automatic successes equal to her Space dots.
Optional: Mind 3
With this Attainment the Invisible Man now lives up to his moniker. By spending a point of Mana, he emulates the "Incognito Presence" spell on himself. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. When someone supernaturally concentrates on him, he scores automatic successes equal to his Mind dots.

Fourth: False Presence
Prerequisites: Space 4, Stealth 4
The Subtle One projects false intimacies at will, smoothly integrating into communities and fading out of them just as easily. This Attainment bolsters the sympathetic connection between the Subtle One and her subject, emulating the "Web-Weaver" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. The mage may add Time 2 as usual to employ Temporal Sympathy, bolstering nigh non-existent connections from past physical contact.
Optional: Mind 4
Now the Invisible Man does not merely walk unnoticed; he walks as the familiar stranger. He mimicks the "Imposter" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. When impersonating a specific person, the Subtle One scores automatic successes equal to his Mind dots on rolls to fool his subject. Also, when using this effect the Invisible Man checks Withstand against the lower of his subject's Composure or the Connection strength of his sympathetic link to the subject.

Fifth: Occlude the Mind
Prerequisites: Space 5, two dots in a third Skill among the initiation Skill list
The most refined of the Batini see the world as a web of roads, and the way she slips freely through Space baffles the minds of lesser men. This Attainment replicates the "Co-Location" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use, sensory range, and Advanced Scale. If she wishes, the mage may augment this effect with the Sympathetic Range Attainment.
This effect works in synergy with other Subtle One Attainments. While viewing two co-located places, the mage can use the optional effect of The Subtle Song to split her mind across the two areas, taking two non-Physical actions for each place. More impressively, the Subtle One may use the optional effect of False Presence and project an illusion covering all senses except touch in a co-located area. The illusion will instantly vanish when touched by someone, and the mage will be aware of this.
For example, using all three effects simultaneously, the Subtle One may investigate a room for clues while holding a conversation with the chief editor in another room, the latter actually being a False Presence impersonating the editor's friend.
Optional: Mind 5
The most occluded of the Invisible Men is not only invisible because no one sees him, but also because no one remembers seeing him. When concealing one's presence isn't an option, the Invisible Man may act first and conceal his presence later by erasing people's memories. With a point of Mana, this effect replicates the "Memory Hole" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use, indefinite Duration, and Advanced Scale.

Yes, they have, a pretty cool conversion too.