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[Bluecho]

78) Darrack Deepvein [Mountain Dwarf, Oath of Vengeance Paladin]:
Darrack of Clan Deepvein headed a mining operation in his youth. His lust for mineral wealth grew great, however, and he made the error emblematic of his people: digging too greedily, and too deep. His miners punched a hole into a sealed cavern, that happened to be connected to the Abyss. In his fear Darrack fled, leaving his employees to perish. He tarried only so long as to have the mine entrance bricked up, then departed. Word got out about both his folly and his cowardice, and he was cast out of polite dwarf society in...

[Bluecho]

Trick question. You don't seduce the Tarrasque. You convert it to your religion.

...

[Bluecho]

76) Margot le Fou [Bugbear, Drunken Master Monk]:
Born to a lazy backwoods family of bugbear trappers, Margot was a mere maiden (for a certain value of "maiden") when her father hauled her to the local village, just in time for the arrival of the circus. Her father had no coin to spare on such extravagance, but said if she truly cared, she could gain access to the show her own way. Bugbears, chaotic as a rule, have little regard for "entrance fees". "When you've seen your fill," he said, departing the town, "you know the way home." So Margot sneaked...

[Bluecho]

You could attempt to unseat a Prince by proving they are unfit to rule. If their competence is called into question, the matter will often settle itself. Those beneath the Prince may drive him out of power (because a Prince who can't run a city is one that cannot protect its inhabitants). May even kill him, if other vampires think they can maneuver to take his place. Or else the Camarilla Archons might come in and dispose of the Prince, if he's proving terminally incapable of running the city. At which point a vacancy will open up for someone else to rise.

This is the point where...

[Bluecho]

I'm sorry, but did Player 3 really expect to be able to put any sorcery Path on their character sheet, without clearing it with the Storyteller first? And then they have the gall to bitch when the Storyteller rightly says, "that's not how this game works"?

That's some top tier presumption and entitlement, right there. Good luck, Vincent.

[Bluecho]

174) The Collegium Caligo - the "College of Mists" - was a Chantry and accompanying Realm that served as one of the great institutes of magickal learning with the Traditions. Founded in the Victorian era, as many such College Chantries were, the Collegium Caligo's earthbound location was merely a gateway and anchor for the campus proper, which was built in a Realm forged inside the larger Land of Mists. The Chantry was often called the "Mist-Parting School", for its dedication to dispelling the fog of ignorance and giving the clarity of greater Truth. Lectures, experiments,...

[Bluecho]

173) The PC Cabal has been called upon to travel to and reinforce a small, besieged Chantry, situated out in a rural, backwoods community. When the PCs arrive at the town, they are given a cold and suspicious reception by the locals, many of whom bundle up even in warm weather. The Chantry itself - an old farmhouse a couple miles out from "downtown" - shows clear signs of assault. Bullet holes and wood cleaved by axes would be expected, but more curious evidence of siege can be found. Things like claw marks, scorched timber, and holes evidently created by some corrosive substance. Inside,...

[Bluecho]

172) If one of the PCs is either an Akashic or a Euthanatos, their Cabal must have occasion to collaborate with a member of the other group...and have it turn out that the PC and NPC were sworn enemies in their past lives. The Himalayan Wars were long and multi-generational, with combatants fighting, dying, and reincarnating, over and over, for thousands of years. Some old souls developed deep-seated animosities with each other, that transcend life, death, and even the Himalayan Wars themselves. The PC and the NPC are one such pair, able to identify their soul-enemies just by the texture of their...

[Bluecho]

541) The Phone Call of Cthulhu [Burn/Quiet]: Shamans, witches, High Ritualists, esoteric scientists, and even reality hackers experience this unpleasant manifestation of Paradox. Possibly because of their association with ancient Mysteries, and/or because of their tangling with Correspondence. Ever since telecommunications technology came into existence, Mages have understood such devices as a means of connecting to distant places, but where communication can seemingly occur in No Place. Both Ahl-I-Batin and Virtual Adepts knew and identified this place, though they know it by different names....

[Bluecho]

If all else fails, you can pillage Paths from Vampire's necromancy discipline. I think an old Dark Ages Vampire book advocated as such, though this is more because handling non-vampire Giovanni necromancers would be easier for Vampire players if they reused a familiar system. (Vampire books also advocate using Disciplines and blood sorcery Paths to replicate powers of other supernaturals, not just Sorcerers).

[Bluecho]

[And now for something completely different.]


133) Following the Renaissance, in the evolution of the Order of Reason into its modern incarnation - the Technocratic Union - it slowly, one by one, began to prune away the parts of itself that it no longer saw as necessary. The populist and ritualistic Craftmasons fell first, followed thereafter by the faithful of the Cabal of Pure Thought. Those members who resisted change were eliminated, while those who could be "salvaged" were broken and rebuilt in line with the Union's modern, secular vision. The least discussed...

[Bluecho]

So are you saying the Potence thing is a two decades in the making Brick Joke?

Excellent.

Sounds like the sort of thing a Malkavian would do at Elysium. Set up a joke, wait two decades, and spring the punchline on everyone when they'd all forgotten about it.

[Bluecho]

74) Nalla Twice-Orphaned Ogolakanu [Goliath, Giant Soul Sorcerer]:
The young Nalla manifested his family's long-dormant sorcery - the power of the Stone Giants they served in centuries past - in response to the war that rocked his homeland. Left poor and homeless, the family Ogolakanu became refugees, and wandered into a foreign land. The local king would have turned them away, as he had many refugees. But Nalla's father, desperate and destitute, struck a reluctant deal with the lord, who was long desirous of arcane power. Nalla was sold to the king, in return for safe entry and a sack of...

[Bluecho]

170) As of late, the city has played host to a series of sightings, of individuals matching the descriptions and behaviors of fictional characters from classic literature. Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Jekyll (and his darker half, Mister Hyde), Tow Sawyer, and Count Dracula are among the most common characters seen floating around. Their persistent presence has begun to attract attention in the news and on social media. Naturally, the public has been assured that it's probably just a stunt, viral marketing campaign, elaborate prank, or the activities of dedicated cosplayers. The only problem is that...

[Bluecho]

538) Freezer Fungus [Spirit/Burn]: A backlash that has been known to react to a variety of Awakened activity, although Forces and Life magick call it down most often. The Freezer Fungus is a brown mold that is spontaneously generated on or around the mage or her Instruments/Wonders. This mold feeds on heat, able to convert heat energy in its surroundings efficiently into biomass. Sources of open flame or intense heat cause explosive levels of growth. The Freezer Fungus will cause great cold to surfaces it grows on, and to the immediate surroundings. Naturally, if it begins growing on the mage...

[Bluecho]

165) A common tactic in the Ascension War is for mages to stow small items in closed containers, back in secure locations, that can then be teleported to the mage with elementary Correspondence. The items go from a closed, unobserved space into another unobserved space, usually the mage's pockets, bags, coats, or the like. By the measure of any Hypothetical Average Observer, no space manipulation seemed to take place. Ergo, coincidental. A simple tactic, employed for centuries.

If one of the PCs uses this tactic, they one day discover that when they "reach" for an object...

[Bluecho]

535) Controller Blossoms [Spirit]: Frequent use of mind control or manipulation of plant life can call these nasty spirits down, to the dismay of everyone involved. The Controller Blossoms sprout from the chests of the Mage's loved ones, associates, or other people in the Mage's life. It is centered over the heart, though roots come to spread over the person's form, which in turn can break off into various branches, leaves, and flowering bodies. From there, the flower exerts emotional control over their hosts, magnifying the darker aspects of their psyche, especially drawing upon mental hang-ups...

[Bluecho]

532) Industry Doesn't Stop [Flaw]: Afflicts Technocrats, especially ones of Iteration X. Their attempts to mechanize and automate the world curl around to affect them. The ground or floor beneath the mage's feet become conveyor belts, that automatically and unceasingly carry her away. She has to walk just to remain in place, the forces of Paradox uncaring of her volition. This backlash affects Technocrats most often when they use mind control, or more subtle methods, to induce people to do as the Technocrat wills. Just as she robbed others of their ability to choose, so is she rail-roaded towards...

[Bluecho]

I would like to point out that, at least in my reading of DnD 5e, Demons don't have much interest in souls in general.

Devils in 5e collect souls because those souls directly contribute soldiers to their war effort. It's why Asmodeus assigns quotas to the Archdevils. Demons, on the other hand, have no particular soul trade. The Abyss vomits forth a seemingly endless quantity of demonic life; the presence or absence of souls doesn't seem to affect the Abyss's cancerous growth. Demons just keep multiplying. Only their constant attrition against the Devils, mortals, planar entities,...