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[thenate]

Most everything that was on the spectrum of Umbra from higher to lower has a corresponding set of rules. Whereas there was basically a single axis of weirdness in oWoD, (lower would be negative. Deep umbra would simply be farther. Both fall on the same axis) there are multiple axes in CoD.

The lower, near Umbra is ghostly Twilight. The lower umbra is the Underworld... and, arguably, some of the Lower Depths.

The upper near umbra splits into the Inner Realms (Astral) and the Spirit. The near side Twilight for these things is distinct in 2e (and, arguably in 1e) but there...

[thenate]

The JFK example you picked fits both DtD and MtAw just fine. (It is fairly similar to one of the example settings in DtD: Splintered City Seattle)

In a Mage game, you could pull the "it's an inexplicable GM plot" if you really wanted to, but I suggest not. Perhaps it is involved, but entirely opportunistic. It saw the tear and understood how to capitalize on the strange phenomenon with some powerful new Infrastructure... unique and helpful new infrastructure, in fact. The cause of the fracture(s) could be a deeper mystery, still.

Maybe some cult tried to free...

[thenate]

First, thanks. I probably should have started at Wiki... heh. I'll read through that stuff.


One thing that it grants over Path summoning is that anybody can theoretically do it, provided a functional Songline for the quest. (which Mind should be able to unlock) Another is the more human mindset that they have.. especially the direct ancestors. Their Boons could be extremely valuable. (Tempted to suggest the WtF Totem merit as a fairly common Boon. Protection from something under their control or blessings that they can provide would all make some sense.)

(Ed. Having...

[thenate]

I'm not finding anything about songlines when I'm looking up Australian aboriginal belief (Found great stories that fit perfectly, of course.) Any good titles or links would be welcome. I don't know as much as I'd prefer about their world view.

Be nice to use their myth to guide the factors for the summoning and the songline ideas. I was working off of the assumption that Dreamspeakers have a huge advantage in gaining the prerequisite knowledge for calling on the Dreamborn and likely have some blood ties that make things easier, too, due to lineage. Otherwise, though, I figure they...

[thenate]

Tangential note:

I've been thinking about elemental mages in Awakening for a little bit, and pecked at, but haven't finished, a rewriting of the arcana into a set of elemental aspects. (My favorite split is animate/inanimate aspects, so Water/Blood, Earth/Flesh&bone, etc.)

I was thinking along the lines of their paths being elemental revelations. An element like Fire would be the "path" of such a mage.

It's a bit more ambitious a project than I think it's really worth, though, so I present the budget approach:

Fire: Forces, Mind...

[thenate]

Heh. Yeah, that's exactly where I was tossing it. I debated 4, but that seemed too late.


Clearly, the only thing we differ on is the "inconvenient without being crippling" notion. I prefer it as sporadically crippling and generally minor*. (A bit like PTSD) That explains what you did, though, and I agree that it served that purpose.

(*ed. "generally minor" in the sense of most of the time, it's not causing heart racing or flashbacks)

Heck, I might be persuaded, yet. I'm softening.

ed. You know what, I'm sold. When interacting...

[thenate]

I figured some of these ideas can be unified.

The key to opening a dreamland might be a simple action or material thing, but the key to actually unlocking the secret teachings or moving beyond it into the rest of the Inner Realms might require having one of that same sort of seals. The paths unlocked by these places may well lead to other seals, as well. (I lean towards the merit representing the beginning of a mystery and access to it.)

Of course, some of the seals could be items torn from the dreamborn by ancient heroes. Others could be gifts traded for.
...

[thenate]

Well, I certainly like it better, but it still needs something. This doesn't quite have the crazed edge I was hoping for, but it does have better rules for the general wackiness. It's close to ready for prime time.


I suppose I'll toss out some further conversion notes and see what you think:

Dreamborn is a subtype of supernal entity, more or less, that have Arcana of the sorts of things goetia and spirits have Influences over. There are a couple other quirks, like the fact that they are connected to lesser representations of them in various realms, regardless of...

[thenate]

It bears noting that a decent merit investment in a Shadow Name like "Wind Master Nayin" could go a decent way towards actually empowering wind spells without actually penalizing other spells. The neat thing is that, if your ST agrees, the Yantra bonus could apply to anything literally or metaphorically related to winds....