Ask a simple question, Awakened edition

[Satchel]

What (in game) would mean to have a high (5) Egregore merit, but low (1) Order status in the Mysterium? 1e had the Egregore rating dependent on Order status value, but now those are independent.

You can, for whatever ridiculous reason led to this circumstance, be considered a local bottom-rung member of the Order no matter which Caucus you're in, along with knowing your own Libraries and getting Informed about the local Order membership, being able to get in touch with any Order member you can get a sympathy Yantra for, and being able to benefit better from teamwork casting with other egregori. Possibly you never wanted to stop being an Acquisitor and weren't fussed about getting access to higher-level requisitions.

Generally, though the fact that the second benefit of Egregore is "your Mysterium Status doesn't degrade in effectiveness with range from your home Caucus" means this should be a non-issue in practice, subject to the same sanity check as "yes, sure, you have the Experience to justify buying Status: United States Senate, but how are you justifying that?"

[Isator Levi]

I would go with it as an idea that the mystagogue in question manages to have an intuitive sense for the full depths of the Order's mysticism that an appropriate mentor decided to nurture, even if they haven't yet gotten the experience or developed the capabilities that allow them to rise from the position of somebody who needs their research assigned and guided by a superior up to the level of being able to conduct independent inquiries and being part of the caucus's decision making body.

[lbeaumanior]

"You are a clever cookie, apprentice, truely worthy of the deep knowledge we keep. But you lack the administrative skills necessary to run our office on a day to day basis, so sit in the corner until we call you, ok?"

Thanks for the answer. Yeah, I thought about lack of administrative power on the order but in-depth understanding of the ethos.

I would go with it as an idea that the mystagogue in question manages to have an intuitive sense for the full depths of the Order's mysticism that an appropriate mentor decided to nurture, even if they haven't yet gotten the experience or developed the capabilities that allow them to rise from the position of somebody who needs their research assigned and guided by a superior up to the level of being able to conduct independent inquiries and being part of the caucus's decision making body.

Thanks for the answer. It aligns to what Cauthon said.

You can, for whatever ridiculous reason led to this circumstance, be considered a local bottom-rung member of the Order no matter which Caucus you're in, along with knowing your own Libraries and getting Informed about the local Order membership, being able to get in touch with any Order member you can get a sympathy Yantra for, and being able to benefit better from teamwork casting with other egregori. Possibly you never wanted to stop being an Acquisitor and weren't fussed about getting access to higher-level requisitions.

Generally, though the fact that the second benefit of Egregore is "your Mysterium Status doesn't degrade in effectiveness with range from your home Caucus" means this should be a non-issue in practice, subject to the same sanity check as "yes, sure, you have the Experience to justify buying Status: United States Senate, but how are you justifying that?"

Thanks for the answer. Man, not to sound confrontational, but this is the second or third time you answer a comment of mine so... dismissively. Are there any issues between us that should be addressed?

I ask in good faith and you are one of the most active people answering, so it grates the frequency that this has been happening.

[Isator Levi]

Honestly, I think if Orders have much in the way of administrative work, that's largely done by the Sleepwalkers anyway. The qualifications for being able to run something in a group like the Mysterium aren't in office work, they're in the guidance of new initiates and conferring with fellows to coordinate research and make decisions about affairs related to interaction with other Orders.

Man, not to sound confrontational, but this is the second or third time you answer a comment of mine so... dismissively. Are there any issues between us that should be addressed?

It's nothing specific to you.

[orathaic]

Neat. Dancing Blades are a go then.

Levitation, especially with the free-flight option, out-and-out replaces your Speed rather than directly enhancing it. Can Ground-Eater supplement that flying speed, or does it count as stat-stacking?

I would assume that this should work. Ground-eater is folding Space, so each step covers more ground, Levitation makes you cross space faster. No reason you can cast Ground-eater with a Plane/Car as the subject, so i don't think i would apply the stat stacking rules in this case.

[ArcaneArts]

It's nothing specific to you.

I always find it weird how often people seem to read hostility in Satchel's posts way more than he applies it.

[Cauthon]

I always find it weird how often people seem to read hostility in Satchel's posts way more than he applies it.

It may have to do with;

A) You know them better than most of us do, since you apparently game together

And

B) Word choice matters when attempting to convey tone through text, and a lack of positive modifiers stands out just as sharply as purely negative ones. Satchel's posts tend to read as neutral. At best. "You are incorrect. This is my list of why." Vs "I see where you're coming from, but here's where that doesn't hold up."

Satchel isn't in any way obligated to change how they talk, obviously. But it seems like this is a trend more of presentation than interpretation.

[EvilSqueegee]

If a Combined Spell is being cast, and the caster spends the Reach to have each spell's Scale separated, how do you calculate the final dice pool for the spell? Do you charge dice for Scale twice?

[21C Hermit]

If a Combined Spell is being cast, and the caster spends the Reach to have each spell's Scale separated, how do you calculate the final dice pool for the spell? Do you charge dice for Scale twice?

No definitive answer, but I suspect so.

[Cauthon]

How much Sympathy (if any) would a key have for a matching lock? Drafting a keyring that opens portals between doors whose keys are on the ring, but I'm not sure what the Withstand would be.

[TakWrote]

How much Sympathy (if any) would a key have for a matching lock? Drafting a keyring that opens portals between doors whose keys are on the ring, but I'm not sure what the Withstand would be.

Depends on how they were constructed, I think.

If there's only one key per lock, each constructed specifically for the other, Strong sympathy.
If there's a master key, or more than one key for the lock, Medium sympathy.
If lock or key are generic, with hundreds or thousands of keys that would open the lock, Weak sympathy.

[lbeaumanior]

What happens to the original primary spell factor values when switching Primary spell factors?

Example:

Shifting the Odds has primary factor Duration.

It has an alternative function that you can use no more than Potency times.

A Gnosis 1, Fate 3 mage casts the spell and uses one reach for Instant Casting and one for Advanced Duration.

As described:

1. What potency value does the spell have?
2. If instead of Advanced Duration, he reaches to switch primary factor to Potency, what is the duration of the spell?
3. If he uses extra reach to switch primary factor to Potency, what happens to the duration of the spell?
4. How many reach do I need both effects (find specific thing and access to temporary Merits) + instant casting + advanced duration?

Thanks,

[EvilSqueegee]

What happens to the original primary spell factor values when switching Primary spell factors?

Example:

Shifting the Odds has primary factor Duration.

It has an alternative function that you can use no more than Potency times.

A Gnosis 1, Fate 3 mage casts the spell and uses one reach for Instant Casting and one for Advanced Duration.

As described:

1. What potency value does the spell have?
2. If instead of Advanced Duration, he reaches to switch primary factor to Potency, what is the duration of the spell?
3. If he uses extra reach to switch primary factor to Potency, what happens to the duration of the spell?
4. How many reach do I need both effects (find specific thing and access to temporary Merits) + instant casting + advanced duration?

Thanks,

Unless I'm misunderstanding the spell factor system...

Potency is 1 by default, if no dice are sacrificed to increase it.

The duration of the spell would be one turn, if no dice are sacrificed to increase it.

The duration of the spell would be one hour/scene, if no dice are sacrificed to increase it.

Instant casting is 1, advanced duration is 1, for a total of 2 reach needed. As an ST, I would probably rule that RAW you'd need to combine two castings of the spell because the merit effect is an alternative to finding the specific thing.

[Tessie]

How much Sympathy (if any) would a key have for a matching lock? Drafting a keyring that opens portals between doors whose keys are on the ring, but I'm not sure what the Withstand would be.

Depends on how they were constructed, I think.

If there's only one key per lock, each constructed specifically for the other, Strong sympathy.
If there's a master key, or more than one key for the lock, Medium sympathy.
If lock or key are generic, with hundreds or thousands of keys that would open the lock, Weak sympathy.

Sympathy is described exclusively between two people or between one person and an object. I don't think it's intended that two objects can't have sympathy, but since neither is capable of forming emotional bonds (which is the most common source for sympathetic connections), the strength of the link should naturally be quite limited.

A lock and a matching key would probably not have a sympathetic connection at all unless they're used together quite often, in which case it should be weak. It's much more likely that whoever holds the key has a connection to both the key and the lock than them having a connection to each other.

[lbeaumanior]

1. Serendipity has primary factor Potence, it has extra reach effects that refer to skill usage. The spell is not lasting, so those effects require recasting (or having active) the spell before using a skill, right?
2. If the primary factor is of a spell is Potence, can you use advanced duration WITHOUT switching the primary factor to Duration? If so, how many reach do you need for it?