[Homebrew] The Elan Legacy

[Cauthon]

Very rough draft - I have an easier time coming up with specific attainments than I do overall themes. This one was born from the capstone.

Elan
A Mage sought immortality through Prime and Mind, using DnD Elans as a template. He succeeded... mostly.

Nicknames: Recast, Delvers, Whisperers (Derogatory)
Organization: The "Culler Council" decides who will be inducted into the Legacy, a group that consists of the handful of Elan that have attained the fifth Attainment. Beneath them, lesser Elan spread themselves out to different Cabals, ingratiating themselves through Hallow work while keeping an eye out for Ascension lore. Elan regularly meet up with other Legacy members, if only to indulge in the "psychic" communication they begin to favor over mundane communication.
Theory: The Timori are mad, but they're on to something. To join with the Supernal, one must be clothed in Truth.
Background: Not long ago, a Free Council Mage by the name of Gygax was captured by a Timori. Though he survived the encounter, and even managed to escape with his Gnosis intact, he was changed by the experience. His Cabal had kept the creatures soul for study, and Gygax spent weeks pouring over it with his limited faculty in Death. His Cabal worried that he was becoming Rapt, or even potentially falling to the lure of the Timori Legacy.

In a way, he was. Gygax had seen something in the Prime-crafted monstrosity, a glimpse of corrupted immortality. As should be obvious from his Shadow Name, Gygax had a fixation on tabletop RPGs. Under the wild leap of logic that the Timori were a warped version of the Elan race from Dungeons and Dragon, Gygax set out to forge a "pure" vision. It was -and is- his firm belief that Ascension is hindered by flesh, and that transforming into something closer to a Sarira before beginning the Seeking would make the process easier.

He managed to succeed in his transmutation, after a fashion. Between the soul of the Apprentice Trimori, intensive study of various long-lived Supernaturals, the summoning of numerous Supernal beings, and several mysterious forays into the Tenemos, Gygax was able to create a Legacy that ultimately shucked the biological form in favor of an existence of Prime and Mind.

Though Gygax abandoned his Cabal early in his quest, he has gained apprentices over the course of his wanderings. Some joined him for his expertise on the non-Mage Supernaturals of the Fallen World, while other simply coveted the immortality his work promised. All have been inducted into the newly-minted Legacy.

The Consilli that know of the Elan have almost uniformly declared them Liches, albeit relatively useful ones. Most Elan will not consume Mana in large quantities for much of their careers due to the required Gnosis, but a large proportion of Elan are able to strengthen or create Hallows thanks to their skill in Prime. Whether this relationship will be a sustainable one for host Consilli, or if it is merely "riding the tiger" with a group of mana-vampires, remains to be seen.

Parentage: Free Council, Mastigos
Ruling Arcanum: Prime
Yantras: Being networked to other Mages (+1, +2 if the other Mage is also an Elan); Cut crystal jewels (+1 for mundane stones, +2 for Perfected gems); Having full Mana Batteries on-hand (+1, stacks with and counts as one Yantra if the battery is also a cut jewel); The Elan has drawn Mana from the target during the current Scene (+2, stacks with and counts as one Yantra if the target is also a networked Elan)
Oblations: Enter a meditative trance; Direct study of an Immortal or Supernal subject; Reviewing gathered lore on the "Ghost in the Shell" process or Ascension.

Prerequisites: Prime 2, Mind 2, Fluent High Speech
Initiation: Pass the assessment of the Culler Council, whose criteria are... opaque. One of the few consistencies is requiring the prospect to summon a Supernal being of their Path, for the sole purpose of studying the corpus they manifest in the Fallen World.

Thorough Analysis
(Prime ●) Initiation
Though developed by Gygax as a means to sift good data from bad during his initial quest, this Attainment has proven useful in the greater mission of seeking out Ascension lore. By focusing their attention, an Elan is able to identify forgeries and attempted deceptions.

Pierce Deception
Duration = Prime
Potency = 1, 2 at Prime 2, 3 at Prime 4
Range = Self
Casting Time = Instant (Reach)

(Mind ●)
Another product of Gygax's initial Obsessions, this Attainment allows the Elan to give equal attention to their studies and the niceties of daily life. If not for this precaution, it is likely the founder would have become Rapt long before he finalized the Legacy.

One Mind, Two Thoughts
Duration = Mind (Reach to Advanced Duration)
Potency = 1, 2 at Mind 2, 3 at Mind 4
Range = Self
Casting Time = Scene

Study of Shadows
(Prime ●●) Supernal Taxonomy, Piercing Glance 2
It is important to note that while much of the Elan's immortality is based on the study of Supernal entities, quite a bit of their theory is based on how other beings prolong their lives. Often, such as with Vampires and Tremere, this is a study in what NOT to do, but this Attainment represents the focus that went into identifying and studying such beings.

Supernal Vision
Potency = Prime
Duration = One Day, One Week at Prime (Reach to Advanced Duration)
Range = Self
Casting Time = Scene
NOTE: Reach to "Identify Supernaturals"

(Mind ●●)
The Mind aspect of this Legacy is based on the Mastigoian belief that every being is nothing more than a conglomeration of overlapping psychic fields, a whole greater than the sum of its parts. This Attainment is the shallowest understanding of that theory, skimming the outermost fringes of individuals.

Know Nature
Potency = Mind
Duration = Two Turns, Three at Mind 4
Range = Sight (Reach to Sensory Range)
Casting Time = Instant (Reach to Instant Casting)

Loosing the Shackles
(Prime ●●●) Keen Periphery, Piercing Glance 4
The search for perfection was fraught with dangers, and Gygax learned to ward himself at a moment's notice.

Wards and Signs
Potency = Prime (Reach to Change Primary Spell Factor)
Duration = 2 Turns, 3 Turns at Prime 4
Range = Self
Casting Time = Instant (Reach to Instant Casting)

(Mind ●●●)
Plunging deeper into the fields that make up sentient beings, the Elan begins to instinctively probe them for information. Members of the Legacy begin to use this Attainment on each other soon after reaching this level of Mind mastery, the simultainous scanning acting as a simple telepathic communication network.

Mental Scan
Potency = Mind
Duration = Two Turns, Three Turns at Mind 4
Withstand = Composure
Range = Sight (Reach to Sensory Range)
Casting Time = Instant (Reach to Instant Casting)
NOTE: Reach to "Snippit" Reach effect

Take What Is Needed
(Prime ●●●●) Mana Sense
The Elan feels the hunger of the coming change, and begins to stockpile on Mana in preparation.

Channel Mana
Potency = Prime
Duration = Two Turns, Three Turns at Prime 4
Withstand = Composure
Range = Sight (Reach to Sensory Range)
Casting Time = Instant (Reach to Instant Casting)

(Mind ●●●●)
Not everyone gives up knowledge willingly. This Attainment allows the Elan to delve deeper into the overlapping fields of an individual, prying out whatever information they need. This has an added benefit when "scanning" other Elans, as their harmonic resonance becomes less shackled by the limitations of flesh.

Read the Depths
Potency = Mind
Duration = Two Turns, Three Turns at Mind 4
Withstand = Resolve
Range = Sight (Reach to Sensory Range)
Casting Time = Instant (Reach to Instant Casting)
NOTE: ATYPICAL: Elans are now able to generate a psychic network with each other - whenever one uses the previous Attainment's Mind effect on another, the caster and subject are treated as being under the effect of the Telepathy spell, with Advanced Duration and both Reach effects. This only works with other Elans of Disciple rank or higher.

Ghost in the Shell
(Prime ●●●●●, Mind ●●●●●) Astral Adept
The Elan sheds their messy biological form, gaining a measure of the perfection they sought. The next step awaits - Ascension.

Technically two distinct effects, but learned simultaneously. The Elan now permanently exists in a state identical to the dream form provided by Psychic Projection. While this means they no longer have a true physical form, they can use the Prime portion of the Attainment to generate a body for themselves. They can only have one such body at any given time, but can disengage from it and return to Twilight by activating the Mind portion of the Attainment.

Eidolon
Potency = Prime
Duration = One Week (Reach to Advanced Duration)
Range = Self
Mana Cost = 1, +5 Mana Daily
Casting Time = Scene
NOTE: Each activation creates a corpus for the Elan to occupy - this may be any shape or configuration, but no larger than a human and no smaller than a rodent. Additionally, it will need some form of plausible locomotion, such as legs or a serpentine body. The Corpus is made of Prime energy, and automatically consumes 5 Mana per day to function in a normal Human capacity. If the Mage cannot pay the cost, their Pattern is immediately Scoured until they have enough Mana to do so. This can and will kill the mage, should they be unable to meet the demand. It is thus important to note that a Corpus can be dismissed at any time, it simply leaves the Mage without a physical anchor. Each Attainment activation spends all of its Potency allocation on Durability, and only one Corpus may exist at a given time. Should the Mage activate the Mind portion of this Attainment, the Corpus is treated as a 5-dot Retainer. In Retainer mode, it continues to automatically consume 5 Mana per day from the Mage's pattern, but requires no other upkeep. Retainer Corpi can be given orders at any distance, but without other magics the Mage is unaware of Corpi outside of sensory range. If a Corpus is destroyed, the Mage is immediately aware of the destruction, but not the circumstances surrounding it.

Psychic Projection
Duration = Mind (Reach to Advanced Duration)
Potency = 3
Range = Self
Casting Time = Instant (Reach to Instant Casting)
NOTE: the Mage technically exists in this form at all times; activation merely allows them to separate from a current Corpus. The Corpus also acts as a Phylactery; if the Mage is destroyed while no Corpus Eidolon is active, they are permanently killed. They are effectively unaging, and no longer need to consume food or drink. They no longer need to sleep to remain functional, but must still enter a 4-hour meditative trance daily to recover Willpower. Should they enter the Astral, their Twilight body vanishes for the duration, and reappears at the departure point on completion. As with general death, Astral death without a Corpus results in permanent destruction

Secrets and Story Hooks

None of the elder Elan have attained the Disciple understanding of Forces. This is a bit of a point of contention with the Veil, since that means their Corpi are very obviously magical and most of the Elders can't be bothered to hide themselves from Sleepers. Even worse, no-one knows if the Attainment can even be augmented by the Forces conjunctive effect the standard Eidolon spell has. Sooner or later, they're going to get the Consillium noticed by something nasty - be it Banishers, Seers, Timori, or worse.

One of the Elders has been creating Goetia. A LOT of Goetia. They're all spawned by Psychic Genesis, so it isn't like he's creating psychopaths or wounding the Astral, but they're all lurking around his new base of operations like vultures. And last night, Resonance all over the city shifted as if hit by an earthquake, centered on that Sanctum. What is he doing in there?

A well-liked mage goes missing. He's found dead a few days later, seemingly murdered by days of torturous Scouring. The Council are claiming it is obviously the work of the Elan, which the Elan firmly deny.

[KaiserAfini]

I feel like they are missing something to ensure survival of unexpected situations. If the Corpus body is destroyed, there is no way for them to survive.

Lets say this mage is really old and a werewolf pack decides to hunt them. Their defenses are specialized for Awakened magic, so a hit and run ambush could prove deadly.

The Eternal Soul Sentinels, for example, are able to survive destruction of their vessel and even undo it. But they also have to contend with the need for mana.

Not fully equivalent because the Elan try to avoid the insanity of lichdom, but having a backup plan that cannot be dispelled is important. The Bannerets of Ameretat are able to reappear near their philactery, their philosophy also focuses on achieving immortality while avoiding the madness of lichdom.

A particularly interesting decision is that nothing compels the Elans to be thaumavores, they have to choose it out of fear or desperation. What is worse, having a built in compulsion to scour the living for mana or consciously deciding it ? That can be a terrifying experience for them.

They probably favor having caches of mana batteries for long travels, creating Hallows or goetic Familiars that give a mana tribute. Like vampires, they are encouraged to have a territory to support their immortality, which can lead to interesting interactions.

[Cauthon]

I feel like they are missing something to ensure survival of unexpected situations. If the Corpus body is destroyed, there is no way for them to survive.

Lets say this mage is really old and a werewolf pack decides to hunt them. Their defenses are specialized for Awakened magic, so a hit and run ambush could prove deadly.

Ah, I many need to change the wording. The intent was that the Elan exists in a permanent state of Psychic Projection, and only need to activate the Attainment to disengage from a current Corpus. They can choose to not create a Corpus, but it generally behooves them to do so since it's both a phylactery and their only means of interacting directly with the world. But even without one, they're hard to kill, since they can't be directly interacted with, and Mind Twilight is pretty sparsely populated. The intent was less "find a way to avoid being killed" and more "avoid death by natural causes".

The conscious choice to be a thaumavore is my favorite part of the Legacy. They can choose to just remain in their Twilight form, and likely some "elders" do so. Likely most will do so when setting up a new home, when they need to conserve Mana to generate a new Hallow. In theory, they could gain enough Mana to support a Corpus each day through their Legacy Oblation, but that assumes they're getting the maximum amount of Mana each time. Which is... unlikely. But despite all that, the risks of not having a phylactery, coupled with the difficulties of effectively being a Morphean outside of the Astral, will drive most to construct a Corpus as soon as possible.

Also worth noting is that while I intended to make this a Legacy reminiscent of the DnD race, the end result of the capstone Attainment is more like Eclipse Phase. You can make any body shape you want, so long as it is within the size limit and has some form of locomotion.

Edit: Holy heck, a permanent 5-Dot Hallow costs something like sixty points of Mana. Mana Batteries are a must.

[KaiserAfini]

Alternatively, they could just use a combined spell of Psychic Genesis and goetic Familiar. Cast using advanced scale, use 6 times ritual time (see page 116 for more info) to get a +5, combine with +2 from rune yantra on where they will appear, +2 from High Speech and +3 from Willpower. Now they have enough to use 2 dice for a combined spell and enough scale factors to create 64 goetic Familiars. Unlike spirits, they can be designed to be loyal and willing to accept the Familiar bond. Now use the Familiar bond to turn Essence into mana.

When they make the Hallow, design its Resonance to match the one of the goetia and they will recharge by just being near it, or close to a mana battery with that Resonance. Which makes the process repeatable every 2 days.

Thyrsus can do this sort of shenanigans with Create Loci at their Sanctums and using Essence Fountain on the go to produce their own mana. Sure, it takes extra steps and diplomacy, but spirits can have Manifestations and can make for powerful security, atop all the free mana. When combined with the insane resilience and adaptability of Life, it makes it a terrifying Path. Legacies with Spirit and Mind, like the Bene Ashmedai and Clavicularius, get all the benefits and none of the drawbacks, making it a very synergistic combination.

Observation: With these spell factors, you can make each individual entity up to size 14, which is a one smaller than an elephant, all this before taking any dice penalties to push the Scale factor even further. Sure they are Rank 1, but the mage is likely to make a very powerful impression, having numerical superiority and resilient enough allies (due to size adding to Corpus) to make most spirit courts very nervous when the cabal shows up. All this can be done at no Paradox risk, just investing time.

[Cauthon]

Snip

While powerful, that give me the same feeling as Praxis gambling. Feels wierd to be able to spam Essence for Mana

[KaiserAfini]

Praxis gambling wouldn't make much thematic sense in setting, since an exceptional success is more of a surge of inspiration, at least without more magic to facilitate it.

This idea was the result of asking how each Path gets mana using only their Ruling Arcana. Obrimos make Hallows and batteries, eventually using them to fuel the creation of more during downtime. Acanthus sit in a time bubble, scouring and healing. Mastigos and Thyrsus use lots of familiars. Moros do the same, but also make themselves into universal Anchors so they don't need to carry a bunch of random items.

But it could trivialize the mana acquisition for the Legacy, so I can see why its not very appealing. Another option is to use Prime to give the spell 8-again and rote, then pick the ability to bypass Withstand in an exceptional success. In that case, Potency 5 would suffice, which is much less demanding in mana.

[TempleBuilder]

Not sure if this counts a necromancy, but I’d like to discuss Yantras, because the legacy is cool, and it was requested. One thing I’m going do is to attempt to do is keep the Yantras conceptually distant from those of the Order of the Iron Tower, as I’d prefer for them not to overlap. Might not be possible in some places though.

The legacy is based on dnd psionics, so it makes sense to me to look at the various tropes dnd has with psionics. Dnd psionics is mostly mashed together new age and pulp stories. One dnd thing in particular is the focus on physical things one could plausibly find in a treasure hoard. This usually takes the form of crystals and floating geometric shapes. Many of the crystals held power points, with some even being sentient and acting as familiars. I feel like all of those are easily translatable. Another one is the usage of telepathic networks linking psionic characters. I feel like this is also pretty translatable. Psionic powers causing nosebleeds when overreaching is harder. While the concept is technically in mage, that the result of containing paradox, which maybe shouldn’t be a yantra. (You know, just a hunch.)

I’d say crystals are a +1 since they are easy with little drawbacks.

What’s more interesting to me would be using objects with a Mana pool since that is the equivalence in this legacy. I’m skeptical of anything that uses X amount of mana as a yantra, instead I think the important thing is that there is the idea of object can hold power. Secondly, I think the act of draining mana resonants with the legacy, and gives the mana vampire vibe before the final attainment. +2 if draining mana from something, +3 if it’s the last one a object (or person) holds would be my call. (Might be higher than warranted, but has the potential to make other Mage’s very annoyed with you, which is quite the drawback.) Actually, on second thought, I think the legacy should have to spend mana used for this yantra in order to prevent feedback loops, or at least can’t transfer it again.

Weirdly enough, Familiars don’t have a Yantra rating, and I’m not really sure the legacy has the use of familiars being important enough to warrant their own yantra.

Finally, we have the psionic network. I actually would extend the network yantra to other mages and other things power, with a extra bonus to other Elan. It sounds weird, but from the viewpoint of the Elan, the whole is greater than it’s parts, even with those who haven’t truly attuned themselves to the network.

Hope this helps!

[Cauthon]

I’d say crystals are a +1 since they are easy with little drawbacks.

So, +1 for cut gemstones, +2 if they're Perfected, maybe? They're "using gems as a metaphor for the human form"

What’s more interesting to me would be using objects with a Mana pool since that is the equivalence in this legacy. I’m skeptical of anything that uses X amount of mana as a yantra, instead I think the important thing is that there is the idea of object can hold power.

Mana Battery items, which must be full when the spell us cast, maybe?- +1 for one with a capacity at or under 5, +2 for over 5?

Secondly, I think the act of draining mana resonants with the legacy, and gives the mana vampire vibe before the final attainment. +2 if draining mana from something, +3 if it’s the last one a object (or person) holds would be my call. (Might be higher than warranted, but has the potential to make other Mage’s very annoyed with you, which is quite the drawback.) Actually, on second thought, I think the legacy should have to spend mana used for this yantra in order to prevent feedback loops, or at least can’t transfer it again.

+2 for affecting targets that you've drained Mana from in the scene? Gives an incentive to learn a bit of Death.

Weirdly enough, Familiars don’t have a Yantra rating, and I’m not really sure the legacy has the use of familiars being important enough to warrant their own yantra.

I think they just become Assistants, so they're an Environmental Yantra

Finally, we have the psionic network. I actually would extend the network yantra to other mages and other things power, with a extra bonus to other Elan. It sounds weird, but from the viewpoint of the Elan, the whole is greater than it’s parts, even with those who haven’t truly attuned themselves to the network

+1 for non-Elan, +2 for other Elan?

[TempleBuilder]

So, +1 for cut gemstones, +2 if they're Perfected, maybe? They're "using gems as a metaphor for the human form"

Good justification. Perfected crystal actually perfect for a additional +1.

Mana Battery items, which must be full when the spell us cast, maybe?- +1 for one with a capacity at or under 5, +2 for over 5?

I will reiterate not liking have a set mana value but this is much more workable that what I came up with. Plus later on they will need to choose between having a physical form, or having power. I like that dynamic.

+2 for affecting targets that you've drained Mana from in the scene? Gives an incentive to learn a bit of Death.

That’s actually a really good idea. One, it makes them dangerous to other, and it plays into the shared power pool trope if some smart Elans want to work together and buff the others.

I think they just become Assistants, so they're an Environmental Yantra

Oh, that makes sense.

+1 for non-Elan, +2 for other Elan?

Yes. Though I think it might be worthwhile to limit to things that can use or transmute mana. So my justification for it is that Mage’s have the plenty potential to be Elans, but they just aren’t using it right. Non-Mages aren’t using that mental energy, so the Elan can barrow their power without issue. I’d only exclude sleepers from the list. Hopefully that makes sense.

Edit: wording

[Cauthon]

Good justification. Perfected crystal actually perfect for a additional +1.

I will reiterate not liking have a set mana value but this is much more workable that what I came up with. Plus later on they will need to choose between having a physical form, or having power. I like that dynamic.


That’s actually a really good idea. One, it makes them dangerous to other, and it plays into the shared power pool trope if some smart Elans want to work together and buff the others.

Oh, that makes sense.

Yes. Though I think it might be worthwhile to limit to things that can use or transmute mana. So my justification for it is that Mage’s have the plenty potential to be Elans, but they just aren’t using it right. Non-Mages aren’t using that mental energy, so the Elan can barrow their power without issue. I’d only exclude sleepers from the list. Hopefully that makes sense.

Edit: wording

Aaaand updated. Of note - I specified that the gemstone and Mana Battery Yantras can stack into a single Yantra, for a maximum of +3 when using a Perfected jewel Mana Battery. Similarly, an targeting an Elan you've networked to and drawn Mana from gets a whopping +4 Yantra