Ask a simple question: Fallen World edition

[Cauthon]

Yeah, Fate wouldn't be needed, my bad.

The main issue is getting the sound of the horn to them. Which would need something like a massive Co-Location for all the statues, or for it to be sounded in a place that already had that setup so all the statues would hear it. That would have a high Willpower cost when accounting for all spells.

This approach means that the horn is sounded on the tower, sent by the radio via broadcast, then the statues hear it via the radio receiver and activate. Essentially, technology is being used to make it easier to activate all of them and harder to sympathetically trace all of them, while saving a lot of Willpower as well.

But... is each Golem individually Imbued? Because that's a lot of work, and Exceptional Success on an Extended Action roll are far from guaranteed.

Im guessing these would be Persistent rather than Contingent, because the amount of Mana that would eat per activation would quickly become unmanageable.

Individually Imbued troops has the advantage of not disabling the entire army if one unit gets dispelled/Dissonanced, but the prep-work makes it somewhat impractical.

[KaiserAfini]

But... is each Golem individually Imbued? Because that's a lot of work, and Exceptional Success on an Extended Action roll are far from guaranteed.

Im guessing these would be Persistent rather than Contingent, because the amount of Mana that would eat per activation would quickly become unmanageable.

Individually Imbued troops has the advantage of not disabling the entire army if one unit gets dispelled/Dissonanced, but the prep-work makes it somewhat impractical.

The war horn is imbued with Golem, then used to cast for the entire army using one spell slot, then safely relinquished.

[Cauthon]

The war horn is imbued with Golem, then used to cast for the entire army using one spell slot, then safely relinquished.

Then I'm still confused as to why you'd set up the radio tower. If the horn is what contains the spell, then it would either need to be within Sight (or Aimed) range of the Golems, or would need to be cast at Sympathetic Range. The act of sounding the horn is the Contingent trigger that activates the spell, but the spell itself functions like a normal spell would, constrained by all the normal parameters.

[21C Hermit]

I'm trying to figure out how to make the Gjallarhorn. For the most mythologically acurate incarnation, it would just need to open an Avernian Gate to an Underwold realm where a ghostly army has already been amassed. But I like alternatives.

1. Horn Imbued with Quicken Corpse, set to "Area" Scale so it affects everything around the sounder. Requires corpses on-hand, and prone to Dissonance unless the Imbuement includes a combined-casting of Corpse Mask, or you prepared the corpses with concealing clothes/armour
2. Horn Imbued with Golem, using the same parameters as above. Again, requires you to have statues on-hand and is prone to Dissonance unless you included a Veiling spell of some sort. Invisibility, Incognito Presence, a Forces illusion, etc. Or prepare concealing apparel.
3. Horn and mannequins of some stripe, Imbued with Golem. Limited to number-of-subjects Scale, but if the Imbuement includes the mannequins there's a plausible argument that it's only working at the "Self" range. So when you blow the horn, all the mannequins animate regardless of where they are. Permanence can get you up to a high Advanced Duration, which gives you Reach for Advanced Scale and Instant Casting.
   1. That being said, Sympathetic Range would also be a reasonable requirement, in which case you'd need to use Create Sympathy's Lasting option on each mannequin and the horn. In which case you could just ignore the divided Imbuement, but it has other downsides, like the amount of Reach being used.

[/Spoiler]

I edited in some context that's somewhat relevant.

In an attempt to create an army without murdering your Spell Control, Permenant Willpower, or Wisdom - Imbue a horn with Golem, and use Create Sympathy's Lasting effect between it and every mannequin you plan to affect, maybe?

Rereading Signs of Sorcery, I think crafting the Hollering Horn may be simpler than it looks. Just... Imbue the Golem spell, or the Quicken Corpse spell, with Advanced Scale (Area) and Advanced Duration (and any other Add Arcana or Reach options), set it as a Contingent Item where the condition is "blow the horn", and be done.

With Advanced Area-of-Effect, Range is not a problem unless you are trying to summon your animated soldiers from somewhere far away. That's going to take effort on par with just luring your enemy to wherever you had your animated soldiers already stationed, and since the latter also indirectly solves Dissonance issues, I'd go for that instead.

To meet the exact parameters of what you said, you may indeed need to Combine several spells... or hunt for an Artifact. As I reckon, Artifacts are the design space for magical effects that hand-wave away technicalities for the Creative Thaumaturgy rules. (Boons from Supernal Entities should work too, for the same reason)

EDIT: unrelated.
1. Is a "weapons" Ban possible, and if so what Conjunctive Arcana is it? Death, since they're implements of death? Matter, since they're tools?

2. For Psychic Domination, is "serve me" too broad a command? I assume so, just toying with the idea of a Shadow of Mordor-style domination Legacy.

1. Matter.

2. The book says that the caster's intentions are sent too, and lists "defend" as an example (which I consider broad as "serve (me)"), so I'd allow it. The real problem is putting enough Potency to overcome Withstand, and enough Duration to make the service last more than a few seconds.

[Cauthon]

On the topic of Imbued Items, I've found I'm still not wholey clear on how their activation works. Is it the same spell every time, ie same Potency, Duration, Scale, etc, regardless of who activates it? Or are you spending dice to increase steps like a normal spell? I know Reach is fixed, but not sure about the rest.

The rather miniscule dice-pool makes me think the former, but I have a habit of being overly optimistic with some mechanics.

[21C Hermit]

On the topic of Imbued Items, I've found I'm still not wholey clear on how their activation works. Is it the same spell every time, ie same Potency, Duration, Scale, etc, regardless of who activates it? Or are you spending dice to increase steps like a normal spell? I know Reach is fixed, but not sure about the rest.

The rather miniscule dice-pool makes me think the former, but I have a habit of being overly optimistic with some mechanics.

The spell's Arcanum rating + the user's Gnosis.

The user gets to decide spell factors, but unless the Imbuer made the effort to bestow the Flexible Reach feature, no Advanced spell factors.

From this I assume that the user can sacrifice the dice pool to raise spell factors, but since Yantras are noted to not provide dice, doing that is a rather desperate move.

[Cauthon]

The spell's Arcanum rating + the user's Gnosis.

The user gets to decide spell factors, but unless the Imbuer made the effort to bestow the Flexible Reach feature, no Advanced spell factors.

From this I assume that the user can sacrifice the dice pool to raise spell factors, but since Yantras are noted to not provide dice, doing that is a rather desperate move.

Then does it also get the normal free jumps in the primary factor?

[21C Hermit]

Then does it also get the normal free jumps in the primary factor?

Oh, forgot about that.

This one's tricky, because Primary factors are about the caster's Arcanum rating, but Imbued Items have the Imbuer and the user separated......

Rereading the part in SoS about Xoristos and Memias schools' perspectives, the original Imbuer/crafter's dots being used for the Primary factor makes logical sense. However, because of the extra bookkeeping this brings, and the question of whether a spell's Imago also includes the Primary spell factor, I'd also be content at using the user's dots for the Primary factor.

(With the usual disclaimer, of course, of how this is just one of many interpretations)

[Phillip Morin]

What is the difference between Acamoth and Gulmoth?

[Cauthon]

What is the difference between Acamoth and Gulmoth?

Here's the 1e answer. I think it's still actuate to 2e.

[Isator Levi]

The First Edition explanation of Acamoth actually was a little more elaborate; they were supposed to be Abyssal beings that became trapped in the Fallen World at the instant of the Fall, and were driven to bargain with mages and exchange powers for the opportunity to create horrific nightmares because that was the only way for them to experience a state familiar to their native reality.

But yeah, Second Edition streamlines some of the Abyssal categories into Gulmoth being the ones that can exist physically (typically with Shadow spirit rules) and Acamoth being the Astral ones. These distinctions also lend some differences to what they're motivated to accomplish, with Gulmoth being more about warping matter and physics and Acamoth rendering Astral landscapes incoherent.

[orathaic]

The First Edition explanation of Acamoth actually was a little more elaborate; they were supposed to be Abyssal beings that became trapped in the Fallen World at the instant of the Fall, and were driven to bargain with mages and exchange powers for the opportunity to create horrific nightmares because that was the only way for them to experience a state familiar to their native reality.

But yeah, Second Edition streamlines some of the Abyssal categories into Gulmoth being the ones that can exist physically (typically with Shadow spirit rules) and Acamoth being the Astral ones. These distinctions also lend some differences to what they're motivated to accomplish, with Gulmoth being more about warping matter and physics and Acamoth rendering Astral landscapes incoherent.

Pretty sure the 1e Acamoth wanted to return to the Abyss and try to make deals withmages (not having enough powerto do so on their own - but offering investments* to mages willing to help).

I would presume by contrast Gulmoth wanted to get access to the material world (presumably to corrupt it). But they aren't mention in the index of 1e core, i am left wondering where i got that idea.

*Extra power, usually temporary

[Phillip Morin]

What happen if a Banisher gets to Integrity 0? Do they become Rapt?

[Cauthon]

I'd personally make them a Slasher who happens to have spells. Being Rapt implies a positive relationship to Mysteries, which Harrowed Banishers generally lack.

[Cauthon]

Tass accumulates in mundane objects within the Hallow. Would it be reasonable to rule that any Mana Batteries in the Hallow get filled with "tass" first, taking priority over Fallen objects until full on the grounds that it's an ideal vessel?