[Homebrew] Abyssal Arcanum

[atamajakki]

...come to think of it, why doesn't The Gate govern an Arcana like all the other Exarchs?

[Karavolos]

http://worldofdarkness.wikia.com/wiki/Nefandi

[ManusDomine]

That makes sense.

[malonkey1]

Innumeracy is cool, but I think that it's a bit too much to say that a five-dot spell should defeat the third Tier of Blessed is The God-King of a Sekhem 10 Mummy.

Why not just make it a Clash of Wills?

That makes sense.

[ManusDomine]

Innumeracy is cool, but I think that it's a bit too much to say that a five-dot spell should defeat the third Tier of Blessed is The God-King of a Sekhem 10 Mummy.

Why not just make it a Clash of Wills?

[thenate]

Yep, that's what it meant. That section comes after the general explanations and common mechanics sections wherein some of that is addressed.

I wrote it mostly as a reference for a game I ran quite a few years back, so it certainly can bear serious polishing.

[malonkey1]

This seems a bit jumbled. Like, I have no idea what you mean by a thing being easier by a level. Do you mean you move Practices around to different dot levels? Also Life and Mind effects don't show up to Matter at all anyways, or did you mean something else?

Basically, I'm too confused to be intrigued yet.

It seems like the practices do indeed get moved based on what's written there.

[Mrmdubois]

This seems a bit jumbled. Like, I have no idea what you mean by a thing being easier by a level. Do you mean you move Practices around to different dot levels? Also Life and Mind effects don't show up to Matter at all anyways, or did you mean something else?

Basically, I'm too confused to be intrigued yet.

[thenate]

On a related topic: I wrote a somewhat involved take on running Qlippothic Arcana in Awakening a few years back. (Prior to Imperial Mysteries) If that sounds interesting, I could pop it up here.

e.g.
Dark Revelations (Prime) reveal active tainted effects of any arcana. Each other only reveals effects from its purview. Mind altering Life effects show up to both arcana, for example, since they fall into both categories, but would not show up under Matter at all.

Death - Theme is the idea that death is not an end. Manipulating shades into semblance of life, for example, is far easier with the qlippothic form of death. Knowing effects, however, are a level higher. Masking effects are a level lower.

Spells to manipulate forgetfulness are easy with this arcana, especially if combined with mind. Ghosts can be granted willpower based off of successes with a spell that costs a single willpower. If the Ghost's willpower achieves Finesse, the ghost begins to seem more human again. (due to the abyssal essence providing the missing traits.)

Soul tearing and pattern damaging effects are easier by a level. Soul repair is impossible, but soul replacement is. The magus can create psuedo-soul stuff. (see Abyssal Nativity in Intruders) The magus can create two half souls from one soul, though he cannot create a pseudo soul ex-nihilo.

Qlippothic death, it bears noting, can bind ghosts from passing on or pull them into the Abyss in various ways. Some of the operations open to Stygia are closed. Even when overlapping, the metaphysical operations tend to be very different. Binding and enhancing a ghost with this is actually a measure of adding abyssal essence, and manipulating the result with the mage's affinity to the Abyss. Of course, the fact that the ghost may be more abyssal spirit than ghost is actually extremely subtle. (Supernal Death magic can affect abyssally tainted ghosts with a penalty of -1 die. Spirit 3+ can affect them with a penalty of -3. Conjunctional magic between Death 1+ and Spirit 3+ has no penalty. Arguably, this makes them "Geists," against which, it bears noting, quippthotic Death magic has a lessened penalty.)

Examples include: Changing or creating a ghost's fetters is accomplished by literally breaking their nature and inserting a new truth.

[malonkey1]

...

Me and my big, fat, stupid mouth.

EDIT: I liked those Imperial Practices, by the way. Just in case someone thought I was depreciating the above post for no reason.

That's how I took it. That video is the intended reaction to Abyssal spells. Speaking of which, I've added a sample one for each dot level just to show how freaky some of them can be. The 5-dot one is my favorite.

[GibberingEloquence]

I added some sample effects for the Imperial Practices. It's not pretty.

...

Me and my big, fat, stupid mouth.

EDIT: I liked those Imperial Practices, by the way. Just in case someone thought I was depreciating the above post for no reason.

[malonkey1]

I added some sample effects for the Imperial Practices. It's not pretty.

[123456789blaaa]

I like the idea that the Elder Diadem gives Scelesti access to this instead of the system presented in Left Hand Path. It really makes sense when you think about how both the Gate and the Old Man represent the Abyss alongside the beings representing the normal Arcana. It's also a lot smoother in implementation than the system in LHP.

[Khalvin8]

Didn't the 1e chronicle about the Queen of the Throne touch on the Abyss Arcanum? I recall something about Sins(marks of the abyss on a soul) featuring heavily in that book.

I'm mulling over a abyssal cabal generating Sin on sleepers to latter align them as living sacraments for abyssal verges through said souls. I wish I was at home right now so I would know if this even makes sense regarding the Queen chronicle.

[proindrakenzol]

I shudder to think what an Aswadim (Scelestus Archmage) could do with 9 dots in the Abyssal Arcanum. I shudder in the best way.

I also shudder when I imagine what might be the Quintessence used for that particular Imperial Practice of Transfiguration.

Whatever you imagine probably isn't offensive enough to reality to work.