Creative Thaumaturgy: Fallen World Edition

[espritdecalmar]

Desynchronize (Time 3)
Practice: Fraying
Primary Spell Factor: Potency
Withstand: Resolve
Suggested Rote Skills: Athletics, Computer, Drive

The mage slows the subject's causality. For the duration of the spell, when an effect would happen to the subject, it is delayed by a number of minutes (turns in action scenes) equal to the spell's Potency. For instance, if the subject were struck with a weapon, they would only take damage Potency turns later. The same goes for Tilts suffered, Doors opened, and so forth. This applies to spells cast on the subject as well, though non-lasting effects have their duration equally delayed. Modern outside observers might compare the effects to lag in an online game or video buffering.

+1 Reach: The spell's effects apply to the subject's own actions as well: Any damage they inflict on others is delayed, etc.

+2 Reach: For a point of Mana, spell durations that affect the subject are not delayed, meaning that if the duration expires before the spell actually takes effect, the subject experiences nothing. In this way, the subject could quickly make their way through an area-range spell without succumbing to deleterious magics.

[KaiserAfini]

Thrawn's Insight (Mind •••)
Practice: Perfecting
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: N/A
Suggested Rote Skills: Academics, Investigation, Subterfuge

Concentration, awareness, long-term thinking- those are vital qualities that seperate an efficient ace from a mere flailing thug. Yet neither the most difficult challenges nor the most complex causes will yield victory without solidly conceived operations leading towards a grander goal. The greatest masters of the Arrow are not just ones that use their spells creatively and precisely. Rather they understand how to optimize logistics, coordinate their allies and plan grand strategies, maximizing the efficiency of their spellwork. This rote was invented to hone the strategist's craft to sublime heights.

It elevates the subject's ability to plan and strategize, granting an additional [Potency] dice to any rolls for creating plans, capped by trait limits. However, developing plans as a team requires all participants to be under its effect.

In addition, it also fosters focus and a methodical approach. Should time be plentiful and the subject choose to build a plan as an extended action, it increases the number of rolls that can be made by [Potency].

+1 Reach: The subject makes the most of every second, planning with greater efficiency. They gain the Good Time Management merit or, should they already have it, it grants 9-again for [Potency] planing rolls or 8-again for another Reach.

+1 Reach and a mana: The bonus can exceed trait limits. More complex plans can be constructed, exceeding the trait limit by [Potency]. The greatest practicioners are able to devize Xanatos Gambits with consummate ease.

[galivet]

I'm going to share here a set of spells from a hilarious session where I upended the applecart of one of my player's Obrimos characters who had gotten very comfortable using Pierce Deception and Words of Truth to avoid being deceived. It seems I've generated a little Prime Arcanum arms race around detecting and concealing untruths.

"I did not kill Talon Lacrimora, so release me at once!" The Turtle Scribe's words echoed with the unmistakable ring of honesty conferred by the well-known Words of Truth rote.

"Please accept my apology, Adept. I won't take up any more of your time." You can't help but feel inspired: holy Prime has once more helped avert a grave injustice.

So goes the downfall of many a gullible mage.

Words of Deception (Prime ••••)
Practice: Patterning
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: Composure

This spell functions exactly as Words of Truth, including the Reach effect, but with one key difference: It operates indiscriminately on both true and untrue statements, giving even outright lies the veneer of incontestable honesty. Naïve mages who experience this spell's effect and are familiar with Words of Truth are likely to mistake this spell for for its honest cousin unless they take additional precautions.

Note that Words of Deception and Words of Truth do not Clash -- Words of Deception merely expands upon the effect of Words of Truth.

Red Herring (Prime ••)
Practice: Veiling
Primary Factor: Duration

This spell serves a complimentary role to deceptive magical effects. Whenever the subject of Red Herring wins a Clash of Wills to prevent any deception she is perpetrating from being uncovered, she may further deceive the loser of the Clash by making the loser believe they won the Clash but directing them to some other object -- the red herring -- as the deception. This effect may occur a number of times during the Duration of Red Herring equal to Potency.

This spell helps tricky mages get around the annoying fact that even if one of their magical deceptions holds up to scrutiny, an opponent using Pierce Deception will always be more suspicious due to the mere occurrence of a Clash of Wills, win or lose. It can be used to pass a consequential deception off as a trivial one, or to send an opponent on a wild goose chase by convincing them that something which is true is actually a lie.

Illusory Imagos (Prime ••)
Practice: Veiling
Primary Factor: Duration

Display of Power and Mage Sight reveal things about spell imagos, but this spell can deceive those means of perception. When the subject of Illusory Imagos casts any spell, she may disguise its imago to appear like that of any other spell that utilizes the same Arcana. If the subject of Pierce Deception can see a disguised imago, they may penetrate the illusion by winning a Clash of Wills and perceive the true imago.

Spells so disguised are more difficult to counter; the caster gets a bonus on the Clash of Wills roll equal to Potency.

Illusory Imagos also prevents correct identification of spell made visible by Display of Power.

[KaiserAfini]

I'm going to share here a set of spells from a hilarious session where I upended the applecart of one of my player's Obrimos characters who had gotten very comfortable using Pierce Deception and Words of Truth to avoid being deceived. It seems I've generated a little Prime Arcanum arms race around detecting and concealing untruths.

"I did not kill Talon Lacrimora, so release me at once!" The Turtle Scribe's words echoed with the unmistakable ring of honesty conferred by the well-known Words of Truth rote.

"Please accept my apology, Adept. I won't take up any more of your time." You can't help but feel inspired: holy Prime has once more helped avert a grave injustice.

So goes the downfall of many a gullible mage.

Words of Deception (Prime ••••)
Practice: Patterning
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: Composure

This spell functions exactly as Words of Truth, including the Reach effect, but with one key difference: It operates indiscriminately on both true and untrue statements, giving even outright lies the veneer of incontestable honesty. Naïve mages who experience this spell's effect and are familiar with Words of Truth are likely to mistake this spell for for its honest cousin unless they take additional precautions.

Note that Words of Deception and Words of Truth do not Clash -- Words of Deception merely expands upon the effect of Words of Truth.

Red Herring (Prime ••)
Practice: Veiling
Primary Factor: Duration

This spell serves a complimentary role to deceptive magical effects. Whenever the subject of Red Herring wins a Clash of Wills to prevent any deception she is perpetrating from being uncovered, she may further deceive the loser of the Clash by making the loser believe they won the Clash but directing them to some other object -- the red herring -- as the deception. This effect may occur a number of times during the Duration of Red Herring equal to Potency.

This spell helps tricky mages get around the annoying fact that even if one of their magical deceptions holds up to scrutiny, an opponent using Pierce Deception will always be more suspicious due to the mere occurrence of a Clash of Wills, win or lose. It can be used to pass a consequential deception off as a trivial one, or to send an opponent on a wild goose chase by convincing them that something which is true is actually a lie.

Illusory Imagos (Prime ••)
Practice: Veiling
Primary Factor: Duration

Display of Power and Mage Sight reveal things about spell imagos, but this spell can deceive those means of perception. When the subject of Illusory Imagos casts any spell, she may disguise its imago to appear like that of any other spell that utilizes the same Arcana. If the subject of Pierce Deception can see a disguised imago, they may penetrate the illusion by winning a Clash of Wills and perceive the true imago.

Spells so disguised are more difficult to counter; the caster gets a bonus on the Clash of Wills roll equal to Potency.

Illusory Imagos also prevents correct identification of spell made visible by Display of Power.

"This is exactly why we figured out techniques to enforce the Lex"
"So your saying I should have called a Lictor"
"That works, a more practical approach is to cross examine someone with multiple Arcana. Sleepers have been doing this kind of stuff for a reason, never trust the polygraph alone.

You could just also keep the Active Sight up, with a revelation yantra or boon to help. Lastly, make them Swear to tell the truth without omission or misdirection."

Good call, players should worry when they develop complacent patterns that other characters notice. Magic is a powerful tool, but no substitute for a pragmatic mind.

I am curious why they needed Words of Truth. Between Awakened the bulk of the utility is to convey anything clearly over noise or distance, since just speaking in normal High Speech does effectively the same without costing spell slots.

[galivet]

High Speech doesn't play into the Doors system or include the nice carrot/stick provided by the Words of Truth Reach effect.

Also, while High Speech can't be used to outright lie, it's only crudely usable for conversation and can be used to mislead or miscommunicate. Words of Truth guarantees effective communication as it provides clear understanding regardless of language barriers (it conveys semantics rather than just syntax). I'll note that I'm heavily influenced here by Dave's published plays; in one of those the awkwardness and difficulty of communicating using High Speech is a major plot point.

Finally, in one particular scenario here the suspect voluntarily went for "Words of Truth" (actually Words of Deception) with the express purpose of pulling one over on his would-be investigator, a mage who has that spell as a Praxis and favors it in social encounters. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world for someone else to use it in a social encounter with him.

[galivet]

Also I would allow someone to lie in High Speech using magic, like Prime 3 Weaving "I can lie in High Speech for Duration."

I think that with sufficient cleverness and preparation, Prime can accomplish effects akin to "All evidence will point toward this conclusion as the truth for Duration." Ultimately Prime Making can just make something be true for a period of time. A spellcasting cat-and-mouse game between a skilled deceiver and investigator ultimately comes down to who wins a critical Clash of Wills -- hence the importance of a spell like Red Herring so that the mere occurrence of the Clash doesn't give the game away.

Honestly the mechanic of "You always automatically know when the spell you cast to detect deceptions failed to detect that what you're examining is a deception" is pretty lame; it's basically "heads I win tails you lose." But them's the rules.

[galivet]

Promiscuous Flame (Forces •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Duration

Angels of flame are by nature selective in choosing the objects of their affection, hence the Fallen World property of "flammability." Paper and cloth easily seduce such angels, while materials such as concrete and steel incite no passion. By means of this spell, a Thaumaturge commands licentiousness of one of the Burning Host: it will wantonly consume any material it touches..

This spell forces a volume of fire to use any material as fuel regardless of the material's natural combustibility. Subsequent spells may modify the the size and intensity of the flame, but this enhancement operates only within this spell's Scale. At the end of the spell's Duration, the flame no longer burns non-flammable material and may extinguish or diminish. The fire may naturally spread to other flammable materials within the Scale of the spell (and onward from there).

Materials consumed by flame enhanced with this spell leave behind no material by-products such as ash or gasses, as those too are consumed by the flame.

+1 Reach: The flame may also burn in the absence of oxygen or other appropriate gasses (e.g. hydrogen).

Note: In case it's not obvious, fire that burns anything and everything is super dangerous. To avoid killing yourself with this spell, cast it on an area at range and then dip a source of flame into the affected area. Barring the use of another spell like Control Fire, the flame will rapidly spread through whatever matter occupies that space (even the air) and start burning it all.

[KaiserAfini]

Tide of Sorrows (Forces •••, Matter •••)
Practice: Perfecting
Primary Factor: Duration
Withstand: N/A
Suggested Rote Skills: Academics, Science, Survival

It is said the concept for this rote was conceived by an Arrow in a moment of pure awe and inspiration, an epiphany derived from a treacherous journey through the Ocean of Fragments. It would become feared as a tool the Ungula Draconis wields with one objective alone: the absolute annihilation of their opponents.

This creates acid rain in an area with suitable atmospheric conditions. This comes into effect within minutes and imposes the Heavy Rain tilt with [Potency] severity, up to a maximum of 4. The water and acid are perfected, making them able to instantly corrode and dissolve anything in the area not made of Perfected materials. Flesh and bone melt before terrified targets, marvels of engineering are unmade and the very landscape is reduced to nothing more than a crater filled with a highly combustible sludge.

When these waters of oblivions have done their work, it is customary to call a lightning strike upon them. This sets off the perfected acid, creating an explosion of [Potency] intensity. Its a final honor playing on the Orders's symbolism as the hand that grasps lightning, a funeral pyre sending off their opponents.

When the duration ends, the acid rain loses its perfected state and the downpour stops. Due to the enormous potential for collateral damage, additional spellwork is usually done to isolate the affected area or guide the waters.

It is said entire spirit courts have been swept by them, armies of the walking dead silenced and factories of techno horrors destroyed. Therefore, to be granted this rote is a symbol of the Order's great trust in the mage.

+1 Reach: This can be used in an area with no suitable atmospheric conditions.

[KaiserAfini]

Grant Dekate (Fate •••••, Time •••••)
Practice: Unmaking
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: Composure
Suggested Rote Skills: Expression, Larceny, Politics

The creation of a Dedicated tool is no simple task. It requires the mage to actively use any intended tools in spellcasting, constantly choosing to channel their Nimbus through them over a long period of time. This spell simply completes the needed process in the blink of an eye.

The caster may dedicate up to [Potency] tools for the subject. These may be tools held by the caster or subject. The limits of Dedication remain in place. The caster can add a new Dedicated tool, overwrite or remove the power of an existing one. This is a Lasting effect and any tools that lost Dedication are simply left with an imprint of the subject's Signature Nimbus.

This rote was created out of necessity by a Mystagogue. In order to catch a plunderer of their Sanctum, first they created a scrying window, managing to get just enough power to view the thief. After a remote cast, the scoundrel would find themselves deprived of their Dedicated tool, all the while the Mystagogue held their two new ones in hand. The mage found the ability to bypass all sympathetic Withstands on the thief endlessly helpful when securing compensation.

Observation: This spell can also be cast with a Making of Prime and Space

[KaiserAfini]

Stunt Double (Fate •••, Time •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: Composure
Suggested Rote Skills: Stealth, Larceny, Subterfuge

A spell created by a Libertine of Hollywood to invent twist endings for their movies. Unfortunately, their Obsession with directing pieces of supernatural found footage and making Sleepers believe in them soon drove them to Rapture. This rote was all that was found after the Consilium put down their final "masterpiece": leading the Wild Hunt on a heist upon an entire condo building of Sleepers, in order to "compete in auditions to be sponsored by an agent from Arcadia"

This swaps the results of up to the last [Potency] turns between targets (the caster can choose which "takes" remain unaltered), rewriting them by swapping their fates. A bullet might hit their clock instead of them, a hostile caster will have hit a "stunt double". The Rapt would often force their opponents to "do their own stunts", "healing" them while damaging their adversaries. A surprise twist might make a Door be opened by the caster rather than their rival or a gifted peacemaker might find themselves having pacified a potted plant as a berserk werewolf reaches for their throat. Without additional Scale factors, the caster must be one of the targets of the swap. When multiple targets are affected, the caster can create a "director's cut" by mixing and matching fates between them.

+1 Reach: The caster can swap events the targets suffered one scene back. This can be taken multiple times.

[KaiserAfini]

Time for a spell that creates a fate worst than death and one of the reasons a vengeful Acanthus can be terrifying.

Mark of the Forlorn (Fate •••••, Time •••••)
Practice: Unmaking
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: Composure
Suggested Rote Skills: Stealth, Larceny, Subterfuge

A sinister spell that obliterates the target's sense of self completely. It annihates all temporal sympathy they have, alongside their Aspirations and Obsessions. Their past, their bonds, the very light of purpose. None of them will have any meaning and they won't even care. Soon their personal history will be forgotten by the world as target's memories grow hazy themselves.

The soul will naturally seek to fill this hollow, prompting them to redefine themselves, to seek new goals, building new Aspirations and Obsessions from scratch. This leaves the subject in a very vulnerable state, a fact that Seers and other Left-Handed magi who favor this rote count on.

Its origins are murky at best. Some say it was developed by a Minister of the Unity. Seers tend to become Enraptured more often, some say this was created to rehabilitate them by forcing them to rebuild Wisdom. Whether they managed or not was irrelevant, for a sagacious Seer knows they would either end up with the power of a new minion or the raw might of a magical savant in their pocket. Others say it was made as a way to tribute one of their enemy's identities to the Tyrant. Whatever the case, the subject turned on their new master and eliminated them.

Another theory says the first subject was a covert Sleepwalker agent of Geryon, whose slate was wiped clean between assignments. In the midsts of one they heard the call of the Watchtower of Fallen Blood and set about wiping all servants of the Exarchs to avenge their usurped bloodline.

A third hypothesis holds that it was used by a Nameless Order of mages to hunt a monstrous amalgamation of a True Fae and an Acamoth, manipulating themselves to fight its shards, for only a magus without a True Name can banish them.

Some think it was an Awakened Doomed to always fall into the Ocean of Fragments. Each time emerging with a new identity stitched together from the random memories drifting in the water and the Admiral's surprising aid (some even speculate the mage is his son reincarnated)

Dozens of these theories exist, each extracted from different corpses of supernatural beings around the world. Each being used akin to a memory tablet, perhaps a diary or a confession. The only thing they all had in common were that they were inscribed with this rote and the message "I am the Hollow Man, I am the Hollow Man. Many times have I died, many times rose again"

[KaiserAfini]

This spell is inspired by John Wick, mixed with some Geist and a bit of Greek mythology.

Marker of Horkos (Fate •••, Death •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Duration
Withstand: N/A
Cost: 1 mana
Suggested Rote Skills: Crafts, Politics, Socialize

In the Dread Domain of Horkus, Greek god of oaths, promises have a naturally binding power. This channels the Old Laws of the Domain to oversee a blood oath. It creates a small round metal, coin looking object indicating the debt of a blood oath between two individuals. Opening in the middle to reveal a divided surface, there also exists a small button on the side that makes a small needle pop up from the top. The debtor presses bloody thumbprint on one side of the divided surface to commit an oath is owed, while the debtee likewise presses their bloody thumb to the other side to indicate when an oath has been fulfilled. Its surface bears the latin words Quod Debitum Sanguine and the image of a skull.

Oaths can be left open (whoever holds the marker can call on it) or be keyed to only work for certain owners. It can also be left open for third parties to use. The coin is known to shift its images to show what the oath entails.

Once created, the spell safely relinquishes the Marker with no additional costs. Without Death 5, it normally requires the caster to be within the Dread Domain to create it. There is an exception, any of the two coins that a ghost carries can be made into one. The oath it holds, once signed must be fulfilled before the spell's Duration expires (or before the oath's agreed time limit). If the marker was never signed before then, either it returns to normal (if made of the coin) or crumbles into ashes (if made in the Domain), with no further consequences. One that was signed and expired is considered to be unfulfilled.

A Marker signed is registered by the Kerberos and enforced by its agents. While a blood oath must still be willingly signed, the Kerberos sees that its carried through. Those that do not follow through with their oaths can expect a visit from its agents, the orkus. They seek to manipulate both sides to follow through or, should there be a breach of the oath, they mediate for compensation to be agreed upon.

Oathbreakers that refuse this offer receive much more serious consequences, for the Kerberos calls upon its own ancient oaths to bestow the Mantle of the Domain upon the Wild Hunt. Thus empowered, the Furies are set forth to inflict an appropriate karmic retribution upon them.

Those that make multiple or especially especially egregious transgressions can expect the visit of a Keeper called Zeus Horkos. What happens to those that survive its trials is the stuff of legends, some whisper it grants an Attainment that makes manipulating oaths simpler (rote property on Clash of Wills involving them by spending a mana), others speak of them receiving an Artifact that can sever any oath and some rumors say they receive a copy of Horkus' ledger, where every oath is recorded.

Whatever the case, its a popular rote with Arrows, as its considered a valuable teaching tool for a key corollary: Promise Only What You Would Have Others Promise in Your Place.

+2 Reach: The effect is Lasting

[proindrakenzol]

This spell is inspired by John Wick, mixed with some Geist and a bit of Greek mythology.

Marker of Horkos (Fate •••, Death •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Potency
Withstand: N/A
Suggested Rote Skills: Crafts, Politics, Socialize

In the Dread Domain of Horkus, Greek god of oaths, promises have a naturally binding power. This channels the Old Laws of the Domain to oversee a blood oath. It creates a small round metal, coin looking object indicating the debt of a blood oath between two individuals. Opening in the middle to reveal a divided surface, there also exists a small button on the side that makes a small needle pop up from the top. The debtor presses bloody thumbprint on one side of the divided surface to commit an oath is owed, while the debtee likewise presses their bloody thumb to the other side to indicate when an oath has been fulfilled. Its surface bears the latin words Quod Debitum Sanguine and the image of a skull.

Oaths can be left open (whoever holds the marker can call on it) or be keyed to only work for certain owners. It can also be left open for third parties to use. The coin is known to shift its images to show what the oath entails.

Once a Marker is created, it is a Lasting object. However, without Death 5, it normally requires the caster to be within the Dread Domain to create it. There is an exception, any of the two coins that a ghost carries can be made into one.

A Marker signed is registered by the Kerberos and enforced by its agents. While a blood oath must still be willingly signed, the Kerberos sees that its carried through. Those that do not follow through with their oaths can expect a visit from its agents, the orkus. They seek to manipulate both sides to follow through or, should there be a breach of the oath, they mediate for compensation to be agreed upon.

Oathbreakers that refuse this offer receive much more serious consequences, for the Kerberos calls upon its own ancient oaths to bestow the Mantle of the Domain upon the Wild Hunt. Thus empowered, the Furies are set forth to inflict an appropriate karmic retribution upon them.

Those that make multiple or especially especially egregious transgressions can expect the visit of a Keeper called Zeus Horkos. What happens to those that survive its trials is the stuff of legends, some whisper it grants an Attainment that makes manipulating oaths simpler (rote property on Clash of Wills involving them by spending a mana), others speak of them receiving an Artifact that can sever any oath and some rumors say they receive a copy of Horkus' ledger, where every oath is recorded.

Whatever the case, its a popular rote with Arrows, as its considered a valuable teaching tool for a key corollary: Promise Only What You Would Have Others Promise in Your Place.

Anything that creates a Lasting effect directly should require Mana. Personally, I think it should be similar to the spell in Dark Eras 2 that allows Mages to participate in Changeling Oaths, if the Duration of the spell ends before the Oath is fulfilled you've failed to uphold your end of the bargain; +2 Reach and a Mana: Lasting.

[KaiserAfini]

Anything that creates a Lasting effect directly should require Mana. Personally, I think it should be similar to the spell in Dark Eras 2 that allows Mages to participate in Changeling Oaths, if the Duration of the spell ends before the Oath is fulfilled you've failed to uphold your end of the bargain; +2 Reach and a Mana: Lasting.

Good calls, I added both of those in. The core idea is to make it into a way to safely relinquish oaths, but once its signed, the mage has no control over how it is enforced and the consequences get progressively worse the more both parties try to avoid abiding by it. Hopefully now that is better represented mechanically. On one hand, its a way for the Orders and Seers to enforce rulings, deals and concessions. On the other hand, an Obsessive enough follower of the Ruin or a Left-Handed mage can use it to act like Gaunter O'Dimm.

[Scriptorian]

Lies Like Truth (Prime ••)
Practice: Ruling
Primary Factor: Duration
Withstand: Composure
Suggested Rote Skills: Occult, Larceny, Subterfuge

Is a lie the absence of Truth, or just a Truth in the wrong place at the wrong time? To the Scelestus who developed this Rote, this is a pointless question: it's all a Lie anyway.
This spell alters the expression of untruths and illusions. It does not matter whether the deception is supernatural or mundane, innocuous or malicious, though it cannot change the basic form that the lie takes. For example, if the subject of the spell has dyed hair, the Mage could change the color of the subject's hair to any other color, but could not change the subject's hair into a duck. Forged documents could be rewritten to give different (equally false) information, but must concern the same basic subject matter. If the subject of the spell is an illusion of supernatural origin, and the Mage succeeds in a Clash of Wills against the owner of the effect, they can modify details of the illusion (e.g. change an illusory person to look like a different person) but cannot change the illusion's basic form.
The only known Rote of this spell is befouled. It may be that this effect is not possible without antinomiam sorcery.
+1 Reach: The Mage may specify, in advance, the expression of lies the subject makes, one per Potency. If the subject does not make any applicable lies during the spell's Duration, the spell has no effect.