Creative Thaumaturgy: Fallen World Edition

[TempleBuilder]

Mind + Space? Nothing quite like moving “faster” by reducing the distance you have to travel.

[Cauthon]

What would be acceptable/logical Arcana combinations to recreate Acceleration without using Time? Mind+Forces or Mind+Life are my default - Mind to allow the subject to think at an accelerated speed, and Forces or Life to reinforce the body while optimizing synaptic responses and movement.

[orathaic]

Resonant Focus Prime (··)

Practice: Ruling
Primary factor: duration
Suggested rote skills: Persuasion, Crafts, Survival

The resonance of an activity naturally imprints on the world, by means of this spell the subject can reinforce and focus that resonance into their soul.

When a subject under the effect of this spell perform a Legacy Oblation, the mana produced is infused with resonance appropriate to the Oblation (which is usable as a +1 persona yantra).

Each act is limited to the spell's potency in resonace generated, so if the Oblation (or other action) would generate 3 mana, but the spell only has potency 1, you get 1 resonant mana and 2 normal mana, requiring another Oblation to generate more resonant mana.

+1 reach: When a subject of this spell scoures their pattern for mana the mana they gain is infused with the resonance of the act (self-sacrifice for lethal damage, strength for reducing the attribute).

+2 reach: the subject may build up resonance in their soul by performing resonant actions. This may be released by flaring their Nimbus†

†i am not sure what this would do, apart from attracting spirits? Or producing a burst of essence?

[orathaic]

Hey all !

For reasons of storage, I've had to create a new Google document holding a lot of the new spells created here. It's far from up to date but a lot of them are here. I probably won't make it editable by everyone because it could result in quite the hefty load on my Drive, but that's always a start !

If you want to allow suggested edits, i would be happy to add a few suggestions, also I noticed the Making and Unmaking sections for Death are together, but only Making spells follow.

As it happens i wrote an Unmaking spell today

Life without End (Death ·····)
Practice: Unmaking
Primary factor: duration
Suggested rotes: occult, medicine, survival

Life naturally comes to an end, however with this spell the caster removes the ending from the subject.

Though their body can still be injured and heal at the normal rate, their soul never leaves their body. Thus after taking what would normally be lethal damage the body continues to move under the owner's control, similar to a zombie controlled by their own ghost.

However the subject has not died and will continue to suffer pain as long as their damaged body is still attached.

Even catastrophic bodily damage can not kill them, however this may be a fate worse than death, as a body cremated and scattered to the wind is not particularly useful and would be very difficult to reassemble.

[Adrasalieth]

Hey all !

For reasons of storage, I've had to create a new Google document holding a lot of the new spells created here. It's far from up to date but a lot of them are here. I probably won't make it editable by everyone because it could result in quite the hefty load on my Drive, but that's always a start !

[Cauthon]

Co-Location would be the most basic. Sympathetic Range Hallucination or a beefed up Sympathetic Range Control Light/Sound would also do

Edit: also, Psychic Projection. Possibly with a Forces or Spirit conjunctive effect to make the projection visible

[Johnny Awesome]

Any suggestions for a spell to do an Obi Wan/Professor X style mental projection?

[21C Hermit]

The Reaching spell (Spirit 3) mimics the Reaching Manifestation with its base effect, and the Gateway Manifestation with its +1 Reach effect. World Walker (Spirit 4) mimics the Gauntlet Breach Manifestation with its base effect, and can do the Materialize Manifestation with its +1 Reach effect. Twilit Body (Spirit 4) can be framed as granting the Twilight Form Manifestation to non-ephemerals. Familiar (Spirit 4) is self-explanatory.

Then what about other ephemeral Manifestations?


Discorporation (Spirit 4)

Practice: Patterning
Primary Factor: Duration
Withstand: Stamina
Suggested Rote Skills: Stealth, Medicine, Occult

The shaman transmutes the subject's body and all her immediate possessions into a thousand shards of visible ephemera, spread within a space up to the spell's Scale (Area). What shape the shards take depend on the caster's Nimbus and Shadow Name; a mage calling himself Stratos and accompanied by stormy skies could Discorporate into a rolling carpet of thick clouds and static electricity.
The subject retains all her traits, but cannot take Physical actions other than moving, fleeing, and hiding. As she is made of ephemera in this state, only attacks and restraints that work on Spirit-Twilight can affect her.
When the spell's Duration expires, the subject chooses where her body reforms along the space her Discorporated body is spread over.

+1 Reach: The mage can cast this spell as a Reflexive action, but only with herself as the subject.
+1 Reach: The subject can attempt to cross the Gauntlet with a Stamina + Occult roll, with an Equipment bonus up to the spell's Potency.
+1 Reach: The subject's ephemeral mass is fully Materialized; use the Swarms rule as the sidebar in Mage.
Add Life ••••: The subject is healed when she reforms. Each level of Potency removes one lethal damage, two bashing damage, or one Physical Tilt.
Add Space ••: The mage can transport the subject as he Discorporates to a location of her choosing, within her sensory range. This can be across the Gauntlet; the spell becomes Withstood by the lower of Stamina or Gauntlet Strength. Sympathetic Range can be applied.


Gauntlet Projection (Spirit 3)

Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Duration
Suggested Rote Skills: Larceny, Occult, Subterfuge

The shaman alters the angles of the Gauntlet around her body, such that it projects a remote visual image of herself. The image can be placed at any three-dimensional point within the spell's Area. The mage can attempt to project the image across the Gauntlet, if she can perceive it. This makes the spell Withstood by Gauntlet Strength.
The caster can manipulate the image's movements as an Instant Mental action; without this, the image mimics her own movements.
The image rarely appears as the mage's exact form. It will reflect her Shadow Name and Dream Form, albeit within recognizable range.
The spell expires prematurely if someone touches the image, making it disperse immediately. Even without touch, Perception rolls could discover that the something is wrong with the image.

+1 Reach: The image expands to all five senses. Merely touching this image does not end the spell, as the touched image promptly rebuilds itself. An attack however will still prematurely end the spell, and the image will appear to die.
+1 Reach: The caster can radically change the image's appearance. Forming the image in shapes unfamiliar to the mage himself prompts a Wits + Expression roll; the mage's own Dream Form and the shape of his own Familiars (if any) are always considered familiar.
Add Fate •: The image is perceptible only to people meeting certain criteria, selected by the mage. It could be broad as "Women", or narrow as "Former widows who married newly".
Add Life •••: The image gains a semblance of life, registering as being alive to mundane observation and even Active Mage Sight (Life).
Add Prime •••: Spend 1+ Mana points. The image may undertake a number of Physical actions equal to spent Mana.


Shadow Riding (Spirit 3)

Practice: Perfecting
Primary Factor: Duration
Withstand: Composure
Suggested Rote Skills: Drive, Intimidation, Persuasion

The shaman sends out her spirit to 'ride' and fetter to a subject as many spirits do. Summarize the caster's Nimbus as one or two words; this spell can only target subjects that are Resonant with the caster's Nimbus as such. The subject gains a variant of the Urged Condition, with the caster in place of the ephemeral entity. The caster rolls whatever Attribute + Skill dice pool would be appropriate to her approach for reading thoughts or compelling actions, contested as usual, but with an Equipment bonus up to the spell's Potency.
Should the mage target the subject with something that costs Essence (e.g. using a fetish, giving away Essence via the Channel Essence spell), she uses 1 point less.
Reading thoughts or compelling actions require the subject to be within the caster's sensory range at the moment. Sympathetic Range can be applied.
The spell expires prematurely if the subject somehow becomes not Resonant with the mage's Nimbus.

+1 Reach: If the mage has spirit Familiars, he may use their Influences instead of his Nimbus. At increased Scale, he can target each subject with a different Resonance (including his Nimbus).
+1 Reach and add Life •••: By successfully compelling an action, the mage can reshape parts of the subject's body in ways that best enable the compulsion (using the guidelines for the Many Faces and Transform Life spells). A changed feature reverts when the mage wills it, the subject succeeds on a Stamina + Composure roll, or when the spell ends.
Add Space •••: The mage can use Strong or better sympathetic connections as the spell's vector, instead of Resonances. With +1 Reach, Medium connections are available too.

[proindrakenzol]

So, I came up with this spell for a Legacy that I've been working on that I might post up latter, but I could use some help in refining this spell.


Motion Tracker (Forces •)

Practice: Knowing

Primary Factor: Duration?

Suggested Rote Skills: Science, Survival, Empathy

Forces mage sight is able to sense motion, but some mage have deemed it necessary to replicate and refine this feature into a proper spell, to better keep track of their surroundings.

The mage now knows the precise vector and strength of any motion in her sensory range. The mage can negate the cumulative dice penalty from multiple attackers up to potency, provided that the attackers are physical in nature (ghosts and spirits pay heed to a different set of paraphysical laws). Supernatural effects that augment stealth can challenge this spell with a clash of wills, though effects that rely on esoteric means such as shifting into twilight or adopting ephemeral qualities might defeat this spell entirely.

Add Death, Mind, or Spirit 1: Motion Tracker can now track ephemeral entities of the appropriate type while manifested or on twilight (Death for ghosts, Mind for Goetia, Spirit for Spirits)

+1 Reach: the mage can now reflexively backtrack the trajectory of any thrown or fired object to its point of origin.
+2 Reach: The mage can now apply her Defense to firearms.

I think it should be area of spell, not sensory range. Also, the +2 reach option to apply defense against firearms is, imo, too much for a 1-dot spell and doesn't really work: sure, you know the vector of the bullet once it enters sensory/area of spell, but you still can't actually react fast enough to do anything about it.

[The Lone Gunman]

So, I came up with this spell for a Legacy that I've been working on that I might post up latter, but I could use some help in refining this spell.


Motion Tracker (Forces •)

Practice: Knowing

Primary Factor: Duration?

Suggested Rote Skills: Science, Survival, Empathy

Forces mage sight is able to sense motion, but some mage have deemed it necessary to replicate and refine this feature into a proper spell, to better keep track of their surroundings.

The mage now knows the precise vector and strength of any motion in her sensory range. The mage can negate the cumulative dice penalty from multiple attackers up to potency, provided that the attackers are physical in nature (ghosts and spirits pay heed to a different set of paraphysical laws). Supernatural effects that augment stealth can challenge this spell with a clash of wills, though effects that rely on esoteric means such as shifting into twilight or adopting ephemeral qualities might defeat this spell entirely.

Add Death, Mind, or Spirit 1: Motion Tracker can now track ephemeral entities of the appropriate type while manifested or on twilight (Death for ghosts, Mind for Goetia, Spirit for Spirits)

+1 Reach: the mage can now reflexively backtrack the trajectory of any thrown or fired object to its point of origin.
+2 Reach: The mage can now apply her Defense to firearms.

[Johnny Awesome]

Worthy mods for balance. I'll rewrite when I get the chance.

[KaiserAfini]

Thanks everyone. I've decided to settle on the following:

Shadow Binding (Death •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Potency
Suggested Rote Skills: Brawl, Athletics, Crafts

In an area with deep shadows, the mage conjures blankets and bands of shadow to envelop the target. This initiates a grapple; the caster chooses one grapple option, which the shadows constantly attempt to apply to the target for its Duration. The chosen option gets applied immediately as the grapple starts, as if having achieved an Exceptional Success in the Grab action. Use the caster's own Initiative, but for the Grappling action, apply the spell's Potency as successes.

+1 Reach: The caster assigns one additional grapple option per extra Reach.
+1 Reach: Access the "Seal Yantra" grapple option; if the grappled target is a mage, she cannot access any Yantras other than personas.
+1 Reach: When using the Disarm option, the disarmed weapon gets shunted off into Death-Twilight and destroyed as per Death 3 "Ghost Gate."

That reminds me of the Lasombra's Obtenebration, I like that.

The first Reach option is more deadly than dedicated damage spells. If you can Control Weapon and Damage each turn, that would lead to a massive damage spike. If it instead requires conditions to choose which maneuver to apply, it needs something to justify it being a "smart spell". The third Reach option is terrifying in a very cool way, but it would need something to justify it knowing what a weapon is and to throw it into Twilight.

The second Reach option might not cover every scenario where a yantra could be used. Lets say the mage seals someone from using their palm lines as a material yantra for a Fate buff, how is it doing that, by binding their hands with an Arm Wrack ? What if they want to use High Speech or say say a haiku, how is it sealing their mouths without also applying Mute ?

With all that in mind, I recommend that the spell instead applies the Immobilized tilt, with the default binding of their arms and legs, with Potency acting as the shadow's grapple penalty (where Durability would normally be applied). Reach options could include the target being hog tied or Muted.

[Johnny Awesome]

Thanks everyone. I've decided to settle on the following:

Shadow Binding (Death •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Potency
Suggested Rote Skills: Brawl, Athletics, Crafts

In an area with deep shadows, the mage conjures blankets and bands of shadow to envelop the target. This initiates a grapple; the caster chooses one grapple option, which the shadows constantly attempt to apply to the target for its Duration. The chosen option gets applied immediately as the grapple starts, as if having achieved an Exceptional Success in the Grab action. Use the caster's own Initiative, but for the Grappling action, apply the spell's Potency as successes.

+1 Reach: The caster assigns one additional grapple option per extra Reach.
+1 Reach: Access the "Seal Yantra" grapple option; if the grappled target is a mage, she cannot access any Yantras other than personas.
+1 Reach: When using the Disarm option, the disarmed weapon gets shunted off into Death-Twilight and destroyed as per Death 3 "Ghost Gate."

[TempleBuilder]

I'd suggest the spell conform a bit more to the regular grappling rules. The most recent print is in Deviant, so building off that...



Shadowbind (Death •••)

Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Duration
Suggested Rote Skills: Brawl, Athletics, Crafts

The mage conjures blankets and bands of shadow to envelop the target. This initiates a grapple; the caster chooses one grapple option, which the shadows constantly attempt to apply to the target for its Duration. The chosen option gets applied immediately as the grapple starts, as if having achieved an Exceptional Success in the Grab action. Use the caster's own Initiative, but for the Grappling action, apply the spell's Potency as successes.

+1 Reach: The caster assigns one additional grapple option per extra Reach.
+1 Reach: Access the "Seal Yantra" grapple option; if the grappled target is a mage, she cannot access any Yantras other than personas.
+1 Reach: When using the Disarm option, the disarmed weapon gets shunted off into Death-Twilight and destroyed as per Death 3 "Ghost Gate."

Oh that last reach is mean.

[21C Hermit]

I'd like some feedback on the following:

Shadow Binding (Death •••)
Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Potency

A blanket of shadow that envelopes the target. Treated as a grapple with Strength = Potency. Every turn the target can roll to break free with Strength + Athletics/Brawl vs. Potency + Death. If the target succeeds they break free. Otherwise they take 1 Bashing damage from the effort. They suffer the immobilized Tilt until they break free.

I'd suggest the spell conform a bit more to the regular grappling rules. The most recent print is in Deviant, so building off that...



Shadowbind (Death •••)

Practice: Weaving
Primary Factor: Duration
Suggested Rote Skills: Brawl, Athletics, Crafts

The mage conjures blankets and bands of shadow to envelop the target. This initiates a grapple; the caster chooses one grapple option, which the shadows constantly attempt to apply to the target for its Duration. The chosen option gets applied immediately as the grapple starts, as if having achieved an Exceptional Success in the Grab action. Use the caster's own Initiative, but for the Grappling action, apply the spell's Potency as successes.

+1 Reach: The caster assigns one additional grapple option per extra Reach.
+1 Reach: Access the "Seal Yantra" grapple option; if the grappled target is a mage, she cannot access any Yantras other than personas.
+1 Reach: When using the Disarm option, the disarmed weapon gets shunted off into Death-Twilight and destroyed as per Death 3 "Ghost Gate."