The PCs Have Sold Their Souls... Again

Quick update about my Night's Black Agent's campaign. I am a bastard GM. This weekend, I got two of the PCs to sell their souls to... well, not quite the devil, thankfully. They sold their character's souls to Graf Orlok (of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu). Still pretty bad. It was kind of surprising just how easily they went along with it. Player Characters do the darnedest things.

To be fair, there was an element of trickery on my part, in that the Renfield who brokered the deal over-acted and hammed it up so much they kind of took him to be a buffoon, and as a result the PCs under-estimated the entire situation. The cartoonish nature of the ritual's trappings made them lower their guard and play along when they should have been "nope"-ing the hell out of there.

I once had the opportunity to be within earshot of a real-life Masonic initiation ceremony when a friend who used to be a Mason took me out to a campground on a weekend when he thought there wasn't anything going on out there. I remember hearing the ruckus from across the park, and thinking: "Man, paranoid conspiracy theorists imagine that's some globe-dominating cabal of the Illuminati, but it's clearly just a bunch of goofy middle-aged white-guys LARPing in aprons. It would really suck if you drank the kool-aid, and psyched yourself up for selling your soul in exchange for the Higher Mysteries, only to get that silliness instead. What a let down that might be." And that germ of an idea stuck in my craw for years until I finally got a chance to use it in a game this weekend.

If we're hanging out some time, hit me up for the details. It's a pretty good yarn, but full of idiocy that would get taken out of context and offend or frighten someone if I threw it up on the interwebs.

(To explain the "...Again" in the title: about a year ago, one of the other PCs in this same campaign basically invited Mina Harker to attack her, and inadvertently gave the 100 year old English vampire bride the keys to her mind. They've been dealing with the fall-out from that ever since, but apparently didn't really learn from her mistakes.)

New Spells From Old

One of the things I've done over the holiday break is make some new action cards for my Warhammer 3rd Ed campaign. The first several were loose conversions of 2nd Edition spells into 3rd Edition spells and blessings.  Here's some Bright Order spells I (re)made:

Click for a larger version.

Choleric Provocation is roughly a lighter version of "Choleric" from 2nd Ed's Realms of Sorcery. In the original, you got to choose who they were angry at, but they also got a lot of extra willpower rolls to try to shrug it off and would only actually attack if they really blew the test. I made it simpler and more elegant, but it lost some of the raw power in the translation. This seemed like a serviceable compromise.

Flashcook was pretty minor in 2nd Ed, where all it did was cook your food. However, I felt the precedent set by the Halfling Chef's meals enabled a 3rd Ed version of Flashcook that would actually be worth the XP.  So, here's a Flashcook that aids later Recovery checks. Cantrip can't do that. To eliminate excessive die-rolling, I made it possible to cook food for the whole party in one roll, and made sure it didn't stack with itself. It's just Rank 1, so it's not particularly potent, but healing is one of those areas where every little bit helps... maybe I should cut the power cost in half so you could make a banquet in a single roll?

Hearts of Fire is probably the best one in the group here, being much easier to use than the version in 2nd Ed. The problem with the old spell was you had to know in advance that you would be needing to take Fear tests, and cast no more than 10 minutes before the encounter. That wasn't likely to happen very often, so the solution was to make it a Reaction. For a relatively modest 4 power, you're getting bonus dice on the whole party's Fear checks, and giving them something useful to do with Boons on those rolls.

Soothing Red Wind is more or less a conversion of Shield of Aqshy, which had already been roughly converted by FFG into Shielding Winds of Aqshy. In the process, they changed the nature of the spell, instead of being protection from fire it was magical armour. It felt like "fire doesn't burn me" was totally a thing that Fire Mages ought to be able to do, so I made a card for it. Making it a Reaction frees up the caster to not have to anticipate the need nor waste a turn casting. The total damage or fatigue prevented is pretty small, but that's actually in keeping with the scale of the existing location and condition cards. It won't invalidate the dangers of a dragon, but it will let you escape from a burning building or most miscasts.

Other Bright Order Spells that I may convert down the road if I find time:

• Boiling Blood and/or Breathe Fire: Bright Mages really don't need more single-target kill spells, but these at least have interesting visuals to go with them. If I can think of a way to make them interesting instead of redundant, maybe I'll take a stab at them.
  
• Burning Vengeance and/or Consuming Wrath: Spells that make people angry and violent. If there's elegant ways to make them distinct from each other, Choleric Provocation, and all those many "white die to certain rolls" actions FFG made, I just might convert them one day.
• Cauterize: FFG already converted this one, but basically made it an unreliable healing spell that's not worth it unless you have Spell Mastery (or your GM hasn't read the Player's Guide and still lets you spam-cast healing spells). In 2nd Ed, it was a reliable way to save the life of a mortally wounded ko'd character, but it did no actual healing. Also, you could use it to brand people. I've got my eye on it.
• Inextinguishable Flame: Technically FFG already converted it (into Unquenchable Flame), but the duration of their version is in mere actions (not weeks or months), so a higher-level version that fixes that flaw would be a lot more useful.
• Ruin and Destruction: This was also technically converted by FFG (into Destructive Fires) but their version takes 8 turns to accomplish, and is thus useless during a fight. So, maybe a faster Rank 5 version is in order? I'm not certain.
• Taste of Fire: It made booze stronger and food spicier. So, it'll probably just stay "cantrip" unless I can think of some elegant way to make that useful in-game.

What does a brewery look like via Magical Sight?

A few months ago, someone on the Warhammer Forums posed a question asking what the winds of magic look like via the Magical Sight skill. There's a couple minor references in passing to it in various 3rd Ed supplements (page 15 of the Tome of Mysteries, and at points throughout Chapter 3 of the Tome of Magic), but the core book and skill descriptions really aren't helpful at all. I made up an answer on the spot, and then promptly forgot all about it. Yesterday someone reminded me it was a really good answer.

Read the original thread, or just the text of my post repeated here: Magic is described as "winds" so I would have it twist, flow, and move. Each order has it's own color, and associated properties, which I would draw in to the description. Bright Order magic flickering like flames. Jade Order magic taking organic shapes, then drifting like discarded leaves falling ever slowly to earth. Amber magic skittering about like a busy little chipmunk, then suddenly standing stalk-still when it realizes it's being watched.  Amethyst magic forming little skulls or ghostly hooded figures, then slinking off to hide in the shadows. Each order has it's own glyph or sigil, too. Some are basically arrows, so they may blow in a particular direction ceaselessly. Others are represented by concentric circles, so they may orbit or linger more.

For the chaos gods, their magic would seem tainted, but maybe not obviously so. One cool way to do it would be to always start describing it as the nearest "proper" form of magic, and then describe how it's been twisted and distorted almost as an after-thought. Or, if you prefer, more over-the-top. Nurgle magic vomits and oozes, or flits about like ghostly flies. Slaneshi magic keeps making eyes at you, and has some hypnotic rhythm to the patterns of its movements. The magic of Tzeentch the great deciever constantly reimagines itself, cycling through colors and forms in a ways that other magic cannot. Magic done by Beastmen seems feral and adversarial, even long after it's casting. Magic of the Skaven hisses and runs away when directly observed. Ork magic bumbles and cavorts in an unpredictable fashion. I'm just making this up.

One thing I would bear in mind is that magic doesn't really create magical energy, so much as it gives form to and strengthens the magical energy that is already there. On the typical city street of the empire, there will be little wisps of half a dozen different winds blowing at any time. The dead rat in the gutter has beads of Amber on its fur, but as time passes they fade and an Amethyst mist gathers about it. The watchman passing by carries an old lantern hanging disused from his pack. It's not lit at the moment, but has been a thousand times before so with Witchsight you can still see it glow or smoke ever so slightly. His coin purse has only ever held brass or silver coins, but when viewed with Magical Sight it may seem faintly embroidered in gold or yellow. Magic blows, drips, and oozes throughout the Old World. Wizards don't walk around with Magical Sight turned on at every single moment of the day, and at least part of the reason is because it would be terribly distracting to do so.
I think. Like I said, I'm mostly making this up.

I wish they'd reminded me of that post a couple days earlier, because in Sunday's game I sure could have used my own advice and descriptions. One of the PCs in my group (Lina the Bright Wizard / Mystic) activated Magical Sight during an improvised scene. She was in a completely mundane place (a brewery), there were no enchantments in play, the location was only mentioned briefly in passing in the scenario notes with no expectations the PCs would find it, we were late in the session, and there was a totally unrelated potential fight scene across town I was hoping to get to before the session ended. So my response was "Nope, Magical Sight reveals nothing. The place is clean."

Technically accurate, but good only in the sense that it didn't slow down the plot any further.  Here we have a wizard, using their signature ability to see wonderful magical things normal people can't. It's a great opportunity to give that PC the spotlight. A chance to remind the players that magic is bizarre and dangerous and permeates everything in the Warhammer setting. A potential moment to be artsy and descriptive and make the game memorable. I squandered those opportunities in the most boring and workmanlike way possible. "No magic here. Move along." Lame.

Here's what I should have said: 
"The brewery is a minor source of raw magical energy of many colors and flavors. Grains and other harvested plants are brought here, softly leaking a thin haze of jade energy that has magically stained the walls and floors in ways that are only visible to wizards. The constant exposure to this energy has made the weeds along the base of the brewery's outer wall grow just a little taller than similar plants next door. After they arrive, the grains are subjected to chemical processes that transforms them. This alchemical distillation has a Gold Order correspondence, and your gifted eyes can spot tiny drops of yellow energy beading up on every dent, kink or seam of the stills and brew tanks.  Faint golden wagon-ruts appear superimposed on the spots on the floor where the wheels of commerce roll out the door with regular shipments of ale and liquor. The place is damp with energy, but all of it raw and untamed, having never known a wizard's hand."

Pointless and long-winded, perhaps, but it would have made for a better scene and a richer campaign world.

Minor The Enemy Within Spoiler Alert:
Because of the gunpowder that had been spilled inside by the villains (which the PCs didn't know about yet) I could have added to the description: "One thing does strike you as out of place. A tiny bit of Aqshy, the whispered potential of future fire, seeping sluggishly under the crack of the door. It winks at you, slowly and longingly, hoping to catch your eye and unleash the inner spark." Not that player characters ever need an excuse to burn things to the ground, mind you, but it might have been kinda cool.

Recent Thoughts On Savage Worlds

A friend of mine recently stumbled across an old post from October where I lamented the dice mechanics of Savage Worlds and how there wasn't much motivation to stat yourself out with anything above a d8, maybe not even above a d6.

He pointed out, correctly, that it all depends on whether or not you have any Edges that give bonuses for Raises. To which I'll add, some GMs probably give more situational bonuses than others for getting a Raise. The rules read as just +1d6 damage or a handful of other specific benefits in specific situations. I've played with, and often try to be, the type of GM who improvises wildly, and thus could see how a GM might exist who makes something fun happen everytime someone gets a raise. In those circumstances, a d10 or d12 would be justified.

As Erik put it:

Now, exactly as you say, if you want to succeed at a standard task, ie roll a 4, you really don't gain much going above d8 until you start to get the static adds of d12+1 and d12+2. However, if you want to roll raises, ie an 8, which you might if you were say a spell caster as they get extra effect and with a certain feat reduced energy cost if they do, then things change. d4, d6 and d8 are about the same in rolling 8's but there is a significant increase when you go to d10 and d12. So oddly, if you are just interested in regular successes then moderate levels of skill, d6 or d8, are for you. If you want those raises to show just how amazing you are then a high skill, d10 or d12, is for you.

Very good points. What you want out of your gaming experience defines whether your character should be a d6 generalist or a d12 microspecialist. One nice feature of the game is that both character archetypes will feel potent.

Thinking about this, it occurred to me that I haven't really blogged much about Savage Worlds lately, other than in the context of the plotline of my Deadlands campaign. There's a few observations I'd like to make.

After a lot of waffling, I eventually decided I like the system. It's still a little more complicated than it really needs to be. Especially the Deadlands Reloaded version. I think normal Savage Worlds is 10% to 20% more crunchy than I want it to be, and Deadlands is 10% crunchier than vanilla Savage. It's very versatile though, and remains a good generic system for use in campaigns where characters should be hardy and competent but can still have some fear of being killed by an unlucky roll.

On a related note, the game has more Edges than it needs, and they don't all seem terribly well balanced. There's no game-breakers (at least none I've found so far), but some are definitely better and more popular than others. There's a few that only shine if you combo them, and I don't much care for that style of character design, since it rewards system knowledge at the expense of character concept. It's still a far cry better than Scion.

Likewise, the Magic system is losing a bit of it's luster for me. Again, the powers aren't well balanced, and since a new power requires the New Power Edge, you also have to consider them against the rest of the Edges as well. Some are much better than most Edges, others are really weak. Throw in trappings, and that gets even wonkier. Despite the problem-solving freedom of being a Mad Scientist and a Gadgeteer, Kevin finds himself wanting to buy a big attack power, and I can't blame him. The Blessed have found that the Barrier and Raise/Lower Attribute outperform everything else in their arsenal. The Huckster and Mad Scientist can't compete with them in any arena but damage (which is why Kevin wants the attack Ryan already has). Probably, this is a trouble-spot specific to Deadlands, not all of Savage Worlds. If I'd made my own campaign setting from the ground-up, I wouldn't be having this trouble. In a setting with less magic, or fewer flavors of magic, or smaller spell-lists for each variety of magic and no overlap between schools, this would be less of a problem.

Lastly, I've dumped my 1 hit = 1 wound house rule. I'm no longer using it in my Deadlands game. On paper, it was great, and may still be of good use in speeding up combat and preventing anticlimactic character death in some other game down the road. However, I found that I give out so many bennies, it's pointless. Especially in Deadlands Reloaded with its special Red, Blue, and Legend bennies. Soaking damage became too easy, and there wasn't enough challenge in my fights. I waived the rule for the climactic showdown with Finnegan Cobb, and found that the resulting fight was much more enjoyable. It even drained the PCs of bennies for once, whereas the session prior everyone finished with 4 or more bennies in reserve (you start with 3). If I didn't give the darned things out like water, then the 1 hit = 1 wound rule would be helpful. At the rate I award bennies, the house-rule becomes a tiny shaving of time at the cost of reducing dramatic tension. It's going by the wayside starting next session.

Microwave Pantometry (Updated)

I played my Pantsomancer again tonight in another session of Truth & Justice. Click for Recap of the previous session.

The big bad was running us ragged most of the session, but we managed to figure out where his lair was, and arranged an ambush. Time for some more stupid Trouser-Magic tricks. On paper, I'm the weakest superhero in the party, but I didn't let that stop me. I fought dirty.

To make a long story short, I found myself in a kitchen, far from the fight scene, but with an established sympathetic link between a pair of pants I was holding, and the pair of pants the villain was wearing. I knew the villain was mopping the floor with my buddies, and that I'd only get a couple quick shots at him before he realizes the Pantomancy involved in my attacks and strips down to his supervillain under-roos.

Wasting no time, I grab a Kitchen Knife. I shove it into the pocket of the pair of pants I'm holding. Lucky attack roll, too. The blood that oozes out tells me that my Voodoo Doll trick worked. I'm squarely into Anti-Hero territory now.

Then I run across the kitchen to the microwave oven. I throw the pants into it, with the big metal knife still in the pocket, and the magic link between pairs of pants still open. I turn on the microwave, which results in heating, radiation, and a shower of sparks cascading down the knifeblade. Elsewhere, the bad guys pants are exploding and burning around him.

It was all stupidly effective, because the bad guy kept using his big defensive powers on the superstrength punches and other massive attacks he could see coming from the Tank / Brick PCs, and had no defense against cutlery and microwave radiation manifesting in his trousers. Not very becoming of a hero, but it sure got the job done. When all was said and done, I had done more damage to him than the rest of the party did.

Update: It has been brought to my attention, that it's possible my Pantometry / Pantomancy wasn't as effective as I imagined it to be. Seems the bad guy had defensive / regenerative powers that would allow horrible wounds to exist, and then just heal up right afterwords. Which means that possibly when I thought I was doing all that damage, he might have been soaking it up. It still felt darned good to squeeze even a few drops of effectiveness out of something as silly as pants-flavored-magic.

Spheres of Magic

Just wanted to provide a quick link to something cool a buddy of mine made for a campaign he's running. He's got a unique magic system, and pretty spiffy flowchart to the schools of magic. I just might have to steal a few of his ideas sometime.

Clerical concepts from Lucy

A month ago, I went to the Lucy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Surprisingly, it was really more of an Ethiopia exhibit, focusing on their culture, history, and religion. I learned several very fun facts that I think have applications for fantasy gaming. I've been sitting on them, for lack of a good fantasy campaign to use them in. Perhaps someone out there will find these ideas useful...

• Kiss the Cross: Old Ethiopian Orthodox tradition dictates that all priests must carry their Crosses prominently. Any of the faithful who encounter a Priest kiss his Cross for good luck. The Priest is expected to touch any stranger he meets with his Cross to bless them. Apply that concept to your next D&D Cleric for some very cool role-playing opportunities. "I walk into the tavern, and make the customary rounds of touching every patron with Pelor's Sunsign." If someone resists, it might mean they're a vampire, or just a follower of a competing God.
  
  
• St George Church in Lalibela, Ethiopia is a work of awe-inspiring architecture. It's a church in a pit, the whole church literally carved out of a single rock. I could picture a world where every Church of Moradin were built the same way - or maybe every Dwarf settlement. Entire castles built this way might be practical in a setting with Move Earth spells, provided more aerial threats exist than burrowing threats in the game world.
  
  
• Red Ink is the Word of God. The exhibit featured old hand-copied Bibles and Korans. In most of them, everything that was the word of God was in red ink - descriptions, narratives, and dialog from other characters was in black. The fantasy gaming interpretations of this are pretty cool. Just as in certain kingdoms only royalty could wear purple, you could have a fantasy priesthood claim a monopoly on a certain color of ink. "Only the words of Correlon may be written in Cyan, you Heathen!" Or perhaps spellbooks / scrolls could require certain colors of ink to function, and so seeing a particular color of writing was a tip off that it was magical in nature. Some Magical Order might have convinced the King into granting them a monopoly on a color, and without access to the orange ink, no other wizards can pass on the secrets of Transmutation spells.

Feel free to use those ideas in your campaigns - they aren't mine, they belong to Ethiopia. :)

P.S.: Go to the Lucy/Ethiopia exhibit at the Pacific Science Center if you live in Seattle. It's chock full of cool information.

Legendary Surge vs. Itztli 9

When asked about the similarities between the "Legendary Surge" spell and the "Communal Divinity" level of Itztli (two powers which do the same thing, but have been assigned to power levels 2 and 9), Jesse (of White Wolf) said this:

Legendary Surge vs. Itztli 9: Not only does Legendary Surge have a surcharge, but it creates a Fatebinding automatically (because it's a Magic spell). Being heavily Fatebound to the rest of your group can be liability, especially if it's accentuating a role that pushes you into conflict with the other Scions.

I can't decide whether or not to reply to that on the Official Scion Companion Thread. On one hand, I'm really thankful that he took the time to answer, and I think it's awesome that he's trying to get his explanations and unwritten rules put into the revised version of the Scion Companion pdf. ...But on the other hand, that explanation is bunk.

In regards to the surcharge: The surcharge is just 1 measly point of temporary legend. A character capable of using a 2nd level spell will have a legend pool ranging anywhere between 9 and 144. At the lower end, that's meaningful - the surcharge could be 11% of your total legend pool. But at that low end, you can't even have the 9th dot of a purview - even with the surcharge, having a power is better than not being able to have the power. In order to buy Itzli 9, your Legend pool has to be at least 100 points - so the surcharge is at most 1% of your pool, and is pretty much just trivial. At Legend 10, the surcharge is practically irrelevant in determining which power you'd rather have. Not having a surcharge would explain away a variance of one, maybe two, dots in power level - but not a 7 level gap.

In regards to the fatebonding: Yes, magic does have the drawback of fatebinding, but it will never happen as he described it. The rules specify that Scions don't end up in fatebound roles to other characters. To quote page 223 of Hero: "Unlike mortals, however, supernatural beings don't succumb to Fatebound Roles; the retain their free will. ... At the storyteller's discretion, certain supernatural creatures or beings might come under the effect of a Fatebound Role, but Scions and Gods never do." Even if that paragraph didn't exist, I think it would be very rare that a ST would assign a negative fatebinding role to a PC. Making a PC suddenly become the Nemesis, Traitor, or Weak Link just seems like a recipe for campaign-wrecking disaster. Most players would hate being straight-jacketed into such a role: permanently switching from good guy to bad guy "overnight" because a different PC cast a low-level spell? Yes, there's individual players (and perhaps whole groups) who'd have a blast with that (but if so, then it's not being a limitation or deterrent, is it?). For the rest of us, it'd be a nightmare.

• Thus, of the two limitations he mentions, neither one would make you choose Itzli 9 over the level 2 spell.

One major reason to by the spell: because it's so much cheaper. The level 2 spell costs 8 to 10 xp (actually, for 7-9 xp you can buy the first 2 dots of the Magic purview, which come with a free 1st level spell and a free 2nd level spell). The 9th dot of a Pantheon Specific Purview (like Itzli) costs 32 xp - on top of the 115 xp you had to spend getting the 8 levels that stand as prerequisites to Itzli 9. To be fair, the Magic purview requires a 1 dot Birthright as well, but I should mention that by the time you reach the requisite legend to buy Itzli 9, you have at least 15 dots of Birthrights, could potentially have as many as 60 Birthright Dots if you went crazy on them, and may even have the stats to be able to make your own Birthrights in-character.

As mentioned above, you only need Legend Rating 3 to use the Spell. To buy Itzli 9 you need to be an Aztec God of Legend Rating 10, 11, or 12. That's yet another way Legendary Surge is better than Communal Divinity.

The spell is also better than Itzli 9 in that the spell requires a miscellaneous action (Speed: 5, DV -1) from just the caster, and can be done at range. Itzli 9 takes a (Speed: 5, DV -2) action from both the caster and the recipient - they have to exchange ichor via close physical contact ranging from a sloppy kiss to becoming blood brothers. So, if you plan on using the power in combat, you're better off with the spell.

The final way that the 2-dot spell is better than Itzli 9 is availability. Literally any Scion character can buy the Magic Purview. Only Scions of Aztec gods can buy Itzli. If the levels were reversed, perhaps my objection would fade away. I might accept that a single pantheon has the advantage of getting an effect cheaper than most PCs. But the inverse, where everyone can get the effect cheaper than the Aztec-exclusive method doesn't make much sense to me.

That said, Jesse didn't mention the 2 ways that Itzli 9 is actually better than the 2-dot Spell:

1. Itzli doesn't require a die roll. For the 2nd level spell, you can only transfer an amount of legend less than or equal to the successes you roll. At the lower levels of play, this isn't a big deal, as you'll never be transferring more than a couple points of Legend anyway. At the higher end it does matter, as you'd be able to give 30 legend to a fellow God to power their next Avatar. If you're making an Aztec PC, and plan on having no (or low) Epic Wits for in-character reasons, and the campaign is likely to last unto Godhood, and you expect to need to transfer 20 or more points of legend per use, Itzli 9 is better than the spell. I should qualify that, though: Itzli 9 is only significantly better if you need the Legend transferred quickly. If there's no ticking deadline, nothing stops you from using the spell multiple times in a scene.
   
2. Itzli 9 is the prerequisite for Itzli 10. If the ability to give temp Legend points to other PCs is of minor concern to you, but you're playing an Aztec PC and plan to advance to Itzli 10, then why waste points on a redundant spell? Of course, I don't really agree that this logic will apply to many characters. Itzli 10 is very powerful, but it's also very grizzly. The activation cost includes sacrificing a close blood relative. In a game with strong heroic leanings, like Scion, the majority of PCs won't want to buy Itzli 10. If, however, Itzli 10 is something you plan to buy, you'll have to get Itzli 9.
   

*Sigh* I'm probably going to have to go point some of this out to Jesse. His point about Fatebindings indicates a significant divide between the rules as written and how he's using them. Since he's authoring books for the game line, that probably needs to be addressed. But other than the Fatebinding issue, I'll probably not bring up all these other points to him, at least not in the Official Scion Companion Thread. Random grognard bitching on the internet about a rule he doesn't like is pretty much accepted and expected these days, but getting into author's face in his own 'parlor' is probably something I should try to avoid doing when possible.

BrewerBarrow - Beer Disclosure

This is a page of secret details on the Everway Realm of BrewerBarrow. These are things not included in the player's binders, things they might discover if they visit...

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Magic Beer: Here’s a few unusual drafts that the Brewers might just unleash on the players. Unless otherwise specified, assume they last 30 (divided by your Earth score) hours.

Ol’ Tonguestealer: Each pint of this draught reduces all communication-based applications of your Air by 1 point. When your Air Score reaches 0, you can neither talk nor understand speech.

Rock Hard Stout: Each pint of this drink increases your Earth Score at the cost of reducing your Fire. With each draught you get stronger but slower. Duration is based on your original Earth Score. When Fire reaches 0, you become paralyzed. This is based on the drink described in the Amber Novels.

Hair Of The Dog: They claim this drink will cure what ails ya - especially hangovers. But what it really does is slowly turn you into a Brewer. With each pint you shrink just a tad, your hair turns half a shade redder, and you become a wee bit of an alcoholic. If a player doesn’t get help, they’ll find themselves in the body of a leprechaun after a hard night of drinking.

Gizzard Kicker: Despite the rather colorful name, this is just a normal beer. Figured you’d need at least one of these on the list to start the players off with.

Gravestone Ale: While under the effects of this drink, you’re immune to the touch or breathstealing of the Old Ghosts.

Smiling Wee Thing: While this is in your system, it’s hard to take anything seriously. Everything is funny, and you can’t help but smile. If you’ve drank more than your Fire, you can’t attack.

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Why are there no other visitors? Cause they’ve been incapacitated and filled full of the Hair of the Dog (see above). You can’t tell them from the natives anymore, and most stick around for the beer.

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Edit: The other part of this file has moved, since it had to do with ghosts, not beer.

Scientific Laws in Amber

More old Amber files from my long-lost website. This one is a discussion of the laws of physics and magic in Amber.

These laws of physics, chemistry, biology, and magic are gleaned from careful readings and contemplations of Corwin’s saga. They do not draw upon Merlin’s story, as it contradicts much of Corwin’s exposition upon how Amber functions. Some of these laws are obvious from a single quick read of Nine Princes, but others are more subtle and required greater study of the books to draw these conclusions. As such, you might find a few surprises here:

1. Pattern is greatly diminished in and near Amber.
   
2. Logrus is either painful and difficult to use in Amber, or just doesn't exist.
   
3. Shapeshifting in Amber is very difficult, possibly very painful.
   
4. The very nature of Amber is toxic to chaosites.
   
5. Silver gains special properties in Amber.
6. Sorcery doesn’t work in Amber.
   
7. Magic items are powerless (or at least less powerful) in Amber.
   
8. Poisons and Drugs don’t work in Amber.
   
9. Illness and disease don’t spread very quickly in Amber.
   
10. Gunpowder doesn’t work, except for the stuff from avalon.
11. Electricity doesn’t flow very well in Amber.
    
12. The closer you get to the Pattern, the more restrictive the above rules become.
    
13. It is possible for characters to manufacture exceptions to these rules.
    
14. A whole separate set of laws governs Primal Pattern Land.
    

That's the short version. Here's the much longer versions, complete with arguments, counter-arguments, examples from the books, painful tangents, etc.

1. Pattern is greatly diminished in and near Amber. Corwin says as much, and it’s supported by the books. It is not totally impossible to use, as both Fiona and Oberon take short-cuts that Corwin felt he couldn’t, and Corwin surprises himself in the fifth book by starting his hellride closer than he ever had before.
2. Logrus is either: 1) dangerous to the user near Amber, 2) painful and difficult to use in Amber, 3) totally powerless in Amber or 4) non-existant anywhere in the universe and purely just an addition of the second series. The most common explanation it seems in campaigns is a combination of 1 and 2. The typical interpretation is that using the logrus near the pattern can have explosive side-effects. (in fact, the rulebook seems to provide this flashy destructiveness as the usual product of anytime two great powers touch).
   I see a logic flaw with that: if there’s some sort of explosion whenever pattern and logrus meet, why didn’t the chaos forces round up a few fanatics to summon the logrus in Amber and (suicidally) blow up the damn castle? Security was pretty lax in Eric’s reign, judging from how easily Dara got to the Pattern chamber (and how freely Random wandered the castle a few years after trying to kill the King), so there’s little that could be done to stop them.
   Logrus being largely powerless and painful and exhausting to use in Amber fits well enough with the apparent lack of Logrus in Corwin’s saga. (Afterall, the only time Logrus seems to be used in the first 5 books is when Brand summons a monster to attack Caine. And that could just as easily have been the work of Advanced Pattern or Trump.) So, that’s the ruling I tend to use.
   One day, when improvising, I did have a logrus tendril blow up when it hit the pattern. I wish I hadn’t. I’m stuck with it now. My only defense is that I can claim logrus tendrils have a very short range in Amber, and so won’t hit the pattern unless actually used in the dungeons. Coupled with my restrictions on shapeshifting in Amber, this almost covers it.
   Of course, in truth, all of this is flawed. The obvious correct answer should be that Logrus doesn’t exist. As defined in Merlin’s saga and the RPG, logrus is too powerful. If the lords of chaos find it that easy to move through shadow, then they would have always been a constant threat to Amber. Instead, Chaos is the last enemy anyone suspects when the black road shows up. ("Oh, them! But they’re out at the other end of the universe. They haven’t been a threat since Benedict was a baby. They can’t be responsible for this.." seems to be the line of thought) The lords of chaos should have little capacity for moving through shadow on their own, after all, that’s why they needed Brand’s help, and the black road, and hybrids like Dara and Merlin.
3. Shapeshifting in Amber is very difficult, possibly very painful. The very nature of Amber and it’s primal order makes it so. If it was easy, the lords of chaos would have used shapeshifting to infiltrate the City and Castle and perform commando raids or sabotage. They never did, so it must be very difficult for them to take Human form (or shift at all) in Amber. Possibly you can only shapeshift in Amber if you are descended from Dworkin, since only he, Oberon, and Dara ever do in the series.
   It must be really hard for Amberites to shapeshift there too, because if it was anything that could be even remotely described as easy, you can bet that Corwin’s siblings, in their collective millenias of life and struggle would have learned how to do it.
4. The very nature of Amber is toxic to chaosites. Otherwise, even if they couldn’t shapeshift to infiltrate the city, little guerilla bands would have broken off from the black road to harass the amberites after the defeat at Garnath. They needed the black road not only to travel to Amber, but to make Garnath habitable for them.
5. Silver gains special properties in Amber. At first I just thought the Weir were vulnerable to silver. But it occured to me that Corwin refers vaguely to "Certain Beasts" in Amber that silver was potent against, not just specifically the weir. It's possible that Silver is potent against shapeshifters, or potent against shadowlings and chaosites when used in Amber. The specifics of that will be up to individual GM's.
   Just bear in mind that both Corwin and Eric bear silver blades, Corwin's guns used silver bullets, Benedicts mechanical arm was silver, Fiona drops a silver bracelet for Julian and Corwin to rush to. Greyswandir and Ben's Arm both peirced the veil between ghosts and reality in Tir Na Nogth, which could be a property of Dworkin or Oberon's magic, or could be a property of silver itself in that realm.
   It certainly would be in keeping with what we know of Oberon and Dworkin for them to have defined Amber as not only being toxic to chaosites, but to make silver a secret weapon there. Perhaps silver focuses the energy of Order inherent in the place. Hey, GM, it's your call.
6. Sorcery doesn’t work in Amber. Or at least the shadow manipulation and shadow opening microspells don’t. If they do, then why didn’t Corwin or Bleys toss a couple spells at Eric when they attacked? And why didn’t Corwin use a spell to escape the dungeons later? Magic must be crippled in Amber, if not, then all the family would have learned it and used it in their battles.
   Corwin does use a powerword to give Strygalldwir a hot-foot and break his concentration, but doesn’t do the same when Brand is walking the Pattern and obviously needs to concentrate. Either Corwin is a fool, or he is operating under the assumption that magic will not function near the Pattern. Consider that Rebma is lit by magic lights atop the pillars, but in Castle Amber they use lanterns. In Corwin’s saga, the only time magic is used in Amber is when Brand lights a cigarette just by staring at it. But is that magic, or Pattern, or pyrokinetic psychic power?
   Side note: We all tend to assume that the Jewel of Judgement allows weather control as one of it’s powers. But, maybe it just strengthens the magic of the user. Maybe you need to be both attuned to the Jewel and have sorcery in order to summon a storm in Amber. (or cast any spells at all in Amber)
7. Magic items are powerless (or at least less powerful) in Amber. Obviously, artifacts that shapeshift or use sorcery are crippled by the same restrictions discussed above. Greyswandir must have at least "deadly damage", if not greater, magical strength: it cleaves demons in half and sets them afire, and Corwin prefers it to all other weapons. But Eric takes several minor wounds from Greyswandir that don’t worry him at all until his brother starts taunting him.
   Also, if magic items work in Amber, who cares about Corwin’s guns? I’ll take a wand of fireballs or enchanted self-loading crossbow. Curiously, the only magic items that seem to function in Amber are the Jewel of Judgement and the Trumps. This implies that these either aren’t magic per se, or they are but are both on some primal order of power beyond normal magic. (trump as powerful as the Jewel? Blasphemy! But interesting)
8. Poisons and Drugs don’t work in Amber. Otherwise, with all those years of sibling rivalry and family dinners, some brash kid would have killed half the family in a single sitting. Corwin drinks freely with his relatives, and there's no mention of royal food testers.
   If drugs worked, Gerard wouldn’t have hung Corwin over a cliff after beating him up, he would have administered sodium pentathol, or an herbal equivalent to truth serum, and slept easier afterwards. Corwin says most earth medicines won’t work in Amber, so why should miscellaneous drugs or poisons fare any better?
   The real question is: do they not work at all in Amber, or do they just not work on an Amberite in Amber? Perhaps the Pattern protects it’s initiates when that close to the source. Can you poison a shadowling in Amber?
9. For some reason, illness and disease don’t spread very quickly in Amber. Otherwise, the Lords of Chaos would have tried viral warfare. Biological warfare was employed in ancient times by catapulting plague-ridden corpses over the city walls. Certainly a few wyverns could have dumped diseased bodies into Amber as they flew over.
   This is also reinforced by Corwin’s comments about most anti-biotics not working (and his being vague about what does work) in Amber: there’s no practiced and accepted way of dealing with disease in Amber because in Amber disease is very rare. Again, perhaps the pattern protects it’s initiates. Also remember that in Lorraine the black circle spread poison and plague, that it ruined the crops and made people ill. In Garnath, all it did was discolor some grass.
   This law has been argued against before. Some folks just think it's all those Amber-ranked endurances that prevented viral warfare on the "real earth". They point to the long lifespans of the "ordinary" castle servants as evidence that all living things in Amber have great resiliancy and superior stamina. This had me fooled and reconsidering for a while. :)
   Then I remembered that Corwin with his high-ranked endurance lived through the black plague, but wasn't totally unaffected. If it could zap his brain, then it would seem possible for bacterial warfare to work in Amber. Then again, one could argue the other way. Afterall, it seems odd that the Black Death, a resperatory illness, should cause Corwin's amnesia. Perhaps whatever Eric did to best Corwin originally also inflicted brain damage, and dumping him in a plague outbreak was just Eric's last bit of insurance incase the headshot wasn't fatal enough.
10. Gunpowder doesn’t work, except for the stuff from avalon. (Is gunpowder totally inert in Amber, or does it burn but not explode?) There has to be some hitch in the physical laws there that prevents gases from expanding beyond a certain speed. Otherwise, not only would gunpowder and gasoline be utilized, but steam would be too. In WWII, the British navy created several prototype steam-powered anti-aircraft guns. If shadowlings can be this creative, so can Amberites. So whatever the law of physics that prevents gunpowder from exploding in Amber, it must also prevent watervapor and other chemicals from rapidly expanding or exploding. Remember, the ships have sails in Amber, not steam-driven paddlewheels.
    One of the pleasant side-effects of this is that it would probably be easier to contain or snuff fires in Amber. That would also explain why Eric doesn’t think twice before burning Garnath. One quick rain shower and it’s out, with no chance of the hot coals stirring up secondary blazes later. It also adds further explanation to why Chaos never tried commando raids to burn the city. It takes longer than usual to start a fire in Amber, and it has less chance to spread from building to building. They might have even tried, and failed.
    Side note: all this poses an interesting question. I pull the pin on my grenade in Amber. Is the fuse rendered inert permenantly, or is the reaction just suspended or slowed? Will the primer burn itself out in a non-explosive fashion, or will it be stuck in mid-reaction and detonate as soon as I set foot out in shadow? (Thanks to Userkaf and Whisper for pulling their triggers and forcing me to deal with this one)
11. Electricity doesn’t flow very well in Amber. If it did, they wouldn’t need lanterns in the castle, they’d flip a light switch. Even ruling out steam or combustion as a power source, Oberon could have built a hydroelectric plant to power the castle. And even if there’s no waterfall nearby, why didn’t he import flashlights with really good batteries for use in the dungeons at least?
    Electricity might work on Amber, but just generate so much heat and resistance that it constantly melts the wires and just isn’t worth the continual maintainance and upkeep. Or maybe the very nature of Amber drains and discharges electrical energy very quickly, making it impractical or useless.
    Further evidence: on earth, a bolt of lightning can cause heart attacks via electric shock in humans a hundred yards from the strike point. But in Amber, Eric rains down lightning near his own troops with no adverse side effects. It only blasts those who are within the focal bolt, the energy seems to ground itself immediately with little or no spill-over into the surrounding area.
12. The closer you get to the Pattern, the more restrictive the above rules become. For example, Corwin’s car continues to run at the far end of Arden, after he’s arrived at the "real Earth", but before they reach even the outskirts of Amber itself. The black road is strong in Garnath, but extends only to the foot of Kolvir, with no sign of it in the city, castle, or pattern chamber. Corwin states that he had to train his gunners on a world near to Amber, he couldn’t find one far from Amber but with the same laws of science. The stairs to Rebma are lit by a magic glow, but Castle Amber uses lanterns. It’s easier to shift shadow the further you are away from Amber.
13. It is possible to make exceptions to these rules. Consider the trumps, which break the anti-magic law. Benedict's Arm, which functions where most technology is impaired. Corwin's guns. Oberon's many tricks and talents. All of these can be traced back to him or ultimately to Dworkin. Just be warned: those two (and maybe anyone who's attuned to the Jewel) or perhaps the Pattern itself, can make or break or find loopholes in these rules with a bit of effort.
14. A final note: We never see anyone use the pattern to shadow-walk in the castle itself, but we do see Fiona use the pattern in Primal Pattern Land. Oberon creates the blood bird right next to the Primal Pattern. In fact, Greyswandir seems more powerful there then in "normal" Amber. So maybe a whole separate set of laws governs that place. Who knows, maybe guns and spells and flashlights work there too?

Expanded Sorte

The following are expanded Sorte charts for 7th Sea. Sorte is the Vodacce "fate witch" magic, practitioners of which see the connections and emotions between people as a web whose threads can be measured, tangled, and even trimmed.

I created these expanded charts because I was running a long-term, single-player 7th Sea game. The main character (the sole PC) was a fate witch, and I needed for her magic to play a prominent role in the game. In short, these rules worked great for a 1-player fate-witch campaign. They are probably too fiddly and detailed for a game with multiple PCs. I also can't promise they're balanced against other sorcerous heritages.

She began as an Apprentice, but was certain to spend XP on her sorcery. Since I wanted slow simmering character development (not Scion-style spontaneous visitations of power) I needed to find ways to make the lower levels of Sorte important. Also, since Sorte was going to be in the spotlight so much, I needed in-depth lists of modifiers to rolls, so I could tweak difficulties from scene to scene, yet still have consistency in how it works. To those ends I heavily modified the Sorte rules and even added a few powers.

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Format: The name of the power is first. If the power requires a certain Mastery Level, it says so on the line with the power's name.
Below that is the dice pool you roll, and the default difficulty.
(Then, in parenthesis, is a short explanation of what you get for that roll)
Below that is several lines of possible modifiers to the difficulty, and things you can raise for.
@ h W k C If two or more modifiers start with the same funky symbol at the start of the line, it means only one (generally the most extreme) of those modifiers can apply per die roll. Don't spend too much time trying to make sense of the symbols - they were a different font in my original document, but blogger doesn't like that font.

Sometimes there'll be a section afterwords, detailing other information that isn't directly a roll modifier, such as how the power applies to the Like/Dislike/Useful ratings of the Political Intrigue system of the Montaigne sourcebook.

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View Arcana:
Wits + Arcana Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is difficulty to see a single Arcana, of GM’s choice)
Viewing done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Target has activated (or has had activated) Arcana this scene: -5 (Free Raise)
Target is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed viewing attempt on this Target in previous Scene this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +10 (Difficulty Mod)
Checking for both possible Arcana: +5 (Raise)
Learning mechanical details on Virtue/Wiles: +5 (Raise)
Learning mechanical details on Hubris/Flaw: +5 (Raise)

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Viewing Suit Strands:
Wits + (Suit) Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty for an overview of their strands of this suit)
Viewing done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Looking only for the target’s single strongest strand (if target is human): -15 (3 Free Raises)
Target is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target is not human: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed viewing attempt on this Target in previous Scene this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
W Target’s Strands have been altered by an Apprentice Fate Witch in last 24 hours: +5 (Diff Mod)
W Target’s Strands have been altered by an Adept Fate Witch in last 24 hours: +10 (Diff Mod)
W Target’s Strands have been altered by a Master Fate Witch in last 24 hours: +15 (Diff Mod)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +10 (Difficulty Mod)
h Target completely obscured, but threads aren’t: +30 (Difficulty Mod)
k Looking for Target’s Strand to a specific person, place or thing (in this room): +5 (Raise)
k Looking for Target’s Strand to a specific person, place or thing not in this room: +15 (3 Raises)
k Looking for Target’s Strand to a specific person you’ve never met: +25 (5 Raises)
Seeking an image/impression/etc from a Strand: +10 (2 Raises)
Determining if Target is aware of relationship the Strand represents: +5 (Raise)
Looking for the handiwork of a particular FateWitch: +5 to +15 (1 Raise / Mastery Level)
Viewing your own Strands: +15 (3 Raises)

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Blessings / Curses:
Resolve + (Suit) Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to give a single die of blessing/curse. It requires 1 action, line of sight, and it gives you a single Backlash-Curse die for yourself.)
Taking on an additional Backlash-Curse die: -10 (2 Free Raises)
Blessing done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Target is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on this Target in previous Scene this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target during this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +15 (Difficulty Mod)
Each additional die of blessing/curse: +15 (3 Raises) and +1 die of Backlash
Eliminating one Backlash-Curse die: +10 (2 Raises)

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Tracking by use of Strands:
Resolve + (Suit) Knack: Difficulty 20
(At this difficulty, the you are able to follow the Strand to the Nation, Province, Island or Archipeligo the Pursued currently inhabits. It assumes you have a Subject nearby for the trip who has a Strand to the Pursued, and that you have already successful viewed that Strand. If it takes more than 1 day to get to the Pursued's location, you must roll again each day.)
Viewing done at Subject’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Pursued is at the end of Subject’s single strongest strand: -5 (Free Raise)
Subject is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Pursued is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Subject in this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
C At least one failed Sorte attempt on Pursued in this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on Subject during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
C Each failed Sorte attempt on Pursued during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
C Each failed Tracking attempt on Pursued earlier today: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
Subject and Pursued have a fairly weak connection: +5 to +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Pursued is moving rapidly (Horseback, etc): +15 (Difficulty Mod)
k Accurate to the City (or specific small island): +5 (1 Raise)
k Accurate to the correct part of town: +10 (2 Raises)
k Accurate to the correct building, grove, park, etc: +15 (3 Raises)
k Accurate to the exact spot (room, hidey-hole, concealment, etc): +20 (4 Raises)
You are the Subject/using your own Strands to the Pursued: +15 (3 Raises)

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Coins Spread:
Panache + Coins Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to increase the Targets overall income by +10% for one month. In addition, either you must Spend 1 Drama Die or the Target must spend 2 Drama Dice.)
Spread done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Each extra Drama Die the target Spends: -5 (Free Raise)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Target in previous Scene this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target not present at Reading: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target aware and unwilling: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
Eliminating one Drama Die from the Cost: +15 (3 Raises)
Each additional +10% of income you seek to bestow: +5 (Raise)
Each additional Month added to the duration of the bonus: +5 (Raise)
Adding an Exploding Die of Guilders after the % bonus: +5 (Raise) / Die

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Cups Spread:
Panache + Cups Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to give a single Charm die to the Target for a month, directed only at the Romantic Interest they specify during the reading. In addition, either you must Spend 2 Drama Dice or the Target must spend 4 Drama Dice.)
Spread done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Each extra Drama Die the target Spends: -5 (Free Raise)
Romantic Interest is aware of this “Love Spell” and is unwilling: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target aware and unwilling: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target not present at Reading: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
FateWitch has never met the Romantic Interest: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Target in this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
C At least one failed Sorte attempt on Romantic Interest in this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
C Each failed Sorte attempt on Romantic Interest this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Eliminating one Drama Die from the Cost: +15 (3 Raises)
Each additional Charm Die you seek to bestow: +15 (3 Raises)
Each additional Month added to the Charm’s duration: +5 (Raise)

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Staves Spread: Adept Level
Panache + Staves Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to increase the Targets reputation by +5 for one month. In addition, either you must Spend 3 Drama Dice or the Target must spend 6 Drama Dice.)
Spread done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Each extra Drama Die the target Spends: -5 (Free Raise)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Target in previous Scene this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target not present at Reading: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target aware and unwilling: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
Eliminating one Drama Die from the Cost: +15 (3 Raises)
Each additional +5 of Reputation you seek to bestow: +5 (Raise)
Each additional Month added to the duration of the bonus: +5 (Raise)

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Swords Spread: Adept Level
Panache + Swords Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to gift a Sword with a single Destiny Die. In addition, either you must Spend 4 Drama Dice or the person the Sword is intended for must spend 8 Drama Dice.)
Spread done on a weapon you’ve owned for over a month: -5 (Free Raise)
Each extra Drama Die you or the Sword owner Spends: -5 (Free Raise)
@ At least one failed Swords Spread this Act: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Swords’ owner not present at Reading: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Weapon has been used in at least one Killing/Murder/Death: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
Eliminating one Drama Die from the Cost: +15 (3 Raises)
Each Destiny Die you have already given to any Sword that is still active: +5 (Raise)
Giving a Sword more than one Destiny Die: +5 (Raise) per additional die up to your Swords Rank.

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Black Spread: Master Level
Panache + Black Strand Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to increase your own Middle-Aged and Old Categories by 1 year. In addition you must Spend 5 Drama Dice. Once you have entered your Old age category, you can no longer add any years to your Middle-Aged Category.)
Each extra Drama Die you Spend: -5 (Free Raise)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Eliminating one Drama Die from the Cost: +15 (3 Raises)
Each additional year in the Middle-Aged and Old Categories you seek to bestow: +5 (Raise)
Making this stack with previous successes, not merely replace them: +25 (5 Raises)

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Arcana Spread: Master Level
Panache + Coins Knack: Difficulty 20
(This is the difficulty to change someones Arcana for 10 Months - 1 Month/Rank of Resolve they have. You must Spend 4 months working on the Tapestry, 50 G on supplies, and 10 Drama Dice. You also must make a Finesse + Weaver roll vs TN 15 to use this Spread. )
Each extra Drama Die you Spend: -5 (Free Raise)
Using Exquisite Materials (100G, not 50G) on the Tapestry: -5 (Free Raise)
Each Quality Raise made on the Finesse + Weaver roll: -5 (Free Raise)
Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target aware and unwilling: +20 (Difficulty Modifier)
Used Cheaper (25 G) Materials on the Weaving: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
Target naturally has 2 Arcana: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
Eliminating one Drama Die from the Cost: +15 (3 Raises)
Each additional Month added to the duration of the effect: +5 (Raise)

The following modifiers & raises may apply to the Finesse + Weaver roll:
Reducing the work time by 1/2: +5 (Raise)
Improved Quality to the Weaving (Grants Free Raise on the Panache + Arcana Roll): +5 (Raise)

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Stretching Fate: Adept Level
Finesse + (Suit)/Black Strand Knack: Difficulty 15
(This is the difficulty to increase or decrease someone elses chances of success at an endeavor happening this same turn. It either gives or takes away 1 Unkept Die. You personally can only affect any given action once with this ability, and doing this typically takes 1 action from you.)
Stretch done at Target’s request: -5 (Free Raise)
Taking over a Turn of overt concentration (and actions) to make this single Stretch: -5 (Free Raise)
Action taken in same Phase the witch is doing the stretching: -5 (Free Raise)
Target is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +10 (Difficulty Mod)
Adding (or subtracting) an additional Unkept Die: +10 (2 Raises) per Unkept Die
Adding not to Target’s very next roll, but one later in this turn or next turn: +5 (Raise)
Each additional Turn of delay before the power must either take effect or fizzle: +5 (Raise)
Stretching your own Fate: +15 (3 Raises)

Concerning when and how Fate may be Stretched:
Stretching Coins may affect Gambling, Shopping, Bribery and Scrounging
Stretching Cups may affect attempts at Charm, Seduction or Socializing
Stretching Staves may affect Fashion, Forgery, and any use of Reputation Dice
Stretching Swords may affect Combat rolls and uses of Intimidation or Ridicule
Stretching Black Strands may affect Soak & Damage Rolls, Poison, Falling, Explosions, etc.

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Tugging Suit Strands: Adept Level
Finesse + (Suit) Knack: Difficulty 10
(This is the difficulty to cause a minimal increase or decrease in the strength of a Strand. It will add or subtract a single point of Like/Dislike/Usefulness or cause a small change in a personal, romantic, political or business relationship. Such a change lasts for 1 day / Rank you have in the Suit Knack. To use this power, you must first View the Strand in the same turn you are tugging.)
Tug done at request of a Target: -5 each(Free Raise)
Either Target is aware and unwilling: +5 each (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Primary Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on Primary Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
C At least one failed Sorte attempt on Secondary Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
C Each failed Sorte attempt on Secondary Target during this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
W Cancelling/Counteracting an Apprentice Witches Tugs: +5 (Diff Mod)
W Cancelling/Counteracting an Adept Witches Tugs: +10 (Diff Mod)
W Cancelling/Counteracting a Master Witches Tugs: +15 (Diff Mod)
Strand being tugged is Strongest strand of either target: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
Adding (or subtracting) an additional Point: +10 (2 Raises)
Tugging on your own Strands: +15 (3 Raises)
Increasing the duration of the effect: +5 (Raise) to add 1 day / Rank in the Knack
Making the change seem gradual and natural: +5 or more (1 Raise / Point added or subtracted)

Concerning Like, Dislike and Usefulness Ratings:
Tugging a Coins Strand may increase or decrease the Usefulness between two individuals
Tugging a Cups Strand may increase or decrease the Like between two individuals
Tugging a Staves Strand may increase or decrease the Usefulness between two individuals
Tugging a Swords Strand may increase or decrease the Dislike between two individuals

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Destroying Strands: Master Level
Resolve + (Suit) Knack: Difficulty 40
(This is the difficulty to Destroy a Strand utterly and completely. You must view the strand in the same turn you destroy it, and one of the two people linked to the Strand must be present.)
Destruction enacted at request of a Target: -5 each(Free Raise)
Either Target is aware and unwilling: +10 each (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Primary Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on Primary Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
C At least one failed Sorte attempt on Secondary Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
C Each failed Sorte attempt on Secondary Target during this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
W Destroying a Stand created by an Apprentice Witch: +5 (Diff Mod)
W Destroying a Stand created by an Adept Witch: +10 (Diff Mod)
W Destroying a Stand created by a Master Witch: +15 (Diff Mod)
Strand being Destroyed is Strongest strand of either target: +15 (Difficulty Modifier)
Destroying a Strand to yourself: +15 (3 Raises)
Specifying the result wanted on the effects chart below: +20 (4 Raises)
Isolating the Strand so as to minimize impact upon other relationships: +20 (4 Raises)

Concerning the effects of destroying a Strand:
Destroying Coins Strands could result in financial ruin, the taking of business to a different source, a new method of income supplanting the old, problems with tariffs & customs, etc.
Destroying Cups Strands could result in the spark dying & the excitement going out of a relationship, a political marriage blocking out the possibility for love, passion turning into jealousy, etc
Destroying Staves Strands could result in betrayal, respect turning to envy, awakening to the faults of someone you’d thought infallible, friendship or love replacing a professional relationship, etc.
Destroying Swords Strands could result in anger being forgotten and simply turning to apathy, forgiveness being offered, reluctant acceptance that your rival is superior and destined to win, etc.

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Creating Strands: Master Level
Wits + (Suit) Knack: Difficulty 50
(This is the difficulty to Create a completely new Suit Strand tying two people(etc) together. At least one of the two Targets must be present to even attempt this.)
Creation done at request of a Target: -5 each(Free Raise)
Either Target is aware and unwilling: +10 each (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on Primary Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on Primary Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
C At least one failed Sorte attempt on Secondary Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
C Each failed Sorte attempt on Secondary Target during this Scene: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +10 (Difficulty Mod)
Creating a Strand to a specific person, place or thing not currently in this room: +10 (2 Raises)
Creating a Strand to yourself: +15 (3 Raises)
Specifying the result wanted on the effects chart below: +20 (4 Raises)
Isolating the Strand so as to minimize impact upon other relationships: +20 (4 Raises)

Concerning the effects of creating a Strand:
Creating Coins Strands could result in bumbling into a business proposition, two people finding thier demand and supply match perfectly, or one falling into unexpected debt to the other.
Creating Cups Strands could result in love at first sight, fiery lust, or a quick-growing friendship.
Creating Staves Strands could result in instant respect, a change in status and position elevating one above the other, or one merely viewing themselves as inferior to the other.
Creating Swords Strands could result in an unintended offense, a petty arguement grown out of proportion, someone being seen as an obstacle, or even a good-natured rivalry forming.

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Playing Arcana: Adept Level
Finesse + Arcana Knack: Difficulty 20
(This is the difficulty to reclaim a drama die you just spent to activate or cancel someones Virtue/Wiles or Hubris/Flaw. It takes an action to do so, and must be done in the same turn as when you activated thier Arcana. If done, you regain one Drama Die spent on this activation.)
Taking over a Turn of overt concentration (and actions) to Activate the Arcana: -5 (Free Raise)
Target is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +10 (Difficulty Mod)
Each additional die spent due to GM upping the Ante: +10 (2 Raises) but reclaim all dice if succeed.
Playing your own Arcana: +15 (3 Raises)

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Shuffling Arcana: Master Level
Resolve + Arcana Knack: Difficulty 20
(This is the difficulty to suppress and prevent activation of an Arcana for the remainder of the scene. To do so, you must Spend 1 Drama Die and make the roll indicated above.)
Taking over a Turn of overt concentration (and actions) to Supress the Arcana: -5 (Free Raise)
Each additional Drama Die you spend on this Supression: +10 (2 Free Raises)
Target is aware and unwilling: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ At least one failed Sorte attempt on this Target this Act: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Sorte attempt on this Target during this Scene: +10 (Difficulty Modifier)
@ Each failed Shuffling attempt on this Target during this Scene: +20 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Poor line of sight to Target: +5 (Difficulty Modifier)
h Target or self moving rapidly/unpredictably (Horseback, carriage, combat, etc): +10 (Difficulty Mod)
Shuffling your own Arcana: +15 (3 Raises)
Shuffling both Arcana (if target has 2) simultaneously: +10 (2 Raises)

Porte Knacks

More knacks. These are for Porté, the deliciously creepy gateway sorcery of Montaigne in 7th Sea. They amount to the totality of my house rules for Porté.

• Attunement [Porté] This is now the Knack used for Walking.

Attunement was an existing knack, which I house-ruled to expand and include the former Walk knack. The Walk knack was goofy, the requirements for Journeyman level were weird and Attunement was kinda weak. In order to get to the Adept Mastery Level, you had to raise your Walk knack to level 4, but since you couldn't use it (the Walk knack) until you were an Adept, it was hard to justify that. Eliminating the Walk knack solved all that.

Edit: I just realized how silly that reads if you don't know much about Porté. Obviously, you don't roll to stroll across the room. Walking, in this sense, means traveling through the wounds of reality to cross the misty void. It's a little like teleportation, but much creepier.

Here's a new Knack I made to handle other Porté issues:

• Guide [Porté] This Knack is the max number of people you can lead through the mists at once. If you fail an Attunement roll, you must roll Guide for each person you are leading. Scoring less than a 15 means they are lost in the mists forever, scoring 15-24 means they go temporarily insane. Only a 25+ delivers that individual safely and unharmed if you blew the Attunement/Walk roll.