JeenLeen
2016-12-29, 01:09 PM
I've been working off and on on a system based on Wildbow's web serial Pact. It's definitely not meant to perfectly emulate the setting, but rather drawing upon it. Critiques are very welcome, from imbalances in mechanics, to how it does or doesn't fit Pact, to just typos or internal inconsistency. I'm trying for a relatively easy game that is mostly free-form, but with some rules to determine how conflicts work out and what practitioners can do what.
Mechanical influences are primarily d10 systems like oWoD and Exalted and some of the new mechanics in the Sam & Fuzzy RPG.
This is a dice-light system. You do have attributes, but they are either compared or simply used to determine what you can do. These rules document will describe the general setting, then go through the character sheet in order to explain the rules.
When dice are used, a dice pool of d10s is rolled and a 6 or higher is a success.
Some mechanics (such as regaining power and karma) may work differently for non-humans.
This game is based off the web serial novel Pact by Wildbow. In the process of trying to translate some concepts into mechanics, this game does depart from the actual ‘Pactverse’. Some magics do different things and some Others operate differently. I have tried to put a more formal and restrictive use on magical tools than actually exists in the novel, in order to make it something easy and fun to use in-game. Also, karma is vastly simplified as well as more standardized. Lastly, some terminology is changed (implement to focus, for example.)
I have a nice one made up in Word, but it doesn't copy-and-paste here well.
Basic outline is:
Name:
Current Power:
Personal Power Pool: Additional Power Pool:
Physical Status
<health boxes like oWoD or Exalted, 1xHealthy, 2xHurt, 2xInjured (movement slowed), 1xCrippled (+1 Contagion, movement greatly slowed), 1xImmobile (+2 Contagion, cannot move beyond slow crawl), X=Dead/Unconscious>
Contagion Risk:
Strangeness:
Rule of Three: <three check boxes>
Fight: Defend:
Karma
<boxes like oWoD werewolf Renown, with 7 boxes from -3 to 3 for permanent karma, and 20 boxes for bad karma (10) and good karma( 10)>
Skills
Tricks
Tools
Contagion
The spirits don’t care about good and evil. They care about right and wrong.
Terminology
• Karma – the general rule of reality. Translate into luck, how people react to you, etc. Someone who does good, keeps their word, and so on accrues good karma and the spirits of reality help you. Someone who lies, cheats, steals, etc. accrues bad karma and things just turn badly over time.
Karma cares more about supernatural beings than mundane ones.
The DM may roll for luck or if a person responds favorably. One’s karma rating is added to this roll.
• Practitioner – a human who can practice magic. As part of using magic, practitioners lose the ability to lie. (Or, rather, they can lie, but doing so drains power and forsaking an oath is very dangerous.)
• Other – a non-human. Includes goblins, faeries, demons, mythic beasts, undead, bogeymen, etc. Definitions are hard and can be misleading, so this term is used for non-humans. Sometimes the line between practitioner and Other gets blurred as well. Others also cannot lie or they suffer as practitioners do.
• Council – the formal meeting of Practitioners and Others in a city. Generally, a city is ruled by a council (the leaders of various bodies of equal strength) or a Lord (one supernatural who rules). Either way, they generally hold Council once or twice a month, maybe weekly for big cities. In most cities, there is a ban on conflict for x-hours before or after a Council, so enemies can talk in peace. Breaking said ban is bad karma and gives all in the city free reign to attack you.
• Mundane – general term for non-practitioner, non-Others. Karma cares less about them, they can lie, and they can bypass most wards. Includes Innocents, Dreamers, Blackguards, and Witch Hunters (described below).
• Innocent – a human ignorant (or mostly ignorant of) the supernatural. They tend to naturally not notice supernatural things or to justify them after-the-fact. Innocents are afforded special protections, as it is bad karma for Others to attack them. Introducing an Innocent to the supernatural is bad karma.
• Blackguard – an Innocent who knows some about the supernatural but not enough to lose the protections afforded an Innocent. Generally acts as an ally to Practitioners, since they can lie.
• Witch Hunter – a human who fights Others and Practitioners. Not Innocent. Generally employed by a city’s Council to keep Others and Practitioners who get out of hand in check.
• Dreamer – euphemistic term for a former Innocent who knows too much and no longer has the protections afforded to Innocents, but lacks the magic of a Practitioner or the training of a Witch Hunter. Many Others consider them food.
• Contagion – being contaminated by magical energy and/or possessed by spirits. Normally, it is safe to perform magic, but in certain circumstances it risks contagion. Enough contagion can turn a human into an Other.
• Rule of Three/Seven/Twelve – numbers hold power. “Third time’s the charm” holds true. If you win three victories over someone, that holds more power than winning two or four.
• Skills – magical knowledge. Skills are divided into three ranks: Apprentice, Adept, and Master.
• Trick – a simple magical trick you know. Basically, it’s an apprentice-rank spell you know without actually being an apprentice, like knowing how to bind a simple ghost without any ranks in Necromancy. (See “Skills” section for info on how many tricks a person can know.)
• Tools – magical tools. Can include magical places and allies. Are rated least, modest, and greater.
• Focus – a unique magical tool. Each practitioner can choose one focus, which shapes their magic.
• Domain – a ritually-claimed domain. Each practitioner can claim one domain, a place where reality follows their will.
• Familiar – a magically-bonded ally. Each practitioner can bond with an Other, creating a life-long bond that (at least ideally) benefits both.
• Forsworn – a practitioner or Other who breaks an oath can be declared forsworn. Sometimes this happens automatically as the spirits of the world judge the oath-breaker; other times someone has to declare them forsworn and the spirits judge. (The spirits get annoyed and give bad karma for being nagged, so falsely declaring someone forsworn is costly.) A forsworn person loses all power, magical ability, and protections, and Others can sense them as forsworn. They accumulate a lot of bad karma and can no longer accumulate good karma. Killing them has no karmic penalty.
• Abyss – one of many terms for where the forgotten go. It takes various forms, from a wasteland to a sewer to a hellscape, but it is a land of entropy, corruption, and ruin. Someone who loses all ties to reality may fall there. Very dark Others can be called forth from there.
• Demon – a type of Other. Generally, agents of destroying reality in one way or another. Corruption risk increases when around demons (at least if unwarded.) Practitioners who summon or deal with them are called Diabolists (and, in most areas, are killed on sight.)
• Celestials – a type of Other, also called angels (but they aren’t necessarily good). Seem to have helped create the world, they oppose demons and fight against entropy. Often work with Inquisitors.
• Goblin –a type of Other. Generally stupid (if cunning) and crude, and always violent, ugly, and smelly. Weak to refinement. Practitioners who bind or work with them are called Goblin Kings/Queens.
• Faerie – a type of Other. Use glamour to reshape themselves and others. Faerie Courts exist in parallel realities (or perhaps are just Domains that have been reshaped and enlarged over time.) Weak to crude things. They often make deals with practitioners to serve as familiars.
• Ghost – a type of Other. Usually a psychic echo left after a traumatic event, mostly but not always one’s death. Sometimes an actual soul that hasn’t moved on. Practitioners who bind them are called Necromancers.
• Bogeyman – a type of Other. General name for Others that come from or were shaped by the Abyss. Practitioners who summon them are called Scourges.
• Elemental – a type of Other. A spirit that embodies a certain element or substance. Practitioners who bind or work with these are called Elementalists.
• Gods – a type of Other, but one usually not seen. Some ‘small gods’ exist, but these are perhaps better called elementals or just strong, sentient spirits. Gods like Dionysius and Zeus employ practitioners, giving them divine power in exchange for favors. Such are called Acolytes.
• Inquisitors – a type of practitioner. Like acolytes, they use divine power, but they draw it from one of the major monotheistic religions. They also tend to work against all other practitioners and Others, though they reserve special hatred for diabolists and demons. Often only begrudgingly allowed to operate in a city.
The setting is our world, but underneath the mundane there is the supernatural. It’s not exactly safe to define the supernatural, although terms are used. Something might be called a faerie, but another calls it a goblin, or a demon. Titles can cause confusion, so supernaturals are generally called Others.
Power always comes at a cost, though. Most magic works through deals with Others. A necromancer negotiates with ghosts, and the cost of their service is whatever oaths he makes to bind them. Some are more subtle or esoteric. A chronomancer must sacrifice some of his time in order to cast spells that manipulate time, and an enchanter starts to see all relationships as threads to manipulate, making even her own relationships appear as movable threads. Someone who calls upon a god may lose that god’s favor if he fails or the god deems him to have been unwise.
You use ‘power’ to cast spells. This is called different names by different practitioners, but it is your source of energy. Your personal power pool is equal to 8 plus any bonuses from having a focus or familiar. Your additional power pool equals any power from other tools.
DESIGN QUESTION: should the additional power pool be capped? Or some limit on the number of tools one can have at a time?
You can use your blood to fuel spells, replenishing 2 power and taking 1 point of damage. Using blood also increases your contagion risk by 1, since you are carving out spiritual essence from your body, which opens a path spirits can take to get in. (That’s also why, if you are badly injured, you have a higher chance of contagion.)
Having a focus increases your personal power by 2-6.
Having a familiar increases your personal power by 1-3. You can also give power to your familiar or drain its stores of power.
Many tools increase your additional power pool by 1-3.
Your domain (and some tools) naturally accumulate power, that you can draw upon to restore your power pool.
If you have at least four hours of centering rest, you regain 4 power each day. This rate is doubled if you are in your domain.
• Spending Power
A spell’s cost in power depends on its rank. It costs 1 power to cast an apprentice-level spell, 2 to cast an adept-level spell, and 3 to cast a master-level spell. You can spend additional power, which helps assure the spells succeeds (makes it harder to counter) and increases its strength. Details are covered in the “Skills” section.
Power can be spent on “The Sight”. Practitioners can turn on a magical sight, that lets them more easily see Others as they are (removing the veil Innocents see). It also lets them see the connections between themselves and others.
Without magical interference, you can see anyone paying attention to you and how much they are paying attention to you.
See more details in the “The Sight” section.
Note: Enchanters and Illusionists can do much more with the Sight, including directing others’ attention.
Power can be spent on or against wards. See details under the “Skills” section.
The rituals to create a focus, domain, or familiar can cost power. This is covered under “Tools”.
Your focus increases the cost of some spells while decreasing the cost of others. If you perform a magical act in line with your focus, the act costs 1 less power if you incorporate your focus into the casting. For example, summoning forth a goblin while swinging your focus sword. (This means you can perform apprentice spells for free.) If the spell is contrary to your focus, regardless of whether you incorporate it or not, a spell costs an additional power. Your focus shapes you, and it makes such magic simply harder for you to cast.
This modification to cost includes spells, the Sight, rituals, and wards.
• Health – the checkboxes note how healthy you are. If your last unchecked box is Crippled, you suffer a +1 to contagion risk. At Maimed, this increases to +2. If all your boxes are checked, you are dead or unconscious, depending on the narrative.
• Contagion Risk – this is the risk of contagion occurring, ranging from 0 to 10. It defaults to 0.
Mechanically, if you have 1+ Contagion risk, anytime you do something magical, the DM rolls a d10. If the result is equal to or lower than your contagion risk, you suffer contagion. The higher your contagion risk, the more extreme the contagion. The type of contagion depends on the spell you cast, what is happening around you, and what tools you have. (For example, if you have a lot of bound ghost on you, you might get a skeletal look even if you weren’t using necromancy.)
Being in the Abyss or around demons increases Contagion Risk. The DM will not necessarily tell you when or by how much this is increased.
Contagion Risk is usually increased when the player decides to use blood to gain power.
• Strangeness and Rule of Three
Your Strangeness reflects how mortal you are. Innocents and Blackguards have Strangeness 0. Most Practitioners and Witch Hunters have Strangeness 1. See chart below.
0 = Innocent, Blackguard
1 = Dreamer, Witch Hunters, most Practitioners
2 = Others who can pass as mundane (familiars in animal form), somewhat-Other practitioners
3 = most Others, ghosts, goblins, practitioners who are basically Others
4 = demons, very inhuman Others (mythic beasts), strong goblins
5 = utterly alien Others, powerful demons
If you are fighting something stranger than you, you can invoke the Rule of Three to avoid damage or guarantee a hit. See “Fight and Defend,” below. You can use a given method twice; if you use it a third time, “Third time’s the charm” comes into play and what you try to do fails.
• Fight and Defend (combat stats)
These reflect one’s ability to inflict physical harm (through whatever means) and to avoid physical harm (through dodging or parrying). These are abstract terms, incorporating a combination of physical ability, training, and intuition.
0 = average person who doesn’t really get into fights
1 = thug who knows how to throw a punch, person who took/internalized some self-defense
2 = experienced thug, cops, relatively weak Others
3 = most goblins or combat-oriented Others, highly trained fighters, most Witch Hunters
4 = strong Others, world-class fighters
5+ = very strong Others. Humans cannot reach this rank naturally.
When combat begins, players take turns based on their karma. Those with higher Karma (including temporary karma) go first. If there is a tie, roll a d10 and the higher result goes first. (In general, the hope is to not have to roll for initiative.) You can delay your turn, but it delays you turn in subsequent rounds as well.
During your turn, you have a Mundane and Magical action. You can also move and do minor interactions with things like opening doors or drawing a gun or wand, without using up any actions. Your mundane action generally includes fighting someone. Your magical action is doing something like activating the Sight, making a Ward or Binding, or casting or charging a spell. (See details for magic in the Skills section.)
Most practitioners don’t personally fight, instead using summoned or bound creatures, or they use a Fight value boosted by magic (an elemental flame or magically-guided bullets).
If a practitioner summons a creature, that creature acts during the practitioner’s turn.
During an attack, the attacker rolls a dice pool of d10s equal to Fight + Karma and the defender rolls a dice pool equal to Defend + Karma. (On a tie, whoever has better karma succeeds. If that is tied, both parties suffer 1 damage.) If the attacker has more successes than the defender, it does that many levels of damage.
The spirits like theatrics, so you can get a bonus die through good description and roleplaying.
Some practitioners can directly damage a target, instead of using an attack roll. When this occurs, the target can roll their Karma as a dice pool (if positive) and subtracts any successes from the damage dealt.
If one party is stranger than the other, it can invoke the Rule of Three to override the rolls and automatically succeed (dodging an attack, or doing at least 1 damage if trying to hit). It must shift tactics on the third time to not automatically fail.
Players must decide to use the Rule of Three before the dice are rolled. If the attacker is using Rule of Three to hit, they should still roll to see if they do more than 1 damage.
During character creation, PCs start with 2 points to distribute between Fight and Defend.
You can spend six months of training time to gain a +1 to Fight or Defend. Contagion can increase this at a cost of your humanity (representing things like claws, thickened skin, or a bestial instinct).
Sometimes, in-universe, chance and circumstance come into play. When this is the case, the DM should (secretly or openly, depending on the situation) roll a Luck roll. This is rolling a single d10 and adding the character’s karma rank to it. If the result is 6 or higher, circumstances favor the character.
Examples include if police notice them speeding in a car or how receptive someone they are trying to persuade is.
Sometimes a DM might want to make luck a gradient. For example, if a character is searching an apartment building for the right room and time is a factor, Luck could be rolled to see how long it takes them to guess the right door. You could say on a 1-2 (bad failure), it takes too long; on a 3-5 (failure), you were a moment too late; on a 6-8 (success), you arrive in time; and on a 9-10 (big success), you get there with time to spare.
Karma is how much the world likes you and how the spirits that maintain reality feel about you. A Karma rating goes from -3 to 3. By default, you start with 0 Karma. It is possible to inherit the karmic debt from somebody, such as the heir of a magical line would when their predecessor dies, thereby giving karma that is not one’s own.
As the game advances, players should be awarded good or bad karma based on their actions. This gives ‘temporary karma’, displayed as Good Karma and Bad Karma on the character sheet. If you get 10 good karma, you get +1 Karma; likewise, if 10 bad karma, -1 Karma. You cannot have good and bad karma at the same time; for example, if you have 1 good karma and do something that gives you 2 bad karma, you wind up with 1 bad karma (1-2=-1).
DESIGN NOTE: this is based off Renown from old World of Darkness’ Werewolf.
The following things give good and bad karma. Listed here are also costs to power, for those that have them.
If you summon an Other, actions done by it on your orders (or negligence) give you bad karma, with the exception of Lying. You cannot order a bound Other to lie.
Revealing supernatural to an Innocent: -5 karma.
Killing (includes indirectly, if obvious about it)
o Killing outside of a declared combat or for self-defense: add -2 to amount below
o Killing an Innocent (includes Blackguards): -10
o Killing a Dreamer, Practitioner, or Witch Hunter: -4
o Killing an Other (permanently): -1
Note: no penalty if kill someone who is forsworn or for killing demons
Using Demons
o Bargaining with demons: -2
o Summoning a lesser demon (imp): -4*
o Summoning a modest demon (most): -6*
o Summoning a greater demon (dukes): -10*
o Binding or banishing a demon: +2 for least, +3 for modest, +4 for greater
o Killing/destroying a demon: +4 for least, +6 for modest, +11 for greater
Note: bargaining with a least demon to bind it has a net +0. You can bind then destroy a demon and stack the bonuses, as long as you do it long enough apart that the spirits consider it different things.
* if you summon a demon but in a way that it is bound and does not leak contagion around, nor be active in any meaningful way, you can bypass or lessen this penalty
Lying
o Break a sworn oath – become forsworn. -30 karma.
o Unintentionally lying (sarcasm, white lie, made a declaration (“You can’t leave”) that turns out false) – lose 4 power. -4 karma.
o Intentionally lying – lose all power. -10 karma.
o Generally using a lot of misdirection, deception, etc. (making the spirits work to understand if you’re lying) – -1 per month.
Note: if you lie within your domain, the power and karma penalties are halved, round down.
On oaths: an oath does not have to be formal. It is a promise you make to another, including those made in haste or without formal declaration.
Theft
o Stealing: -1 to -3, depending on value of goods (random junk to real expensive/valued)
o Stealing a focus: -5 karma
Hospitality (rules of being a guest offered food or water)
o Gross violation of hospitality (attacking a guest): -5 karma
o Minor violation of hospitality (being really rude to a host): -2 karma
o Rejecting hospitality: -1 karma
o Offering hospitality to a foe, with no benefit: +2 karma
o Offering hospitality to a neutral party, with no benefit: +1 karma
Helping Others
o Guiding someone you introduced to the supernatural: +4 karma.
o Guiding someone introduced to the supernatural: +1 karma (stacks with the above)
o General good deeds (almsgiving, soup kitchen): +1 per month
For balance purposes, doing enough to count means you don’t have enough time to spend that month on magical study.
o Sparing a defeated foe (doesn’t count if you bind them): +1 to +3
o Significantly helping another for no gain: +1 to +3
Keeping your Word
o Making a formal, solemn oath: +1 karma.
If you make several or frivolously, the spirits get annoyed and this stops working. In other words, don’t try to game the system unless your character is also trying to.
o Fulfilling an oath: +1 to +3, depending on nature of the oath
o Keeping a long-standing oath (i.e., “I will protect the homeless in this town”): +1 per month
o Generally being honest and straight-forward (easy for spirits to understand): +1 per month
Magical Declarations
o Performing properly the ritual for a familiar, focus, or domain: +1
o Participating as a challenger to someone’s claim for a domain: +1
o Annoying the spirits by not determining the duel in a challenge: -4, spirits decide duel
Cool theatric declarations or actions accompanying declarations: +1. If really cool, regain 1 power
Mechanics note: the bonus for theatrics is based off Exalted’s method for bonus die and motes
NOTE: If you fulfill an oath to kill someone, that does balance out with the karmic damage from killing them. Also, practitioners do intentionally build up good karma so they can kill someone when they need to. In general, though, they try to avoid killing.
Also, the spirits are ‘stupid’, in a sense, so if you set someone up to be killed by someone else or to kill themselves, the spirits likely won’t realize you are responsible. (It might be a Luck roll, done secretly by the DM.)
The Sight is a basic power all practitioners have. It is assumed all PCs have been trained in it, although it is possible for someone not to know it.
When you activate the Sight, it has a strength of 0 and costs no power. This allows you to bypass the Veil that obfuscates most Others from mundanes, and also lets you see lines between you and those paying attention to you. (Such includes line-of-sight, magical tracking, and just attentive knowing your location.) You can only see the connections between others and you.
You can increase the strength of your Sight by spending power: 1 point for 1 strength.
It is very easy to ward against the Sight. If you see someone paying attention to you with the Sight, you can spend power to make it harder for others to notice you. For each point of power you spend, you create a ward of strength equal to that power. For someone to notice you, their Sight must as strong as your ward. (If equal, they sense you. Thus, default Sight (strength 0) senses unwarded people (strength 0 ward).)
Wards against being noticed break if you do something very obvious to draw attention to yourself, like shouting or shooting the person you are warded from.
You can add your rank in Enchantment to the strength of your Sight at no cost. If you create a ward against the Sight, your rank in Illusion is added to the strength of your ward at no additional cost.
Names have power. If you call someone by their name (or title) three times in a row, they can sense you. This forms a connection that can be seen by The Sight, and they can follow it to find you. You generally have to be within 10 miles to be ‘heard’, but this range can be increased by spending power (about +2 miles per power spent).
Lords of an area, such as a city or official Domain, can sense their name being said anywhere in their claimed area, even if said once. They can tune this out, but it allows some way to detect people discussing them.
DESIGN NOTE: it is easier to bind than to break free, assuming equal pools of power.
Wards and bindings are two words for what is essentially the same thing: using magic to restrict the movement of another being. Wards in general keep something out or enclosed, and bindings generally bind an Other into an object. In general, mundanes are immune to wards and bindings. Practitioners can be impacted, but have some innate resistance.
The base strength of a ward is the practitioner’s Magic rank (although some Skills allow you to substitute that Skill’s rank instead of Magic when dealing with particular Others.) You can spend power to increase the potency of a ward.
Usually, you bind something or protect yourself when you want to bargain with an Other that is not safe. For example, when conversing with ghosts, demons, or goblins. You strike a deal, or you leave.
General bindings wear away over time (at a rate of 1 power/day). You can make a binding permanent by investing power into it, lowering your total power pool; a permanent binding’s strength is increased by 2 for every point invested in it.
It is possible to break out of a ward or binding. The targeted creature must spend power equal to the strength of the ward in order to break through.
It is fairly obvious when one is trying to break through a ward or binding, so it’s usually not something that can be done subtly. (Stuff like bashing into it, using magic to try to wear it away, etc., although some Others like fey or demons might try to weave deceptive words that unravel it away.)
If you plan to bind an Other into a magical Tool, you must spend power on the binding. Hence, you often have to spend some power to safely bargain with the Other while keeping a reserve strong enough to make a worthwhile Tool.
FLUFF IMPACTING MECHANICS NOTE: to create a binding/ward, it’s best to use something similar to the creature or something opposed to it. (This makes binding practitioners difficult.) For example, a demon of decay could be bound with rotting viscera of a corpse or with orderly geometric patterns drawn with salt or cleansing elements. A binding/ward drawn with something opposing its target has +1 strength, but it makes the target uncomfortable, so binding with like things is better if you are being diplomatic. A binding unrelated to the target suffers a -1 strength penalty. (This -1 penalty applies to almost all wards against practitioners, since most practitioners are human enough to not have opposed elements.)
The most important magical sources of power for a practitioner are their familiar, domain, and focus. Such are personal and lifelong choices. (See the Pact chapters for details.)
Each of these are ranked as least, modest, or greater. Since this is a permanent choice, the strongest practitioners will likely have all three as greater, but such is generally not an option. Due to the difficulty in obtaining these, most settle on a weaker (least or modest) version of one to get a greater version of the others.
You have to spend 1-5 power to create a Lesser, 5-10 to create a Modest, and 11+ to create a greater.
A Magic rank of 1 is required for Lesser or Modest; rank 2 for Greater.
Note that the power spent is only part of what can rank a tool. Details are under each tool.
Focus – an item that resonates with the practitioner and shapes how their magic works and how the practitioner is viewed by the spiritual world. Magical workings in line with the Focus take 1 less power to fuel while using the Focus, while workings opposed to the Focus cost an extra power (whether or not you use the Focus). For example, a sword focus would help with many offensive magicks if you involve it in the casting, but make it harder to act defensively at all times.
Depending on the power invested in a focus and how fitting it is to the practitioner, a focus can be judged as Lesser, Modest, or Greater. This corresponds to increasing the practitioner’s power pool by 2, 4, or 6.
If you lose your Focus, your power pool is temporarily decreased by the amount it gives you. The universe knows your Focus belongs to you, so beings are generally hesitant to steal it, but they can safely keep it apart from you if you are captured.
If your Focus is destroyed, you cannot create a new one, but you no longer suffer any penalties to your casting based on your Focus.
Familiar – an Other that agrees to a mutually-binding ritual. The Other gains an animal form it can freely turn into, enjoying the benefits of mortality, while not needing to feed to replenish power. Familiars are also very hard to kill, almost always recovering from harm in time even if slain. The practitioner gains an ally, an increase to their power pool, and a source to draw power from. (The familiar can draw power from its master, but rarely does.) A familiar has a personal power pool based of its own, which the master can draw from as an action. The Other’s power impacts whether it is Lesser, Modest, or Greater. A weak spirit can only become a lesser familiar, no matter how much power is used when making the ritual. Most strong spirits will refuse to become a lesser or modest familiar. The cost to do the ritual is the same as for bonding with a Focus.
When its master dies, the Other is released from the familiar ritual and becomes what it was before.
It is unwise to take a familiar that is too powerful. Sometimes an Other has a practitioner perform the familiar ritual, but the familiar is the real master.
If a familiar truly dies, the master cannot bond a new one. Such is a permanent scar.
Domain – an area that works to the practitioner’s will. This ritual is dangerous because it sends a beacon to the surrounding area, calling any to challenge the practitioner. The practitioner must win any challenges, either through victory or by striking a bargain. The larger the domain, the greater the range of the call and the greater the rank the domain has. The ritual to claim a domain only costs 1 power (an exception to the general rule), but the larger one’s domain the harder others will fight to challenge you.
Reality works with the owner of a domain. You can warp reality (slowly – no combat application) to fit your needs and will. Also, the spirits there natural work with you; your magic gets is naturally stronger and others (unless you give them permission) weaker; generally, +/-1 to the strength of a magical work or whatever the effect is. And, while you cannot lie safely, the impacts on karma are lessened (see the Karma section for details.)
A domain gathers power and acts as a storage one can draw upon. A lesser domain (such as a room) can store up to 5 power and generates 1 point/day, a modest one (such as a building) up to 10 at 2/day, and a greater one (such as a city block) up to 15 at 3/day. Legendary domains are said to exist, but extremely rare.
You can only draw upon this power in your domain, pulling it into yourself to replenish your power pool. (Your familiar can also do this.) You can create a Key, permanently lowering your power pool by 1 to create a tool that lets you draw upon your domain’s power from outside it. The most traditional one is a literal key ritually tied to the domain, letting you tap into it by putting the key in any door.
Once a domain is claimed, it is yours. Nobody else can claim a domain in the same place for three generations after your death, nor can you disown it or claim a new one. If you are forced away from your domain permanently, it remains yours, but is rather useless.
Beyond the familiar, focus, and domain, you can create other tools that aid in working magic. There is no limit to the number one can have, and they are replaceable. The most common way these are created is by challenging (or binding) an Other or practitioner. The defeated party is forced to give away part of itself or to be bound as a servant to the winner.
The power costs to create these are the same as to create a Focus.
A Token is a lesser form of a Focus. They are generally created when besting an Other or practitioner and choosing part of their power as a reward. The loser’s power pool is permanently decreased, and you gain a token giving that power to you. Lesser = +1 to Greater = +3.
Rarely, ancient items may become Tokens, and many mage families pass down Tokens.
A Fount stores energy like a Domain but is an object like a Token. Instead of increasing the power pool, they accumulate power that the possessor can use. Like with Tokens, the loser’s power pool is decrased by 1 to 3. Founts can be general or specialized. For general founts, the fount can accumulate 1 to 3 power, which can be spent directly from the fount for any use. For specialized founts, the fount can accumulate twice the power (2 to 6), but such is limited in scope. For example, a specialized fount in the form of a locket of fairy hair could be used to cast glamours, but not for anything else. Founts accumulate power at the rate of 2 points/day.
A Vessel is an object with an Other bound within it. This generally serves one of two purposes: 1) to create a magical weapon or tool, or 2) to have a way to carry an Other until you want it to act on your behalf. Generally, these are created when you bind an Other, either after conflict or as a result of a deal.
For example, you bind a ghost that died of exposure to cold. The axe now does ice damage, and you can release the ghost temporarily to have it assault others with cold and despair. Or, in a more esoteric sense, you bind a time elemental into a watch. Its power lets you, once per day, rewind time to let you dodge an attack that had hit.
You must spend power as with creating a Focus, but the rank of the Vessel is also limited by your own magical skills and the strength of the Other being bound. To create a least Vessel, you must have a skill rank of 1 or higher; for modest, of 2 or higher; for greater, of 3 or higher. Furthermore, the Other being bound must be of comparable strength to the rank of the tool (no binding a weak ghost into a Greater tool)*. You also must spend power as with creating a Focus.
This can be expensive, as you may have already spent power to call the Other or generate wards for safety while negotiating.
* You can bind a stronger Other into a tool that is of insufficient rank to hold it, but it will probably try to break free (unless bound by an oath not to.) The strength of a binding used to make a Vessel equals the power you put into creating it + the basic strength of your bindings (as in the Bindings sections, above.) A bound Other may try to spend its power to break free and turn against you.
• Others that are bound into a Vessel recover their power at a rate of 1/day for least, 2/day for modest, and 3/day for greater.
A Vessel can also be used as a Token and/or Fount, decided upon the binding of the Other. To be two of the three, spend an additional 5 power; for all three, spend an additional 10 power. The power taken as a Token decreases the power pool of the bound Other, and any power drained from the Fount drains the power pool of the bound Other, so it will be weakened if summoned. The trade-off is versatility in how you can use your tools.
Note also that, if you send your bound Others against someone, they can try to spend power to turn it back against you. When attacked by an Other, a practitioner can spend power to try to turn it back on its master or summoner. If they spend power equal to the strength of the binding, the Other is repelled and will be forced to turn on its master.
DESIGN NOTE: need to work on rules for turning summons back on the user
Note: not all the skills are fleshed out yet
Skills reflect your skill and training in different magical arts. At character creation, it is recommended to start PCs with Magic 1, another skill at 2, and another at 1. Skills range from 1-3: Apprentice, Adept, and Master.
DESIGN NOTE: to a degree, the type of magic is fluff. If you the player can envision how the PC can use a magic type to accomplish something, the PC should be able to. These are guidelines about what rank of knowledge one needs to accomplish so-strong a spell.
It takes 1 round to cast an apprentice spell, 2 for adept, and 3 for master. You can take other actions while casting a spell, but not other magical actions (warding, casting another spell, etc.)
In general, apprentice rank can change things so that, without magical counteraction, you can succeed at something you’d normally fail but that is humanly possible (land without injury, door happens to be unlocked, etc.). Apprentice rank can modify Fight/Defend by 1, directly do 1 point of damage, summon a weak minion, or do a 2-Fight attack. At this rank, you can create mild inconveniences; for example, an enchanter could make a cop suspicious enough of somebody to question them, creating a delay.
In general, adept rank can allow you to do something humanly impossible. It can modify Fight/Defend by 2, directly do 3 points of damage, summon moderate minions, or do a 4-Fight attack. At this rank, you can generally greatly inconvenience something at what they are trying to accomplish; for example, an enchanter could make cops suspicious of somebody, enough to try arresting them even if no evidence and to attack you if there is evidence.
In general, master rank can allow you to do the impossible. It can modify Fight/Defend by 4, directly do 5 points of damage, summon powerful minions, or do a 6-Fight attack. At this rank, you can just really screw folk over. For example, an enchanter could make normal people revile you, or cause your familiar to turn against you if there’s any ill feelings. Or a chronomancer could freeze you in time. When fighting a master, using your own power to counter-act their spells or to ward yourself is important.
Standard Format of Magic Skills
• Name of Skill – description of skill
o Apprentice – description of what it can do as an apprentice
o Adept – description of what it can do as an adept
o Master – description of what it can do as a master
Binds: in general, you use your Magic skill to determine the strength of wards and bindings. Some skills enable you to use the higher of Magic or the given Skill for certain Others. This lists those Others, if applicable.
Notes: any additional notes about the skill, including additional costs to using
If reasonable, the DM may allow a player to substitute a skill to bind something not mentioned under the “Binds” notes. For example, using Chronomancy to bind a time spirit or Illusion to bind a spirit of deception would be appropriate; but such cases are rare enough they are not mentioned here explicitly.
• Magic – general knowledge of magical techniques, rituals, etc. This determines the base strength of any wards or bindings you make. Also, you can know up to 4*Rank tricks. Lastly, any Apprentice or higher ranked person can do the rituals to bond a focus, domain, or familiar. It is rare for a practitioner not to at least be an apprentice in general magical knowledge.
• Shamanism – knowledge of runes and acts that appease and negotiate with spirits that are the underpinning of reality. A very versatile type of magic, it lacks direct combat application and summons.
o Apprentice – can write runes on something to let the spirits something lighter, heavier, more durable, etc. Can modify Fight or Defend by 1.
o Adept – can write runes that change how things works. Can break or allow something to operate beyond normal means. Create an aura of silence via a silence rune, etc.
o Master – can alter the fundamental reality of things by convincing local spirits they are otherwise. This can also make spirits ignore some bad karma.
Binds: NA
Note: if you spend blood to power a rune, you can trace a rune in the air and it takes effect.
If a rune is destroyed, the spell ends.
• Glyphs – knowledge of wards and bindings. While all practitioners can make basic wards and bindings, this path focuses on using it for a variety of things. The downside of this art is that it takes preparation time; many, however, have pre-made glyphs written on scrolls, boxes, etc.
Binds: any
• Chronomancy – knowledge of time magic. While it can actually manipulate time, most spells instead manipulate the perception of time. To move time, you have to have ‘stored’ time: for each minute stored, you can ‘move’ half a minute of time. Uses include effectively healing by skipping back in time.
• Illusions – magic of misdirection and false appearances.
Note: Your basic defense against the Sight is your increased by your Illusion rank. See The Sight for details.
• Enchantment – magic of connections
o Apprentice – can see the connections between others and spend power to influence and direct them.
o Adept – can now modify connections between things, such as helping a bullet find its target by increasing the connection between them, or make someone slip by disconnecting them from the ground.
o Master – can change the nature of connections (attention to hate, or love to distrust) and forge new connections (make someone loyal)
Note: The basic strength of your Sight is your increased by your Enchantment rank. See The Sight for details.
• Augury – In the short-term, it is very helpful for landing a hit or avoiding damage. In the long-term, it can give advice on the likely outcome of actions or be used for guiding prophecies
o Can get a sense if a future action is safe/wise or not. Can increase Fight/Defend by 2 by foreseeing where to move.
o Can divine the near future, seeing most likely outcomes of events. Can increase Fight/Defend by 3.
o Effectively can see the future with clarity, including knowing what outcome your actions will most likely cause. Can increase Fight/Defend by 5.
• Sympathy – knowledge of manipulating reality by using power to enforce sympathetic relationships between like things.
• Goblin Lore – knowledge of goblins and how to bind and bargain with them. Goblins are naturally harder to bind into Vessels, so only Adepts and higher can do that.
o Apprentice – can bind goblins.
o Adept – can force goblins to take the form of a weapon or be sealed in small objects
o Master -
Binds: goblins
• Faerie Lore/Glamour – its effects are generally like Illusion, but instead of misdirecting, it ‘covers’ reality with a fake reality called glamour. Fey are naturally harder to bind into Vessels, so only Adepts and higher can do that.
Binds: fey
Notes: requires a tool from a fey, or a fey familiar, in order to cast spells beyond wards and bindings
• Necromancy – knowledge of ghosts. Used primarily to bind and bargain, though adepts and masters can take on ghostly attributes.
Binds: ghosts, wraiths, undead
• Diabolism – knowledge of demons, though masters can take on demonic attributes. Used primarily to bind and bargain.
Binds: demons
• Elementalism – knowledge of elementals and magic handling elements through commanding the spirits. Generally focuses on either summoning elementals or channeling elements (like an archetypal fire mage)
Binds: elementals
• Scourge Lore – knowledge of the Abyss, its denizens, and the magic of entropy and decay. Bogeymen are more often summoned from the Abyss rather than bound into objects, but both are possible.
Binds: bogeymen and others tainted by the Abyss.
• Acolyte Training – training in channeling divine powers of a particular deity (often pagan deities).
Binds: Others linked to the deity (fairly limited)
Note: Acolytes are generally given mythical creatures as allies by their deity
• Inquisitor Training – training in channeling divine powers (often but not necessarily linked to major monotheistic religions). Generally fight demons or practitioners that go too far.
Binds: Celestials and Demons
A note on healing: healing is rare, but possible with various magicks. Examples include using Chronomancy to ‘skip back’ before wounds occurred, using Sympathy to transfer the wounds to another, using Glamour to hide the wounds so they have no impact on reality, calling on divine energy as an Inquisitor, etc. There are also some Others who can heal for a cost, particularly demons and bogeymen.
Someone with Magic rank of 2 can enact a ritual to put one willing person into a magical coma, letting them take on the injuries of another person.
Generally, healing should be costly in some form. At the least, it should cost 3 power to heal 1 health mark.
It seems most reasonable to not have experience points per se, but rather training time. If both exist, at least training time will be a thing IC, with experience probably being a completely OOC concept.
As noted earlier, to increase Fight or Defend takes 6 months.
To learn Apprentice rank takes 1 month.
To learn Adept rank takes 6 months.
To learn Master rank takes 1 year.
Maybe something like training time is doubled if learning a second Skill, to discourage broad casters and instead have more specialized folk like we see in Pact? (Never made a lot of sense to me that folk wouldn’t learn the basics of binding most Others, and thus keep a few ghosts and goblins in reserve for when needed.)
I'll also note that the stuff about character creation is assuming a human newly introduced to the supernatural, presumably soon after their Awakening.
Mechanical influences are primarily d10 systems like oWoD and Exalted and some of the new mechanics in the Sam & Fuzzy RPG.
This is a dice-light system. You do have attributes, but they are either compared or simply used to determine what you can do. These rules document will describe the general setting, then go through the character sheet in order to explain the rules.
When dice are used, a dice pool of d10s is rolled and a 6 or higher is a success.
Some mechanics (such as regaining power and karma) may work differently for non-humans.
This game is based off the web serial novel Pact by Wildbow. In the process of trying to translate some concepts into mechanics, this game does depart from the actual ‘Pactverse’. Some magics do different things and some Others operate differently. I have tried to put a more formal and restrictive use on magical tools than actually exists in the novel, in order to make it something easy and fun to use in-game. Also, karma is vastly simplified as well as more standardized. Lastly, some terminology is changed (implement to focus, for example.)
I have a nice one made up in Word, but it doesn't copy-and-paste here well.
Basic outline is:
Name:
Current Power:
Personal Power Pool: Additional Power Pool:
Physical Status
<health boxes like oWoD or Exalted, 1xHealthy, 2xHurt, 2xInjured (movement slowed), 1xCrippled (+1 Contagion, movement greatly slowed), 1xImmobile (+2 Contagion, cannot move beyond slow crawl), X=Dead/Unconscious>
Contagion Risk:
Strangeness:
Rule of Three: <three check boxes>
Fight: Defend:
Karma
<boxes like oWoD werewolf Renown, with 7 boxes from -3 to 3 for permanent karma, and 20 boxes for bad karma (10) and good karma( 10)>
Skills
Tricks
Tools
Contagion
The spirits don’t care about good and evil. They care about right and wrong.
Terminology
• Karma – the general rule of reality. Translate into luck, how people react to you, etc. Someone who does good, keeps their word, and so on accrues good karma and the spirits of reality help you. Someone who lies, cheats, steals, etc. accrues bad karma and things just turn badly over time.
Karma cares more about supernatural beings than mundane ones.
The DM may roll for luck or if a person responds favorably. One’s karma rating is added to this roll.
• Practitioner – a human who can practice magic. As part of using magic, practitioners lose the ability to lie. (Or, rather, they can lie, but doing so drains power and forsaking an oath is very dangerous.)
• Other – a non-human. Includes goblins, faeries, demons, mythic beasts, undead, bogeymen, etc. Definitions are hard and can be misleading, so this term is used for non-humans. Sometimes the line between practitioner and Other gets blurred as well. Others also cannot lie or they suffer as practitioners do.
• Council – the formal meeting of Practitioners and Others in a city. Generally, a city is ruled by a council (the leaders of various bodies of equal strength) or a Lord (one supernatural who rules). Either way, they generally hold Council once or twice a month, maybe weekly for big cities. In most cities, there is a ban on conflict for x-hours before or after a Council, so enemies can talk in peace. Breaking said ban is bad karma and gives all in the city free reign to attack you.
• Mundane – general term for non-practitioner, non-Others. Karma cares less about them, they can lie, and they can bypass most wards. Includes Innocents, Dreamers, Blackguards, and Witch Hunters (described below).
• Innocent – a human ignorant (or mostly ignorant of) the supernatural. They tend to naturally not notice supernatural things or to justify them after-the-fact. Innocents are afforded special protections, as it is bad karma for Others to attack them. Introducing an Innocent to the supernatural is bad karma.
• Blackguard – an Innocent who knows some about the supernatural but not enough to lose the protections afforded an Innocent. Generally acts as an ally to Practitioners, since they can lie.
• Witch Hunter – a human who fights Others and Practitioners. Not Innocent. Generally employed by a city’s Council to keep Others and Practitioners who get out of hand in check.
• Dreamer – euphemistic term for a former Innocent who knows too much and no longer has the protections afforded to Innocents, but lacks the magic of a Practitioner or the training of a Witch Hunter. Many Others consider them food.
• Contagion – being contaminated by magical energy and/or possessed by spirits. Normally, it is safe to perform magic, but in certain circumstances it risks contagion. Enough contagion can turn a human into an Other.
• Rule of Three/Seven/Twelve – numbers hold power. “Third time’s the charm” holds true. If you win three victories over someone, that holds more power than winning two or four.
• Skills – magical knowledge. Skills are divided into three ranks: Apprentice, Adept, and Master.
• Trick – a simple magical trick you know. Basically, it’s an apprentice-rank spell you know without actually being an apprentice, like knowing how to bind a simple ghost without any ranks in Necromancy. (See “Skills” section for info on how many tricks a person can know.)
• Tools – magical tools. Can include magical places and allies. Are rated least, modest, and greater.
• Focus – a unique magical tool. Each practitioner can choose one focus, which shapes their magic.
• Domain – a ritually-claimed domain. Each practitioner can claim one domain, a place where reality follows their will.
• Familiar – a magically-bonded ally. Each practitioner can bond with an Other, creating a life-long bond that (at least ideally) benefits both.
• Forsworn – a practitioner or Other who breaks an oath can be declared forsworn. Sometimes this happens automatically as the spirits of the world judge the oath-breaker; other times someone has to declare them forsworn and the spirits judge. (The spirits get annoyed and give bad karma for being nagged, so falsely declaring someone forsworn is costly.) A forsworn person loses all power, magical ability, and protections, and Others can sense them as forsworn. They accumulate a lot of bad karma and can no longer accumulate good karma. Killing them has no karmic penalty.
• Abyss – one of many terms for where the forgotten go. It takes various forms, from a wasteland to a sewer to a hellscape, but it is a land of entropy, corruption, and ruin. Someone who loses all ties to reality may fall there. Very dark Others can be called forth from there.
• Demon – a type of Other. Generally, agents of destroying reality in one way or another. Corruption risk increases when around demons (at least if unwarded.) Practitioners who summon or deal with them are called Diabolists (and, in most areas, are killed on sight.)
• Celestials – a type of Other, also called angels (but they aren’t necessarily good). Seem to have helped create the world, they oppose demons and fight against entropy. Often work with Inquisitors.
• Goblin –a type of Other. Generally stupid (if cunning) and crude, and always violent, ugly, and smelly. Weak to refinement. Practitioners who bind or work with them are called Goblin Kings/Queens.
• Faerie – a type of Other. Use glamour to reshape themselves and others. Faerie Courts exist in parallel realities (or perhaps are just Domains that have been reshaped and enlarged over time.) Weak to crude things. They often make deals with practitioners to serve as familiars.
• Ghost – a type of Other. Usually a psychic echo left after a traumatic event, mostly but not always one’s death. Sometimes an actual soul that hasn’t moved on. Practitioners who bind them are called Necromancers.
• Bogeyman – a type of Other. General name for Others that come from or were shaped by the Abyss. Practitioners who summon them are called Scourges.
• Elemental – a type of Other. A spirit that embodies a certain element or substance. Practitioners who bind or work with these are called Elementalists.
• Gods – a type of Other, but one usually not seen. Some ‘small gods’ exist, but these are perhaps better called elementals or just strong, sentient spirits. Gods like Dionysius and Zeus employ practitioners, giving them divine power in exchange for favors. Such are called Acolytes.
• Inquisitors – a type of practitioner. Like acolytes, they use divine power, but they draw it from one of the major monotheistic religions. They also tend to work against all other practitioners and Others, though they reserve special hatred for diabolists and demons. Often only begrudgingly allowed to operate in a city.
The setting is our world, but underneath the mundane there is the supernatural. It’s not exactly safe to define the supernatural, although terms are used. Something might be called a faerie, but another calls it a goblin, or a demon. Titles can cause confusion, so supernaturals are generally called Others.
Power always comes at a cost, though. Most magic works through deals with Others. A necromancer negotiates with ghosts, and the cost of their service is whatever oaths he makes to bind them. Some are more subtle or esoteric. A chronomancer must sacrifice some of his time in order to cast spells that manipulate time, and an enchanter starts to see all relationships as threads to manipulate, making even her own relationships appear as movable threads. Someone who calls upon a god may lose that god’s favor if he fails or the god deems him to have been unwise.
You use ‘power’ to cast spells. This is called different names by different practitioners, but it is your source of energy. Your personal power pool is equal to 8 plus any bonuses from having a focus or familiar. Your additional power pool equals any power from other tools.
DESIGN QUESTION: should the additional power pool be capped? Or some limit on the number of tools one can have at a time?
You can use your blood to fuel spells, replenishing 2 power and taking 1 point of damage. Using blood also increases your contagion risk by 1, since you are carving out spiritual essence from your body, which opens a path spirits can take to get in. (That’s also why, if you are badly injured, you have a higher chance of contagion.)
Having a focus increases your personal power by 2-6.
Having a familiar increases your personal power by 1-3. You can also give power to your familiar or drain its stores of power.
Many tools increase your additional power pool by 1-3.
Your domain (and some tools) naturally accumulate power, that you can draw upon to restore your power pool.
If you have at least four hours of centering rest, you regain 4 power each day. This rate is doubled if you are in your domain.
• Spending Power
A spell’s cost in power depends on its rank. It costs 1 power to cast an apprentice-level spell, 2 to cast an adept-level spell, and 3 to cast a master-level spell. You can spend additional power, which helps assure the spells succeeds (makes it harder to counter) and increases its strength. Details are covered in the “Skills” section.
Power can be spent on “The Sight”. Practitioners can turn on a magical sight, that lets them more easily see Others as they are (removing the veil Innocents see). It also lets them see the connections between themselves and others.
Without magical interference, you can see anyone paying attention to you and how much they are paying attention to you.
See more details in the “The Sight” section.
Note: Enchanters and Illusionists can do much more with the Sight, including directing others’ attention.
Power can be spent on or against wards. See details under the “Skills” section.
The rituals to create a focus, domain, or familiar can cost power. This is covered under “Tools”.
Your focus increases the cost of some spells while decreasing the cost of others. If you perform a magical act in line with your focus, the act costs 1 less power if you incorporate your focus into the casting. For example, summoning forth a goblin while swinging your focus sword. (This means you can perform apprentice spells for free.) If the spell is contrary to your focus, regardless of whether you incorporate it or not, a spell costs an additional power. Your focus shapes you, and it makes such magic simply harder for you to cast.
This modification to cost includes spells, the Sight, rituals, and wards.
• Health – the checkboxes note how healthy you are. If your last unchecked box is Crippled, you suffer a +1 to contagion risk. At Maimed, this increases to +2. If all your boxes are checked, you are dead or unconscious, depending on the narrative.
• Contagion Risk – this is the risk of contagion occurring, ranging from 0 to 10. It defaults to 0.
Mechanically, if you have 1+ Contagion risk, anytime you do something magical, the DM rolls a d10. If the result is equal to or lower than your contagion risk, you suffer contagion. The higher your contagion risk, the more extreme the contagion. The type of contagion depends on the spell you cast, what is happening around you, and what tools you have. (For example, if you have a lot of bound ghost on you, you might get a skeletal look even if you weren’t using necromancy.)
Being in the Abyss or around demons increases Contagion Risk. The DM will not necessarily tell you when or by how much this is increased.
Contagion Risk is usually increased when the player decides to use blood to gain power.
• Strangeness and Rule of Three
Your Strangeness reflects how mortal you are. Innocents and Blackguards have Strangeness 0. Most Practitioners and Witch Hunters have Strangeness 1. See chart below.
0 = Innocent, Blackguard
1 = Dreamer, Witch Hunters, most Practitioners
2 = Others who can pass as mundane (familiars in animal form), somewhat-Other practitioners
3 = most Others, ghosts, goblins, practitioners who are basically Others
4 = demons, very inhuman Others (mythic beasts), strong goblins
5 = utterly alien Others, powerful demons
If you are fighting something stranger than you, you can invoke the Rule of Three to avoid damage or guarantee a hit. See “Fight and Defend,” below. You can use a given method twice; if you use it a third time, “Third time’s the charm” comes into play and what you try to do fails.
• Fight and Defend (combat stats)
These reflect one’s ability to inflict physical harm (through whatever means) and to avoid physical harm (through dodging or parrying). These are abstract terms, incorporating a combination of physical ability, training, and intuition.
0 = average person who doesn’t really get into fights
1 = thug who knows how to throw a punch, person who took/internalized some self-defense
2 = experienced thug, cops, relatively weak Others
3 = most goblins or combat-oriented Others, highly trained fighters, most Witch Hunters
4 = strong Others, world-class fighters
5+ = very strong Others. Humans cannot reach this rank naturally.
When combat begins, players take turns based on their karma. Those with higher Karma (including temporary karma) go first. If there is a tie, roll a d10 and the higher result goes first. (In general, the hope is to not have to roll for initiative.) You can delay your turn, but it delays you turn in subsequent rounds as well.
During your turn, you have a Mundane and Magical action. You can also move and do minor interactions with things like opening doors or drawing a gun or wand, without using up any actions. Your mundane action generally includes fighting someone. Your magical action is doing something like activating the Sight, making a Ward or Binding, or casting or charging a spell. (See details for magic in the Skills section.)
Most practitioners don’t personally fight, instead using summoned or bound creatures, or they use a Fight value boosted by magic (an elemental flame or magically-guided bullets).
If a practitioner summons a creature, that creature acts during the practitioner’s turn.
During an attack, the attacker rolls a dice pool of d10s equal to Fight + Karma and the defender rolls a dice pool equal to Defend + Karma. (On a tie, whoever has better karma succeeds. If that is tied, both parties suffer 1 damage.) If the attacker has more successes than the defender, it does that many levels of damage.
The spirits like theatrics, so you can get a bonus die through good description and roleplaying.
Some practitioners can directly damage a target, instead of using an attack roll. When this occurs, the target can roll their Karma as a dice pool (if positive) and subtracts any successes from the damage dealt.
If one party is stranger than the other, it can invoke the Rule of Three to override the rolls and automatically succeed (dodging an attack, or doing at least 1 damage if trying to hit). It must shift tactics on the third time to not automatically fail.
Players must decide to use the Rule of Three before the dice are rolled. If the attacker is using Rule of Three to hit, they should still roll to see if they do more than 1 damage.
During character creation, PCs start with 2 points to distribute between Fight and Defend.
You can spend six months of training time to gain a +1 to Fight or Defend. Contagion can increase this at a cost of your humanity (representing things like claws, thickened skin, or a bestial instinct).
Sometimes, in-universe, chance and circumstance come into play. When this is the case, the DM should (secretly or openly, depending on the situation) roll a Luck roll. This is rolling a single d10 and adding the character’s karma rank to it. If the result is 6 or higher, circumstances favor the character.
Examples include if police notice them speeding in a car or how receptive someone they are trying to persuade is.
Sometimes a DM might want to make luck a gradient. For example, if a character is searching an apartment building for the right room and time is a factor, Luck could be rolled to see how long it takes them to guess the right door. You could say on a 1-2 (bad failure), it takes too long; on a 3-5 (failure), you were a moment too late; on a 6-8 (success), you arrive in time; and on a 9-10 (big success), you get there with time to spare.
Karma is how much the world likes you and how the spirits that maintain reality feel about you. A Karma rating goes from -3 to 3. By default, you start with 0 Karma. It is possible to inherit the karmic debt from somebody, such as the heir of a magical line would when their predecessor dies, thereby giving karma that is not one’s own.
As the game advances, players should be awarded good or bad karma based on their actions. This gives ‘temporary karma’, displayed as Good Karma and Bad Karma on the character sheet. If you get 10 good karma, you get +1 Karma; likewise, if 10 bad karma, -1 Karma. You cannot have good and bad karma at the same time; for example, if you have 1 good karma and do something that gives you 2 bad karma, you wind up with 1 bad karma (1-2=-1).
DESIGN NOTE: this is based off Renown from old World of Darkness’ Werewolf.
The following things give good and bad karma. Listed here are also costs to power, for those that have them.
If you summon an Other, actions done by it on your orders (or negligence) give you bad karma, with the exception of Lying. You cannot order a bound Other to lie.
Revealing supernatural to an Innocent: -5 karma.
Killing (includes indirectly, if obvious about it)
o Killing outside of a declared combat or for self-defense: add -2 to amount below
o Killing an Innocent (includes Blackguards): -10
o Killing a Dreamer, Practitioner, or Witch Hunter: -4
o Killing an Other (permanently): -1
Note: no penalty if kill someone who is forsworn or for killing demons
Using Demons
o Bargaining with demons: -2
o Summoning a lesser demon (imp): -4*
o Summoning a modest demon (most): -6*
o Summoning a greater demon (dukes): -10*
o Binding or banishing a demon: +2 for least, +3 for modest, +4 for greater
o Killing/destroying a demon: +4 for least, +6 for modest, +11 for greater
Note: bargaining with a least demon to bind it has a net +0. You can bind then destroy a demon and stack the bonuses, as long as you do it long enough apart that the spirits consider it different things.
* if you summon a demon but in a way that it is bound and does not leak contagion around, nor be active in any meaningful way, you can bypass or lessen this penalty
Lying
o Break a sworn oath – become forsworn. -30 karma.
o Unintentionally lying (sarcasm, white lie, made a declaration (“You can’t leave”) that turns out false) – lose 4 power. -4 karma.
o Intentionally lying – lose all power. -10 karma.
o Generally using a lot of misdirection, deception, etc. (making the spirits work to understand if you’re lying) – -1 per month.
Note: if you lie within your domain, the power and karma penalties are halved, round down.
On oaths: an oath does not have to be formal. It is a promise you make to another, including those made in haste or without formal declaration.
Theft
o Stealing: -1 to -3, depending on value of goods (random junk to real expensive/valued)
o Stealing a focus: -5 karma
Hospitality (rules of being a guest offered food or water)
o Gross violation of hospitality (attacking a guest): -5 karma
o Minor violation of hospitality (being really rude to a host): -2 karma
o Rejecting hospitality: -1 karma
o Offering hospitality to a foe, with no benefit: +2 karma
o Offering hospitality to a neutral party, with no benefit: +1 karma
Helping Others
o Guiding someone you introduced to the supernatural: +4 karma.
o Guiding someone introduced to the supernatural: +1 karma (stacks with the above)
o General good deeds (almsgiving, soup kitchen): +1 per month
For balance purposes, doing enough to count means you don’t have enough time to spend that month on magical study.
o Sparing a defeated foe (doesn’t count if you bind them): +1 to +3
o Significantly helping another for no gain: +1 to +3
Keeping your Word
o Making a formal, solemn oath: +1 karma.
If you make several or frivolously, the spirits get annoyed and this stops working. In other words, don’t try to game the system unless your character is also trying to.
o Fulfilling an oath: +1 to +3, depending on nature of the oath
o Keeping a long-standing oath (i.e., “I will protect the homeless in this town”): +1 per month
o Generally being honest and straight-forward (easy for spirits to understand): +1 per month
Magical Declarations
o Performing properly the ritual for a familiar, focus, or domain: +1
o Participating as a challenger to someone’s claim for a domain: +1
o Annoying the spirits by not determining the duel in a challenge: -4, spirits decide duel
Cool theatric declarations or actions accompanying declarations: +1. If really cool, regain 1 power
Mechanics note: the bonus for theatrics is based off Exalted’s method for bonus die and motes
NOTE: If you fulfill an oath to kill someone, that does balance out with the karmic damage from killing them. Also, practitioners do intentionally build up good karma so they can kill someone when they need to. In general, though, they try to avoid killing.
Also, the spirits are ‘stupid’, in a sense, so if you set someone up to be killed by someone else or to kill themselves, the spirits likely won’t realize you are responsible. (It might be a Luck roll, done secretly by the DM.)
The Sight is a basic power all practitioners have. It is assumed all PCs have been trained in it, although it is possible for someone not to know it.
When you activate the Sight, it has a strength of 0 and costs no power. This allows you to bypass the Veil that obfuscates most Others from mundanes, and also lets you see lines between you and those paying attention to you. (Such includes line-of-sight, magical tracking, and just attentive knowing your location.) You can only see the connections between others and you.
You can increase the strength of your Sight by spending power: 1 point for 1 strength.
It is very easy to ward against the Sight. If you see someone paying attention to you with the Sight, you can spend power to make it harder for others to notice you. For each point of power you spend, you create a ward of strength equal to that power. For someone to notice you, their Sight must as strong as your ward. (If equal, they sense you. Thus, default Sight (strength 0) senses unwarded people (strength 0 ward).)
Wards against being noticed break if you do something very obvious to draw attention to yourself, like shouting or shooting the person you are warded from.
You can add your rank in Enchantment to the strength of your Sight at no cost. If you create a ward against the Sight, your rank in Illusion is added to the strength of your ward at no additional cost.
Names have power. If you call someone by their name (or title) three times in a row, they can sense you. This forms a connection that can be seen by The Sight, and they can follow it to find you. You generally have to be within 10 miles to be ‘heard’, but this range can be increased by spending power (about +2 miles per power spent).
Lords of an area, such as a city or official Domain, can sense their name being said anywhere in their claimed area, even if said once. They can tune this out, but it allows some way to detect people discussing them.
DESIGN NOTE: it is easier to bind than to break free, assuming equal pools of power.
Wards and bindings are two words for what is essentially the same thing: using magic to restrict the movement of another being. Wards in general keep something out or enclosed, and bindings generally bind an Other into an object. In general, mundanes are immune to wards and bindings. Practitioners can be impacted, but have some innate resistance.
The base strength of a ward is the practitioner’s Magic rank (although some Skills allow you to substitute that Skill’s rank instead of Magic when dealing with particular Others.) You can spend power to increase the potency of a ward.
Usually, you bind something or protect yourself when you want to bargain with an Other that is not safe. For example, when conversing with ghosts, demons, or goblins. You strike a deal, or you leave.
General bindings wear away over time (at a rate of 1 power/day). You can make a binding permanent by investing power into it, lowering your total power pool; a permanent binding’s strength is increased by 2 for every point invested in it.
It is possible to break out of a ward or binding. The targeted creature must spend power equal to the strength of the ward in order to break through.
It is fairly obvious when one is trying to break through a ward or binding, so it’s usually not something that can be done subtly. (Stuff like bashing into it, using magic to try to wear it away, etc., although some Others like fey or demons might try to weave deceptive words that unravel it away.)
If you plan to bind an Other into a magical Tool, you must spend power on the binding. Hence, you often have to spend some power to safely bargain with the Other while keeping a reserve strong enough to make a worthwhile Tool.
FLUFF IMPACTING MECHANICS NOTE: to create a binding/ward, it’s best to use something similar to the creature or something opposed to it. (This makes binding practitioners difficult.) For example, a demon of decay could be bound with rotting viscera of a corpse or with orderly geometric patterns drawn with salt or cleansing elements. A binding/ward drawn with something opposing its target has +1 strength, but it makes the target uncomfortable, so binding with like things is better if you are being diplomatic. A binding unrelated to the target suffers a -1 strength penalty. (This -1 penalty applies to almost all wards against practitioners, since most practitioners are human enough to not have opposed elements.)
The most important magical sources of power for a practitioner are their familiar, domain, and focus. Such are personal and lifelong choices. (See the Pact chapters for details.)
Each of these are ranked as least, modest, or greater. Since this is a permanent choice, the strongest practitioners will likely have all three as greater, but such is generally not an option. Due to the difficulty in obtaining these, most settle on a weaker (least or modest) version of one to get a greater version of the others.
You have to spend 1-5 power to create a Lesser, 5-10 to create a Modest, and 11+ to create a greater.
A Magic rank of 1 is required for Lesser or Modest; rank 2 for Greater.
Note that the power spent is only part of what can rank a tool. Details are under each tool.
Focus – an item that resonates with the practitioner and shapes how their magic works and how the practitioner is viewed by the spiritual world. Magical workings in line with the Focus take 1 less power to fuel while using the Focus, while workings opposed to the Focus cost an extra power (whether or not you use the Focus). For example, a sword focus would help with many offensive magicks if you involve it in the casting, but make it harder to act defensively at all times.
Depending on the power invested in a focus and how fitting it is to the practitioner, a focus can be judged as Lesser, Modest, or Greater. This corresponds to increasing the practitioner’s power pool by 2, 4, or 6.
If you lose your Focus, your power pool is temporarily decreased by the amount it gives you. The universe knows your Focus belongs to you, so beings are generally hesitant to steal it, but they can safely keep it apart from you if you are captured.
If your Focus is destroyed, you cannot create a new one, but you no longer suffer any penalties to your casting based on your Focus.
Familiar – an Other that agrees to a mutually-binding ritual. The Other gains an animal form it can freely turn into, enjoying the benefits of mortality, while not needing to feed to replenish power. Familiars are also very hard to kill, almost always recovering from harm in time even if slain. The practitioner gains an ally, an increase to their power pool, and a source to draw power from. (The familiar can draw power from its master, but rarely does.) A familiar has a personal power pool based of its own, which the master can draw from as an action. The Other’s power impacts whether it is Lesser, Modest, or Greater. A weak spirit can only become a lesser familiar, no matter how much power is used when making the ritual. Most strong spirits will refuse to become a lesser or modest familiar. The cost to do the ritual is the same as for bonding with a Focus.
When its master dies, the Other is released from the familiar ritual and becomes what it was before.
It is unwise to take a familiar that is too powerful. Sometimes an Other has a practitioner perform the familiar ritual, but the familiar is the real master.
If a familiar truly dies, the master cannot bond a new one. Such is a permanent scar.
Domain – an area that works to the practitioner’s will. This ritual is dangerous because it sends a beacon to the surrounding area, calling any to challenge the practitioner. The practitioner must win any challenges, either through victory or by striking a bargain. The larger the domain, the greater the range of the call and the greater the rank the domain has. The ritual to claim a domain only costs 1 power (an exception to the general rule), but the larger one’s domain the harder others will fight to challenge you.
Reality works with the owner of a domain. You can warp reality (slowly – no combat application) to fit your needs and will. Also, the spirits there natural work with you; your magic gets is naturally stronger and others (unless you give them permission) weaker; generally, +/-1 to the strength of a magical work or whatever the effect is. And, while you cannot lie safely, the impacts on karma are lessened (see the Karma section for details.)
A domain gathers power and acts as a storage one can draw upon. A lesser domain (such as a room) can store up to 5 power and generates 1 point/day, a modest one (such as a building) up to 10 at 2/day, and a greater one (such as a city block) up to 15 at 3/day. Legendary domains are said to exist, but extremely rare.
You can only draw upon this power in your domain, pulling it into yourself to replenish your power pool. (Your familiar can also do this.) You can create a Key, permanently lowering your power pool by 1 to create a tool that lets you draw upon your domain’s power from outside it. The most traditional one is a literal key ritually tied to the domain, letting you tap into it by putting the key in any door.
Once a domain is claimed, it is yours. Nobody else can claim a domain in the same place for three generations after your death, nor can you disown it or claim a new one. If you are forced away from your domain permanently, it remains yours, but is rather useless.
Beyond the familiar, focus, and domain, you can create other tools that aid in working magic. There is no limit to the number one can have, and they are replaceable. The most common way these are created is by challenging (or binding) an Other or practitioner. The defeated party is forced to give away part of itself or to be bound as a servant to the winner.
The power costs to create these are the same as to create a Focus.
A Token is a lesser form of a Focus. They are generally created when besting an Other or practitioner and choosing part of their power as a reward. The loser’s power pool is permanently decreased, and you gain a token giving that power to you. Lesser = +1 to Greater = +3.
Rarely, ancient items may become Tokens, and many mage families pass down Tokens.
A Fount stores energy like a Domain but is an object like a Token. Instead of increasing the power pool, they accumulate power that the possessor can use. Like with Tokens, the loser’s power pool is decrased by 1 to 3. Founts can be general or specialized. For general founts, the fount can accumulate 1 to 3 power, which can be spent directly from the fount for any use. For specialized founts, the fount can accumulate twice the power (2 to 6), but such is limited in scope. For example, a specialized fount in the form of a locket of fairy hair could be used to cast glamours, but not for anything else. Founts accumulate power at the rate of 2 points/day.
A Vessel is an object with an Other bound within it. This generally serves one of two purposes: 1) to create a magical weapon or tool, or 2) to have a way to carry an Other until you want it to act on your behalf. Generally, these are created when you bind an Other, either after conflict or as a result of a deal.
For example, you bind a ghost that died of exposure to cold. The axe now does ice damage, and you can release the ghost temporarily to have it assault others with cold and despair. Or, in a more esoteric sense, you bind a time elemental into a watch. Its power lets you, once per day, rewind time to let you dodge an attack that had hit.
You must spend power as with creating a Focus, but the rank of the Vessel is also limited by your own magical skills and the strength of the Other being bound. To create a least Vessel, you must have a skill rank of 1 or higher; for modest, of 2 or higher; for greater, of 3 or higher. Furthermore, the Other being bound must be of comparable strength to the rank of the tool (no binding a weak ghost into a Greater tool)*. You also must spend power as with creating a Focus.
This can be expensive, as you may have already spent power to call the Other or generate wards for safety while negotiating.
* You can bind a stronger Other into a tool that is of insufficient rank to hold it, but it will probably try to break free (unless bound by an oath not to.) The strength of a binding used to make a Vessel equals the power you put into creating it + the basic strength of your bindings (as in the Bindings sections, above.) A bound Other may try to spend its power to break free and turn against you.
• Others that are bound into a Vessel recover their power at a rate of 1/day for least, 2/day for modest, and 3/day for greater.
A Vessel can also be used as a Token and/or Fount, decided upon the binding of the Other. To be two of the three, spend an additional 5 power; for all three, spend an additional 10 power. The power taken as a Token decreases the power pool of the bound Other, and any power drained from the Fount drains the power pool of the bound Other, so it will be weakened if summoned. The trade-off is versatility in how you can use your tools.
Note also that, if you send your bound Others against someone, they can try to spend power to turn it back against you. When attacked by an Other, a practitioner can spend power to try to turn it back on its master or summoner. If they spend power equal to the strength of the binding, the Other is repelled and will be forced to turn on its master.
DESIGN NOTE: need to work on rules for turning summons back on the user
Note: not all the skills are fleshed out yet
Skills reflect your skill and training in different magical arts. At character creation, it is recommended to start PCs with Magic 1, another skill at 2, and another at 1. Skills range from 1-3: Apprentice, Adept, and Master.
DESIGN NOTE: to a degree, the type of magic is fluff. If you the player can envision how the PC can use a magic type to accomplish something, the PC should be able to. These are guidelines about what rank of knowledge one needs to accomplish so-strong a spell.
It takes 1 round to cast an apprentice spell, 2 for adept, and 3 for master. You can take other actions while casting a spell, but not other magical actions (warding, casting another spell, etc.)
In general, apprentice rank can change things so that, without magical counteraction, you can succeed at something you’d normally fail but that is humanly possible (land without injury, door happens to be unlocked, etc.). Apprentice rank can modify Fight/Defend by 1, directly do 1 point of damage, summon a weak minion, or do a 2-Fight attack. At this rank, you can create mild inconveniences; for example, an enchanter could make a cop suspicious enough of somebody to question them, creating a delay.
In general, adept rank can allow you to do something humanly impossible. It can modify Fight/Defend by 2, directly do 3 points of damage, summon moderate minions, or do a 4-Fight attack. At this rank, you can generally greatly inconvenience something at what they are trying to accomplish; for example, an enchanter could make cops suspicious of somebody, enough to try arresting them even if no evidence and to attack you if there is evidence.
In general, master rank can allow you to do the impossible. It can modify Fight/Defend by 4, directly do 5 points of damage, summon powerful minions, or do a 6-Fight attack. At this rank, you can just really screw folk over. For example, an enchanter could make normal people revile you, or cause your familiar to turn against you if there’s any ill feelings. Or a chronomancer could freeze you in time. When fighting a master, using your own power to counter-act their spells or to ward yourself is important.
Standard Format of Magic Skills
• Name of Skill – description of skill
o Apprentice – description of what it can do as an apprentice
o Adept – description of what it can do as an adept
o Master – description of what it can do as a master
Binds: in general, you use your Magic skill to determine the strength of wards and bindings. Some skills enable you to use the higher of Magic or the given Skill for certain Others. This lists those Others, if applicable.
Notes: any additional notes about the skill, including additional costs to using
If reasonable, the DM may allow a player to substitute a skill to bind something not mentioned under the “Binds” notes. For example, using Chronomancy to bind a time spirit or Illusion to bind a spirit of deception would be appropriate; but such cases are rare enough they are not mentioned here explicitly.
• Magic – general knowledge of magical techniques, rituals, etc. This determines the base strength of any wards or bindings you make. Also, you can know up to 4*Rank tricks. Lastly, any Apprentice or higher ranked person can do the rituals to bond a focus, domain, or familiar. It is rare for a practitioner not to at least be an apprentice in general magical knowledge.
• Shamanism – knowledge of runes and acts that appease and negotiate with spirits that are the underpinning of reality. A very versatile type of magic, it lacks direct combat application and summons.
o Apprentice – can write runes on something to let the spirits something lighter, heavier, more durable, etc. Can modify Fight or Defend by 1.
o Adept – can write runes that change how things works. Can break or allow something to operate beyond normal means. Create an aura of silence via a silence rune, etc.
o Master – can alter the fundamental reality of things by convincing local spirits they are otherwise. This can also make spirits ignore some bad karma.
Binds: NA
Note: if you spend blood to power a rune, you can trace a rune in the air and it takes effect.
If a rune is destroyed, the spell ends.
• Glyphs – knowledge of wards and bindings. While all practitioners can make basic wards and bindings, this path focuses on using it for a variety of things. The downside of this art is that it takes preparation time; many, however, have pre-made glyphs written on scrolls, boxes, etc.
Binds: any
• Chronomancy – knowledge of time magic. While it can actually manipulate time, most spells instead manipulate the perception of time. To move time, you have to have ‘stored’ time: for each minute stored, you can ‘move’ half a minute of time. Uses include effectively healing by skipping back in time.
• Illusions – magic of misdirection and false appearances.
Note: Your basic defense against the Sight is your increased by your Illusion rank. See The Sight for details.
• Enchantment – magic of connections
o Apprentice – can see the connections between others and spend power to influence and direct them.
o Adept – can now modify connections between things, such as helping a bullet find its target by increasing the connection between them, or make someone slip by disconnecting them from the ground.
o Master – can change the nature of connections (attention to hate, or love to distrust) and forge new connections (make someone loyal)
Note: The basic strength of your Sight is your increased by your Enchantment rank. See The Sight for details.
• Augury – In the short-term, it is very helpful for landing a hit or avoiding damage. In the long-term, it can give advice on the likely outcome of actions or be used for guiding prophecies
o Can get a sense if a future action is safe/wise or not. Can increase Fight/Defend by 2 by foreseeing where to move.
o Can divine the near future, seeing most likely outcomes of events. Can increase Fight/Defend by 3.
o Effectively can see the future with clarity, including knowing what outcome your actions will most likely cause. Can increase Fight/Defend by 5.
• Sympathy – knowledge of manipulating reality by using power to enforce sympathetic relationships between like things.
• Goblin Lore – knowledge of goblins and how to bind and bargain with them. Goblins are naturally harder to bind into Vessels, so only Adepts and higher can do that.
o Apprentice – can bind goblins.
o Adept – can force goblins to take the form of a weapon or be sealed in small objects
o Master -
Binds: goblins
• Faerie Lore/Glamour – its effects are generally like Illusion, but instead of misdirecting, it ‘covers’ reality with a fake reality called glamour. Fey are naturally harder to bind into Vessels, so only Adepts and higher can do that.
Binds: fey
Notes: requires a tool from a fey, or a fey familiar, in order to cast spells beyond wards and bindings
• Necromancy – knowledge of ghosts. Used primarily to bind and bargain, though adepts and masters can take on ghostly attributes.
Binds: ghosts, wraiths, undead
• Diabolism – knowledge of demons, though masters can take on demonic attributes. Used primarily to bind and bargain.
Binds: demons
• Elementalism – knowledge of elementals and magic handling elements through commanding the spirits. Generally focuses on either summoning elementals or channeling elements (like an archetypal fire mage)
Binds: elementals
• Scourge Lore – knowledge of the Abyss, its denizens, and the magic of entropy and decay. Bogeymen are more often summoned from the Abyss rather than bound into objects, but both are possible.
Binds: bogeymen and others tainted by the Abyss.
• Acolyte Training – training in channeling divine powers of a particular deity (often pagan deities).
Binds: Others linked to the deity (fairly limited)
Note: Acolytes are generally given mythical creatures as allies by their deity
• Inquisitor Training – training in channeling divine powers (often but not necessarily linked to major monotheistic religions). Generally fight demons or practitioners that go too far.
Binds: Celestials and Demons
A note on healing: healing is rare, but possible with various magicks. Examples include using Chronomancy to ‘skip back’ before wounds occurred, using Sympathy to transfer the wounds to another, using Glamour to hide the wounds so they have no impact on reality, calling on divine energy as an Inquisitor, etc. There are also some Others who can heal for a cost, particularly demons and bogeymen.
Someone with Magic rank of 2 can enact a ritual to put one willing person into a magical coma, letting them take on the injuries of another person.
Generally, healing should be costly in some form. At the least, it should cost 3 power to heal 1 health mark.
It seems most reasonable to not have experience points per se, but rather training time. If both exist, at least training time will be a thing IC, with experience probably being a completely OOC concept.
As noted earlier, to increase Fight or Defend takes 6 months.
To learn Apprentice rank takes 1 month.
To learn Adept rank takes 6 months.
To learn Master rank takes 1 year.
Maybe something like training time is doubled if learning a second Skill, to discourage broad casters and instead have more specialized folk like we see in Pact? (Never made a lot of sense to me that folk wouldn’t learn the basics of binding most Others, and thus keep a few ghosts and goblins in reserve for when needed.)
I'll also note that the stuff about character creation is assuming a human newly introduced to the supernatural, presumably soon after their Awakening.