純美蘋果園
跑團活動區 => 網團活動區 => Legacy劇目所 => 主题作者是: Mounrou 于 2020-09-20, 周日 18:07:20
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2020 Notes:
This was a failure of sort?
Don't exactly remembered why. v=3=v
A big reason would be the linked-Player/Familiar system.
It's actually quite hard to have two players codependent on each other for their individual abilities. TRPGs' too highly individualistically-minded for that.
Was thinking about making an NPC-emotion mechanic... Until I shelved it. v=3=v
Also the first attempt to simplify the thing... By cutting everything. !!!=_=
This was the "Mechanical Evaluation Version", meaning it's trimmed and not full version... I think I've actually stated lions and gorillas and other magic effects and stuffs... It's probably in a folder somewhere, but this is for storage that nobody would read or use so who cares? v=w=v
Whatever.
Original spew below:
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A Wizard and His Familiar
It had always been the unwritten rule: For every wizard that’s ever existed, there would always be a familiar by his side.
Over time and folklore, people simply assumed that it was a perk of the job and left it at that. Yet no one out of the arcane circle had ever came up with the question: Why kept a smelly, diseased, wild and nearly untamed ball of flurry around, when a couple of servants would help them so much more?
The truth was in fact a relatively simple one: Because all the humans on this world combine didn't have an ounce of magic within them. Familiars weren't just a wizards' pets and lackeys, they were literally THE source of magic.
Like most everything in nature, "Magic" as an idea was never really that complex: It was a source of natural energy to power the world we live in, not unlike electricity which was just a rationalized and watered-down variant of human comprehendible magic in the first place. Coming straight from the source, no other energy was as powerful as raw magic, but there was a catch: Magic, as the raw and chaotic force that shaped nature, could not be bounded into any other humanly-recognizable form but electricity. Precisely because humans were logical, rational and creative, they had created Order out of natural Chaos, and shaped their own world into the image of what they wished it to be. The high capacity in analytical thinking had, in turn, tuned them off the raw force of creation and denied them access to pure magic.
While not without logic of their own, animals other than humans were not as developed in their intellects, nor as focus in their perception. Simple animals with simple desires survived simply in wherever their environment was, with no attempt to bend it to their will, but rather accepted it as it was and instead changed themselves to fit in. By comprehending less, they ended up seeing more of what this world truly looked like, and some of them, those who were born "special", could even reach into the source and be transformed by it, to become a "super-natural" existence who embodied nature.
As the living embodiment of nature, they gained awareness and comprehension, as well as a permanent linkage to the land, while still retaining the primal hearts and minds of animals. This was the limit of their gift though, as they still lacked the creativity and imagination to utilize the magic they have within them, the same things that made humans human. They could talk and read the aura of all living beings… But otherwise they were still only animals.
Nobody remembered when the first Wizard/Familiar partnership first started or who they were, but it was probably a union of coincidence and necessity: The human who could shape magic but lacked any, and the animal filled with magic but lacked imagination to do anything with it. Only by becoming one could the two halves be whole.
As human beings continued to evolve, their bond to the world of their birth gradually became weaker, and more and more raw magic force were unconsciously cultivated and converted into forms understandable by human's "rational thinking." Those who did not fit into that picture would find it increasingly difficult to live in the continually expanding and “humanizing” world. Wizards and familiars, the world today simply had no place for them.
But they would always have each other.
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1: Character Creation:
There are 5 basic Aptitudes:
>Physique for all Strength-, Stamina- and Endurance-related physical abilities.
>Perception for the acuity of the 5 senses, and natural capacity for awareness and clarity.
>Reflex for both mental and physical speed of actions and reactions.
>Education for the accumulation of all knowledge and skilled expertise in life.
>Aura for personal inner strength, radiance of one’s own personality, and an understanding of interactions.
As well as 4 extended Abilities:
>Size being the general size of a being.
>Vitas being the stamina and lifeforce.
>Spiritas as Humans’ unique way of shaping the world they live in through the power of Mind and Preconceptions.
>Mysticas as Animals’ natural adaptation to the world’s own raw elemental energies, to become as nature itself.
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To create a Human Character:
There are two types of human characters: Average Joes and Wizards.
First, to create a human character,
>all of the human’s 5 Aptitudes start at 1.
>10 free Aptitude Points are then available to distribute freely between them. A Human’s Aptitude limit is 5.
The difference between Joes and Wizards is:
>Joes cannot do magic. A Joe have twice his Aura in Spiritas but it’s largely useless to them. Instead he gets Expertise, tightly defined tricks and skills that he excels in. The Joe will have 2 plus Education Aptitude number of Expertise to start with.
(Players make up their own expertises. General rule of thumb: An expertise has one specific field its related to that it can do in general, and two well-defined thing in that field its especially good at. No swiss army knife expertise here.)
>Wizards can do magic, but little else. His starting Spiritas is equal to 5 times his Aura, and 2 intuitively known effects, plus one more Base Level effect for each Starting Aura Aptitude point. Once he’s bonded with a Familiar, he can start pulling out all those wizardly tricks of his. Because of the absolute dedication necessary for their supernatural deeds though, they get no starting Expertise at all.
While magic can be weaken, resist or counter, there is nothing in the game world that can nullify it. (It's the invisible 5th force that science cannot detect.)
(optional rule: Wizards are allowed One expertise related to things that happen in common daily life, and they never get another one. That is so that Wizard PCs are not completely incompetent when they're not using magic.)
Human Sizes are Half their Physique round up plus 1.
Human Vitas are equal to their Size*(Physique+1).
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To create an Animal Character:
Being specific evolved to survive in a specific environment, Animals tend to not have as big a variation within their own subspecies as Humans do. In order to create an Animal Character, choose one animal type from the list below:
>Main Difference between Common Animals and Familiars is that Common Animals get all four Abilities, but Familiars only get the two without the brackets, and instead acquire Familiar Abilities as replacement. (They were not completely wild anymore after being "tainted" by humanity.)
Domestic Cats
Physique 2
Perception 5
Reflex 6
Education 0
Aura 4 Size 2
Vitas 8 Mysticas 24
Animal Abilities
(Exceptionally Agile) Featherdrop
(Heightened Awareness) Night Vision
Domestic Dogs
Physique 4
Perception 5
Reflex 5
Education 0
Aura 3 Size 3
Vitas 20 Mysticas 15
Animal Abilities
(Trackers) Fangs & Claws
(Heightened Awareness) Night Vision
Small Birds
Physique 1
Perception 4
Reflex 7
Education 0
Aura 5 Size 1
Vitas 3 Mysticas 35
Animal Abilities
(Exceptionally Agile) Flight
(Sense Magnetic Field) All Round Vision
Small Mammals
Physique 1
Perception 5
Reflex 4
Education 0
Aura 7 Size 1
Vitas 3 Mysticas 49
Animal Abilities
(Exceptionally Agile) Stalker
(Motion Sensitivity) Night Vision
Spiders
Physique 2
Perception 6
Reflex 3
Education 0
Aura 6 Size 1
Vitas 6 Mysticas 42
Animal Abilities
(All Round Vision) Stalker
(Glide) Weaver
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2) Mechanics:
In this game, many rolls and mechanics are determine by a roll of 3d6 (or 3 six-sided dice), to be refer to as the 3DE, or 3D Effort System. Otherwise regular d6s are usually for total results.
Skill Resolution
To resolve a skill contest or match against a ranked difficulty, the character will roll 3DE, choose the most fitting result, and add the aptitude most relevant to the situation to get his skill score.
To determine the “most fitting result” though, the GM should separate the 3 dice rolled into best, median, and worst results, then look at these deciding factors:
-How much time had the character prepared for this?
-Does the character have an Expertise in this?
-What is the background situation for the check?
-Any other factor that might favor or penalize the check?
-Roleplaying Effort can also be a factor (It is an EFFORT-based system after all.)
A regular 3DE check will use the median result as base for consideration of effort, for a skill check made with sufficient time, with adequate knowledge and barely any exterior influences.
If the character is sufficiently experienced in this, have great tools or help, or has prepared for a long time for it, then the best result can be used.
If the character is sufficiently incompetent, in a drastic or high pressure situation or taken completely by surprise, physically wounded or otherwise unsuitably affected, then the worst result might be used.
It is the GMs task to consider all factors before deciding which dice result to utilize.
Skill-Resolution --- Difficulty Ranks
There are 5 Difficulty Ranks for this game, but they are mainly guidelines, and the GM might decide to use more than 5 or change it to better suit the playstyle.
The 5 Difficulties are:
Simple (4)* Very common, everyday difficulties
Tricky (6) Something that requires slightly more focus & cares.
Tough (8) A tough situation that you don’t usually see every day.
Insane (10) Things strictly reserved for experts to solve.
Inhuman (14+) Frankly impossible for regular human individuals.
*Unless in an adverse situation, an individual of any Skill/Aptitude level should automatically succeed in any Simple Rank checks.
Note that these are not just “an average skill check”, but are reserved for Difficulties, things that are of any levels of potential deterrents and means enough to need a check for. A simple check can be jaywalking across a completely empty and blocked-off street, but what is the point of that? A simple difficulty is more about jaywalking across a street with light traffic: Simple enough to be done… As long as you remember to look both ways and always ready to dodge incoming traffic.
The Players should never call for a check. The GM will have the sole decision of whether a check is required. If that means a game session without rolls at all, then so be it.
Skill-Resolution --- Human/Animal Superiority
For humans, the Education attribute stands for the amount of knowledge and experience one had acquired over the course of life, with multiple perspective to use multiple methods to resolve multiple situations. For animals though, most of what they need to know are already inside them before they are born, and the rest they will pick up soon after birth. Animals don’t have the time or the leisure or the educational structure that humans require to learn, and if they do not live with humans in specific capacities like for pets or competition purposes then they have no need of it either.
Therefore the presence of Education attribute for animals is used to represent their understanding of human beings. Animals of 0 Education have no awareness of Humanity. They see humans as just another animal in the environments. Even if the environment is a concrete jungle they will have no concepts or feelings of it, and will react as they always will: As a wild animal reacts to nature.
Animals of Education 1 attributes are, through immersion or by similarities in shape (Simians being the only species to have this naturally) have more familiarity with the ways of humans. They are somewhat aware of the fact that the cities they live in are tie to humans and have its own forms of social dynamics. This basic understanding, while given a basic standpoint for humans and animals to begin communication, doesn’t necessarily means the they will understand each other, or that animals will follow the human social dynamics.
Only at Education 2 level is the animal trained to follow the workings of human society. At this level animals and humans can begin to understand each other’s body languages and gestures, even verbal cue to a certain extent, and the awareness of mutual rules and preferences. It is only at this level that animals can attempt simple, everyday physical actions that humans regularly perform, like opening of a button-locked door, pushing of a button or pressing of a lever, and be somewhat aware of the implication of such actions.
Only human physical action of either Simple or Tricky Difficulty can be attempted by animals. For this they are to roll 3DE and use the worst result as base for consideration, with no other modifier possible to reflect their incomprehension.
So for a Simple human task an animal only have 33% chance of succeeding, and for something a little Trickier the chance of success is only 1-in-6. Even for Familiars who are humanly-aware, they will still have hard times acting outside of the instincts of their species. For this is not only a question of intelligence, but reflects the fundamental differences of instincts and mentalities between two different species, a gap that might never be able to breach. Just like how a modern human might never be able to truly behave like an animal in the wild: For humans, when faced with an animal-specific task or situation, they would also have to roll under identical parameters.
It is for this very reason that when a human and an animal are facing off in a check and both make the same roll result, in a physical contest the advantage will go to the animal. If it is intellectually based though, the advantage will go to the human.
Skill-Resolution --- Para/Normal Divergence
Human and Animals might have their shares of differences in capabilities, but for the Wizards and Familiars among them that difference is further divided: Their specific niche in evolution called for them to deal with problems in their own specific and mystical ways, and as such they are not evolved to do thing like their non-mystical brethren do: When face with any expertise and difficulty checks that they attempt to solve without using magic, if the Wizards or Familiars in question do not know the suitable expertise or animal abilities, they will always use the worst result as base for consideration.
(Which means, yes, they are mostly incompetent when it is not about magic.)
Expertise/Animal Abilities
Expertise is not a skill set, not a trade or occupation, nor is it a way of life. It is just a trick that the individual picks up in his life, one very specific thing that he is good at or one particular situation that he is especially excels in. It can be anything from flipping eggs, building towers of cards or making up games that nobody will ever play, to extremely high altitude jumping or shooting backward while looking into a mirror.
It is not about straight combat (even though it might sometimes cover a highly specific set of related situation – To use an expertise in combat, remove one dice from the roll and use another one to determine its effectiveness) and never about spellcasting. It is what stands the individual out and makes him unique.
And anyone with an expertise that appeals to the situation will have their base for consideration raised by one before all other factors are considered. (All expertise must still be approved by the GM first though.)
Animal Abilities are almost just like that, except that for animals those are usually more generalized aspects within the subspecies.
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Combat
For purpose of combat, every individual involved will first determine how they will focus their efforts over the three factors: Strikes, Damages, and Defense, as well as the method of action (i.e. the representing Aptitude.)
After everyone has sorted their priorities, they will write their tactics and priorities down, reveal them at the same time, then everyone will roll 3DE. The one with the highest total of 3 dice will act first, follow by the next highest, and so on.
The sorted effort will then be added to their respective Aptitudes.
Here are some examples:
-Wielding a melee weapon will fall under Physique.
-Using a range weapon will be related to Perception.
-Unarm combats and grappling are based on Reflex.
-Operating complex weapons or machineries are in the field of Education.
-Giving Fire Supports and other coordinated actions depends on Aura.
And on the side of the defenses:
-Taking a blow without flinching is handled by Physique.
-Finding out when shots are coming from and getting a dead angle from that calls for a sharp Perception.
-Dodging away from incoming attacks requires a good Reflex.
-Finding protective covers means a cool head as represented by Education.
-Protecting others will need a good strong Aura.
These examples are not set in stone, and can change according to how the character decides to act. And even though the basic 3DE combat has Strikes, Damages and Defense as its basic factors, a character can freely choose to have any combination as he wishes, as long as the dice results don’t stack: He can have 3 defense rolls and uses the best one, 1 personal defense and two supporting defenses of others, 3 Strikes using only the Base Aptitude as damage. 1 Strike and 2 Damages and use the best result for the strike hit while the other being a wild swing, etc. As long as the GM thinks is viable.
Optional Combat Rules: Tactical Superiority
(Optional rule) For Aptitude-based resolutions:
-Perception will always be superior to Physique. (Observation over brute force)
-Reflex will always be superior to Perception. (Action over observation)
-Education will always be superior to Reflex. (Disciplined logic over wild action)
-Aura will always be superior to Education. (Dynamic Anticipation over Static Logic)
-Physique will always be superior to Aura. (Direct approach cut through indirectness)
And the superior side will always suppress the other side regardless of dice total.
Damages in Combat: Vitas and Lethality
A strike is scored when an attacker’s Attack total is larger than his target’s Defense total.
To calculate damage, the Damage roll is added to the base Aptitude minus the target’s Defense total. Any positive difference is then resolved as Vitas damage. When the Vitas of an individual is reduced to zero, he is consider to be tired out, and all his Aptitudes are functionally halved until he regain 50% of his Vitas through resting or other means.
There is also the factor of Lethality: While unarm attacks or nonlethal weapons do not cause Lethality damages until the target’s Vitas is reduced to zero, and from then on only does one lethality per hit, most of the weapons have a Lethality Rating (LR) that, regardless of actual Vitas damage done, if the target does not have a corresponding Coverage Rating (CR) worth of body protection, the first LR damage point received will take away all remaining Vitas point, then a number of d6 equal to the remaining LR will be rolled, and the target’s Aptitude will be reduce by one point each as per the results below:
Lethality Damage Chart
1 Vital Shot!. –1 Physique
2 Glazing Wound! –1 Perception
3 Limb Shot! –1 Reflex
4 Shock Shot! –1 Education
5 Face Shot! –1 Aura
6 Luck Out! No reduction
For every two point reduction in an Aptitude, 1 of them will be permanent until you regain it through experience.
When one Aptitude is reduced to zero, the individual is knocked out, and will not recover for 1d6*1d6 hours unless someone with a medical expertise revive him.
When two Aptitudes are reduced to zero, the individual is now into a coma, will not wake up in 1d6 days, and will not be functional until 1d6*1d6 hours after that. He is also in life threatening danger (3/1d6 chance of dying if left unattended) unless attend to by someone with a medical expertise and sufficient medical care.
When three Aptitudes are reduced to zero, the individual is not at death’s door. He is now required to check for dying (3/1d6) every round until he receive serious medical care, then once every day for the next 1d6 days. He will not be functional until 1d6*2 weeks after that, and one of his zeroed Aptitudes will have its maximum upper limit permanently reduce by 1 to reflect the experience.
With four or five Aptitudes gone, the individual will be dead already.
Wound Recovery
Vitas recover at a rate of 1d6 per hour of regular actions. Twice that if resting.
Lethality Damage is recovered equal to the next rank up in days, with the most severely wounded Aptitude recover first. Vitas will not recover when there are still Lethality Damages unhealed. As mentioned before, for every two points lost in an Aptitude, one of them is permanent until repurchased by experience.
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Layer Magic
Only a Wizard can utilize magic, and for him to do so, he must first become bonded with an animal capable of becoming a Familiar. As humans have no reservoir for magic energy themselves.
Once bonded, the Wizard can use the innate Mystica of his Familiar to cast spells.
1) Shaping: To cast a spell, the wizard must first create a spell to be cast. This is done by rolling 3DE, and fit the results under three basic categories:
A ) Effect
B ) Durations
C ) Range
He can only call up to his Aura in ranks for all spell effects. If one or all dice does not fit well, the Wizard can discard what he doesn’t need and reroll until he gets it right. He can also use higher dice for lower effect ranks, but it is a waste in Mysticas.
If for example, an additional factor of an Area of Effect is required, the Wizard can freely “tweak” his spell to add one more die for the extra factor. Only rolling 3 dice per round does not mean that a spell is only limit to three dice.
2) Enforcement: Now that the basic framework of a spell exists, the next step is to submerge it into the caster’s conscious mind, and from that turns into an effect that can affect the reality. The total result of all component dice rolled is divided by the caster’s Aura Aptitude. This is how long the caster must “think” about the spell, working it out in his mind, to realize it.
The caster can still act normally during Shaping and Enforcement, performing simple actions or combat moves. It is just that he will not be able to perform any expertise or think about other spells, and that any blows more than a slight slap and he will lose the whole chain of thought. He can hold as many different spells at the same time as his Aura, and their total Mystica no greater than the Familiar’s. If he need to shape a new spell but his Familiar does not have enough Mystica, he has to release Enforced spell to scrounge up Mystica. And he can only hold enforced spells until he falls asleep or unconscious, or his Aura reduced to zero.
3) Activation: Once Enforcement is complete, the caster can start casting starting next round. Since affecting others with magic is not automatic unless a willing participant, depending on the effect and delivery, a spell might requires a Strike to successfully “hit” a target; On the other hand, the casting of a spell itself requires no roll, an a Wizard can cast as many spells as many times as he wishes per round from his Enforced Assortments, up to his Aura Aptitude. This is known as “Chain Casting”, and for each additional spell casted he must roll 3DE and check against the strongest roll. If it is larger than his current Aura, he will take a Lethality damage in Aura.
Resisting and Countering Magic:
The Strength of a Wizard’s Magic is equal to the spell’s total Mysticas cost. The simplest way to resist a spell is to direct cancel by paying that full cost in Spirita or Mystica. Spiritas and Mysticas lost in such a way though is only regain by 2 per hour of complete rest. This is the only way an Average Joe or Common Animal can ever hope to resist a spell, and for them they still have to make a 3DE worst Aura effort check against the Wizard’s Best Effort to avoid paying double. (A Wizard or Familiar can choose to resist this way without the check.)
Or, a Wizard can choose to stand in as the target and counter the spell using these methods:
One way of countering spell is through countercasting a spell’s effect: If the spell’s effect is known to him, he can drop everything he is doing in the same round and concentrate on shaping the same spell. Enforcement is unnecessary as the spell already exist in the world. For the 3DE he throws, any results equal or above one part of the spell is one rank reduction of the spell’s effectiveness. If 3 part of the spell is successfully surpass (even if the spell has more than 3 parts – Longer spells are more vulnerable this way) than it can be direct away harmlessly. Or the countering Wizard can even choose to take over the released spell by engaging in 3DE Aura effort check with the spell caster.
If the spell’s effect is unknown or if there is no time, he can still choose to engage in 3DE Aura effort check against the caster. (Rule of thumb being that if the defending Wizard surpass the offensive by less than 3 points, than the spell effect is halved; If it is surpass by over 3 points, the resistance is absolute, but this can change depend on the situation at hand.)
The Magic and The Familiar
While Familiars provide the Mysticas that Wizards need to cast spells, they are not merely living Wizard batteries. They can always choose to deny further request for Mysticas, and the Wizard/Familiar bond can be broken by either side.How many spells a Wizard can Shape and Enforce depends on the amount of Mysticas a Familiar has: The total Mystica amounts can never exceed what a Familiar can give.
While a Wizard can Chain Cast, every spell he casts draws Mysticas from the Familiar. A Familiar has enough Mysticas equal to its Mystica Points that it can release safely per round, and while it can draw beyond that level, it will receive feedback damage equal to the overdrawn amount in Vitas, and after that in Lethality Damages per 25% overdrawn per round. The Familiar can choose to share this damage with the Wizard, and the Wizard is incapable of refusing this.
A Wizard/Familiar bond is a strictly one-on-one relationship. Polygamy is simply impossible.
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The Wizard/Familiar Bond Mechanic
When a Wizard and Familiar first bonded, they have entered a relationship, and that relationship must be maintained.
On a scale of 3 to 18 (3d6), the bond relationship usually starts at 11. At this level all Mysticas flow and spell effect output is normal. Yet with a good partnership, the Mage becomes more efficient, and the Familiar more focus that, as one, they can somehow go beyond and become more the mere sum of the two.
The only way to raise or lower this is through social roleplaying. In a Wizard/Familiar bond, it goes beyond mere formalities and is in fact a bond of mutual spirituality. A "marriage of spirits" that requires both sides to contribute, sometimes even to the point beyond what can be given without permanent loss.
To calculate this fluctuation of bonds, every time the GM sees one side perform an action that might help/harm the relationship, roll 3d6. Rolling below the current bonding level for a negative act reduces the relationship to the middle of the two numbers (e.g. the current bonding level is 11, and the roll results in a 7, the new bonding level is now 9.) Vice versa for rolling above the current bonding level for a positive act; rolling above for negatives and below for positives does not do anything at all.
Rolling criteria for trust/mistrust:
As the most important aspect of a Mage and a Familiar’s outlook in life, such rolls should never be made lightly. Under the normal circumstances, only one trust/mistrust roll should be made per session if at all, and neither Mage nor Familiar should ever explicitly request such a roll be made as these rolls should be completely out of player control and only be GM's discretion. But should such a roll becomes necessary, the guidelines in the next page should be considered.
Rolling Criteria for Bonding Rolls:
18 [At this point the two is as one.]
17-16 (Trust) Permanent actual loss of irreplaceable chance, life or object of utmost importance for the other.
(Mistrust) Blatant display of betrayal without immediate explanation.
15-14 (Trust) Risk of life or things of equal importance.
(Mistrust) Convincing evidence or reasoning of deceit or betrayal; Blatant disregard of the other.
13-12 (Trust) Precise team playing that brings immense positive success beyond what's imaginable.
(Mistrust) Accidental wrecking of the other's plan or important action.
11-10 (Trust) Understanding and catering to the other's feelings and needs.
(Mistrust) Wrecking of the other's plan or important action without good reason or explanation.
9-8 (Trust) Precise team playing that is the key of success to a plan.
(Mistrust) Any incident of moderate importance that might put both sides at odds.
7-6 (Trust) Precise team playing that brings immense positive success beyond what's imaginable.
(Mistrust) A somewhat heated argument.
5-4 (Trust) Risk of life or things of equal importance.
(Mistrust) Pretty much anything that's only needs to be seemingly wrong for the other.
3 [At this point the bond is irrecoverable.]
The Trust/Mistrust Cascade
A Cascading Success/Failure is when a bond faced a consecutive series of either positive or negative rolls and when it fails every time to make a change. If the consecutive number of times a roll is required reached (Current bond attribute/2 rounded down), then a plus or minus will be made without the need of a check. Every time this happens though, the counter will be reverted back to zero. Also if a a successful change is made, the chain will be broken and revert back to zero.
(Optional)Misc. Trust/Distrust Rules for MEV version:[/u]
For the MEV only, when the Bond Rank is at 16 and above, a caster’s Mystica requirement for spell shaping and casting is halved while Enforcement rate is still the same; When the Bond Rank is at 5 or below, available Mystica from a Familiar is halved, and all further negative Bond checks will be made with 1d6, with the result of 3 or below breaking the Bond outright.
If a broken pair of Wizard and Familiar wish to renew their Bond after all the things they went through, they will need to make another Trust roll, with the GM deciding what sort of trails they must go through together to even get the roll, and at which difficulty rank out of 3d6. If they succeed, use the lowest dice from the check, +3 and make that their new Bond Rank.
The Objectivity of The Bond Mechanics:
“So how come we are not just roleplaying the whole relationship out without resorting to dice?” Well, you can do that as well. The Bond Mechanics is totally optional. You can just ignore it if it doesn’t work in your game. What the Bond Mechanics is supposed to represents though, is an individual’s emotional state that is more often than not irrational. It is like when you know you should not blame someone for something, but still cannot control how you feel about it, and sometimes there is no help but to have it influence your rational decision.
The Bond Mechanics works like that, as a replacement for the irrationality inherent in all living beings, but that sometimes we might not remembered during Roleplay.
If you wish to use it, that is your decision. If not, that is your decision as well. As long as there is a group consensus you should not let it affect your game.
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Animal Abilities:
Animal Abilities are just that, abilities that the species acquire during the evolution and adaptation of the environment. They are the animal equivalent of Expertise, though for the animals their abilities tend to be more focused and developed than even the humans.
Check the List at the back for explanations.
Animals in Urban Locales:
For every animals there are two factors when they need to move about in human circles: Mundanity and Size. All stock animals available in the MEV are common urban animals, so Mundanity is not a factor. For Size though, it determines how accessible human structures are to animals.
Think of each Size class as double of the last one. A regular, two meter tall single-door doorway will be the equivalent of a size 4 fit; A Size 3 will probably be as big as a ducking crawlway. For a Size 2 it will be about as big as a tight tunnel or one of those overhead small air-conditioning ducts that movie heroes and villains tend to crawl around in (Did someone mentioned a certain Snake? No?) Size 1 will be about the size of a 12’ sewerage pipe, and Size 0 will be for openings as big as a household pipe or even smaller. (You don’t get a Size Null unless it’s an Airtight or Specially-Designed Clean Room.)
Your regular human might fit into a Size 2 area if he is very small and lean, but most animals can fit into amazing places human never ever considered. Even wonder how rats get into warehouses? It is just like that.
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Fundamental Familiar Abilities:
Unlike Animal Abilities, these are abilities that nature never intends for animals to have. To acquire them naturally will requires eons of evolutionary attempts, and even then some of them will simply be impossible to attain.
Only the Familiars, touched by the flow of magic will arrive at the first step of supernaturalism by attaining these abilities:
-Understanding
Ability Type: Inherent
Description:
The Familiar can understand all verbal languages and dialects regardless of species. And beings who are magically inclined will be able to communicate and understand the Familiar as if they are communicating in the beings’ most fluent language. Also with this comes a basic understanding of humanity at the cost of some animal instincts and abilities.
Activation: Always
Duration: Permanent
Change of features: None
-Aurasight
Ability Type: Inherent
Description:
The Familiar can see the aura of any being, object or location it gaze upon, and from that its true nature and amount of power. This power is only basic and cannot see through trickery though)
Mysticas need to use: 1
Activation: 1 round delay
Duration: Instantaneous
Change of features:
Familiar’s corneas will glow violet when in use.
These are basic abilities of all familiars, the transcendence of awareness that allows them to go beyond the limit of their own race, as well as finding people with an equally supernatural Aptitude.
Once a Familiar is bonded with a Wizard, it will then automatically receive these abilities also:
-Telepathic Bond
Ability Type: Merged
Description:
The Familiar and Wizard will know what each other experiences, and thinking and thoughts can be telepathically communicate with no range or time limit. Abilities and Expertise are not shared, and they can always choose to withhold anything, but expert advice can always be asked or given.
Activation: Always
Duration: Permanent
Change of features: None
-Familiar Immortality
Ability Type: Merged
Description:
The Familiar will not age a day as long as it is bonded with a Wizard, and in theory can be immortal as long as it is bonded. This effect only stops natural aging and death though, and the Familiar will still takes damage normally, and can still be killed violently.
Activation: Always
Duration: Permanent
Change of features: None
Furthermore, now that the two supernatural halves are united into one, the Familiar can now starts to develop his Familiar abilities. These are based on the human imagination of its Wizard counterpart, and require his Spiritas to exist. Once an ability is developed, it remains permanent for that specific bond even if the bond is broken and then rejoined at a later date. If the bond is broken, the Wizard can no longer cast, and the additional abilities of the Familiar will all disappear.
So, in short: The Wizard makes up his Familiar’s ability, and the Familiar in turn fuels his magic.
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3. Various Lists
A) Animal Abilities (MEV version):
All Round Vision
The ability to see in every direction all the time.
Exceptionally Agile
The animal is more agile than it seems, with a +50% bonus to its Reflex rolls.
Fangs & Claws
The animal gains +25% bonuses to damage and +1 lethal rating (should it choose to) in an attack for having these.
Featherdrop
The animal only takes half damage when falling, and a fall at full health is never lethal - It will never take more than 50% full Vitas or 1 Lethality in damage in a fall.
Flight
The animal can fly with a pair of wings. Double all Reflex of an animal in flight. Taking flight against a snatch requires a tricky regular Reflex check though, and the animal’s reflex when grounded is halved.
Glide
The animal can safely & Silently glide downward form a high place through the use of wings or skin flaps, and has limited control, but cannot ascend (In "flight" the animal can move any ways but up, unless the upwind can carry its weight).
Heightened Awareness
The animal is even more aware than it seems, +50% bonus to Perception for noticing hidden objectives and potential ambushes.
Motion sensitivity
The animal can sense motion without seeing or hearing and even around corners, for a range equal to twice its perception in meters; if animal is native underwater or underground; the range is twenty times its Perception.
Night Vision
The animal can see in darkness as clear as day as long as there is some background lights (equivalent to starlight) present.
See Magnetic Field
The animal can 'see' the Earth's magnetic field, and can find its global position as well as navigate by it.
Stalker
If desired, the animal can move stealthily, making its detection a tough check even for those with Heightened Awareness (who check with only +1 Perception bonus instead of +50%, whichever is lower).
Tracker
The animal is a natural tracker capable of tracking and identifying targets by sights, scents and footprints. Nullifies each other when use against the Stalker ability.
Weaver
The animal can spin adhesive silks, with strength equal to its Physique. The silk can support its spinner like a rope, bind things, or trap targets of its Physique and below in a web, where escaping requires a tough Physique check. Targets of higher Physique than the Animal can easily break the web apart though.
A length of silk can be created equal to the animal's physique in meters every round. A web can be spin at a speed of 1 meter diameter per 10/Reflex rounds. (Special note: The silk spin by a Familiar has durability equal to the combine physique of the Familiar and it’s Wizard.)
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B) Spell Effects (MEV version):
Duration
Level: Intuitively Known
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank
Rank
Effect
Description
>1 Instantaneous
A sudden flare gone as quick as it appears.
>2 Minutes
Effect’s Rank in d6 min.
>3 Hours
Same in d6 Hours
>4 Days
Same in d6 Days
>5 Weeks
Same in d6 Weeks
>6 Months
Same in d6 Months.
Basic time span of the spell. Required Spell Component of every spell.
Range
Level: Intuitively Known
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank
Rank
Effect
Description
>1 Touch
A hand’s reach
>2 Clear Vision
Close Range (10Ms)
>3 Far Vision
Longer Range (100Ms)
>4 Line of Sight
Visual Range (1KMs)
>5 Hazard
Horizons (up to100KM)
>6 Indirect Sight
Live Phone/Television
Basic effective range. Required Spell Component of every spell.
Area of Effect
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*2
Rank
Effect
Description
>1 Personal
A person’s hand reach
>2 Groups
Span of a tight group
>3 Clear Sight
Close Range (<10M)
>4 Block
A street (<100M)
>5 Neighborhood
A section (<1KM)
>6 Small Town
A location (<10KM)
Increase area of effect beyond a single target.
Eruption
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank
Rank
Effect
Description
>1 Sting
1 Vitas damage
>2 Strike
1d6 Vitas damage
>3 Blast
2d6 Vitas (or 1 LR if none)
>4 Flare
3d6 Vitas (or 2 LR if none)
>5 Erupt
4d6 Vitas (or 3 LR if none)
>6 Eliminate
5d6 Vitas and 4 LR damage
The basic manipulation of raw Mystica for the purpose of pure destruction.
Taskmastery
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: 1*Rank
Rank
Effect
Description
>1 Mundane
Inane task w/no exertion
>2 Quick
Mild task w/slight exertion
>3 Simple
Task w/some exertion
>4 Routine
Static mild Physical Labor.
Performance of simple and menial physical task.
(That's why there's only 4 ranks.)
Control Elements
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank
Rank
Effect
Description
>1 Spark
Almost unnoticeable
>2 Sign
Level of a mild breeze
>3 Shift
Strong wind warning
>4 Call
Rainstorms and hailstones
>5 Force
Minor tidal and tornados
>6 Nature
Magnitude 6 Earthquakes
Calling a naturally occurred phenomenon (Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Rocks) into existence or the manipulation of currently existed ones. Sustainable beyond duration and power level if background situation allows (e.g. combustibles for fire, batteries for lightning.) Does the same damage as the Eruption effect.
Spirit Vision
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: 2*Rank
Rank
Description
>1 Sees Drifting ghosts
>2 & Haunting Ghosts and Poltergeists
>3 & Strong Spirits and Spiritual Guides.
>4 & Powerful Spirits and Evil Ghosts.
>5* & Holy/Unholy servants; Strange Entities.
>6* & Hidden Gods, Devils, and Death itself.
The ability of seeing dead people without the need of intoxicating substances or death. Lingering ghosts, invisible supernatural entities and insubstantial existences all become apparent with this spell. Stronger entities might require stronger spells if they wish to remain hidden.
(*Note: The very act of Seeing Major Entities themselves can be causes for irreparable insanities or even soul deaths, not to mention whether they want to take offense of being seen.
There are things out there that living beings just aren’t built to witness, supernaturally inclined or not.)
Aura Reading
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: 2*Rank
Rank
Description
>1 Makes auras appear and show the species
>2 & general health level and Aptitude
>3 & moral leanings and current emotion
>4 & any supernatural signs and strength
>5 & others that the target has close contact with within days. (Identifiable if the caster has come into contact with the other aura signature lately.)
By reading one's Aura, the caster can learn about his moral tendencies, current emotions, magical aptitudes, any spells or curses that are affecting him at this time, and what he truly is.
Location
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: 1*Rank
Rank
Description
>1
Knows how far away from a place you‘ve been to and choose to measure against.
>2
Knows the exact geographical location on the globe you are.
>3
Also knows about your current altitude.
A simple power that gives absolute location of where one is.
Trace Reading
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank
Rank
Description
>1 Short trace within minutes
>2 Trace within 24 hours
>3 Trace within the week
>4 Trace within months
>5 Trace within years
>6 Generational trace over centuries
A sort of object read that does not limit itself to objects. Sites, people, even bloodlines can be read and trace with sufficient power invested. Old memories are very hard to read, but fresh ones are rarely that difficult.
Protection
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank
Rank
Description
>1 Halve Vitas Damage received
>2 & Gives one extra Coverage Rating (CR) against LD
>3 & Full Vitas Damage Protected
>4 & +1 CD, plus nullify all effect rank 1 spell effects direct against individual
>5 & Halve all LD before CR is calculated
>6 & nullify all effect rank 2 spell effects direct against individual
A mystic field of protection against physical and magical attacks.
Healing
Level: Base
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*2
Rank
Description
>1
Stops bleeding and stabilizes coma and dying conditions.
>2
& Returns 1d6 Vitas and wakes unconscious victims.
>3
& accelerate healing of broken bones and torn ligaments. Returns another 1d6 Vitas
>4
& Returns +1d6 Vitas and 1 Lethality Damage for the most severely wounded Aptitude. Plus curing of minor poisons and diseases.
>5
& Return all Vitas lost, half the LD suffered. Completely heals bones and joints, and cure major Venoms and Diseases.
>6
& heals all LD, all non-permanent internal/external physical injuries, terminal diseases and poisons, NBCW effects... Anything short of death.
A miracle-like spell that heals the target instantly without scars, as long as the harm was not magical in nature. Simple spell effects like Eruption are still healable by this though. At higher rank this can also cure poisons and diseases as well as perform psychic surgeries. This effect is only unable to return Permanent Loss of Aptitude through Lethality Damages.
(Note: While healing was intent to be permanent, it can be made temporary by increasing the duration beyond instantaneous. Only the vilest villain might ever consider this though.
Yes, to make the healing last shorter, you need to put more effort in... Well, magic obviously don't follow the same logic as physics.)
Telekinesis
Level: Advance
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*3
Rank
Description
>2 Just beyond reach (<10m)
>3 Still within clear vision range (<50m)
>4 Down the block (<100m)
>5 Barely visible (<500m)
>6 Line of sight (<1Km)
The capability of manipulating an object from a distance away. The Power Level determine the level of strength involved (Power = Physique). The basic ability only gives minimal motor control good enough to hurl objects, so for fine motor control equal to the Wizard's reflex an additional +100% cost is needed.
Earthsight
Level: Advance
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*2
Rank
Description
>2 Anywhere on open surface within 10Km
>3 Anywhere on open surface within the continent.
>4 Anywhere on open surface within the planet.
>5 Anywhere on the planet not limited to open surface: Indoor or underground can also be sighted.
>6 Target based: Anyone or anything the Wizard had somewhat close physical contact with and remembers very well, anywhere on the planet.
A simple but useful ability of instant knowledge of an area roughly 100m*100m like reading a map.
Spirit Bind
Level: Advance
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*Rank
Rank
Description
>2 Drifting ghosts
>3 Haunting Ghosts and Poltergeists
>4 Strong Spirits and Spiritual Guides.
>5 Powerful Spirits and Evil Ghosts.
>6 Holy/Unholy servants; Strange Entities.
This spell allows the caster to trap and enslave ghosts and spiritual beings to do his bidding. The stronger the entity the more power is required, and powerful beings do hold grudges.
(Also the same problem with Spirit Vision also applies here. Inhuman entities aren't necessary malevolent... They are simply inhuman.)
Telepathy
Level: Advance
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*3
Rank
Description
>2 Basic empathy and also Sending.
>3 Surface thoughts and stray thoughts
>4 Clear and/or Short Term Memories
>5 Hidden/Unconscious thoughts. Long term memories.
>6* Forgotten and Buried memories; Detect Supernaturally suppressed thoughts and Memory Alterations; Brute force prying.
This is the power to look into another’s heart and mind. While the lowest power variant only gives information on the surface emotion of the target, at higher level the Wizard can read people like a book and know their mind before they know themselves.
(*Note: An opposed roll is required to open thoughts and memories altered by another Wizard. One wizard can only make one try against one case of alteration once.)
(*Note: Entity-altered memories sometimes have traps or tricks that were extremely dangerous.)
Hypnotism*
Level: Advance
Mystica Cost: Rank*Rank*3
Rank
Description
>2
Erase short term memory and momentary incapacitating dizziness that last a minute.
>3
Inserting hypnotic triggers that are not completely against the individual’s personal leanings.
>4
Erase or alter long term memories.
>5
Minor Behavioral/Personality/Habit change; Insert deep hypnotic triggers.
>6
Mental surgery level of control and manipulation. Or erase Id/Ego/Superego.
This is no stage hypnosis. At its core hypnosis is about manipulation of the mind and memories. Using this spell the Wizard can add, remove or alter memories, subtly change the target’s behavior, and even put in hypnotic trigger to have him act accordingly in a preset condition. The one being hypnotized will get one resist roll during hypnosis, and if a hypnotic trigger is input, another resist roll on its activation.
(GMs might want to put this use in a REAL SHORT LEASH.)
*Note: The Divine Character Rule:
Due to personality-affecting and mind-altering rules in RPGs tend to catch a lot of heated discussion regarding metagaming, playblocking, and other instances that a player might feel another player might be preventing them from “playing their own character”, here is a rule that is not optional:
Player Characters are inherently different from every other beings in the game world. While that difference might not be about powers, or abilities, or any other noticeable factors, they are different in that their wills are comparably freer. Such is the very reason why they are capable of changing their environments more so than others, and as a free-willed being not completely in the grasp of Fate (or GM). Things that are in direct conflict of that essence of free will are far less effective than to your typical others of the world at the majority of the time.
In short, emotional and mind altering powers are ineffective to Player Characters unless they are willing participants. With that in mind, Telepathy and memory erasure still works though for some reason, as well as physical possession when only their total physical faculties are taken over.
Thank you very much.
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C) Additional Familiar Abilities (MEV version):
Notes regarding Additional Familiar Abilities:
>While all Familiar Abilities cost Spiritas to acquire, like a Wizard to Mystica, acquiring an Ability does not spend up the Wizard’s Spirits, just take it out of use for everything else.
>Familiar Abilities that cost Mysticas do actually drain them from the Familiar’s own reserve. Mysticas are regenerate at 2 per hour of complete rest.
>Change of features are permanent physical change of the Familiar after acquiring the ability.
Metamorphosis
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
The familiar can transform into other common forms. The form can be of any animal of any Size, or it can be a generic human being, or even duplicate of someone else.
An Aura check must be made each time when the change is complete. Failure will mean that the change is odd in places, or there are some tell-tale signs remain that tells of the Familiar’s unnatural nature.
Familiar only have access to its Inherent and Merged Familiar Abilities when in morph, will not gain the new forms’ Aptitudes, Animal Abilities or expertise, and will retain all wounds and hurts when original form is reverted.
Spiritas need to acquire: 5/form.
Mysticas need to use: 2/10 minutes.
Activation:
(10-Aura) round of concentration
Duration: By Mystica
Change of features: None
Breath of Force
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
The familiar can breathe blasts of elements or raw force of magic that is potentially lethal.
Spiritas need to acquire: 4
Mysticas need to use:
2/d6 worth of damage up to Aura limit.
4/LR up to Aura limit.
Activation: Instantaneous
Duration: Instantaneous
Change of basic features:
A more pronounce maw and hotter breath.
Insubstantial
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
Familiar can temporarily becomes an abstract existence, losing the substantiality of the physical self for a short duration. Just Don’t get stuck inside something solid coming out.
Spiritas need to acquire: 8
Mysticas need to use: 6/minute
Activation: 1 round focus
Duration: By Mystica
Change of basic features:
Pelt and skin becomes lighter and more etheric.
True Claws
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
The Familiar can kill any magically protected or insubstantial enemies and spirits, as if they are flesh and blood with no magical protection. Against Ethereal Spirits use the Spirit Bind spell effect table to determine the power level of the enemy. A roll of simple 3DE at equal result will banish it, and rolling above will kill it. Also add 2 LR to the Familiar's physical attack.
Spiritas need to acquire: 8
Mysticas need to use: 3
Activation: Instanteous
Duration: 1 Aura Strike
Change of basic features:
Claws and teethes now have a metal-like sheen..
Aura of Command
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
Familiar has an overwhelming presence that allows it to command other animals of same species, or another species of smaller size at Simple difficulty. Commanding another species of animals equal in size, or multiple animals are Tricky. Commanding larger predatory creatures will be Tough to Insane.
This power does not have a duration. How long this last depends on the wish of the Familiar in relation to the creature’s will. This doesn't work on Humans or Familiars, though they will surely take notice of its strong radiance.
Spiritas need to acquire: 5
Mysticas need to use: 10
Activation: Instanteous
Duration: Special
Change of basic features:
Familiar will always radiates a sense of quiet majesty.
Aura Sense
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
Familiar can sense the use of magic nearby and its power rank. Can also see enchantments, supernatural creatures and tampering by magic.
Spiritas need to acquire: 3
Mysticas need to use: 0
Activation: Always
Duration: Always
Change of basic features:
The Familiar’s corneas are paler than usual.
Conduit
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
Familiar can be use as remote "turret" for its wizard, in that any spells casted can be activate from the location of the Familiar instead of the wizard.
Spiritas need to acquire: 2
Mysticas need to use: +1 per spell
Activation: 1 round delay
Duration: as spell
Change of basic features:
Familiar’s pelt will spike up during activation.
Shared Nature
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
Familiar can temporarily loan its Animal Abilities to the Wizard.
Spiritas need to acquire: 3
Mysticas need to use: 2/5 minutes
Activation: 1 minute “shifting”
Duration: as Mystica
Change of basic features:
Familiar gets a strange resemblance to the Wizard.
True Communication
Ability Type: Acquired
Description:
The Familiar can now physically “speaks” to any and all beings, with the “listener” understanding it in its most fluent “language”.
Spiritas need to acquire: 1
Mysticas need to use: 0
Activation: Always
Duration: Always
Change of basic features:
Familiar’s face seems somewhat more human.
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D) Common Weaponary List:
Sample Melee Weapons:
Weapon Lethality Rating ** Vitas Damage
*Mace 0 0
Letter opener 1 +1
Switchblades 2 +2
Brass Knuckles 1 +3
Nunchuku 0 +2
Tonfas 0 +3
Rocks 2 +4
Baseball Bats 2 +5
Military Knives 3 +4
Fencing Swords 4 +5
Anarchic Swords 5 +6
Axes & Chainsaws 6 +8
*Mace is a non-damaging weapon that causes 1d6 round of nausea, where the target’s Perception is functionally reduced to 0 and other attributes halved for the duration. (2020 notes: I made this before Mace was a common thing okay? v=3=v )
**Except for Mace, all 0 LR weapons (including unarm fist attacks) does 1 LR damage against a target with neither Vitas nor CR.
Sample Protective Armors:
Armor Reflex Penalty Coverage Rating Armor Vitas
Lined Vest 0 1 range/3 melee 20
Bulletproof Vest -1 3 40
Riot Gear -2 5 60
*Riot Shield -1 +2 30
*While other Protective Gears cannot be use with each other, a riot shield is treated as extra protection at the cost of -2 to attack. Other large flat objects can also double as a Riot Shield, but will either have only half the Vitas (15) or twice the penalties (-2).
Sample Range Weapons:
Weapon Lethality Rating Vitas Damage
Taser* 0 0
Net Gun** 0 0
Knives*** (Thrown) 2 +3
Rocks *** (Thrown) 3 +5
Bows*** 4 +1d
Spear Gun 3 +1d
Crossbow 5 +2d
Pistols 4 +6
Hunting Rifles 5 +8
Assault Rifles 6 +10
Grenades # 7 +15
Explosives # 10 +20
Bazookas # 15 +30
*Taser is a non-damaging weapon that causes 1d6 round of stunning… Unless the target has breathing or heart conditions, which the Taser will have a 3/6 chance of causing potentially lethal seizure. Repeating hitting of a Taser in a short duration always have a 2/6 chance of causing potentially lethal seizures regardless of physical condition.
**Net gun is a non-damaging weapon that traps the target and requires either 3 consecutively successful 3DE Physique or Reflex check at Tricky difficulty to get free of, or cutting it away with something sharp in a round.
***Thrown Knives, Rocks and Bows always use the worst effort as Strike, unless the character has Expertise in it.
#Grenades, Explosives and Bazooka will also hit everyone engaged in melee combat with the target.
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4. Notable Factions of the Mystic World
1) The Advisory Council
Possibly the only faction in the magic society that can be seen as the governing body of all Wizards and Familiars and all things supernatural, they Were formed back in the Dark Ages. A time when the number of Lost Ones and Evil Wizards were at an all times high. Someone eventually decided that the way of Magic is interfering too much with how mundane people lived, and they set out to correct that mistake once and for all.
Their group and edicts remain unchanged to this day. By keeping the world of magic and mundane separate, and limit the interactive between the two to an absolute minimum, they successfully nurture both society to blossom without interference from the other side of the coin. Though it is never officially stated, most Wizards will follow their lead and listen to their edicts as laws. They are also in cordial relationship with every major powers and governments in this world, who recognize the benefits of keeping the unstable factor of Magic out of daily dealings.
The Advisory Council is exactly that, a council of experienced Wizards, world-weary Familiars, mundane who are wise to the ways of Magic, and other intelligent beings who even for their inhumanity is still a part of the world. Through negotiations and debates they strive to always make correct decisions that, while might not be always good and just, will still benefit everybody to the maximum extent possible.
Apart from the Council, there are also sub-branch of the Order: The messengers who send out the will and edicts of the Council. The sages who research and advance the lore in their giant underground library. The Monster Busters who take care of magical situations. And the dealers who interact with the world powers, find and help new Wizards and Familiars, and eliminate the evidence of magic in the mundane society. In scale of martial prowess they are only slightly behind the Winterbornes, but their prestige is such that on a pinch other neutral factions would probably help balance the scale.
The current central leaders in the council are: Amat, a Transcended Wizard over a millennia in age. His Familiar The White Dragon Qu-oh. Losanna, Queen of the Fair Folks. Manchalis, a frail old man and Lost One. And finally, Eric "Fatso" Friday, a used car salesman in Manchester and probably the smartest and happiest man alive.
2) The Winterbornes
Actual master of the world in every way but name, the Winterbornes were once a small, struggling family that almost didn't make it past winter so many centuries ago. But one day during a futile foray for food, the youngest son of the family found a Lion, prowling in the snowfield alone.
Now the Winterbornes are the head of a mega-industrial, whose business reach every corner of the world and is involve in every type of business imaginable, and whose powers rival those of the top nations in this world.
It was all because of the Lion that become the true head of the family, so many years ago. By swearing fealty to it, they have gain an ally whose power is simply beyond nature, and who is smarter and more shrewd than the most devious moneychanger. Following the word of the Lion who call himself Extinguis, the Winterborne family has nothing but amazing luck.
For Extinguis, this is but a chance meeting that turns out to be more profitable than he ever imagined. An entity that exist long before the rise of civilization, from a simple predator he became one of the first Familiars in mutual partnership. Then as the days go on, began to understand more and more of the hearts and minds of those frail weaklings that, impossible as it might seemed, had managed to climb high up the food chain. By hoarding power because it is in his instinct to do so, he switch Wizards like old rags and keep on learning and devouring, until one day when he discover that he is on the path to Transcendence.
He Fell, intentionally, because he had no interest of ever leaving this world: He only wanted to own it.
Over the millennia he did many things: Helped the downfall of a great empire and the rise of a religion, and then abandoned it all to a bleak Dark Age because it got out of his hands. Became the pet of kings and subtly affected them to become power-hungry despots. Killing weaker Wizards and Familiars to devour their powers. On that snowy morning he was just planning on a quick snack, but then he saw the potential in young Winterborne, and then the saturation of potentials in the Winterborne family in general, the idea of unlimited Wizards for his personal use, forever, just popped into his head.
Now he literally owns almost a quarter of the world, can get anything he wants, and is so powerful that even The Advisory Council have to listen to him.
And right now he is just about to take more.
The power of the Winterborne comes from both mundane and supernatural: The peacekeeping service they offer means they can maintain their own standing army. Their industrial-complexes keep the army equipped with the best equipment, and both above- and underhand dealings to all walks of life give them multiple solutions to solve any problems. In the area of magic, Extinguis enforce a strict selective breeding programs to all his minions and offspring, just to maximize the birth of children with potentials. It is so successful that he now has a sizable, devote followings of powerful Winterborne offspring and Lion Familiars at his beak and call. Without mentioning his perfect Lion Physique, Extinguis by himself is already a powerful Wizard/Familiar enough to give even Amat of the Advisory Council or Greene of the Wild packs trouble, and they already represent the highest echelon of Wizards in the world. The most dangerous part of Extinguis though, are his schemes and plotting. Some of his schemes can last for centuries, and might be hidden under layers and layers or truth and lies that most of the times it’s hard to be sure if he is the one who started it in the first place.
3) The Wild Pack
The relationship between a Wizard and a familiar is an extremely close one, yet there are some people who can go beyond even that. The Wild Pack is one such who choose to abandon the world of humanity, and retreat into the forest the live as their Familiars do.
While most of them bear no ill will towards the Human world, they no longer miss the trappings of human technologies. Running wild with their packs, wearing only handcrafted shirts and leggings, living under the stars and be as their Familiars be, they are the few humans who really become one with nature. For them the outside world and the dealings in the magic circle in like a dream of yesterday, once remembered but soon forgotten.
They rarely gather in groups, as most prefer to run with the pack their Familiar belongs to. But there still is a certain structure of authority: Everyone looks to Greene, a Transcended One who's been in the wild for so long that sometimes people can't understand half the English he use. A few other old hands are also scattered around ready to help out. In environmental-related situations they usually would not go violent immediately, but they will talk things out with any potential logger and try to reason out a mutual solution. Firestarters though will be treated with maximum hostility. Being a member of the forest, they are also in good relation with intelligence other than the Familiars.
Even when their numbers are small, on an individual level they are still quite powerful, and there are more Transcended Ones from the Wild Pack than any other factions.
4) The Synthers
Fact is: Nobody knows much about the Synthers.
And also: What little people know is bad enough to never get involve with them, ever.
They seem to be the Wizard's answer to luddites: Extreme Human-Supremacists who aggressively hate every kind of magic or technologies that doesn't follow their strictly defined codes.
And they hate animals, and see Familiars and evil mutants, or the spawn of Satan coming to lead the devoted astray.
Without Familiars, humans are not meant to use Magic at all. Yet amazingly, the Synthers find a way: Midnight rituals fill with mostly senseless gibberish plus large helping sex and violence, where extraordinary amounts of mind-altering substances are used without a care. But the worst of the worst is: Instead of animal Familiars, they use mentally unstable or borderline-intelligent human beings as magic conduits, and put them through hellish tortures to bleed the maximum amount of magic from their bodies to the last drop.
Their victims don't usually survive the ordeal, but they will prolong it for as long as possible.
They are vampires of magic, of the most evil, diseased kind.
The only cult that is actively hunted by The Advisory Council, over the years they have developed their own system of hiding and tracking down potential supernatural. Usually gather in hidden basements, presumed "Locations of Power", and madhouses where they gather most of their victims, they fight their "Crusade for Humanity" by hunting down and killing lone Familiars whenever they have a chance.
The leader of the Synthers is "Mighty" Joe Stanley, a mild mannered, plain-looking man who always dress in comfortable marine-blue business suits and thick glasses. Only when he is making one of his speeches when his passion and dedication on the destruction of all the "Evil Ways" show his true color.
Strangely enough, Stanley is the happy owner of two white normal Labradors, nobody has ever seen him perform magic, and his aura is for some reason unreadable. All the heavy works he leaves for his lieutenants, Bobba and Jumbo, two burly men and individually expert in magical curses and explosions.
5) The Dolittles
This is the pet lover's club, the Garfields and Johns of Wizards. Loosely organized, with no official ways of recording its members, their emphasis seems to be just "having a talking pet is cool" and that's it. Other than the barest of Task spells they almost never do much of any magic, but their Annual Talent Show/Grooming Workshop is an event that few Wizards and even some Mundane pet owners in the know will give an arm and a leg not to miss.
On the other hand, their advice on caring and problems with Familiars are better than even those of the Advisory Council's. This little fact is the lifesaver for many beginning Wizards/Familiars, so much that the head of Dolittles, Madame Mira Agnes, is the one who gets owed the most favors in the Magic circle.
Their motto is: "I love my Familiar. You should too."
6) Transcended Ones and the Lost Ones
Transcended Ones are animals and wizards who, after years of study and practice as well as use of highly complex arcane rituals, manage to go beyond their innate abilities and constrains to merge as one, in order to become true entities of magic. There are not many Transcended Ones around, as it requires exceptional amount of skill and not just a little luck to become one. Also the further they go, the less they resemble beings native to this world, until at the end when they gain the ability to go beyond fundamental laws of nature at will, almost all of them will leave this constrictive shell of a world to seek out higher enlightenment.
Great beasts form old lore like Leviathan, Kraken, Yatagarasu, Yacumama, Tiamat, Dragons, The Chinese Serpents and Kirin seems to be some of the Transcended Familiars recorded in history.
And then there are also Beasts and Humans who, while seeking the ways to Transcend beyond, had followed the wrong path and become fallen and lost. No longer a part of this world but still cannot escape its entrapment, they are driven insane and all their original passion now become pure and simple hated for this world and everything within it. Manticores and Spinax, Griffins and Gorgons and Tao Tie and Yamata no Orochi. The legendary monsters in the old lore are all once normal humans and animals just like everybody else, but twisted by misuse of magic. Strange appearances that science cannot explain and most dismiss today there are tales of the Mothman, of Jumping jack Flash and even the Sasquatch as myths or hoaxes.
There are many ways to become Transcended, but even more pathway lead to the fallen Lost. None of the few methods recorded seems to work though, as the pathway to become Transcended is highly personalized and must come from the core of one's self. No matter the method, it will take centuries of dedication to even discover the first step to the path, and the vast majority of wizards and familiars out there are just not interested in this anyway, as they are already more powerful than most everybody else in a sense, and most of what they wish for is already achievable with the amount of power they wield right now. Still, from time to time there will be a couple or two who gets interested, and in rare cases that means the birth of a new Transcended One... or a new monster of the Lost. Either ways a source of enormous powers that might help or harm the world and all life on it.
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Possible plot hooks and ideas:
1) Conspiracy A(nimals): Council of the Wild
♩The animals are plotting. ♩
♪The animals are plotting. ♪
♪The animals are plotting. ♪
♫To take over the world~~~~!!!♫
Humankind has been the top of the food chain for so long that we are getting to be laid back and careless, taking things for granted and wasting the earth's resource like there is no tomorrow. Mother Nature is one tough accountant when it comes to balancing the checkbook though, and the surge of Familiar appearance in the past decades might not be the coincidence that it seems...
Stupid crow! Get away from the window!
Have you ever get the feeling that, if the animals were in charge, we'd have a whole different world right now? Nobody can really know for sure as it been so long since the age of dinosaurs, but the animals are willing the have a go at it...
Man, not again! Shooo! Be off with you!
Where did Ebola come from? Or AIDS? Or Avian Flu and a whole new surge of strange and lethal new diseases that are coming out by the dozen nowadays? All from the animals, and all natural --- But still it makes you wonder if the beavers are hiding a biolab under that big pile of logs, or if the nests of birds are in fact hidden stash for Weapons of Mankind Devastations ...
Come ON. Not another one!
The animals are plotting. You can see from the flight of birds that are practicing their perfect V, bombing formation just right for precision bombing. And have you notice rats in places you're not supposed to find them? And where are all the wild dogs on the street? The animal catchers can't be THAT good, you know...
That's it! I'm going to get you for this you stupid bird!
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ahhhhh. Finally. All quiet down.
Back to business at hand: The animals are out to get us, and we have to be blind to not take notice of it. But there is still an Ace in the hole for us: Not all animals agree with that decision. Most housedogs, for example. "Man's Best Friend" indeed. And the cats. Without humans to slave after them and clean the kitten litter, they'll have to actually hunt for a change... The cats and dogs are with us, and a few others too. And most Wizards and Familiars are either on our side or planning to sit it out, so we still have a fighting chance at least.
We have to act now, to show the animals out there who the real boss is. So pick up your arms, bring that favorite hunting cap of yours (with the lucky REAL rabbit foot too if you want), and LET'S DO OPEN SEASON!
... Is it getting dark outside already? This is half past noon for crying out loud...
Uh. Oh.
2) Conspiracy M(agics): The Rule of Mages
The Mages are out there. We just never see them for what they are.
Have you ever wonder that: For a world that is supposed to be all logical and scientific, where everything have a rational and normal explanation, so many WEIRD things are happening every day?
Fact is that magic is alive and well. The facades of technology that exist in this world are just that, a facade behind which the power of magic runs the meat of the works and fuel the core of the human society. You know what's really inside a nuclear reactor? Don't believe all that nuclear reaction and uranium crap. Inside that three solid feet of concrete is actually a small, cozy room for a man and his little puppy: The perfect combination of a Wizard and his Familiar.
So the Wizards are the real rulers of our world. That doesn't mean every Wizard is equally sharing that rulership, or that every Wizard is equally fit to rule. Disgruntled Wizards who never have a chance for glory because they aren't team players, Larger-than-life megalomaniacs that abuse their powers and responsibilities, and people who aren't Wizards and hate the current regiment amount the many others, and that is only from the human side of things.
It might be an absolute dictatorship, but it is not without its weaknesses. A smart person, be him Wizard or Mundane, might just be in a position to take advantage of it.
So, are you with it or against it?
3) The Misfits
Animals talk. To you.
And life turns upside down from that moment on.
Yesterday you are just living your normal life, taking it as it comes and dishing out when you need to; today you are waist deep in all that Magic, Wizard, Familiar... Fairytale stuffs, really.
The feeling of being in waaaaay over your head is getting stronger by the minute.
So, you're a Wizard. And that furball licking its claws and smiling the evil Cheshire Cat smile? That's your Familiar. What is it again? A legacy from your weird uncle that people would kill to get their hands on? Or is it some lost treasure map that you turn out to be the key to retrieve it? Or is it something about a mystical Mafia? Whatever. Your brain is just too mess up right now to think about it. The important thing this to not let anybody else know about your condition, or that fireball thing you can suddenly do just by finger snapping but still can't get a handle on... If people even suspect, you can be sent to a madhouse, taken to Roswell. Heck, even a modern day witch trial doesn't feel so surreal right now. Being hunt down by some mysterious fellowship seems to be the least of your trouble right now.
"Real life" just suddenly feels so strangely far away...
4) Monster Buster Mythhunters
With hard work, perseverance, and more than a little luck, a Wizard can Transcend to boundary of mortals and step into the world of Godhood. Those who succeed are forever remembered in songs and legends.
There are quite a few who never get to the Godhood part of things though. Those are also remembered in songs and legends, but theirs are the bad ones. Monsters, Demons and Boogiemans with their tales of terror and wicked deeds. There were once a time when people are afraid to step out of their house even in bright sunlight. That was how much they are afraid of the Fallen and Lost Wizards, back in the olden days.
What caused by Wizards can only be solved by Wizards. The Advisory Council, a group of old and powerful Wizards is the one with eventually solve that problem back hunting down every Lost ones they can get their hands on.
Mundane people have almost no defense against Magic, so The Advisory Council try their best to keep Magic hidden and unknown.
A Wizard wields enormous power, so The Advisory Council will advice the Wizards of their responsibility to the rest of Humankind. Sometimes by force if necessary.
A Wizard should be responsible for the action of his brethren, so The Advisory Council take upon themselves to handle any and all outbreak of Lost ones.
And you are one of the handlers in their employ.
You might be a budding Wizard with power, a Familiar who enjoys the thrill of the hunt, or a man of modern days gifted with the leading edge of technology, or maybe just a pair of steady hands who can still manage to hold on to your lunch and bladder when face to face with a Bull-headed monster that is at least 10 feet tall and looks way too hungry.
You kill monsters. That is what you do. Everyone dies eventually, but you get to do it with guns blazing and charging straight on. Heck, you did that already and you’re still here.
See the world, shoot a winged snake. Be a Monster Buster.
5) The Lion that is King
He is known as Extinguis, and his Minions are the Winterbornes.
He is a Lion, a Familiar, and a Lost One who have been on this world for thousands of years. His Lost is totally intentional, and that makes him the most dangerous of them all.
He is the true power behind the Winterborne Corporation, a mega-industrial that span the world and is involve in every type of business imaginable. The Winterbornes is a force to be reckon with, whose powers rival those of the top nations in this world. In the society of Magic, Extinguis is known as someone who you always want to be on the good side of.
He is power, in every sense of the word. Still this is not good enough for him. Still he hungers for more power.
Schemes set in motion over the millennia is now in place. Finally Extinguis is ready to take over. If he succeed, both the worlds of Mundane and Magic will be in his grasp, forever.
Extinguis will not be a good ruler. Under his rule there will only be eternal toil and suffering, only to feed his infinite thirst for power and control.
This is the last chance for someone, anyone, to take a stand.
Are you ready?
6) Living with the animals
Garfield really walks and talks like an orange fat midget, Dogbert is really Dogbert, and the Muppet show isn't about dolls but real animals in Muppet suits. When you talk to the animals and they talk back, reality is jumping out of the window and calling a cab to the nearest airport.
But there's no conspiracy, no monsters, and no real dangers of any kind. You're just literally "living with the animals". A sitcom-style campaign where the plot is suppose to be silly, reaction should be over the top, and the credit is rolling, no real harm is done. (Except for your next door neighbor whose always trying to catch your animals "in a funny moment" and cash in with it, but this time Boyo manage to foil his scheme and leave a pile in his toupee again.)
7) Ole MacDonald lost his farm. EeeOuu! EeeOuu! EeeOuu!
(ie. The Animal-only campaign)
Ole MacDonald is just too nice a man to be a good farmer. Except old fashion fences and walls there are no traps, no pesticides, not even barbed wire on his farm. While other farmers treated nearly all wild animals as pests to be killed on sight, Ole MacDonald with his heart of gold just can't bear to hurt those cute little bunny rabbits that keep digging holes in his farms and wrecking his fields.
You know what he is doing, because as it goes you are a lot smarter than other animals, more perceptive and understanding of the human ways for some reason. Mother nature is a harsh mistress, and Darwin's rule is the law, but you do try to help him out when it is possible by trying to take only what's absolute necessary and keeping damage to a minimum.
But the humans seem to be falling on hard times in general. Today you just discover that Ole MacDonald is on the verge of losing his farm, and to a big, fat, smelly pig of a man who radiates evil from head to toe. And the guy's trying to clear the forest and build something call an "Outlet Mall" no less.
Both Ole MacDonald's livelihood and your forest home are at stake. Think you are up to do something about it?