The Art of Cups
From Summoner
Contents |
Needful Things (O)
The minor arcanum of cups represents emotion and fulfillment, and as such, grants insight and eventual entry into the hearts of others. But the first step in understanding the Cup is understanding what it means for a cup to be empty. This Art opens the Summoner's awareness to those who lack their normal spiritual strength. Not only can they sense the rough amount of Id a Summoner possesses, they also gain insight into the ravages of Devouring upon mortal souls. A soul that would instinctually wish to hide their heart gains a normal resistance to this power, otherwise the roll alone applies.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy + Cups, - Resolve if contested
Action: Reflexive
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Summoner loses an Id, spreading her Ego too thinly.
Failure: The impressions of fulfillment or lack thereof are too vague to muddle through.
Success: The Summoner gains insight into their target. If they are suffering from Devouring, the Summoner knows how much they have lost, and any derangements tied to the loss. In the case of a Summoner, they know a rough percentage of the Summoner's remaining Id.
Exceptional Success: The Summoner gains a keen insight into their target, gaining a +2 bonus to rolls of Empathy, Persuasion, Subterfuge, or Socialize with their subject.
Eros (OO)
The Four of Cups addresses grand opportunities offered from another. The Cup Clergy are sworn to restore the losses from incursions of the Mirror, and this power is one of their greatest weapons in that cause. Using some sort of vessel, from a water bottle to a golden chalice, they can pass on some of their own being to an Ego that is flagging and sputtering.
The Summoner focuses some of their Id into a liquid form, and pours it into the mouth of their charge. The flavor and substance of the liquid varies among Cup users, but the drink's nature should reflect the Summoner's Ego, Identity, or personality in some way. (A Page with a low identity may have a sharp, bloody-tasting concoction, while an easygoing Queen with the Gluttony flaw may create a sweet, wine-like beverage.
When a mortal drinks the substance, it heals any Devouring they may suffer, at a cost of one Id per lost Willpower dot. Any associated derangements fade immediately. When gifted to a being who can use Id, they gain the points normally if there is no Devouring damage on their souls. It has no effect, aside from nourishment and taste, to a mortal or other supernatural being without Devouring upon them.
Cost: 1 Id per swallow
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Anteros (OOO)
Steal Id from Demons...or do a bit of Devouring of your own.
Id is the energy that flows through a being, allowing it to 'do'. Some scholars, taking from psychoanalysis, call the positive nature of Id Eros, or life energy. With the Art of Cups, this Eros can be freely given. But what can be given, can then be taken away. Named as an allusion to the legends of Cupid's arrows, Anteros is a reversal of its predecessor, and a power many Cup Clergy prefer to avoid using...though some see it as a valuable tool in their work. The Five of Cups is often used as another nickname for the power, since it speaks of disappointment, misfortune, and regret, common emotions that flow in to replace the stolen Id.
Anteros requires a touch, but once that is established, the Summoner may sap the Id from a target. As long as the touch is maintained (which will likely require a grapple), the theft can be continued, at a rate equal to the Summoner's normal ability to spend Id. The subject knows that something important is being taken from them. Mortals feel a deep, spiritual hollowness. A Summoner knows when his Ego is being sapped, and will likely be unhappy about it.
Stealing Id counts towards the total amount of Id that can spend for that turn. If a being they drain is mortal and has no Id, they can instead engage in Devouring (to be explained in the Rules and Systems section). Such an act is a sin against Identity, and can leave terrible wounds in its wake. However, when a witness will not be silent, the psychological trauma of Devouring can be an effective means of discredit. A Summoner cannot be Devoured with this power.
Cost: 1 Willpower per scene
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
Thanatos (OOOO)
Id turned towards destruction is called Thanatos, or death energy, by Freudian psychoanalysts. While the concept is not as well regarded in academic circles, the Cup Clergy consider it an apt enough description of the nature of Id, when turned from a bulwark of definition into existential doubt and malice. The Seven of Cups speaks of directionlessness and loss of focus. Such a state is fatal to demons, and even a Summoner is not safe from a blow directly to their Ego.
Requiring a full turn's touch(which will almost certainly require a grapple in combat), the Summoner turns Id into Thanatos, effectively burning the power out of a demon or Summoner. Lacking a strong enough definition of self, mortals suffer Devouring from this power. A being with Id, however, feels their very Ego turned upon itself with barbs and vitriol, poisoned from within. They suffer a point of lethal damage per point of Id so transformed. A demon slain by this power does not discorporate. It simply ceases to be. Alter Selves discorporate as normal, however.
This power can also be used to poison a drink, but only retains its deadly potency for a single day. If convinced or tricked into drinking the substance, the power takes effect a turn after the drink is consumed. The activation roll is made when the poison is prepared.
Cost: 1 Id, 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Subterfuge + Cups - Composure
Action: Reflexive.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The baleful Art rebounds on its mastering, poisoning her Id. The Summoner will suffer a point of lethal damage each time they spend a point of Id, until they've had a night's rest and meditation.
Failure: The power fails to take hold, unable to overcome the subject's will.
Success:The subject's Id becomes tainted. A mortal immediately suffers the Summoner's successes in points of Devouring. A Summoner or demon loses that many points of Id and suffers that many points of lethal damage.
Exceptional Success: As with a normal success, except the damage becomes aggravated, tearing the soul apart.
Restoring Self (OOOOO)
The Cup Clergy, despite their own sometimes shady work and the constant background whispers, are primarily an order that seeks to heal the World. The Ten of Cups is a card that speaks of lasting happiness, fulfillment, and wholeness. It speaks of the contentment of love and friendship, and this power soothes a subject's being, filling them both in body and spirit.
The primary use of this power is to heal the wounds that demons do to the World. With a touch or an offered drink, the master of the Cup can heal broken beings, restoring them to a platonic definition. Wounds, diseases, weariness, or harm to a broken object - all things can be restored. Lost Health or Corpus can be restored at a rate of one point of bashing damage per success, one point to convert lethal to bashing, and three points to convert aggravated wounds into lethal ones. Restoring Willpower costs three success per point. Restoring lost points of Structure only cost a single success per point. Devouring, likewise, only takes one success per point. A Summoner can only use this power on themselves to heal lost Health, and cannot heal their own aggravated wounds.
It has been rumored that this power can be used to restore lost Identity, or to reverse harmful supernatural powers. Those are best left to Storyteller discretion, and should surely be a difficult act to perform, and not without some cost, be it in Id, Willpower, Health or mental trauma from the strain.
Lastly, a potion can be made, storing a number of successes equal to the Summoner's Ego, multiplied by their dots in the Art of Cups. However, to create such a drink an hour per roll. The brewing can be delayed for a night's rest, but little else.
Cost: 1 Willpower, plus 1 Id per roll
Dice Pool: Presence + Medicine + Cups
Action: Extended; each roll takes up one turn's focus. If brewing a point, each roll represent's an hour's meditative alchemy.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used again for a day.
Failure: The Summoner fails to gather successes, but the point of Id is still lost.
Success: Eros flows from the Summoner's flask, lips, or fingertips, sending restorative ideas and perspectives into the subject.
Exceptional Success: No additional benefit. A great number of successes are their own reward.
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