The Art of Wands
From Summoner
Contents |
South-Facing Compass (O)
The first step to a successful exploration is to know your way home. Through the use of a divining rod, ranging from an unwieldy tent pole to the tiny pointer of compass, the Summoner gains an instinctual understanding of the direction of someplace "safe" within the Mirror, or places touched by its influence.
Once this Art is purchased, the Summoner is treated as having a Direction Sense for the World. This amounts to very little when the Summoner is actually in the world, but may prove invaluable when somewhere else. Due to the nature of the Mirror, this is by no means a guaranteed escape, since space and perception warp as freely as air moves about. This power, however, grants the Summoner a roll of Wits + Composure + Wands to orient himself to some sort of stable pattern or pathway.
Lastly, whenever the Summoner walks into the presence of the Mirror's influence, he will know it, if only because he will have a sense of where the World is...instead of being fairly certain he's in it.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure + Wands
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Summoner has stumbled into a truly deadly patch, and finds its center (usually alive, aware, and of varying gentleness) more "real" than the World.
Failure: No successes are garnered, and it is difficult to know more than the vaguest sense that the World is 'out there' somewhere.
Success: The Summoner succeeds in getting his bearings, and can chart a rough course towards his destination by instinct.
Exceptional Success: Not only does the Summoner gain an idea of the easiest ways out, the Summoner gains a general idea of where dangerous places may be, granting a +3 bonus to deal with ambushes or environmental factors.
Spectral Analysis (OO)
The Three of Wands speaks of a goal, an ambition, or a journey. It speaks of a goal achieved, and to the Peasants, a goal achieved is knowledge won or stolen. And, more of than not, a little knowledge can get them a long way towards their aims. Spectral Analysis gives the Summoner an innate understanding of the traits, meanings, and threats of demons and Mirror things. It is far from encyclopedic, but in a pinch, sometimes knowing about a being's tendency to breathe fire and devour children may come in handy.
With a moment's focus, the Summoner submits his own Ego to the impressions of his target, letting that power cast a shadow onto the canvas of his perceptions. From there, he can draw a mental shape, and gain impressions from it. A rare few Wand Peasants are rumored to be able to do soul paintings, artworks that reveal a great deal to those with the eyes to read them.
Cost: 1 Id
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Investigation + Wands - Finesse
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Summoner gets false impressions about the being he's scanning, beguiling lies written into the demon or location's nature.
Failure: The Peasant stares really hard and might get a bit of eyestrain.
Success:The Summoner gains insight into the nature of the demon. He may ask one question per success, from the following: Is the demon more or less powerful than myself(Ego-wise)? Roughly how much Power, Finesse, or Resistance does the demon have? What sort of Influences or Numina does the demon possess? What is one of its strengths? (Two successes) What is one of its weaknesses? What is its immediate goal? Questions towards more complicated things of Ego or more esoteric questions are left to Storyteller discretion.
Exceptional Success: As with a normal success, except that the Summoner also may ignore up to his own Ego of the subject's Defense if events come to blows. He knows how the subject will react to his every move.
Suggested Modifiers
| Modifier | Situation |
|---|---|
| +2 | The demon's Arcanum matches one of the Summoner's affinities. |
| +1 | The Summoner wields a prepared "Wand" of some sort, which must be at least vaguely blunt and stick-like |
| -2 | The Demon is currently in Twilight or possessing a person, animal, or object. |
Man is an Island (OOO)
The Five of Wands speaks of challenges and competion, struggles to be overcome on the road to success. The Wand Peasants, though less fond of the card nomenclature than others with their Art, can take enough of a lesson from this card to put its power to use. Some battles must be fought, and it can be a hard road. But with perseverance, the day can be won.
Channeling raw Ego through the symbol of a 'wand', though this symbol can truly vary, the Summoner creates a haze or heaviness about herself. In that place, they are more 'real' than reality, and everything else is somehow lessened. Mortals find it difficult to breathe, nauseating, and may suffer a single level of bashing damage should they fail a Resolve + Stamina roll. The true effect of this field is when supernatural dangers present themselves, however.
The wave of being creates an island of stability, forcing supernatural effects to take heed. Against powers that seek to warp the body, control the emotions, or bend the mind of the Summoner, she gains a bonus equal to the successes on the power's activation as long as the aura is in effect. This bonus can apply either to contested rolls as a bonus to the Summoner, or to increase the penalties caused by a Resistance trait to an opponent's roll.
This power remains for a single scene, or as long the Summoner continues to possess the 'wand' used, whichever is shorter. Using this power without such an implement costs a point of Willpower. The effective radius is equal to a number of yards equal to the Summoner's Ego + Wands. Physical powers than emanate from beyond the field are not diminished. Any offensive actions on the Summoner's part, or on the part of an Alter Self, ends the power.
Cost: 1 Id
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Wands
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character's Ego fails to exert itself, and tires. He loses a point of Willpower.
Failure: The Summoner cannot muster a strong enough aura to protect himself, but mortal are still uneasy and even sickened.
Success: The Summoner creates an island of stability and self, protecting himself from outside harm.
Exceptional Success: Not only is the defense strong, but mortals must succeed in a roll of Resolve + Stamina to remain conscious if caught for more than a round within the knee-buckling presence. This roll, once made, allows them to function, but at a -2 penalty to all rolls.
Get Thee Behind (OOOO)
The biggest problem that a traveler can run into in the realms of the Mirror is a demon that they cannot escape. Perhaps as a reaction to this problem, this Art was developed. The Summoner makes a metaphorical and metaphysical 'strike' against the Ego of a troublesome demon or place, and forces it to flee or cow in (temporary) submission. Carnivorous lockers shut and shake. Demons flee as fast as their heels, pseudopodia, or broken wings can carry them. And the Peasant is usually running in the opposite direction, since the power is notoriously short-lived.
By making a threatening gesture and a meaningful invocation or call, the Summoner gives the Ego of their subject an impression that they are inferior and small. Instincts override reason, and the subject is tempted to flee, if possible, and to avoid the Summoner if escape is not a choice. Only beings with some sort of supernatural presence can be so cowed, and the power gives them the impression that the Summoner is either a bearer or a personification of their particular bane.
Cost: 1 Id
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Subterfuge + Wands - Composure
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Not only is the subject not afraid, the subject is angry. They gain a +2 bonus to attacks against the Summoner for the scene.
Failure: The Summoner is unable to reach into the subject's Ego and send them running.
Success: The power makes the subject break and run for a number of turns equal to the Summoner's successes. They will still retain their Defense and run with a degree of intelligence, however, and can easily turn around once the power fades.
Exceptional Success: Something in the subject breaks. The subject will flee madly and blindly, without regard to anything but distance from the Summoner. Once the power fades, they will be exhausted, suffering a -2 to all rolls for the rest of the day. They also must roll their current Morality to avoid a mild derangement from the jolt.
Suggested Modifiers
| Modifier | Situation |
|---|---|
| +1 | The Summoner is bearing their prepared "Wand" |
| +2 | The Summoner is intimately aware of and has access to their target's weakness or supernatural bane. |
| -2 | The Summoner is unfamiliar with the creature he is dealing with, or has no idea what the creature's weakness may be. |
Through the Looking Glass (OOOOO)
Sometimes you just need to be somewhere else. Few facts are as true as when you find yourself in hostile territory and without friends, supplies, or rest: a position a Wand Peasant may find themselves in often. Their reputations as adventurers, travelers in strange climes, and occasionally, as cowards is perhaps earned by this Art, called the Eight of Wands by those who use such terms.
The Summoner casts Id into a nearby reflective surface, and dives into the Network, a constant stream that flows throughout the Mirror. Losing themselves briefly into the raw conduits of belief and doubt, they unmake themselves. Luckily, their point of reference, their 'wand', becomes the focal point of their Ego, allowing them to travel through this substance and out of another mirror. The Summoner may travel either to the nearest reflective surface outside of the Mirror's influence in that area, or if already in the World, they can travel up to their dots in the Art of Wands, multiplied by their Ego, in miles in an instant.
Of course, this method of travel isn't without its dangers. If the Summoner fails the roll to enact this power, they do indeed enter the Network. The problem is that they leave parts of themselves behind. They lose all but their Identity rating in points of Id, lose any points of Willpower, and suffer a level of aggravated damage as they force their being into shape.
Cost: 2 Id, 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Stamina + Wands
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: As with failure, but the Summoner also must immediately roll Identity with three dice, risking degeneration as normal. Part of the soul may be lost.
Failure: The Summoner loses parts of her being to the ravaging force of the Network.
Success: Diving out of the unknown, the Summoner returns to somewhere else.
Exceptional Success: As with a normal success, but the Summoner may pick up something...extra. He may heal a level of Health, regain a point of Willpower, or even a variable amount of Id. Depending on the circumstances, stranger things could occur...
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