FrivYeti/EnliSavants
UNDERSTANDINGS: POWER OF THE SAVANTS
Creation runs on observable principles and interactions of differing types of Essence. In theory, those with the correct understanding could see the Essence flows that make up all things, and altering such Essence flows could allow nearly anything to happen. In practice, only the Primordials had the sort of power needed to make changes directly to flows of Essence, and even then only the greatest of them could make more than minor changes.
But the threads still exist, and every so often, a human is born who can perceive them. It is only in the vaguest sense, but these people can make guesses as to the makeup of reality. And making those guesses, they can create devices that change these interactions - effectively make slight (or in rare cases, major) changes to the way that reality works.
These people are the Savants. Each of them possesses the power to create Artifacts, potent devices that reinforce, alter, or break apart reality on a fundamental level. To the uninformed, their powers can seem like magic, or the mad spinnings of the Wyld, but they always depend on insanely convoluted combinations of natural laws that only the Savants themselves, and the greatest Primordials, can truly understand.
Mechanics
Mechanically, any player may choose to be a Savant by purchasing the Savant's Soul Understanding. This option will slightly limit a character's personal power, but will give them the ability to construct Artifacts. Savants must therefore have Crafts in order to construct artifacts. Most also have Lore and Occult in order to understand how their creations function; this is not actually necessary, however. Characters must also choose a Defect; see the Understandings section for more details.
When constructing Artifacts, the character must undergo the following process. All processes assume eight-hour work days, seven days a week; adjust accordingly for characters putting in overtime or only working part-time.
STEP 1: RESEARCH OR DESIGN</b>
This process is done in one of two ways.
RESEARCH: When Researching, the savant must have an existing artifact to study in order to create a rough copy. This is made more difficult due to the incredible amount of internalizing that savants do. The character rolls Intelligence + (the lowest of the appropriate Crafts, Lore, or Occult), with an external penalty equal to (Artifact Level -1), and must accumulate successes equal to (Artifact Level x2). This study process takes one week to accomplish per roll. Once a character has successfully researched an artifact, she may make as many copies of it as she wants forever. A botch at any time causes a dangerous flaw to enter the process, creating a dangerous Drawback which the character is unaware of. A character may Research devices with ratings up to their Kismet or relevant Crafts score, whichever is lower.
When a character researches someone else's artifacts, she may not use their innate Defects. Instead, she substitutes her own.
DESIGN: This process is more difficult, but more dependable. The character must design the artifact from scratch. The character must succeed at three Design rolls, each with an external penalty equal to the Artifact's level and requiring (Artifact Level +1) successes. The first roll may be Intelligence + Lore or Wits + (the appropriate Crafts), the second may be either Intelligence + Occult or Wits + (the appropriate Crafts), and the third must be Intelligence + the appropriate Crafts. If the character uses Crafts in place of either Lore or Occult, she does not actually understand the device that she creates, and will be unable to create it a second time without Researching it. Many uneducated Savants suffer from this problem. As with Research, each roll requires one week of work. A botch at any time introduces a dangerous Drawback to the process, which the character is unaware of. Note that the character may not apply successes from one roll to another. A character may Design devices of up to their (Kismet or relevant Crafts score) -1, whichever is lower. They may always Design Level 1 Artifacts, even at Kismet or Crafts 1.
<b>STEP TWO: CONSTRUCTION</b>
Once design is complete, the character may begin construction. This requires a Resources expenditure equal to the level of the Artifact being constructed. For large Artifacts, this expenditure must be paid twice, and for massive ones, it must be paid four times. In addition, large and massive Artifacts require a work crew, or else construction is badly delayed. This work crew must roll (Intelligence + Crafts), adding two successes for each dot of Magnitude they have, and score 6 successes for a large Artifact, or 10 for a massive one. However, there is a maximum Magnitude that can be applied - Magnitude 2 for a Large artifact, and Magnitude 4 for a Massive one. Each success that the roll fails by increases the time multiplier for that construction roll by 1. Note that a lone character is considered to be Magnitude 0 for this effect; it is thus theoretically possible for them to succeed on these rolls, but unlikely.
The actual roll is Intelligence + (the appropriate Crafts), with an external penalty equal to the Artifact's rating. The interval for each roll is a a number of weeks equal to (Artifact Level). Large Artifacts increase this to Artifact Level x3, and Massive ones to x5. The character must accumulate a total of 10 successes to create an Artifact 1, 25 successes for an Artifact 2, 50 successes for an Artifact 3, 100 successes for an Artifact 4, 200 successes for an Artifact 5, and 500 successes for an Artifact 6.
Understandings
If this were the sum total of the system, artifacts would never be created; the cost and time to make them is simply prohibitive. However, skilled Savants learn to manipulate their world, speeding construction time and power, and finding a myriad of tricks for dealing with things. These specialized Knacks are called 'Understandings'. Understandings are purchased identically to other Knacks, and therefore cut into a character's total capabilities, but greatly expand her constructing power.
Construction Understandings - The baseline Understandings, they aid with direct constructive power.
Research Understandings - These Understandings help a Savant design new devices quickly and easily.
Rapidity Understandings - These Understandings work to reduce how long a character must work on her devices.
Efficiency Understandings - These Understandings help a character make the most out of the least.
Comments
Quick, anyone who has ideas for Understandings that I may have overlooked, write them here. I've only got 15 of the things, and there should really be more, I feel like. Think of things that help Savants get increasingly esoteric. Pretty please? - FrivYeti
