Difference between revisions of "Nekomimi-Maiden/AstrologyRewrite"

Revision as of 20:19, 25 February 2010

Sidereal Astrology Rewrite

Astrology, as-written in the books, is a mechanic with two primary flaws. It is incredibly difficult to use and severely subject to the whims of chance even with ridiculously large pools in what you can control, requiring a great many rolls, chart references, considerations of size and ability, so on and so forth... and the benefit is incredibly miniscule for the experience investment required to become competent at it. A third flaw could be claimed, that it creates a single set of abilities every single Sidereal must train in - Performance and Occult with particular requirements - in order to have a chance at making any sort of destiny.

In an effort to simplify the process into something that can be done in the short-term with a modicum of effort, and creating extensive long-term fateweaving without requiring the massive investment of charms and abilities, I have [with admitted taking of inspiration from Raksha Shaping Combat] created the following system. Ignore all costs for astrology written in the books, they are being revised as follows.

Character Creation
A Sidereal receives access to the Colleges related to her Maiden's purview at character creation, as well as two additional Colleges if she is not Ronin. Colleges are not ranked; a Sidereal either has gained access to the astrological constellation of the Spear, or has not. Colleges cost 2bp, or 1bp if favored.
A Sidereal receives at character creation two of the eight Providences [MoEP: Sidereals, p191], the forms which astrology takes, and the ability to create Resplendent Destinies. Providences cost 3bp apiece.
Like Knacks are for Lunars, Colleges and Providences are an innate function of the Sidereal Exaltation, and may not be learned through the anima ability of the Eclipse Caste and its' mirrors.

System
Using a Providence in the short term requires a roll of Essence+College Ability as a Miscellaneous Action [Spd 5, DV -1] taking the form of a Shaping effect against the fate of the target. This is a noncharm action, allowing the use of Excellencies relevant to the ability in question. The difficulty is equal to the Essence rating of the target, +1 for any short-term astrology effects currently affecting them [a blessing or curse laid previously in the scene, by you or another Sidereal]. Success indicates that the destiny manifests as a Shaping effect, and the Sidereal checks for Paradox (see Paradox, below). Due to targeting Fate rather than the subject themselves, normal preventative measures against Shaping such as Integrity Protecting Prana and Lunar moonsilver tattoos do not prevent a destiny from being manifested on the target [I suggest the invention of a custom charm for Solars, Lunars, and Dragonblooded to allow an opposing roll]. Destiny Manifesting Method does require the listed stunt to create any astrological effect on the target without suffering the difficulty increase.

Upon successfully laying a providence upon a target, they can gain the benefit of a blessing [as a reflexive choice of theirs, in step 5 if in an attack] once per action, or suffer the penalty of a curse [reflexively chosen by the Sidereal, even if she is not involved in the attack] once an action.

In addition to the option for destinies appropriate to the Correlations entries for each College [MoEP: Sidereals, p195-206], a Sidereal may simplify the process of creating a Destiny by simply declaring a Specialty of the College's ability the curse or blessing applies to. For example, one might bless a Dragon-Blooded warrior's swordsmanship with an Artless Prodigy Blessing [Melee (Swords)], rather than trying to fit other correlations of "bravery, professionalism, training, taking initiative, lack of vision, tactics, skillfulness, competition" into something more immediately useful and easily adjudicated.

Creating an extended destiny intended to last beyond a single scene makes the shaping of destiny a dramatic action [5 long ticks, DV -1] and requires additional successes to determine the duration; as per Sidereals [p192]. but increasing the duration's cost by 1 point [therefore a destiny lasting one month requires 1 extra success, and so on]. If the subject of the destiny is not present, the Sidereal may "hold" it until they can eventually touch the target. The power of an extended destiny is similarly weakened as it lacks the devout attention of a pattern spider, working only once per scene. A single extra success increases it to [Target's Essence] times per scene. Someone benefitting from an extended blessing can call upon it reflexively when appropriate.

Resplendent Destinies are a special form of destiny; a Sidereal may define her Resplendent Destinies - their position and role in society, and so on - at any time, and redefine as needed when creating new identities; however, she may not 'switch it back' to a previous destiny's identity. Calling upon a Resplendency effect is a simple matter of "creating" them as if they were a Destiny, with a difficulty of 2 plus the Endurance cost. Any paradox a Resplendency effect inflicts is rolled and added to the standard pool upon successful invocation of the Resplendency. As they are functions of existing Destinies, invoking a Resplendency effect does not count against the destinies created in the scene for the purposes of paradox.

Paradox
Paradox is an expression of fate backlashing when the spiders are forced to hastily apply too much tugging and tweaking of the strands at a Sidereal's behest. The Sidereal's demands fray fate, and while the spiders are not inherently vindictive creatures, they do spend more time focusing on the requests of Destinies and less on the Sidereal's own thread. A Sidereal may successfully enact up to her Essence in Destinies in a single scene without risking Paradox. Every successful destiny over the limit adds one die to a Paradox pool, and immediately rolls the pool. Failure indicates the die is saved for the next successful Destiny. Success indicates a Curse destiny inflicted upon the Sidereal, of the ST's choice. These Curses last for the scene.

Experience
Access to a College costs 3xp, or 2xp if the ability tied to the college is favored. No skill in the college's ability is required, but it is helpful. [54xp total]
Providences cost 8xp apiece. [48xp]

Comments