ForeverLooming/HouseRules

Rules changes and additions for Forever Looming

Here's where I'll be posting the necessary changes to rules and additions for things not already covered in Exalted, to make life a little simpler for those playing in this heavily modified variant.

First, I'll cover the additions:

Domoria

A character's Domoria is the last soul to serve as Guardian to the character's Kara-tir or Kara-tar. It is, in effect, a second personality that takes up space in the character's head. Note that the Domoria has a Domoria of it's own, and so on, and so on, so the character, once he has become a Guardian, effectively has a line of memories dating back millenia, if he wants to access them.

Of course, this Domoria also has it's bad side. Limit Break is replaced by a Domoria Trait, which has both a permanent rating and temporary points. Guardian characters are assumed to begin with a permanent Domoria rating of 1, and can take up to Domoria 3, gaining 3 freebies for each additional point. If the character and the Domoria have a disagreement on how something should be done, and the character acts against the Domoria, or if the character uses his Arias and Coronas to perform acts that counter the wishes of his -tir or -tar, the character must make an opposed roll between the Domoria's temporary rating and his highest virtue. If the Virtue wins, then nothing untoward occurs - the Character has silenced the voices of the past, at least temporarily. Doing so has it's price, however - the character may not use his Arias and Coronas for a period of time in hours equal to his Domoria Rating.\\ If Domoria succeeds, however, the character's temporary Domoria gains a point. Should this bring temporary Domoria to 10, then the permanent rating increases by 1, and the Domoria effectively "possesses" the character's body for a period of time in hours equal to the Domoria rating. The character remembers nothing of the events that transpire while the Domoria is in control.

If permanent Domoria ever reaches 10, then the Domoria's control is absolute, and the character has effectively become nothing more than a shell for these past lives, his personality and memory completely eclipsed by the ancient spirit.

It is possible, though a lot of hard work, to work off both temporary and permanent Domoria. To get rid of temporary, one has several options. The easiest - and only one available to most Guardians - is atone for the deed that earned the point(s) by accepting an appropriate service from your Kara-tir or -tar, or allowing the Domoria brief control in a matter they wish to see resolved in a certain fashion.

The other choice is only available if the character has points allocated to the Bonding ability. With a successful Perception + Bonding roll, at a difficulty equal to the character's permanent Domoria, the character may enter himself and begin discource with the Domoria, attempting to explain himself, whine, wheedle and cajole until the spirit agrees to forgive and forget. Such an act can bring about the loss of a variable number of temporary Domoria, depending on the ST's evaluation of the situation.

Dropping permanent Domoria requires these sorts of acts, but also requires that the character make attempts to solve issues left unresolved from the Domoria's life - perhaps find a treasured trinket or what have you. This "pushes the Domoria back into the past," where it belongs. When the ST decrees that enough such events have transpired, the player may spend 10 XP to reduce their Domoria by 1. Note, however, that this also reduces Calarim pools and the ability to use certain abilities and backgrounds.

New Abilities

Characters in Forever Looming have two new abilities that represent additional things they can do as a result of their Guardianship. These new abilities are Bonding and Arias.

Bonding is rolled, generally with Perception, but possibly with Charisma or some other trait, when the character attempts to commune with the other memories within himself. A successful roll with this trait enables the character to initiate discourse with the other beings within him, skimming their brains for knowledge or information. The difficulty is 1 to communicate with the primary Domoria, +1 for each generation of Guardian beyond that the character wishes to speak with.

Arias is a special ability, used to increase a character's facility with the magical powers that becoming a Guardian grants. If the character is willing, at the time an Aria is used, to accept a point of temporary Domoria, he may spend a number of Calarim no higher than his rating in Arias. For each point spent, the character may add a die to any rolls involved with his Arias for the scene.

Neither of these abilities may be higher than the character's Domoria rating.

New Backgrounds

Communion is thusfar the only new background. Communion represents the spiritual closeness between the character and his Domoria, providing greater knowledge and memory from the ancient spirit. When the character attempts a Bonding roll to seek knowledge, he may add his rating in Communion to that roll. It also serves as a Status of sorts among Guardians and the Kara-tir and Kara-tar, as those who are closer to their Domoria are given more respect.\\ On the flipside, however, the tighter the Communion, the worse the effects for turning against that bond. Whenever the character is called upon to make a Domoria roll to check for gaining temporary Domoria, if Domoria wins, the increase is equal to the character's rating in this background +1. Thus, while most characters only gain 1 point, a character with Communion **** gains 5. This leads to quicker takeovers, and shorter chronicles, in the players continue to turn against their inner selves.