Category: D20

Story-Telling

Posted on December 3, 2024 in D20 iCore Skill

Frame of Reference: All Skills are bound by the character's Setting (physics), and the details that their culture/society's Science (gathered by Technology), direct experience, and/or collective Records are capable of revealing. A character may not be able to apply their full measure on a different world, with different species and tools.

Stories are verbal records of information, specifically tales meant to be passed on as a form of knowledge. Stories can be used to pass down information as a reference work, verbal records of true events and/or static information. Stories are often told about real world places and people and events as a means of passing on hard won information and factual news. Maybe embedded therein in memorable fashion are measurements of distance and time, position and details, flora and fauna that are important for the hearer if they are to travel through a certain region.

Story in Myth: At the heart of myth is the story, and it is often formed through the natural evolution of telling stories and passing on what resonates deepest. They turn into mythic tales or fairy tales of morality through the application of religion and/or history. Oftentimes they are then localized and so you have a large variation of the same basic themes that has been inflated with hyperbole and localized elements to make it memorable and applicable for one audience and another and so on. Myth is usually a long tale of epic scope or impact, or collection of tales that was once intended to teach, to preserve, and to inform. Time, translation, cultural meaning, and true elements that have no reference point any longer, can swerve to turn information into myth.

Ultimately, stories are what bind things together across vast gulfs in The Pattern.

Preserving: There are many things that can be done to stories to assist in their preservation. Using memes, structuring (such as Iambic Pentameter used in epics), Menomonie tricks. Localizing references also make them more relevant and easier to remember.

Changing Nature: Like written records, stories change and transform over time. Some of the things that help preserve them are the same elements that lead to change – changing references to local events, figures, and places. Variations such as regional accent, affectations, ethnicity, social class, and context evolve over time and serve to confuse in translations over time. Language structure and evolution can also transform the text of a record as it is passed along.

Many stories have had real figures, places, and events changed in name (for various reasons), but are clearly referencing a more well known version.
Association: Orders, institutes, businesses, faiths and cults, in addition to making their own, will often use common or popular stories and impose their own vernacular to claim legitimacy or credibility in the association to the common story. They also use it in an attempt to encrypt information and make it for a specific audience.
Oftentimes news is embellished with story elements to make it more memorable and for it to be passed on so that the core elements are part of a larger pageant and for the discerning listener they may be able to discern the original intent and elements.
Not only that, but the intent can often blur original details, where entertainment purposes make details irrelevant or even distracting from the entertainment value and so they are substituted or omitted.

Mystic Uses

Formulae, rituals, etc.

Elan is bound up in memes and myths and those figures tied to the stories they represent.

Signs and Omens are sometimes communicated through stories. The vagueness of their delivered form often becomes revealed as something the subject of or in parallel to well known stories. Revealment may be interpretive or obvious, though either will point to the importance of having known the story and its true meaning. This interpretation can also be transformative of a story – showing its true context and lending credibility to the teller and or subjects and objects within the story.

Occult Constraint

Posted on August 7, 2024 in D20

Occult Constraint is a common Occult Expression that represents magi that learned their craft in a hurried and/or expeditious manner that constrains their continuing practice of it. This can stem from a number of causes, but their knowledge is imperfect, lacks practice or proper application, and inhibits them as compared to a magus who learned correct form both in power and a limited perspective. Their learning materials and proving time are neither complete or wholly intelligible to others. They immerse themselves in one aspect of their craft and their perspective on it is formed primarily through that context. The intensity of the occult faculties are wrapped around an in-depth but myopic understanding. To improve from their current state to one of balance and equity, requires new and correct learning materials and processes, re-applying the fundamentals, and fully re-visiting the normally long stretch of testing the theory and practice.

Role-Play ++

This presents a good opportunity for adding Roleplaying elements to the Character.

This is not recommended for starting players as it adds more things to track, calculations, and complexity. This is really intended to augment through mechanics, a Role-Playing concept.

Class: 5e Wizard (only); applies to i20™ only.

Point of Acquisition: Level 1. This term denotes the point at which the Class is taken. Either at the time of Character Inception or when the initial level is taken as part of multi-classing. These are both moments of Actuated Awareness.

Formulae: Refers to all Cantrips, Occult Formulae, and Spells related to the School of Magic referenced.

Advantages

School of Depth: 1 School of Magic chosen by the Magus (this is the emphasis)
– This Feature can only be selected once.

Changes to the School Formulae

Arcane Recovery: Normal + their Proficiency Bonus in spell slots but only from School of Depth.
Starting Formulae: Half must be from the School of Depth.
Learning Formulae: One of the two learned at a new level must be learned in the School of Depth.
Prepared Formulae: Choose one per spell level of the School of Depth; This does not count against the list of prepared spells, but always is automatically. The magus can change one (of the same school) whenever they gain a level.

Disadvantages

Superficial Schools: 2 affected Schools of Magic chosen by the Magus (these are the weakness)

Flawed Training Materials: The Occult Primer (learning materials) and Codex (spell book) reference work can only lead its reader to the same outcome with the same schools; It is not a good general starting point and will have to be re-written as part of the process for the Path to Correct.

Changes to the School Formulae

Weakened Formulae: No Proficiency Bonus is gained on spell attack or save for spells in affected schools.
Arcane Recovery: No Formulae from the affected schools can be regained through Arcane Recovery.
Starting Formulae: None from the affected schools can be known at the Point of Acquisition.
Learning Formulae: The cost to learn/transcribe Formulae of the schools is doubled for affected school Formulae.
Ritualized Formulae: No Formulae of the affected schools can be ritualized unless it is Prepared.

Non-Mechanical Detriments/Drawbacks

Personality Trait: Everything is about my limited study of [ my School of Depth ] – it is the best solution to all problems. When given a choice, I will always choose to attempt a solution related to it above others, even if I know it is likely to fail.

Culture Stigma: Given their lack of adherence to the normal methods and processes by which a magus learns (varies by setting and circumstance, but there is a ‘normal’ process) they would not likely be the product of a formal Occult Institution or Organization. If they were, they would have left it due to some calamity or odd circumstance before their training was complete. Given their unreliable nature, it would seem as if formal institution of magi would generally be reluctant to take in such practitioners without stipulations and/or added costs to deal with their frustration.

Lack of Foundation: It is pretty regular practice in some settings to give all magi the formulae for Detect Magic without it counting towards any starting formulae knowledge – it is foundational to the magus culture and taught to all members of Occult Organizations and apprentices. Additionally, Find Familiar would also be unavailable (or imperfect at best) because the magus would lack the perspective to process the resultant bond. Any normal starting bonuses to Occult Phenomenology from an organization or mentor would not be present nor would they be unable to employ Occult Aptitude Thematics.

At the Point of Acquisition, a character cannot cast spells/enact formulae and wear armor they have proficiency with until the next level in the assumptive class. Unfettered Casting has its own advantages for magi.

Path to Correct the Restraint

If the character ever wishes to correct their knowledge and behavior, they may re-learn their craft in the normal ways when they gain a level. They already have a foundation, so it is considerably less that learning it from scratch. Some costs may be covered if they are a member of an Occult Institution or Organization. creating experienced characters: cannot automatically process overcoming it.

Re-training: 20-Intelligence (min 2) in months. The cost is 1 Cost Portion per month.
Make a new Occult Primer (learning materials).
Acquire a new Codex (spell book).
Scribe all the spells in their Codex again, at normal cost no matter the school. The time for this is outside of any time re-training and follows standard rules.
Replace their Focus Point Item (Arcane Focus).

Experienced Characters: Individual GMs may allow a starting character with multiple levels to have already gone through the process of Correcting the Restraint.

Optional: Overcome the Constraint

If the character wishes to give up the level they gained, they may be able to retain some of the advantages of their improper learning from their increased breadth of understanding. In addition to doing all the required work still, for each of the following, make an Occult Phenomenology check:

Average Difficulty check > They may keep 2 spell levels of extra Arcane Recovery for the School of Depth
Average Difficulty check > (Minus the formalue level) For the extra prepared spell formulae of each level they have currently
Average Difficulty check > They may choose 1 from the list of utility Cantrips : Light, Mending, Message, Prestidigitation, or Unseen Servant
Average Difficulty check > or the Personality Trait remains

Source: Practitioners of Shallow Occultism