[[dreaming]]

All of the skills on this page have a limitation to their use - either through a number of uses each day and each night or through the number of Trances you've 'bought'. Some of these will in addition have a Spiritual Health cost associated with them which may limit your use of them.

Dreaming

Interacting with the river of dream through your eminences allows you certain benefits.

  • Anyone is able to use the protection power of their eminence by spending Spiritual health as described here.
  • If you have the right skill you may use the applied power of your eminence. (see here.)
    • This takes 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay.
  • If you have the right skill you may use the intuitive synthesis power of your eminence. (see here.)
    • This takes 30 seconds of appropriate trance-like roleplay. If you use Synthesis without 30 seconds of appropriate trance-like roleplaying beforehand, all of its Spiritual Health costs are doubled.



Note that if you gain Manoeuvres from Applying an Eminence, using Intuitive Synthesis, or using an Aspect, you must still have a relevant Weapon Skill and an appropriate crafted weapon to be able to make use of them unless the power explicitly states otherwise.

The table of the eminence abilities can be found here.

Active Dreaming

Engage in Active Dreaming at appropriate moments, requiring the consumption of a dose each of Hazers and Libs. This will cast your anima, or soul, into the River of Dream, where it will be free to act and move. Your return to your body is automatic unless some other force prevents you. This requires you to be able to Apply your Eminences in order to buy the Ability to do this.

Throughout the event there will be opportunities to go into the River of Dream. Use of this skill will allow you to take these opportunities and project yourself into the River of Dream to exploit the opportunities presented.

In order to use Active Dreaming you must roleplay preparing yourself to interact with the River of Dream (this can be as simple as settling down to sleep or as complex as going through an elaborate meditation ritual) for a minimum of 2 minutes and consume a dose each of Hazers and Libs. You may then enter the River of Dream and interact with things found there. There will be a designated portion of the site reserved for Dreaming encounters. This will be clearly marked.

Additionally, anyone can choose not to regain lost Physical and Spiritual Health through a good night’s sleep, and instead plumb the River’s depths for visions relevant to their current situation. This requires the consumption of a dose of Hazers, and for you to inform a Guide you're doing so before 1am. If you know how to engage in Active Dreaming, you may attempt to steer this vision by specifying a particular topic to a Guide before going to sleep.

When you actively dream you have the same standard weapons that you have in the Physical Orb; they are all considered uncrafted. Any armour you wear offers no protection, and exists solely as costuming. Any changes to your equipment (e.g. being Shattered) in the River of Dream will not be reflected in the Physical Orb. If you are an Active Dreamer you may spend one Spiritual Health upon entering the River to make a crafted one-handed weapon, shield or thrown weapon, or two Spiritual Health to make a crafted two-handed weapon, bow or crossbow. You may spend one Spiritual Health to craft armour providing 2 Spiritual Health's worth of protection; you may instead spend two Spiritual Health to craft armour providing 4 Spiritual Health's worth of protection. Physreps for this can be ordinary or outlandish, as you prefer. The Spiritual Health from this armour may not be spent on your Eminences' Protection, the Dreaming skill, or any sort of Conjunctional Synthesis. Any items crafted in this way last until the end of the event but cannot be given to other people to use.

Aspect

Aspects are rotes, or specific trained uses of Synthesis. Each comes from a particular Tribe or Outlook; at character creation, you may only learn Aspects from your former Tribe and current Outlook. In play, you can learn any Aspect that someone is willing to teach you.

It takes one minute to work up the appropriate trance-state to use an Aspect, and the Spiritual Health cost is tripled without it. It is absolutely appropriate to roleplay the hell out of uses of Aspects.

A list of aspects can be found here.

Freeform Synthesis

It’s also possible to combine Eminences together in a powerful act of Conjunctional Synthesis. Essentially, this needs to be roleplayed, needs to take at least two minutes, needs to have a Guide present, and is a free-form ceremony or performance towards a specified aim. The result is determined by a bead draw which rewards appropriateness and creativity, but always contains at least the possibility of success or failure. The River of Dream is a tricky beast.

Only one person can perform a given instance of Freeform Synthesis, and it must be appropriate to one or both of their Eminences. They may be assisted in the roleplay by other people but this has no mechanical benefit.

The outcome of such a performance is determined by a bead draw at the end. The bead bag is composed as follows:

  • Add two white beads if the ritual focuses on just one Eminence
  • Alternatively, add only one white bead if the Synthesis combines multiple Eminences
  • Add one white bead in the presence of a Fatima, Artefact or other Object of Dreaming (max one white bead in this way)
  • Add one white bead if someone's life is at risk and the Synthesis is intended to help
  • Add one white bead if you are trying to adapt an Aspect you know
  • Add one white bead per dose of Libs used
  • Add one black bead per Eminence involved in the Synthesis
  • Add one black bead in Tainted areas
  • Add one black bead if the target is touched by the Seed
  • Add one red bead per Spiritual Health spent by the performer
  • Add one red bead per minute the performance takes (min two minutes, max thirty minutes)
  • Add one red bead per dose of Libs used
  • Add three red beads per Fatima, Artefact or other Object of Dreaming present and used in the Synthesis (i.e. calling on its Eminence)

Stop drawing beads as soon as a white or black bead is pulled. A white bead indicates success, whereas a black bead indicates failure. The number of red beads indicates the degree of success or failure achieved.

On a black bead, each red bead costs the performer one Spiritual Health. Any surplus red beads after the performer is at zero Spiritual Health are converted to automatic bead draws for Spiritual Critical Wounds. The Synthesis may still have an effect, but not the one intended.

On a white bead, the performer determines how the red beads are allocated, as follows:

Red Beads01234
Time1 minute15 minutes1 hour12 hours1 day
ChangeTinyMinorModerateMajorComplete
InformationNoneVagueBasicDetailsSecret
GeneralTieMarginalModerateCompleteFantastic

Group Synthesis

Group Synthesis is another way of performing Freeform Synthesis, as it is basically just another way of approaching the same thing. You don't need any additional skills to do this, it just requires one of you to be able to perform Freeform Synthesis.

One person must be the person leading the Group Synthesis, and must have all the Eminences being used in the working. This counts as their use of Freeform Synthesis for that day or night; they are the person who specifies the intended outcome and who draws the beads from the bag.

To participate, there is a “buy-in” cost for everyone aside from the leader- this is 1SH if you have at least one of the Eminences involved in the Synthesis, or 2SH if you don’t (you must have at least one Eminence in order to be able to participate at all, however - it just doesn’t need to be one of the ones in the Synthesis!). Participants must be present and involved for the whole process. Once they have paid their “buy-in” cost, they may spend additional Spiritual Health to add red beads at a rate of 1 red bead per additional Spiritual Health spent.

Additionally, for each of the relevant Eminences a participant has, they add one red bead to the bag. Note that an Artefact can only give one person an Eminence at a time, so a single Empathy Artefact would allow only one person who didn't otherwise have the Empathy Eminence to participate in Group Synthesis.

If a participant has any Conjunctional Synthesis (i.e. at least Intuitive Synthesis) then they add an additional red bead per relevant Eminence. As before, Artefacts only give one person an Eminence at a time.

If a participant who knows Freeform Synthesis wishes to use up one use of it, they may do one of the following per relevant Eminence they have (their choice, not the lead performer’s choice):

  • add an additional red bead to the bag for each minute of performance
  • remove a single pair of white and black beads from the bag (there must be at least one black bead and one white bead in the bag though!)
  • add one white bead per Spiritual Health they spend

At the end of the performance, draw beads as normal. Resolve a white bead as normal for Freeform Synthesis.

On a black bead, things work slightly differently. The lead Synthesis user and all participants divide up the red beads equally - in the case of fractions, the lead Synthesis user takes any excess. Each red bead costs the performer one Spiritual Health. Any surplus red beads after a given participant is at zero Spiritual Health are converted to automatic bead draws for Spiritual Critical Wounds. The Synthesis will still have an effect, but twisted from the one intended.

Rituals

Tribal life is filled with ritual and ceremony. Some form of ritual governs almost everything they do. As a result, their Rituals are often strict and codified. Most of the Tribal Rituals are minor compared to other users of ritual magic like Squats, since they have Synthesis to perform most of the feats that others require Rituals for. As a result, most Tribal Rituals provide minor benefit or an almost intangible benefit over time. The particular type of performance varies by Tribe – Yagans and Terashebans tend to chant litanies, while Dahlians dance and Joanites perform martial displays.

As a young people, rich with the power of Synthesis, the Fallen have developed few or no rituals of their own. Nevertheless, some who were ritualists before their Fall try to adapt their talents to their new circumstances. Squats use rituals to call on spirits in the River of Dream, and Serfs use them to summon the power of their masters, the Z'bri. Ritual is magic that anyone can perform.

Ritual magic has three steps:
1. Select Totem: the totem must have the intended effect as part of their area of influence. Most Tribals call on their Fatimas or allied spirits as a Totem here. Fallen taking this approach usually live to regret their decision.
2. Make Request or Focus Power: The ritualist must clearly state their intended outcome to a Guide.
3. Perform Ritual: this needs to be roleplayed, needs to take at least four minutes, needs to have a Guide present, and is a structured ceremony or performance appropriate to the ritualist's heritage.

The outcome of such a ritual is determined by a bead draw. The bead bag is composed as follows:

  • Add two white beads if the ritual calls on a totem with whom the ritualist has a relationship (i.e. has spent XP)
  • Alternatively, add only one white bead if the ritual calls on another totem
  • Add one white bead on ground sacred to the spirit called
  • Add one white bead when using an item consecrated to the spirit
  • Add one white bead if offering something desired by the spirit
  • Add one black bead if the ritual calls on a totem with whom the ritualist has a relationship (i.e. has spent XP)
  • Alternatively, add two black beads if the ritual calls on another totem
  • Add one red bead per Spiritual Health spent by the performer
  • Add one red bead per minute the performance takes (max thirty minutes)
  • Add one red bead per additional participant in the ritual (each participant must spend one Spiritual Health to participate)

Stop drawing beads as soon as a white or black bead is pulled. A white bead indicates success, whereas a black bead indicates failure. The number of red beads indicates the degree of success or failure achieved.

On a black bead, the number of red beads determines the degree of atonement the spirit will require of the ritualist before they will deign to appear to that ritualist again. The nature of the atonement depends on the type of totem, but most accept a sacrifice of something valuable to the ritualist or the spirit. Sometimes the ritualist must perform a deed for the totem to atone, often to aid the totem's cause.

On a white bead, the ritualist determines how the red beads are allocated, as follows:

Red Beads01234
Time1 minute15 minutes1 hour12 hours1 day
ChangeTinyMinorModerateMajorComplete
InformationNoneVagueBasicDetailsSecret
GeneralTieMarginalModerateCompleteFantastic

Working Example of Skills and Uses

Arissa is an ex-Agnite Child of Lilith, with the Eminences of Capriciousness and Force. She has the following skills:

Dreamer: Apply x2 (2XP)
Conjunction Synthesis: Intuitive Synthesis (providing 2 Trances) (2XP)
Conjunction Synthesis: Aspect - Hide'n'Seek (also provides 1 Trance) (2XP)
Conjunction Synthesis: Aspect - Rage (also provides 1 Trance) (2XP)
Weapon Use: two-handed (1XP)
Prowess: Strikedown (2XP)
+1 Spiritual Health (for a total of 3) (1XP)

This means that she may use Strikedown twice per hour when she is wielding a crafted two-handed weapon. She can also do the following things:

  • Spend one Spiritual Health to use the Protection of either of her Eminences whenever encountering a relevant Atmosphere or roleplaying effect
  • Apply her Eminences twice per day and twice per night. Thus, in the course of one night, she could apply Capriciousness twice, Force twice, or Capriciousness once and Force once. There is no Spiritual Health cost for her to do so. Because she only knows how to wield a two-handed weapon, whenever she Applies Force she can only use Dodge, Shatter, Strikedown or Turn Aside. She must have a crafted weapon to use any of these Manoeuvres except for Dodge.
  • She has four Trances (two from Intuitive Synthesis, and one from each of her two Aspects) per day and per night. Trances are used for Aspects and Intuitive Synthesis. She could therefore use Intuitive Capriciousness four times, or Intuitive Force four times, Hide'n'Seek four times, Rage four times, each of them once, or any other combination in any one day or night. Note that all of these four possible outcomes also have a Spiritual Health cost attached, and that the Prowess Manoeuvres granted by Rage are subject to the same restrictions as those granted by Applied Force - only on weapons that Arissa knows how to use, and only when using a crafted weapon.
dreaming.txt · Last modified: 2016/04/01 20:46 by joe
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