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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.
Interacting with the river of dream through your eminences allows you certain benefits.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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 Beads | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Time | 1 minute | 15 minutes | 1 hour | 12 hours | 1 day |
Change | Tiny | Minor | Moderate | Major | Complete |
Information | None | Vague | Basic | Details | Secret |
General | Tie | Marginal | Moderate | Complete | Fantastic |
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:
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 Beads | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Time | 1 minute | 15 minutes | 1 hour | 12 hours | 1 day |
Change | Tiny | Minor | Moderate | Major | Complete |
Information | None | Vague | Basic | Details | Secret |
General | Tie | Marginal | Moderate | Complete | Fantastic |
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: