Author Topic: Wizard Nobility  (Read 5020 times)

Offline KOFFEYKID

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Wizard Nobility
« on: March 24, 2013, 04:54:22 PM »
So this is an extension of an idea I've had for a while. Magic flows through bloodlines, and it seems practical (for many reasons, such as longevity) that wizards prefer to marry other wizards. It seems that there should be, if not common, a tradition of intermarriage between wizard families.

Taking the intermarriage between wizard families to an extreme, a family might try to improve their position by "marrying well".



House Haydon
House Haydon is a well connected, well monied house with a huge propensity for magical talent. So much so in fact that those without the talent for magic are (discreetly) looked down upon. Family obligation is first in foremost in the thoughts of most members. Nepotism runs rampant in family businesses, and scions of the house are expected to make advantageous marriages, bringing in more talented blood.



Greatest Mother
High Concept: Ghostly Matron of House Haydon
Trouble: Long Dead, But Not Forgotten
Other Aspects: Bound to the Family Estate; Mother to Them All; Centuries of Magical Experience; Managing The Bloodline; Family Matchmaker

Skills
Lore (Fantastic, +6)
Conviction (Superb, +5)
Discipline (Superb, +5)
Alertness (Great, +4)
Athletics (Great, +4)
Empathy (Great, +4)
Presence (Good, +3)
Intimidation (Good, +3)
Deceit (Good, +3)
Rapport (Fair, +3)
Most other skills default to average or mediocre.

Stunts & Powers
The Greatest Mother can be considered plot-device-powerful. She is a ghost and so has Spirit Form, and the Poltergeist upgrade, along with being a powerful sorceress or wizard with over a millennia of experience. Despite her power, she is fairly limited in her activities, only waking to provide protection and guidance to her family, and only able to directly intervene in special circumstances.

Stress: M OOOO (Extra Mild Consequence), P OOOO, S OOOO

The Greatest Mother is the eldest "surviving" member of what became House Haydon. Sometime in the early second century she enacted a ritual which would allow her to protect her family as a ghost, and has continued to do that throughout the centuries. She is present, in spirit if not manifest, during any family celebration, ceremony or ritual held on the family estate.

Refresh: Probably in the 30s.



Binding The Blood
A voluntary ritual which binds a person to a particular bloodline, usually highly ritualized as part of a wedding or adoption. This ritual requires at least two other family members, who will act as surrogate parents for the target and assist in the ritual, and possibly a fourth family member to act as the potential spouse. The ritual has specific requirements to succeed, each of the main participants must feel genuine affection and love for eachother, without that bond to build on the ritual will invariably fail resulting in the death of the target.
Type: Thaumaturgy
Complexity: 36
Opposed By: Target’s Endurance
Effect: All family ties are cut from the target, and he or she is then bound by those same frayed ends to his or her surrogate parents, and possible spouse. Each participant is flooded with a true sense of the others, similar to the effect of a soulgaze. Any bonds of affection are strengthened, surrogate parents will feel the joy of a new child, the target will feel the love of his new family, and spouses will feel the love they feel for each other. This ritual creates an enduring bond between each participant, represented by a change in aspect which may be compelled to alert members to danger, or invoked to aid each other. If the family has a Bloodline Magic sponsor then the new family member can (with practice) gain access to that source of power.



Bloodline Magic [-4]
Your magical pedigree is beyond reproach, and has been carefully cultivated for generations, which wizardly speaking, is a long time. As part of this cultivation, a well of magical energy has been created to empower scions of your family in times of deepest need.
Musts: You must have an aspect that signifies your familial connection to the Sponsor.
Benefits: Standard sponsored magic benefits (page 288), with an agenda to further family status, power, wealth and safety.
In addition by drawing on the generations of power and experience within your family you can use Bloodline Magic to supercharge any element that you've already specialized in, though it can't be used as an element in it's own right.
For use in thaumaturgy Bloodline Magic provides a +1 bonus to the ritual leader for each other practitioner who is a family member who is participating, up to a maximum of +3, to be divided as desired between control and complexity.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2013, 04:58:13 AM by KOFFEYKID »

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2013, 05:09:41 PM »
The sponsored magic is substantially lacking.
All it actually seems to be providing is (potentially) some item slots, access to Sponsor Debt (not actually worth refresh), and the special benefit for thaumaturgy.
This comes nowhere near being worth 4 refresh.
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Offline KOFFEYKID

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2013, 05:16:42 PM »
I agree, but I'm having trouble coming up with a appropriate sponsor thaumaturgy, and element for evocation, any suggestion would be appreciated. I thought of a Theme of "Family" for the thaumaturgy, allowing thaum at evo speed for divination/wards etc to benefit family but that doesn't seem very useful.

Offline Lavecki121

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2013, 05:22:14 PM »
Keep in mind that sponsored magic doesn't need to cost 4. Take a look at the master list in the resources section for some ideas

Offline KOFFEYKID

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2013, 05:27:51 PM »
That is true, but I wouldn't want to go lower than -3 so it still costs at least -1 refresh for the full on sorcerer or wizard family member.

Thinking on an element, perhaps "Blood"? For Thaum I'm still drawing blanks.

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2013, 05:47:24 PM »
I'd say either blood-magic evothaum in place of an evocation element, or blood-magic as an evocation element, rather than for thaumaturgy.
For thaumaturgy, I'd suggest a thematic grouping affecting/protecting your bloodline.

I'd also suggest either expanding, modifying, or supplementing the current special benefit
As it stands, it's in that territory that is simultaneously underpowered in most circumstances and potentially quite overpowered in some relatively narrow circumstances.
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Offline KOFFEYKID

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2013, 06:44:37 PM »
I dont see the +1 per family member participating in a ritual as overpowered in narrow circumstances (having a full contingent of family helpers for a ritual). Consider that the cap is 13 total, so 12 others helping (canonical, according to Dresden in Blood Rites), with 12 others helping your ritual is going to be so powerful that the +12 is going to be small potatoes in the overall picture.

Though yeah, underpowered in narrow circumstances for sure, I'll think on it some more.

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2013, 06:58:44 PM »
The only bonus that I can think of to compare to a +12 would be, well, Supernatural+ Speed's 'you win initiative', or Physical Immunity.  That's the sort of thing that this minor additional benefit is competing against as it stands.
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Offline KOFFEYKID

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2013, 07:09:21 PM »
It seems like a lot but if you have 12 participants besides you, and they each provide only one aspect to tag then you get a +24, or just a minor consequence each (so they all get a headache). Thats without even trying, so you can see how a +12 for a ritual with 13 members is, compared to what can be levied by the group as a whole, little.

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2013, 07:16:52 PM »
If you set the precedent of this power, though, they could EACH be offering +12, with NO effort beyond simply showing up, for the approximate cost of 1 refresh, and then each contribute aspects, consequences, and the like.

somewhere in the 160-170 range just for having assembled that group (without having made a single roll or spent a single FP on the ritual itself) is absurd, but it's what this power says you can be getting


It's about the right power level when you have 2-3 'helpers'.  Beyond that, it just gets more and more broken.
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Offline KOFFEYKID

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2013, 07:19:02 PM »
I wasn't intending it to be a bonus for each member, but a bonus for the Ritual Leader. I suppose my Shadowrun gaming is getting in the way (there is a very clear distinction between participants and the person running the ritual in that system).

So yeah, the person "running the show" is the only one to get the bonus.

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2013, 07:58:14 PM »
But this power introduces a precedent that 1 refresh is enough to provide a +12 bonus in this sort of circumstance.  Even if THIS power is reworded to only apply to the 'show-runner', another power would apparently be justifiable to provide a similarly sized bonus.
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Offline KOFFEYKID

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2013, 08:00:37 PM »
What would you suggest to represent the idea behind that portion of the power?

Offline narphoenix

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2013, 08:01:28 PM »
But in the same circumstance, a +24 bonus can be brought to beat without any refresh spending. At all. It's not that broken, when you think about it.
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Offline Tedronai

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Re: Wizard Nobility
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2013, 08:04:29 PM »
But in the same circumstance, a +24 bonus can be brought to beat without any refresh spending. At all. It's not that broken, when you think about it.

Yes, +24 can be 'brought' in addition to this +156.  I think that IS broken.  It's certainly far superior to any other option presented in the canon powers that's actually represented by a number and not simply a statement.
Even Chaotic Neutral individuals have to apologize sometimes. But at least we don't have to mean it.
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