Sponsored Magic Master List

[Hick Jr]

I think it would use your control bonus for pretty much any magic that broke a Law. Which is probably too broad. Maybe I should actually define "Blackstaff" as a thematic thaumaturgy specialization.

[vultur]

I'd make the Blackstaff Magic a [-2] that required you to already have Evocation and Thaumaturgy.

My take on Blackstaff Sponsored Magic...

Blackstaff Magic [-2]
Musts: Blackstaff Sponsored Magic requires you to already possess Evocation and Thaumaturgy, thus there is no cost rebate for already having these powers.
Sponsor: The Blackstaff, an item of immense power. This power is thought to be ultimately derived from Winter, but it remains distinct from Unseelie Magic.
Agenda: Death, destruction, corruption/transformation, decay, disruption.
Evocation: Blackstaff Magic aids with evocations that break the Laws of Magic, generally in destructive ways.
Thaumaturgy: Blackstaff Magic aids with thaumaturgy that breaks the Laws of Magic, generally in destructive ways.
Evothaum: Blackstaff Magic allows entropomancy and rituals intended to kill mortals to be cast as evothaum.
Extra Benefits: Blackstaff Magic adds a +1 control and power/complexity bonus to any magic intended to kill a mortal. Furthermore, you can take 1 physical stress to increase these bonuses to +2 for one spell.

The reasons I set it up this way:

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-The very strong implication the Blackstaff is Mother Winter's walking stick, and Mother Winter's association with death, destruction, entropy
-Jim's suggesting that the Blackstaff is specifically for killing, perhaps more so than other Law-breaking (the WoJ about 'does the Blackstaff have any powers related to the dead', the response was 'other than making people dead? that's kind of the point')
-The Physical Stress bit is based on the 'tendrils' feeding on Eb after he did the big killing spell in Changes

EDIT: incomplete sentence, bolding, evothaum

[Blk4ce]

(I like the +1 control, so I will stea incorporate it in my own also)
Nice touch with the stress. However, the sole focus on the killing implies that the blackstaff can only disobey the first law, so I still support a thematic lawbreaking/blackstaff magic.

There's a (or many) blackstaff Iop's on this board ...  somewhere.

Since the search function failed to deliver, could you provide some examples please?

[Taran]

Since the search function failed to deliver, could you provide some examples please?

The search is tricky...there may be more...

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,37129.msg1800186.html#msg1800186

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,22594.msg973923.html#msg973923

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,38915.msg1913295.html#msg1913295

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,25799.msg1098295.html#msg1098295

Edit:

-The very strong implication the Blackstaff is Mother Winter's walking stick, and Mother Winter's association with death, destruction, entropy
-Jim's suggesting that the Blackstaff is specifically for killing, perhaps more so than other Law-breaking (the WoJ about 'does the Blackstaff have any powers related to the dead', the response was 'other than making people dead? that's kind of the point')
-The Physical Stress bit is based on the 'tendrils' feeding on Eb after he did the big killing spell in Changes

Makes me think that the blackstaff only kills.  That it doesn't give any advantage for any other Laws.

[Locnil]

Here's something I created for Belial666's game. Would appreciate a critique on this, if anyone's willing to give it. Also, inspiration was taken from several other homebrew powers I've seen around here.


[-5] Hunger Magic (Sponsored Magic)
This is the power that a White Court Vampire's Hunger allows him to access. It will  subsume what talent the vampire might have had entirely into it's own essence.
Themes: Minds, Emotions, Life, Control. Hunger Magic deals with all these, and related spheres of influence, as befits its nature.
The Hunger Feeds On All: Reduce any Toughness power a target has by one step.
Power From A Demonic Pact: When casting a spell that is not a rote, the vampire takes a -1 penalty to control, power, and complexity, due to using his power in ways not previously agreed upon with his Hunger.

See below.

reviously agreed upon with his Hunger.

[Sanctaphrax]

Seems weak. The extra benefit is strong, but the drawback is painful and it has no evothaum. Plus it costs extra.

Make it better or cheaper, I say.

[Locnil]

Seems weak. The extra benefit is strong, but the drawback is painful and it has no evothaum. Plus it costs extra.

Make it better or cheaper, I say.

Now that you mention it, it does suck compared to Soulfire. Hmm. Usually my custom powers are called out as overpowered.

[Locnil]

[-5] Hunger Magic(Sponsored Magic)
This is the power that a White Court Vampire's Hunger allows him to access. It will  subsume what talent the vampire might have had entirely into it's own essence.
Themes: Minds, Emotions, Life, Control. Hunger Magic deals with all these, and related spheres of influence, as befits its nature. In addition, when casting rituals related to these themes, you may cast them with the speed and method of evocation.
The Hunger Feeds On All: Reduce any Toughness power a target has by one step.
Power From A Demonic Pact: When casting a spell that is not a rote, the vampire takes a -1 penalty to control, power, and complexity, due to using his power in ways not previously agreed upon with his Hunger. In addition, the GM may use this as justification for a compel to prevent the caster from doing something that the Hunger might take issue with.
Fuelled By Hunger: This Power is ultimately powered by the Hunger within a vampire. In times of need, it can be persuaded to even further exert itself, though it will require a correspondingly greater amount of "food" afterwards. When invoking an Aspect for the purpose of spellcasting, you may take a two-point stress hit to your hunger stress track instead of spending a fate point.

Turns out, there's already a Power called Hunger Magic on the customer powers list. Seems a bit overpowered though, so I tuned it down.

See below.

[Sanctaphrax]

Two clarifications: does The Hunger Feeds On All reduce Recovery? And can you take multiple stress hits to boost a single spell repeatedly?

Assuming you use the interpretation of Feeding Dependency where you don't lose Powers every time you take stress, and that it reduces Recovery but only allows one boost per spell, that's probably decently balanced. Feels kinda bad to pay extra and get a significant drawback, but it's got two extra benefits and one of them is pretty big.

[Locnil]

No (it works exactly like Soulfire in this regard), and no (That was the part I toned down; the original Hunger Magic did allow you to.) Maybe I should work on it a little more.

[idirex]

  Hi . Thank you for all your hard work and collective efforts . Love it

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This is a intended to be used with the IoP Catalyst ( Posted in IoP ) , but can easily be Sponsored Magic .
... please comment...
This is power granted by " a Sun God " . His agenda is "pro humanity" but strangely seems to feed on the life energy of its followers...
...The user can have at most 1 focus item combining all bonuses ( power and control) . It is limited by Lore
[-4] Blessed by Blood , Fire and Shadow : The Catalyst transforms your Life energy into Magical energy .
Evocation : Take physical stress in order to cast that many shifts of power in obvious and direct effects ( fire , light , heat...) . Take mental stress for shifts for subtle and indirect effects ( Veils , shadow summoning , mind magic...) . Summoning requires the user to tale at least a mild consequence and is usually handled by evothaum . No control roll is required but if power is greater than attack/aim roll , the difference is treated as fallout .
Thaumaturgy : Take physical and mental stress to power your ritual . At least 1 appropriate stress and at least 1 mild consequence must be taken. No control roll is required . The maximum shifts allowed are twice the complexity of the ritual itself . Base complexity equals your Lore . You can increase it by offering your blood as sacrifice (consequences) .
Evothaum: The user is allowed thaumaturgy with the speed and methods of evocation . Maximum complexity is capped at your Lore but you don't have to take consequences . ( Exception is summoning )
Extra Benefits: By spending a fate point , the user can request a meeting with any major " pro humanity " force ( including the Sidhe Courts ) and have the opportunity to temporarily wield their power . Their respective restrictions will apply and can sometimes lead to conflicting situations .
[-X] Refinement / Attunement slots : By increasing the power , the user gets fixed bonus in shifts (evocation and thaumaturgy ). At least 1 appropriate stress must be taken . By increasing accuracy , the user gets a bonus at "aiming" the effect with his  chosen skill . The item plays the role of all focus items and is limited by Lore .
[-X] Enchanted Item slots . Anything goes here , but you must still uphold the Purpose . If another uses your items against the Purpose you are held responsible ...( clean the mess quest)
The user can be granted inhuman speed , strength and toughness powers each major milestone . their cost must be paid normally . These powers are susceptible to Necromancy (catch)

[Sanctaphrax]

I'm not quite sure I understand what you're going for here. It looks like you're departing from the standard mechanics in quite a few places and I'm not sure why. Moreover, I'm not sure exactly how the altered rules are supposed to work.

For example: you say you must take a mild consequence for every ritual, but it's not clear whether that consequence counts for complexity or not. And you say that you can increase complexity by taking consequences, but that's standard...so are you try to say that you can't increase complexity through Declarations?

There are other similar areas of confusion that I'm glossing over here. If I were you I'd probably use less interesting and more standardized mechanics for most of this, just to make things easier to understand.

[idirex]

...I'm not sure exactly how the altered rules are supposed to work.

For example: you say you must take a mild consequence for every ritual, but it's not clear whether that consequence counts for complexity or not...so are you try to say that you can't increase complexity through Declarations?

I edited your original comment a bit...

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<The idea came because our focused practitioner ( pyromancer ) blasted everything without impunity using rote spells . When not using them , he frustrated everybody by throwing lots of dices around for control and whatnot . When it came to rare thaumaturgy situations , everybody was impotent to act , necessitating subplots to hire extraneous personnel . We came with the idea to have all spells as rote ( by sacrificing enchanted items slots for each extra rote...they weren't used anyway) . ( pure convenience) . We also allowed him "once" to lift a barrier by "purifying the area" in an impromptu ritual . He liked it very much...He was specializing as a melee to conserve his stress track , so he ended with a jack of all trades character...>   < Re modelling was in order >

The model obviously needs refining but it did work for us . It is suited for a melee character who can use thaumaturgy once in a while...> this is the reason why you must take at least a consequence to use thaumaturgy , to prevent abuse . The consequence does count toward complexity bonus . The complexity-power limitation is just flavor , and a way to prevent the super easy Mega-Rituals . Also our summoning systems considers complexity as the refresh of the creature and shifts as the rest (found it somewhere here in the forum )
We had issues with the declaration thing and limited it to 1 per participant (mini quests) , it helped with immersion but limited the fast rituals in battle . In any other setting or group you are free to use them , of course...

The inhuman power bit should be considered with care , maybe one at a time . GM should not allow shenanigans with them...

The user can also spend "attunement" in power and gain an almost normal wizard template . ( note the absence of The Sight , removed to limit abuse ) . This model hopefully also allows the justification for a vanilla mortal to became a wizard-facsimile without a normal sponsored power . ( note the absence of sponsor debt , it can be incurred if not fulfilling the loaned power mini quests ) The user is fulfilling the role of an emissary of power ( easily detectable IoP ) . We allowed the invocation of the IoP aspect as a way to balance the refresh cost , without paying for it permanently . It can also easily be stolen or confiscated...(quest material)
Conclusion : The character using this template will be weaker but will have an incredible versatility and "mystique" <Melisandre in GoT>

Additional notes : The user does not have "free" enchanted item slots and the like (limit power) . This model is not suitable with a normal wizard template and will not ( if at all) integrate with it

I eagerly await further questions and ideas .
 

[Sanctaphrax]

Why does this power need all of these anti-abuse mechanisms? Do you feel that standard spellcasting is broken?

[idirex]

In our game , players found ways to distort and abuse the official rules... You are right to be skeptic since i started with the wrong assumption that others would intuitively understand / implement our home brew rules . My mistake 
I started from scratch and edited another "standard" sponsored magic template . I used these references for the cost : evocation , thaumaturgy , "alternate magical paradigm" stunt , emissary of power , activation cost discount , limited power discount . You can change it if it seems inadequate .

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Blessed by Fire , Shadow and Blood [-6]
Description: You have earned the blessing of an ancient Sun God .
Sponsor: The remnants of this ancient Sun God are faded but it is an immortal after all . It deals in Power and its preferred currency is blood . All power granted to you must be employed in accordance with its agenda . Failure to do so will incur its wrath .
Agenda: Its agenda seems to be "pro humanity" and will aid you in your efforts to uphold it . Its sworn enemies are Dark Beings and Necromancy . Its servitors are Fire Elementals and Shadows .
Evocation: In accordance with Its duality you have access to  Sunfire (active during day) and Shadowheart (active during night) . By accepting a consequence you can have both powers active for as long as that consequence is in place .
Sunfire : Fire light and heat can be generated  by offering your physical energies to this ancient being . (These spells are cast with your physical stress track )
Shadowheart : Subtle and insidious powers (veils , mind magic and spirit manipulation) can be accessed by offering your mental energies to this ancient being . (These spells are cast using your mental stress track )
Thaumaturgy: Rituals cast by the power of this ancient being must uphold its agenda . Effects that can be employed are : Fire , light , heat , item crafting (thematic) , biomancy and healing , mind magic , wards (thematic) , illusion and veils , shadow and elemental summoning and divination (summoning based) . Effects not stated above can be achieved only by doing quests for It , or by contacting Its allies . Both physical and mental stress tracks can be employed but the final results will depend  on their participation .
Evothaum: Blood-magic : By using your blood as a link ( marking object or person ), you can cast thaumaturgy with Evocation's speed and methods. This power  is active , and can be used multiple times , for as long as that consequence is in place .
Extra Benefits: By spending a Fate point , the user can request a meeting with any major " pro humanity " force ( including the Sidhe Courts ) and have the opportunity to temporarily wield their power . Failure results in your Fate point being lost , if successful you can spend additional Fate points and extend this privilege further . Their respective restrictions will apply and can sometimes lead to conflicting situations . You are an Emissary of Power (including the allies whose favor you currently have) and will be recognized as such .