Getting into this today...

I like Cara as a Khunian (sorry, apparently "Karse" is too obvious a tie to Mercedes Lackey's nation of the same name... so I've switched it now to Khune.  Which, oddly, it was in the beginning.  Not sure why or how I switched it. )

As the culture and magical systems, etc. of Khune haven't been defined, adding this into the mix is easy and helps to define that nation.  Of course, it puts a little bit more on your shoulders to define the nation (mostly through RP, of course) and the nature of it's society.   If you're cool with that, then awesome!  if not,  I'm okay with the house being international, so to speak...  The borders between the two nations is not closed, after all... unless you're a Khunic slave.

One breaking-point I do have a concern about with the mantle...
The Final Doom
The Final Boon: Requires the death of the victim.  The Oathsworn of House Yasil commits a point of Refresh, absorbing one of the Mantles of their victim into their own.  This imparts one of the Core Stunts of the Mantle upon the Oathsworn, as if it were their own.  The Refresh does not return until the Mantle is released, and if it is said Mantle is gone forever.

Additionally, the Oathsworn can assume the previous holder's physical form (+2 to Deceive attempts to impersonate them), and has access to some of their surface memories (can spend Fate points to know key information that only the victim would have known).


There's a lot involved in that.

I dislike the idea of them collecting multiple mantles.  It's already a big thing to be able to absorb one mantle and therby:

• Gain one core stunt from the victim
• Deceive+2 for taking on victim's form
• Gain surface memories of victim

Since you've specifically mentioned Refresh (vs fate point), how do you see this playing out at the end of a "game session" (so, for our purposes, at the end of a major plot point)?    In unmodified Fate Core, you reset to the predefined-number of Refresh at the end of the game session if you've less fate points in your pool than that predefined number.  If you're over, then you keep where you're at.

Does devouring a mantle keep that refresh across game-sessions?   If o, then it's sort of like a variable Stunt.  Is that right?

Does devouring a new mantle release the old one?  I prefer that she not be able to take on multiple mantles at a time.   The one-for-one approach reminds me a lot of Corum (Michael Moorcock's "Chronicles of Corum").

I realize that this is after I said things were cool, so I'm hoping this isn't ruffling too many feathers.

I knew it sounded familiar, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.  Khune it is, I'll get world building today.

Yep, you are 100% correct that I said Refresh and not Fate Point intentionally.  The idea was that as long as the Refresh is committed, she doesn't get it back, even at the end of the session. If it was just Fate, she could build up endless Mantles.

No feathers ruffled!  I'm going to argue my case for being able to absorb more than one due to attaching it to Refresh, but I won't be choked up if you disagree.  At most right now she would be able to absorb 2 Mantles, so one if she really likes it and another for basically being a doppleganger.  Ehhh, even 2 is pretty powerful though.  Because it's not like she's just getting the core stunt, she's also getting the shape changing and the surface memories.

Okay, you win, I'm convinced.

Two requests.

• Can I change it fromRefresh to Fate Point, but then include that adopting one Mantle automatically kicks out the other?
• Then, can I include.  "A particularily desired Mantle Stunt may be made permanent by committing a point of Refresh.  This Mantle Stunt may be traded to another Oathsworn, freeing up the Refresh Point."

Regardless of which we decide, I'm tweaking her a little in reaction if that's alright.  I exchanged her Shapechange Stunt for one from the book Crown of Menace.  I like the idea that it's her reputation more than her being a scary motherfucker that keeps people away.

"Everyone knows the Spellbound Houses of Khune are not to be trifled with."

Crown of Menace You are too terrifying to be attacked. Until you make a physical attack in a scene, characters with a Will lower than Good (+3) simply cannot attack you. Those with sufficient Will to attack still flinch on their first attack, though, automatically missing. (Fate System Toolkit, p.98)

Is Alchemy a thing?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Wed 25 Mar 2020.

Khune:

The dry steppes of Khune are harsh and unforgiving, the soil alkaline and unsuitable for most agriculture beyond the herding of goats.  The Great Lake Lis is in fact an inland sea, and while its waters do support life, they are useless for the irrigation of crops.  With the scare resources the land provides, the Khundari should be a people made up almost entirely of fishers and herders, scraping out whatever meager existence they could in an unforgiving land. Yet the Khundari are so much more than that, so much greater.  They are a poroud people, possessed of a massive citadel of learning and trade.  Indeed, the many tiered capital of Liscora rises high above the plains, its thousands of hungry mouths fed on far more than fermented goat's milk and spiced fish.  For it is magic that is the heartbeat of the Empire, and the foundation of that magic is the Great Houses.

Situational Aspect:  A harsh land, a harsh people.

Magic is a very strange thing among the Khundari.  Like all peoples, any who wish to learn can master the basics of Ritual Magic.  Evocation is more rare, but only just, for most woman born to Khundari blood is capable of at least a single Discipline.  This means that the Khundari possess among them more Evocators than any other race of people.  Yet while they possess it in great abundance, individually their magic is fundamentally weak.  All but the very strongest Khundari Fire Dancer is barely able to summon more than a finger of flame, while their Stone Mothers serve better as architects and engineers than they do wielders of battle magic.  With their magic being hereditary and maternal, Clan is everything to the Khundari.  While the men of Khune are free to marry into whatever family and profession they choose, the women's path is determined by the Clan that she is born into.  Still, magic is undeniably power, and thus Khune is a matriarchal society.  Those within a Clan have the safety and protection of their name.  Those without have nothing, and barely exist within the law at all.  For many Khundari, it is better by far to sell oneself into slavery than to be Clanless.  Only the gangs offer sanctuary to those outside of the Merchant Clans, and that could hardly be called sanctuary at all.  Better to offer service to one of the Clans, or if possessed of Evocation, to join one of the Great Houses as a Dependent.

Situational Aspect:  Magic of the mothers.

The Clan Matriarchs alone would not be sufficient to establish the mighty Empire, for while they are plentiful, their magic is not strong enough to reshape the land around them.  Instead, the Matriarchs are the foundations of the Great Houses, who serve to condense the magic of the Khundari people and focus it to a razor's edge.  It is the Great Houses who bring the rains which irrigate the lands, who modify the soil with their alchemy so that crops may be raised to feed Liscora's masses.  Through their Oathsworn, they gather the blood and power of their Dependents, concentrating it and refining it into the potent power that the Empire is built on.  The Houses are extremely competitive, a result of Khune's unique political structure, though they do not let such rivalries and intrigues carry over to murder and assassination.  Such would incur a Blood Debt, with power lost on both sides, and only serve to weaken both Houses in the face of the others.  Instead they seek to increase their networks of Debtors, strengthening the power of their Houses with every increasing arsenals of stored magic.  Through this, the Oathsworn are capable of feats of Evocation only dreamed of by the Clan Matriarchs, and are the source of endless fearful rumors among many at the College of Mages.  Indeed, the rumors swirling around the red and black jacketed Oathsworn are vast and terrible.  While no Collegiate Mage would likely breath a word of it to an Oathsworn's face, muttered whispers of "Soul Eaters" follow them wherever they go.

Situational Aspect:  Blood debt and bloody debtors.
Situational Aspect:  Fear the Devourers of Souls.

In name, Dragon Emperor Eric Markov, known among his people as the Radiant Dragon, is the undisputed ruler of Khune.  In truth, it could be argued that he serves at the Great House's whim.  The fact that he has continued to serve as Emperor through the reign of supremacy of three separate Houses in the last three decades speaks to his power and political acumen.  The Dragon Emperor is Oathsworn to no House, but possesses the Boon Magic that is the foundation of each.  He is a potent force in his own right, having Bound some of the most powerful Mantles in the Empire to his personal Mantle or those of his War Mages through Blood Sacrifice.  He is rightfully feared on the battlefield for his skill as a leader, and operates as a sort of check on the Great House's power even as they operate as a check on his.

Situational Aspect:  The balance of power.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:45, Thu 26 Mar 2020.

Can I change it fromRefresh to Fate Point, but then include that adopting one Mantle automatically kicks out the other? 
That works well.

"A particularily desired Mantle Stunt may be made permanent by committing a point of Refresh.  This Mantle Stunt may be traded to another Oathsworn, freeing up the Refresh Point."
Given how often this should come up in play, I'm okay with that.   It's a pretty big thing, but then his trading it out would be a pretty big thing.


Crown of Menace You are too terrifying to be attacked. Until you make a physical attack in a scene, characters with a Will lower than Good (+3) simply cannot attack you. Those with sufficient Will to attack still flinch on their first attack, though, automatically missing. (Fate System Toolkit, p.98)


Thanks for the reference!  I think this is a good starting point, but I have a few misgivings about it as it is written.   A lot of the blessings in the Six Viziers systems aren't terribly well balanced.  I dislike the semantics of it saying "characters with a Will lower than Good (+3) simply cannot attack you."  They don't even get a chance to try to roll to Overcome?  That absoluteness of it irks me.  And, even still, once you've made the first move, then they are guaranteed to flinch and miss on their first attack?   That's just too heavy-handed for me.

If the fear of attack in this case is the fear of Car's reputation and the reputation of her house, then someone who doesn't know who she is shouldn't be so constrained, right?

Now, if we take this and massage it, I think we can make it functional without totally nerfing it.

Intimidating Reputation Attacking you has consequences.  One should consider carefully before committing.  For those aware of Cara's reputation, until she makes a physical attack in a scene, characters must overcome a Will:3 obstacle to make their own physical attack.

• Those who fail cannot attack (fail) or miss on their first attack (succeed at cost)
  This may be dependent on what's been written so far and when the dice roller is invoked.
• Those who tie may attack, but with a minor cost (take a fleeting aspect reflecting the trepidation of attacking)
• Those who succeed, succeed
• Those who succeed with style get a boost out of it (fleeting aspect in their favor)

How does that strike you?

Love it, totally understand it being too powerful RaW.  My background is Dresden Files, not pure Fate, so I don't know what is historically unbalanced.

I think I'm good to go then?

CARA YISIL
MANTLE
Oathsworn of House Yisil

ASPECTS
High-Concept:  Devourer of Mantles.

Cara's Mantle sets her up perfectly to be an assassin.  She can murder and impersonate low level guards and functionaries, use it to get close to high level Mages and politicians, and take them out.  She serves the House in the ways that she is trained, but she yearns to not be dependent upon the blood of others for her power.  She believes it is possible to learn to consume the Mantles of those long dead, from bones and graves, from Necromancy, and wants to dedicate herself to developing these techniques.  Yet her House keeps making demands of her, and she has no choice but to obey.

Trouble:  Foreign Magic in the Blood.

Cara is a foreigner in a strange land, and she is not used to the magic of this place.  It tastes different, it acts different, and it erupts in surprising ways.  Tag this to have her absorbed magic behave unexpectedly, or have her fail to understand some cultural trope of Kumlari society.

Personal:  Another debtor, another debt to be paid.

Her life and power are dependent upon debts, boons, and favors owed to her and the House.  She is constantly maneuvering for position, making sure that her Dependents remain so.  This involves helping some, keeping others in line, blackmailing one over here, loaning a great sum of money to that one there, acquiring a position at the College of Mages for another.  It also involves her own oaths and debts to the House.

Personal 2:  I know a guy, but you're not going to like the price.

Representing both her extensive network of contacts, and the somewhat bizarre costs associated with doing business with House Yisil.  Tag this to add esoteric costs to literally anything she does, the stranger the better.

Induction:Archmage Artov of the Veiled Hand has a rival he needs investigated discreetly.

She's got some considerable clout with House Yisil, and she's cashing in on that favor now to have another member of the Veiled hand, the Necromancer Derris, investigated.  She thinks he might be involved in some underhanded business, and wants it made public if true.

SKILLS

UNIQUE CONDITIONS

Burned Out (Fleeting): [ ] Mark this condition to gain +2 to all magical actions for the rest of the scene. Afterward, chose the First Boon Aspect that was utilized the most during this scene.  Remove that Aspect from your sheet, and unmark this Condition.  If there is a tie, the GM picks which Aspect Boon is lost.

Dependents (sticky): [ ][ ][ ] This condition uses three boxes to represent the House of Yisil's significant social capital, which translates to a limited supply of House Dependents who can and will offer aid, up to and including the First Boon. Mark a box when you draw on your Dependents for this mantle’s stunts. Recover this condition by waiting (one box per session) or by spending a scene to meet with your Dependents and offering to provide them assistance. The House Dependants (via the GM) will inform the Oathsworn of a problem necessitating correction.

Disfavored (sticky): [ ] Violating the House's trust marks this condition. While Disfavored the Oathsworn may no longer use any of the abilities associated with their Mantle.  Recover Disfavored when the Oathsworn has made restitution with their House, per the GM.

CORE STUNTS

The First Boon:  An Evoker other than the Oathsworn makes a donation of blood, gaining the Exhausted Aspect.  The Oathsworn marks down an Aspect that includes a Mantle Stress track, one of the donator's Disciplines, and a free Invoke.  The Oathsworn now has the ability to perform any of the four basic actions with spectacular magical effects as Evocations using the marked Discipline. Their actions may have scale at the GM’s discretion.  When the Stress Track is exhausted the Aspect and its associated Discipline are lost, as is the free Invoke if it hasn't already been spent.  This stunt may be used repeatedly, gaining a new Aspect, Stress Track, Discipline, and free Invoke each time.  However, it cannot be used on the same donator unless they have recovered from the Exhausted aspect. If used on the same donator, then the Oathsworn may either refresh the Stress Track on an existing Aspect and Discipline while gaining another free Invoke (even if the previous Invoke was unspent), or gain a new Aspect tied to a different Discipline of the donator with its own Stress Track and free Invoke.

If desired, the Oathsworn who has an active Aspect may push themselves to increase the spell’s effect as follows:

• Mark a stress box for +2 on any one magical action.
• Mark a stress box to replicate any action they might be able to perform by marking a Mana stress box.
• Mark Burned Out for +2 to all magical actions for the rest of the scene.

The Final Boon: Requires the death of the victim.  The Oathsworn of House Yasil commits a point of Refresh, absorbing one of the Mantles of their victim into their own.  This imparts one of the Core Stunts of the Mantle upon the Oathsworn, as if it were their own.  The Refresh does not return until the Mantle is released, and if it is said Mantle is gone forever.  Additionally, the Oathsworn can assume the previous holder's physical form (+2 to Deceive attempts to impersonate them), and has access to some of their surface memories (can spend Fate points to know key information that only the victim would have known).

ADDITIONAL STUNTS

Enchanted Item: The House always possesses a number of useful items—potions or other magical gadgets. Once per session, the Oathsworn may describe one of these items and create an ad hoc stunt effect related to its function, which they may use for the rest of the scene. Work with the GM to determine the specifics according to the rules. If the effect desired is powerful, the GM may charge a fate point for its use, at their discretion.  The Oathsworn may lend this item to another character, allowing them to use this stunt in their stead. This stunt may be taken more than once; each time grants an additional use per session.

Intimidating Reputation Attacking you has consequences.  One should consider carefully before committing.  For those aware of Cara's reputation, until she makes a physical attack in a scene, characters must overcome a Will:3 obstacle to make their own physical attack.

• Those who fail cannot attack (fail) or miss on their first attack (succeed at cost)
• This may be dependent on what's been written so far and when the dice roller is invoked.
• Those who tie may attack, but with a minor cost (take a fleeting aspect reflecting the trepidation of attacking)
• Those who succeed, succeed
• Those who succeed with style get a boost out of it (fleeting aspect in their favor)

Unapproachable: It’s difficult to try to manipulate someone when you’re constantly reminded of how scary they are. You may use Provoke instead of Will to provide defend against create advantage actions made with Deceive, Empathy, or Rapport. (adapted from Spirit of the Century SRD, §6.16.1)

STRESS
Refresh 1/1,
Mental Stress (Will)       [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
Physical Stress (Physique) [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
Mana (Lore)                [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:56, Thu 26 Mar 2020.

Will look it over in a bit.  Also gotta look through the stuff you did up on Khune.  Thanks for that, by the way!

Oh, this is just everything we've already discussed condensed in one spot, minus the Khune stuff.

Oh yes!  Alchemy and Herbalism are things.  Entirely separate and distinct from ritual magic, because these involve the innate properties of material items, flora, fauna, err... geology?

So, making a medicinal poultice out of yarrow root and mengava seed is totally doable.  No magic or Lore needed (though Scholarship would probably help.    You would integrate these as ritual components (or containers)  for supercharged results.

But, let's see... turning iron into gold... through a strictly alchemical process?  Probably still not achieved.  Through a magical ritual?  I don't see why not.

Naturally, the cost of the required components would nearly preclude doing it... it'd be cheaper just to buy the gold.  I mean there's got to be some reason why not everybody's doing it.  Other than because the College of Mages removed all those particualr manuscripts.  Yeah, there's a common meme.  Conspiracy theories everywhere.

Final little bit of adjusting for me, tweaking some names, but I need some help settling between Shoot and Blades.

Shoot I understand, I have a Lesser Boon from an Evoker who gives me Fire Magic?  I shoot a bolt of flame with Shoot, got it.

Let's say I have Blades though?  I use Fire Magic with the Attack move to create a knife of fire and stab with it?  Or maybe I Create an Advantage by saying "I cast the spell of Flametongue on my long knife, causing purple flames to lick the blade as I bare it at the bandits."

Because I gotta say, if I can use magic to create advantages on weapons that is way cooler than just shooting bolts of energy at people.

Because I gotta say, if I can use magic to create advantages on weapons that is way cooler than just shooting bolts of energy at people.

Casting "Flametongue" on a blade?  sure.  Or on armor, on arrow/bolts...  If it's a noun, Evocation can be used to apply those fundamental elemental forces at amazing speeds.  Ritual Magics can do the same things, mind you, just not at evocation speed.

Something like "Flame Tongue"  I'd say that that would grant additional shifts of damage if the hit connects.

A couple more questions...

Induction:Archmage Artov of the Veiled Hand has a rival he needs investigated discreetly.

She's got some considerable clout with House Yisil, and she's cashing in on that favor now to have another member of the Veiled hand, the Necromancer Derris, investigated.  She thinks he might be involved in some underhanded business, and wants it made public if true.


This sounds like a fantastic set-up for a story or a personal motivation during the first story.   Do you feel this needs to be an Aspect, that it' a fundamental part of who Cara is?   It feels a little off for me from that perspective.

However, I was also going to ask why Cara is even in Kumlar to begin with.  I love the "fish out of water" sense and the alienness of her, and I hope the story shows that she's actually all too human despite all that.

But, really... why is she here and how did she possibly come to Queen Jia's attention?

Blades it is, for sure then.

Totally happy to drop that one as an Aspect, I thought Induction was supposed to be a hook so that's why I did it like that.

Considering that I've bumped Provoke from 2 to 4 since I wrote those Aspects, and added 2 Stunts that are tied to Provoke, I need to do something about how Provoke shapes her.

A Coat of Red and Black:  Far out past the plains of Aren, and even to the foothills of the Mondat Mountains, whispered tales tell of creatures of profane magic and unholy nightmare.  Utterly inhuman, merciless, and fanatically devoted to their God Emperor, in the stories they drink the blood of their victims and devour their souls.  None of the versions are the same, except for one fact.  In each nightmare, the beast in question always wears a high collared coat of red and black.  Most of it is absolute hogwash, of course, but the Great Houses of Khune are happy to maintain and even perpetuate the more nefarious mysteries and rumors that surround their red and black bedecked Oathsworn.  It makes travel in more rural areas more difficult, to be sure, but it is a simple enough matter to take the coat off when blending in is what is required.  In truth, most Oathsworn's duties primarily take to the major cities, where such foul stories do far more good than harm.

House Yisil

House Yisil is not one of the most dominant Great Houses of Khune, that spot currently being occupied by an uneasy triumvirate comprising House Praven, House Isilider, and House Mortren.  Under the broad vision of its current leader, Matriarch Veora Yisil, the House's power and prestige among the turbulent political tides of Khune are waxing.  While most of the Great Houses kept their Oathsworn within the Empire, or committed assets to plundering fallen Khadid of ancient magic, the Matriarch of Yisil has sent her Oathsworn far into Kumlar and even the Plains of Aren.  They have taken root, cultivating strange magic among foreign Dependents, and carrying her House from among the lowest of the mighty to something approaching the strongest.  Other Great Houses have begun to take notice of this, and are starting to send their Oathsworn outside of Khune and Khadid as well, though as of yet they do not possess the extended networks of favors and contacts controlled by House Yisil.

Situational Aspect:  Jealous eyes always notice waxing power.

Nowhere is this more true than within the Capital of Kumlar, where House Yisil has spent years building their networks of informants, contacts, and Dependents.  The House's greatest triumph has been to insert an agent within the Queen's Court.  The Queen is well aware that her new "diplomat" is an Oathsworn of one of the Great Houses of Khune, as the Matriarch of Yisil attempted no subterfuge in this regard when she was offered.  While she might not know exactly what that entails, she does know that Cara would serve best as an asset of the Veiled Hand, but also that her loyalties will always lie first with her House.

Situational Aspect:  Diplomatic status uncertain at best.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Fri 27 Mar 2020.

Khune:

Culture:

The Khundari are a clannish people, untrusting of outsiders to the point of being directly unfriendly.  This has more to do with the stories of how Khundari culture is accepted and received out in the wider world than it does any internal biases.  Merchants traveling abroad have learned that they need to disguise the true nature of their slave's labors, or else face judgement and castigation.  Clansbond sailing the coasts in their purple hulled schooners with the triangular sails of midnight blue keep the tales of their religious holidays and seasonal rituals to themselves, for the Kumlar and even the Khadid before them do not take kindly to stories of the glorious sacrifice and absolute necessity of the Final Boon.  The greenlanders of Kumlar are viewed as naive and spoiled, passing judgement from within the luxury of their fertile fields and verdant freshwater lakes.  For the survivors of Khadid, the Khundari experience a mixture of vindication mixed with guilt.  Those escaping the Scar understand now the harsh realities of existence that necessitate the Khundari way of life, the Lesser and Final Boons that serve to refine and condense the relatively weak magic within the blood of Khune into the incredibly potent force that it is.

Situational Aspect:  Blue sails, muttered words.

Internally, Khundari culture is rich and varied. They are a cast based society, with clear delineations between cast, yet upward mobility is possible under certain circumstances.  The lowliest Clanless can rise to be Oathsworn to one of the great houses, should they prove capable and competent enough.  At the bottom of society are the Clanless, who exist almost outside of the law.  One step up from them are the Clanbound, those who have sold themselves into slavery in order to gain no small measure of legal and familial protection within Khune. Those who feel they have been unfairly treated may seek restitution in the Temple of Justice, and find Magistrates who will not just hear, but believe them should they have evidence of their mistreatment.  Killing of a slave is forbidden, and even striking one is only permitted if such a thing is considered justified.  There is no honor in beating one weaker than you, no purpose to the survival of all in crippling the hands that sow the fields and the arms that work the bellows.  They mark their status with the color orange, wearing bright orange hoods of silk to signify that they are protected by the oaths they have pledged to one of the Clans.  Typically, they will compliment this with an orange headband with the sigil of the Clan they serve at the forehead.

Situational Aspect:  Hard times call for a hard people.

In coats of grey and silver over banded mail, the soldiers, scouts, caravan guards, and warriors make up the next class on the social rung.  Although Khune is a very martial society, it is not soldiers who put fish and goatsmeat in the bellies of its citizens.  Khune does not survive by conquering the grain stores of those within the greenlands.  Thus, while soldiering is an honorable profession, it is one for those who do not possess the magic to ascend to the rank of merchant within the Clans.  Any Khundari soldier worth his salt is an accomplished sailor, favoring short bow and long knives above sword and shield.

Situational Aspect:  Silver coats and thundering hooves.

Midnight blue is reserved for the Merchant Clans, and is worn proudly by the craftsfolk, merchants, and weavers of magic within each Clan.  Women are typically born into their Clan, what magic they possess ensuring them a profession of skilled labor for the rest of their lives.  Each Clan possesses a Keeper of Tales, a revered position who serves as the Loremaster for all the Clan's secrets and techniques, both arcane and mundane.  This Keeper serves at the Matriarch's right hand, advising her and shaping the choices the clan makes.  At the height of the social structure is the Great Houses, delineated by the red that is their right.  The Great Houses condense and refine the magic of the Clans through their Dependants, conducting the great rituals that keeps Khundari society functioning.  Their agents wear coats of black and red, and while feared far and wide outside of Khune are respected within it.

Situational Aspect:  A coat of red and black.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:41, Sun 29 Mar 2020.

I found this is the Fate Core System Toolkit.

Not to Be Trifled With. When you make it clear how dangerous you are, roll Provoke against your target’s Will. If you succeed, that target will not attack you or willingly come near you unless you take action against him first. If you succeed with style, neither will anyone with a lower Will than your target. (Fate System Toolkit, p.35)

Do you think that one is better for gameplay or worse than the one you homebrewed?

Intimidating Reputation: Attacking you has consequences.  One should
consider carefully before committing.  For those aware of Cara's reputation,
until she makes a physical attack in a scene, characters must overcome a
Will:3 obstacle to make their own physical attack.

• Those who fail cannot attack (fail) or miss on their first attack (succeed at cost)
• This may be dependent on what's been written so far and when the dice roller is invoked.
• Those who tie may attack, but with a minor cost (take a fleeting aspect
• reflecting the trepidation of attacking)
• Those who succeed with style get a boost out of it (fleeting aspect in their favor)

As we get closer to actual game start, I want to highlight that Cara's personal motivations at this point are going to be, in order of importance.

• Finding potent magic items.
• Investigating rumors of Necromancy.
• Building her contacts and Dependents.

I love the idea you have for magic items, and want to play into that, and it goes with her theme of hoarding and stockpiling magic.

I had an idea I really liked.

I'm going to do a paragraph or two of background and description for each of Cara's three dots of Dependants.  I'm also going to randomly pick their Disciplines by rolling, which I'll use as a placeholder here.

1. Air - Control, and animate air
   
2. Death - Control necrotic energy and animate the dead
   
3. Earth - Control and animate stone and dirt
   
4. Energy - Control arcane energy, and animate objects
   
5. Fire - Control, create, and animate fire
   
6. Illusion - Control what is seen
   
7. Life - Control life force and begin healing process
   
8. Mind - Read minds and place thoughts in them
   
9. Nature - Control, create, and animate plants
   
10. Sight - Discern truth from deception and look in on a target
    
11. Teleport - Teleport yourself and/or others
    
12. Transform - Change the shape of yourself, others, or objects
    
13. Water - Control, create, and animate water and ice

Huarta Patil - Khandari Merchant
23:51, Today: Cara rolled 9 using 1d13.  3rd time's the charm.
Nature Magic.

Arcanist Ellis Yassur - College Trained Oracle
23:53, Today: Cara rolled 10 using 1d13.  Dependent 2.
Sight Magic

Tril "Trilee" Patters - Urchin Wild Talent Sorceress
23:54, Today: Cara rolled 1 using 1d13.  Dependent 3.
Air Magic

Khune:

Religion:

The steppes of Khune are harsh land, home to even harsher gods, alien and largely uncaring of the people beneath them.  The Khundari pantheon is a triumvirate of primordial powers in a constant state of war with one another.  The conflict is infinite, with none of the three elemental forces tolerating another to gain any advantage over the third, leaving the three ancient forces of destruction and creation locked in a permanent stalemate.  The Khundari worship not to draw the eyes of their gods, but to keep themselves shrouded from them, wrapping themselves in protective layers of worship which hide them from notice.  To call out any one god's name in joyful worship would be sure to draw the wrath of the other two, better to muddle a prayer to all three and escape any of their notice.

Izkazar:  The Mother of Storms

Izkazar was old when the world was young, an ancient maelstrom of enormous size and power off the Southern coast of Khune.  All of Liscora could fit within her whirlpool, every soul dragged down into the dark and the depths.  She sends storms to crush those who draw her notice, diverting the rains away from the arid steppes and back out to sea.  The feathers of birds blind her, and no Khundari sailor worth their salt would dare leave port without a talisman of gull feathers tucked under their shirt.

Eranei:  The Salt that Taints the Ground

When the soil of Khune poisons the fields until every plant chokes and dies, that is the touch of Eranel.  The Salt that Taints the Ground is the least likely to notice the feet that walk above him, yet his influence is the most often felt within Khune.  He is deaf to song, and thus the Clansbound of the Grain Mothers are often possessed of the most remarkable voices.

Idrin:  The Warper of Flesh

The steppes of Khune are full not of the thundering hoofbeats of horses, but the roar of monsters.  The Warper of Flesh has worked its will on the native flora and fauna for thousands of years, twisting the beasts of Khune into truly terrifying predators.  Smoke and ash overwhelm its senses, and even the smallest Khundari village has one whose responsibility it is to ensure that a single flame always remains lit.

From time to time, one or more of these ancient entities spits out a Fracture, a splitting of a portion of their primordial essence that breaks free and gains inhuman sentience and some measure of independence.  These creations are wild and chaotic things, powerful almost beyond measure, forces of destruction that if left alone to grow could lay waste to vast swathes of Khune.  More akin to natural disasters than sentient gods, the Great House's true purpose is to find and kill these Fractures before they have a chance to mature.  The Mantles of power absorbed in the act of killing form the foundations of the powers of the Great Houses, and unbeknownst to the wider world are the source of much of the tales of widespread destruction that are the Great House's domain.  Their blood powers the structural magic of the Great Houses, and powers their greatest works of alchemy.  Their bones form the base ingredients of their most powerful artifacts, wands and amulets of almost incomprehensible spell weavings. Even the smallest Great House possess some remnant of a Fracture, woven deep into the Mantles of its elders.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:14, Sun 08 Nov 2020.

Between the two, I'm going to favor "not to be trifled with," as it lets me roll a contested action.

Added an important last paragraph to the Religion post.

Wielding foreign magic, with whispered tales of blood rituals and human sacrifice, the Oathsworn of the Great Houses of Khune are feared the world over.  Rumors abound of how House Yisil managed to place an agent within the Queen's inner circle, particularly one who makes no effort to conceal the dreaded red and black.

Re: "A vocal religious sect has established itself in Kumlar's capital, and issued a challenge to the Edict of Pantheistic Unity."

What do you think of: So I see a way I might have built towards this.  If this new sect were refugees from Khadid who worship the Khundari Triumvirate, essentially making them an apocalyptic cult in the guise of a normal religious sect.  That would get Cara's attention real damn quick, as anyone bringing the attention of the Triumvirate of Khundari gods to Druvir is a problem of potentially apocalyptic proportions.  No self respecting Khundari would be stupid enough to worship the Triumvirate, but Khadid was close enough that the names of their gods might have bled over.

Re: "A vocal religious sect has established itself in Kumlar's capital, and issued a challenge to the Edict of Pantheistic Unity."


Seems fair.  But let's table it for now...

Hm.   I think I'm going to add a new thread for "Ideas to Explore"...  Because we need a repository of things that are cool, but that we're not dealing with right now...

While setting up the tracking thread, I re-read through some of the Oath-Sworn mantle...

When Cara "accepts a donation" she acquires an Aspect, a stress-track associated with that Aspect, and "a discipline" associated with the donator.

How large is the stress-track typically?  Is there anything that makes it larger or smaller?

What is a discipline in this context?
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 18:45, Wed 22 Apr 2020.

I have a couple of things that concern me about this mantle at the moment...  It might be that you just need to repreat what we'd discussed earlier or find another way to mollify me, because I'm not understanding properly...  Either way, my re-read left me with questions...

The Lesser Boon confer an additional Aspect with an additional stress-track representing the "borrowed" power.  It is my understanding that this mantle is being used instead of the Evocation mantle, right?  So it's not in addition to it.  How does this affect her Mana-Pool?

This stunt may be used repeatedly, gaining a new Aspect, Stress
Track, Discipline, and free Invoke each time.
If she's got a dozen people offering up donations, is she really taking on a dozen new Aspects and a dozen times a mana-pool?  Yes, I'm taking it to possibly-absurd lengths.   But this is my concern.  What are the limitations on this?



So... Walk me through a sample of the lesser boon in play.  With the mechanics that you envision.  I need to understand this better.

Walk me through a sample of the Final boon in play, too.  Exampels will really help me wrap my head around it properly.