File: mage quest resource document.pdf (4.28 MB, PDF)

4.28 MB PDF

> Previous Quest: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/37975362/
> Quest Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=MtA%20Quest
> QM Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MageQM
> Previous Q&A Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/36531585/
> ask.fm link: http://ask.fm/MageQM

Resource document should still be up to date. Michael has 20 exp. available to spend on stuff.

>>38111739
>Have Diana mount up in the tank.
> Snap out of it, we need your help!

>>38111795

did we decide to hold on to that XP for a familiar, or should we go ahead and pick up our next forces dot?

>>38111739
>> Snap out of it, we need your help!

>>38112100
I think we're waiting till we get enough XP for the five dot equivalent of a familiar/spirit retainer/awesome punchghost pal

>>38112100
No one really decided upon anything for how to spend the exp. I know people were talking about getting the Familiar merit, but they were talking about getting a 5-dot Familiar (which doesn't exist) and realized that isn't possible. The spirits that you talked to which are open to the idea of becoming a Familiar are:

The three-dot one is a wind spirit, a bubbly personality and very cheerful demeanor.

One of the four-dots is a fox spirit, and would materialize as such. It's a playful one, but pretty knowledgeable on various things.

The other four-dot is a hawk spirit, and would materialize as such. Pretty aggressive, it'd help with scouting areas out along with hit-and-run style attacks.

>>38112175
Well... I shouldn't say it's not possible, it's just difficult, at that level of Familiar you're basically talking about getting the DnD equivalent of the Leadership feat.

>>38112199
>>38112175
>>38112134
But, honestly, I'm good for whatever. A 4-dot familiar would be fine by me if anyone else wanted to vote for it.

>>38112324
Personally, I think people were hoping to get the Bruce Lee spirit as the Familiar.

Which is possible, but you'd need like 50 exp. for that.

>>38112324
I'd be okay with a 4 dot familiar.

Writing.

You hurry over to Sarah, placing your hands on her shoulders. "Snap out of it, we need your-"

Before you can even finish talking everything just becomes.... Wrong. You barely have time to see the violet hue of her soul engulfing you before every atom in your body screams in pain.

> Roll 6d10 (Resolve + Gnosis), best of 5 rolls or until 15 minutes pass, whichever occurs first.

Rolled 5, 3, 8, 3, 10, 6 = 35 (6d10)

>>38112686

Rolled 1, 8, 6, 10, 8, 5 = 38 (6d10)

>>38112686

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151 KB PNG

>>38112686
Aw shit, this better not be anything like Diablorie!

Rolled 8, 8, 10, 1, 8, 2 = 37 (6d10)

>>38112686
Oh fuck. This isn't good.

Rolled 7, 6, 3, 4, 1, 3 = 24 (6d10)

>>38112686

>>38112781
I don't know what that is.

For what it's worth, I will explain what she is doing whether or not you succeed in resisting.

Rolled 3, 9, 5, 8, 3, 10 = 38 (6d10)

>>38112686

Ok, writing.

>>38112956
In Vampire vampires can eat vampire souls to get stronger.

>>38113020
Ahh, ok. She didn't do that.

Well, not exactly...

>>38113320
did she give up something to make us stronger instead?

You struggle to resist whatever it is she is doing, but whatever it is she is attempting, your force of will isn't strong enough to hold it back. Your soul screams in pain as your body feels like it is being torn apart, an eternity of pain slamming into you at once. Your vision slowly recovers as you let go of her, as waves of magical energy begin to flow out of her.

"What... What did..." You struggle to speak, as she grabs onto your body, gently easing you to the floor.

"I'm sorry Michael," she says, voice firm and steady. "Truly, I am. But I cannot help while burdened by the scars of what Zz'kula did, so for now, please shoulder them for me for a few minutes."

Your butt softly touches the floor, sending a shock up your body as the cold, wet clothing you are still in begin to chill your bones. She lets go of you and hurries over to Elizabeth, who looks ready to kill Sarah for... Something.

"What did she do... Why can't I move properly... Why am I talking my thoughts out loud?"

> Just sit there, it's too much work to move
> Stay away from Liz, she's scary when she's angry
> Inspect yourself with every form of Sight you have
> Do nothing
> Other

>>38113411
>Other
try to stop Liz from hurting Sarah

I'll explain in-quest if you guys don't mind waiting.

However, if you don't want to wait, let me know and I'll tell you via meta post.

>>38113411
> Inspect yourself with every form of Sight you have
I really don't know. These seems like it'll keep him occupied enough to not do something crazy.

>>38113561
No, I get what she did. I'm just not sure what Michael should be doing.

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>>38113411
>>Inspect yourself

I kinda get it, but still, just dumping her soul issues by noming on ours without warning or even asking our consent is a real dick move. She owes us now, big time.

>>38113411
>> Inspect yourself with every form of Sight you have
"Is my junk okay?!?"

>>38113411
> Stay away from Liz, she's scary when she's angry
> Inspect yourself with every form of Sight you have

>>38113561
I'd rather IC explanations.
Something for meta discussion after the quest ends: Sounds like she drained some of our Wisdom to bring her out of the crazy zone. Not cool without warning, but archmastery does change your outlook somewhat.

>>38113880
I don't think Wisdom is something you can "drain". Now, eating a bit of our soul or swapping out our soul with her own on the other hand...

"Liz, don't..." You struggle to raise your voice above a whisper, even as another chilled wave passes over your body, as you involuntarily begin to shake. "What did she..." You turn on your Spirit Sight, looking over at Sarah. Instead of the twisted, injured, and warped violet soul she has had since rescuing her, her soul is healthy, vibrant, and looks nearly as white as yours does.

"But that's not her normal color..." You look down at your own self, seeing that your normal, healthy, white soul is now twisted, warped, and injured, and looks much more violet than you've ever seen it be before.

"You... What... But..." Your memory recalls something she said a few days ago, about wanting to touch your soul back at the campfire. Maybe this is a more severe version of what she wanted to do? "This isn't right, Sarah..."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but please," she looks back at you, regret in her eyes at what she did. "Just once, let me help."

"Like hell I'm going to let you help," Liz yells, as you shirk back as her multicolored soul begins to boil in rage. "You just raped my husband's soul to not have your mental illnesses! You fix him right now or God help me, I'm throwing you to the End of Time!"

> Stay silent, let the grown ups argue
> Tell Liz you'll be ok
> Agree with Liz
> Other

>>38113832
Physically speaking, other than still being in wet, cold clothing, Michael is perfectly healthy.

Mentally and soul health, well...

>>38114092
>Tell Liz you'll be ok

>>38114092
> Tell Liz you'll be ok

>>38114092
>>Tell Liz you'll be ok

>>38114092
>> Tell Liz you'll be ok

>>38114092
> Tell Liz you'll be ok
>other
"I'm not much help against hunters anyway."
"Can't punch every problem away."

"I'll be ok Liz," you barely are able to utter out, at least above the whisper you've been struggling with. "I doubt my fists will help against Hunter guns anyway. Just... Don't die, ok?"

It takes her a long moment before sighing, as Diana walks over wondering what the hell is going on. "The moment this is done, you fix any damage you did."

"I promise." At that, she walks towards the main garage entrance and opens it up, as the screeching of tires begins to echo outside on the street.

> Try to find someplace to hide
> Just sit there and do nothing
> Other

>>38114092
> Tell Liz you'll be ok

Again, Sarah owes us after this. She owes us but good.

> Meta post:

Do you guys want to stick with Michael's POV, or switch to Sarah's?

>>38114430
let's switch.
Sitting around doing nothing isn't especially interesting

>>38114450
>>38114430
POV switch time!

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>38114399
> Try to find someplace to hide

1)Switch
2)Don't

>>38114430
If we switch, do we get to control Sarah? Or do we just watch?

This is hella meta, but could whatever she just did to us let us see through her eyes or influence her actions?

I'd vote POV switch to keep the quest interesting (ie preserve agency and let us participate in the following instead of rolling around), but if it's an option, I would much rather stay as 'Michael' to whatever extent it's possible.

>>38114664
With POV switch, you folks will control Sarah. Michael will basically be out of commission and left in a similar state as to how she's been acting in the quest up to this point.

And if this does go through, I do have a stat sheet for her, which I will share if we "assume control" of her.

>>38114430
Switch

>>38114399
>> Other
Cry.

>>38114860
(>>38114664 again.)
In that case, voting to not switch agency. POV is interesting, but swapping characters feels ... weird.

>>38114887
Seconding.

Writing.

File: Sarah in your suit.jpg (90 KB, 1000x1389)

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As Michael begins to slowly move off the floor and out of the way, Elizabeth stares me down with her cold, blue eyes. "There wasn't any time," Sarah says to the Time Mage, chuckling at the words she is speaking to the Mage before her. "Not while Jacklynn is in trouble."

"That isn't right, and you know it." Together Elizabeth and Diana follow you out onto the street, as the van comes screeching down the road, a large, black SUV chasing after her with guns firing on the van. "I've talked with Gemini about your condition, you'd been making such good progress."

"Not fast enough," Sarah replies, hand crackling as you begin to flex your magical powers into it. You haven't felt this in control since before Zz'kula showed up. And you are going to savor every last moment of it.

> Sick Tiny on the SUV
> Throw a black hole at the SUV
> Get Jacklynn safe first
> Wait for someone else to make the first move
> Other

File: mage quest sarah stats page.png (1011 KB, 1257x1632)

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And here's the stats page of Sarah.

>>38115231
>Get Jacklynn safe first
saving people comes first

>>38114954
The swap is temporary at most, this whole issue could be resolved pretty quickly by Sarah now that she has full control over her mental faculties.

>>38115231
>Sick Tiny on the SUV
Tiny is her familiar, right? Let me guess, he's huge

>>38115385
Michael and the others met a corrupted Tiny back when she was possessed by Zz'kula (an Acamoth).

>>38115231
>Throw a black hole at the SUV
black hole to the face is always the correct answer.
Plus, hunters could have countermeasures for spirit attacks, a bit harder to deal with a black hole

>>38115231
>> Get Jacklynn safe first
From Sarah's viewpoint, this would be job one.

>>38115231
>Sick Tiny on the SUV

>>38115231
> Get Jacklynn safe first

Seems this is what she'd do, how we gonna do that exactly?

>>38115265
Ho boy, one in wisdom. Did she lose one for doing what she just did?

>>38115683
I'm pretty sure XP penalties start piling on if you drop your wisdom to one point, as opposed to having zero.

>>38115231
> Get Jacklynn safe first

>>38115742
I don't think Sarah's hurting too much in the XP department, judging by her character sheet.

>>38115742
No, you lose control of your character if it hits zero. In game terms you go absolutely mad with power. A mage at Wisdom zero is like a dude at SAN 0. He thinks he's God, or serves as the right hand man of God. Maybe he starts thinking he *is* the abyss. Stuff like that. He's gotten so crazy and drunk on power that none of his actions make any real sense anymore. Or he just loses his shit and commits suicide, it's up to the GM what happens.

You outstretch your hand and will space to bend to your whims, and the 100 or so feet that Jacklynn needs to cross becomes a sharp, 10 foot curve from the road into the warehouse, which she takes as though she is merging onto an expressway. The other two quickly run inside as the van screeches to a halt, barely not crashing into the opposite wall inside the building. You quickly end the spell and watch as the guns pointed at where she was at disappear, the SUV still driving at you, and you duck inside as the garage door closes shut.

"What... Sarah, you could've killed me," Jacklynn yells, climbing out of the still-running van.

"Not now," you reply to her, as the SUV thuds into the metal garage door besides you. "We've got... maybe 30 seconds before they break through. Now, I could easily throw them into a black hole, or do you want to try something a bit less violent?"

"What..." Jacklynn looks back at Elizabeth, who has a finger pointed at Michael, who is barely peeking his head up from behind one of the treads on the tank I'd attempted to drive a few hours ago. "Sarah! What the fuck! I thought I told you NOT to do that!"

> Send their guns flying off somewhere else
> Let Diana and Elizabeth try diplomacy
> Screw it, black hole it is!
> He wanted me to help, this is me helping
> Other

>>38115683
She'll lose the last point if she doesn't undo what she did in the time frame she has to make the changes temporary ailments, like she said it would be.

>>38115914
>Send their guns flying off somewhere else

>>38115914
>> Send their guns flying off somewhere else
THEN we can begin negotiations.

>>38115776
Well, get possessed by an Acamoth for longer than you've been in control of your body, have your body and powers be forced to kill at least a hundred Mages, not to mention unspeakable horrors inflicted upon your body, mind and soul by said Acamoth, and you're gonna pick up a fair bit of exp. along the way.

>>38115914
>> Screw it, black hole it is!
They probably have gargoyle candles so lets fuck em up!

>>38115960
That's within a day right? If that's not the case then how much longer we got before we lose our archmage to madness?

>>38115914
> He wanted me to help, this is me helping
> Send their guns flying off somewhere else

>captcha: criHt
Let's hope so.

>>38116091
It's a day at most before the changes are made permanent, but if she does the swap within the hour no damage will be inflicted to either person.

I'll do a meta post after the quest to explain what she did in a mechanical sense.

"He wanted me to help, this is me helping," you reply to your sister, who looks like she's ready to knock your block off. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." You call upon Tiny to give you vision from the outside, and the tarantula-spider Familiar grants its vision to you, as he stands atop the roof across the way, as several Hunters stand outside, all armed with various assault rifles and handguns and their Screamer Pistols. You reach out with your Space magic, and in a blink of the eye all of their weapons are teleported away from their hands and into a nearby garbage bin inside the warehouse. They all look around in shock as you hit the garage door button to open it up.

"So, are you guys going to place nice now," you yell to all of them as the door clanks open, as the other three look on in a mix of shock. "Or do I have to continue flexing my muscle!?"

The driver clambers out of the vehicle, a lit Witch Candle in their grasp. "You don't scare us, demon! We know your powers don't work well around one of these!"

At that, you call forth another wind spirit with the snap of your fingers, this one bowing to your will out of fear more than gratitude, and it instantly blows out the small flame before you let it return to the Shadow World. "What was that about my powers not working around a candle?"

> Wait for them to speak up
> Let the others step in and negotiate
> Threaten them some more
> Other

>>38116475
>Wait for them to speak up

>>38116475
>> Wait for them to speak up
"You've gone to all this trouble, so let's hear what you have to say."

Going afk for dinner, will be back in 20-30 minutes. So voting will continue until I get back.

Also, feel free to ask me anything in the meantime and I'll answer when I get back.

>>38116475
jesus she's a badass.

> Let the others step in and negotiate

>>38116475
>Let the others step in and negotiate
They think she's a demon? Should we enlighten them?

>>38116475
Seconding >>38116610

Back, and writing.

You wait for them to speak up, or to at least stop shitting their pants, before one of them slowly steps forward.

"Well... Uhhm... We politely request that you stop using our members as your personal playthings."

"Uhh..." Elizabeth steps foward, as you remain silent and wait there, arms folded across your chest. "We don't do that. It's not wise to mess with another person's head," she says, shooting a judging glare our way.

"Then can you find out which Mage is using our members as their personal flying monkeys!?" She turns towards the back of the SUV, as you look over, one eye focusing on them, the other linked to Tiny's vision to make sure she doesn't pull a weapon out of the back of the trunk. It lifts open with a small hiss and she drags out a bound and gagged person, one who looks rather ragged and beaten up. "We've tried everything to snap him out of it, but he keeps blathering on and on about serving some Mistress Tsukuyomi."

At that, Diana steps forward, slipping on a pair of glasses. "Holy... Listen, you mind if I run some tests on this person," she says, pointing to the struggling, bound man. "Nothing invasive or harmful, I think I know what's wrong with him and might be able to help."

The other Hunters step back for a moment and murmur to each other, as you continue to look on in feigned interest. You can already feel some of the changes trying to take hold, and are struggling to keep them seperate. Finally they return, handing the person off to Diana. "One of us will stay with him to make sure he's ok, but otherwise you're welcome to look at him."

Diana quickly grabs onto his shirt, dragging him back inside and tossing him into a nearby metal chair. She digs around in one of her lockers before producing a metal helmet with a thick, glass visor on it.

"Is that-"

> [1/2]

> [2/2]

"Yeah, only I'm just getting a readout of his mental patterns," she says, strapping it to the ragged man's head and hooking up various wires and chords to machines she has in the van. Soon they begin to bristle to life, as machines begin beeping and making sounds not unlike a dial up modem. You glance back at the other Hunters, as all but one gather up into the SUV and leave. The last one looks rather kind, and kind of cute too...

Your eyes grow wide as the tingles of arousal stir in your loins, and you quickly walk over to Michael, who is still hiding behind the tank. These changes are sticking faster than you'd even expected, and the last thing you want to do is get your freak on, especially after everything Zz'kula did to you.

"Will he be ok," he asks, looking up at you.

"Eventually... Might be even a lead on Tsukuyomi." You walk behind the tank, out of sight of everyone else. "Listen, I'm about to undo what I just did. Don't fight it, ok?" He nods, and you gently place your hands on his head. "And Michael?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you... For giving me a moment of clarity." At that, you reach inside him, as you begin to undo the spell you'd cast upon you both, the borrowed components of Michael's soul quickly fleeing from your injured one, striving to go back to its rightful home. For their part your own injured soul is equally glad to return to your body, as you begin to feel your mind cloud and shut down, avenues of power and might returning to their twisted and hidden wells, and soon...

------------------------

"You should be ok," Sarah says to you, as you can feel your body and mind clearing up. For her part, she looks rather tired, and you gently guide her down to the floor, as she did to you a few moments ago. "The Hunters should be peaceful... And tell Liz I'm sorry."

> Hurry over to the others
> Make sure Sarah's fixed everything
> I'll pass the message along
> Other

>>38117937
>I'll pass the message along
>make sure she's okay, too

>>38117937
>> I'll pass the message along
I trust her to not fuck us over on this, so I say we choose to forego the self-patdown and get down to business.

>>38117937
>I'll pass the message along
we really need to work on healing Sarah

Writing.

>>38117937
> I'll pass the message along
> Make sure Sarah's fixed everything (for both of you)

>>38118115
Yeah, familiar can wait, we soul doctor now.

"I'll pass the message along," you tell Sarah as she begins to curl up on the floor, trying to stay warm it looks like. You emerge from behind the tank and head over to Liz, Jemma, and Diana. "So what's the situation here?"

A young woman in a black combat suit shakes her head at your arrival. "What... Where'd you come from?"

"Bathroom," you thumb to the corner where a small outcropping of closed off rooms is located. "What, Mages have to pee too you know," you reply to the woman and her skeptical look.

"Di here is running some tests on this person here," Liz says, walking over to you. "It sounds like Tsukuyomi might've whammied this individual." She leans in close and looks you over with her Mage Sight, before relaxing. "Everything ok in there," she whispers to you.

"I'm fine," you mutter back. "And she says she's sorry," you say, fulfilling your agreement of passing the message along.

It takes a few minutes before Diana hops out of the van, removing the helmet from the bound and gagged man's head. "Yep, he got whammied. Bad news is I can't fix it from here."

"Then what are we-" The woman begins speaking up, before Diana raises a finger to her.

"That's the bad news. Good news is I can track down what caused this, and by proxy, track down Tsukuyomi's base of operations."

> Great, let's do it now!
> Ok, we go after her tomorrow
> Any way of making sure it doesn't happen to us or anyone else?
> Other

>>38118477
>Ok, we go after her tomorrow

>Meta post:

Michael and Sarah's soul are back to their respective bodies, and her soul is just as injured now as it was before she did the swap. Michael himself did a quick check (based upon votes) I just didn't mention it in the recent post because I didn't have room for it.

>>38118477
>Great, let's do it now!

>>38118477
>Ok, we go after her tomorrow

>might've whammied this individual
he's calling her Mistress, what other possible explanation could there even be?

>>38118477
>Ok, we go after her tomorrow

Writing.

"Ok, we go after her tomorrow then," you say to the other Hunter.

"Why not now," she asks.

"Because do you go blind into any potential combat scene without preparation and gear and a good night's rest if possible," Jemma says to the Huntress. "She doesn't know that we know where she's located, this element of surprise isn't going to change over the next 12 or 18 hours."

Diana hands a piece of paper to the young woman, who gingerly takes it. "This is where she's located, though I'd recommend you let us Mages deal with her. Her tool can affect any weak-willed, non-supernatural person, and your friend won't snap out of it unless we deal with her and the spell she's used upon him," she says, thumbing the person in the chair behind her.

"Ok... If I come back tomorrow evening on peaceful terms, will that be fine?"

"Assuming we aren't dead, yes."

She gathers her colleague and escorts him outside, and within a few moments they leave the building. You follow after them and see her calling for a ride, and make sure she leaves before returning back inside, as Jemma, Elizabeth, and Diana all huddle around a table, pointing at a large map.

"So her hideout is in the Sears Tower," she says to you.

"Isn't it the Willis Tower now," Jemma shoots back.

"Whatever. But there's no way we can enter in from the ground floor and get up to the 95th floor, where the Profane Urim's magical influence is eminating from, and not have her alerted to our intrusion."

> Any way of entering from the top floor?
> I don't mind entering from the ground floor
> Wait... Isn't the Tower also in the Shadow World?
> Other

>>38119145
>Any way of entering from the top floor?
anyone know how to fly a helicopter?

>>38119145
>Any way of entering from the top floor?
she'll have eyes on the shadow world. With two archmages on our side we should be able to find a way to fly or just teleport up

>>38119145
> Any way of entering from the top floor?
any other high buildings next to it? Maybe we can go up that one and then somehow get over?

>>38119145
>> Wait... Isn't the Tower also in the Shadow World?
I remember this fairly distinctly from one of our walkabouts.

>>38119145
> Any way of entering from the top floor?
> Wait... Isn't the Tower also in the Shadow World?

Writing.

Also, this upcoming scene will be the last post for tonight.

"Isn't there some way of entering from the top floor... I mean, you can fly right Jemma?"

"Yeah, but I can barely carry another two people with me, I can't fly all of you up there. And even if there was another building nearby, there's none tall enough where we can string something along with it."

You glance over at Elizabeth, who is looking oddly at you. "... What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Michael... Isn't the Tower also in the Shadow World? I'm pretty sure I remember seeing it there."

You think it over, recalling the Tower being in the Shadow World on your walk back to home after you left your car at the parking lot from when the Hunters were chasing you. "Crap, you're right! At least, I'm pretty sure it's the Tower... Shadow World can make the inside a bit different from the outside."

"Well, we can always split into two groups, one attacks from the air outside by entering from the top, the other group enters in from the Shadow World, do a one-two punch and overwhelm her defenses," Jemma says to you both.

You consider her plan for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I can't think of anything better. I'd recommend you and Sarah go in from outside, while Diana, Liz and I enter in from the Shadow World... Oh, speaking of Sarah, don't get too mad at her for what she did."

"Oh, I'll give her an earful later tonight," Jemma says to you. "She tried pulling that shit on me too, I can't believe she'd try that crap with you."

"It's ok, I asked for her help, and she just went a little further than I was expecting her to, that's all." The next little bit you spend talking with the others, before Diana drives you both back to the parking lot to pick up your car, as you and Liz head back home for one final night of rest before your assault on Tsukuyomi's base of operations.

> Quest End

4 exp. gained.

Everything from here-on out is meta discussion.

And from a mechanical standpoint, here's what Sarah did:

Soul Swap, Spirit 7. Vulgar, Instant, Extended. Occult + Spirit + Resolve vs. target's Resistance (if resisted). You swap the majority of your soul with your target, gaining whatever mental ailments or benefits that they have, and visa versa. This alters a person on multiple levels, not just mental changes, it also can affect your personality, thought beliefs and even your powers.

This can be a permanent change, though if undone within a small enough time frame the damage from the event is minimal at worst.

I wonder letting her do that every once in a while might help her heal better?

>>38120060
I don't think I'd like to find out. It would probably be better to heal her in ways that involve less soul-ripping.

>>38120005
Still a cannibalization of a soul. Bad from any perspective if used without knowledge and consent.

But if it does give an archmage a "moment of clarity" It could be worth it...

I must ask though, how did she become an archmage without also being an "aswadim" in one form or another. For I doubt an Acamoth can *force* their vessel to pass the test of the archmage...

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>>38120170
I'm guessing it's a combination of GM fiat and the Acamoth's innate knowledge of "IT JUST WORKS" in regards to magic.

>>38120170
It can, and did. Remember, the Acamoth said it wanted to corrupt the Towers, especially ours.

>>38120170
Given enough subjugation and fear, the Acamoth basically forced Sarah into becoming an Archmage by herself and returning to the Acamoth's control.

It's sort of like Stockholm Syndrome where you are going to do whatever your captor asks of you out of fear of what'll happen to you if you DON'T do what they ask of you.

So should we get a 4 dot familiar now?

>>38120060
From an in-game standpoint, there's three ways for her to get healed:

1. She gets enough exp. to buy points of Wisdom and work through her issues (therapy, months of it. Slow, but the easiest thing to do).

2. She Soul Swap/Absorbs enough souls to regain her sanity (will force her to drop to 0 Wisdom by getting so many personalities and thoughts in her soul that it becomes an entirely new entity, so basically game over).

3. She trusts a Mind Mage enough to let them go into her head and use Mind Magic to fix the problems. (Fastest solution, also tough because trusting a Mind Mage is difficult to say the least).

>>38120488
If that's what you guys want to spend your experience on, go ahead.

>>38120488
I'm cool with it.

>>38120983
What did we have available as familiars, again?

>>38120488
>>38121065
What's the benefit of a familiar again?
We could be working towards a Legacy or towards getting enough Mind to be a proper Soul Doctor.

>>38120983
Speaking of exp, have you been giving out arcane experience lumped together with regular exp?

>>38121065
I list them back in >>38112175.

>>38121112
Familiars can help you out in terms of scouting locations, also giving you vision of things from their point of view (like how Sarah got vision of the Hunters outside from Tiny) and help out in combat.

As for exp. it's just generic exp, I haven't bothered with Arcane experience as I'm using a hybridized exp. system from the nWoD 2nd edition (from God-Machine Chronicles), and outlined the exp. system in the resource document.

>>38121322
OH, right, the Harvey Birdman jokes are coming back to me, so hawk gets my vote.

>>38121322
Voting to save exp for another session and get another dot of Gnosis, because going 3 to 4 carries no detriments.

If familiar wins out, voting for Hawk, but I'm still opposed to blowing 20 exp on something that we can (and have been) using our Spirit 5 to accomplish.

I vote either another dot of Gnosis or Forces 3 for our next dot. I mean, familiar's are cool and all, but I'm tired of us being such a strict specialist. We need to branch out a little bit.

>>38121637
>>38122651
Thirding Gnosis 4.

>>38123358
>>38122651
>>38121637
After thinking about it, I'm changing my vote to this.We could stand to have a deeper power pool.

We're 1 exp. short of going to Gnosis 4, which is one of two things you're 1 exp. short of (the other is getting a dot in your Inferior Arcanum, which for Michael is Prime).

Right now, there's three main options in play:

> Getting Forces 3 (leaves you with 9 exp)
> Getting the 4-dot familiar (leaves you with 4 exp)
> Waiting until you get enough exp. for Gnosis 4 (will probably happen early enough in the next quest that you can spend it mid-quest).

>>38124164
Then we should wait till we have that xp.

>>38124164
Waiting it is.

Jemma is already a Forces master and it's probably the most Vulgar of the Gross Arcana.

>(the other is getting a dot in your Inferior Arcanum, which for Michael is Prime)
Prime 3 is even more complicated, since we can't advance it further without a teacher.

Oh, before I forget, next quest will probably be Wednesday or Thursday this week, but check my twitter for any changes to that timeline. And thanks for playing.

>>38125081
Thanks for running! Makes my days that much better :)

>See mage the awakening
>Look at character sheet and see spirit 5
>Spirit is awesome powerful
>Where are the fetishes that the PC has created
>There aren't any
It's like you lot has no fucking clue. You know you could put a flame spirit into a lighter and has the best flamethrower ever made. Or get a spirit of kinetic energy to protect you

>>38127473
It has come up and we've planned to, but it's hard to do crafting mid adventure.

>>38127473
Mostly the issues are that we don't know much about Spirits, willful binding would be temporary (we have 4 open slots for spirits) and long term binding is akin to spirit slavery and would hurt our Rep.

Do kinetic spirits even exist?

>>38127473
I tried to get fetishes and fetish tattoos but we always skip downtime with no way of influencing what we do and skip all the interesting parts about being a spirit mage with dealing with spirits etc.

>>38130720
I have said that if you guys want to do that you just have to say so, along with the type of fetishes you want and I can have them show up in the next quest. That's part of the reason why I introduced the 4-slot brass knuckles last quest, so that if you guys want to Create Fetish you can.

Not to mention that, at least in terms of Shadow World renown, Michael basically has a 2-dot Status Merit because of the actions he did when the Acamoth was corrupting the Shadow World planescape and only asking for help (and usually paying for said help with a bit of Mana) instead of forcing spirits into Fetishes like most other Thyrsus Mages do (Sarah gets basically whatever spirit she wants because she'll unmake them if they say no).

>>38129560
Spirit of pretty much everything exist
>>38131345
As he has 5 ranks of spirit he so can create spirits and change them to what he desires. So he can grab one change it's mind so it would willing be turned into a fetish and boost its powers

>>38131613
Also you guys should get space 2

>>38131613
Creating spirits for fetish purposes would be the least damaging IMO, but either way, we need Spirit 6 to make permanent spirits. This game has been heavily anti-mindrape, so changing spirits wouldn't sit well with anyone in the party.

>>38131654
Nah, Sarah has that already and we'd need Space 4 to Teleport as an instant action.

>>38131345
Can we ask Sarah to cast permanent/lasting Shape Spirit to create spirits for our knuckles?

>>38131613
>Spirit of pretty much everything exist
What reading would you suggest? I have no idea where to start looking for spirit rules.

>>38132220
>Can we ask Sarah to cast permanent/lasting Shape Spirit to create spirits for our knuckles?

Yes. When Michael asks her in-game, she replies with something to the effect of, "about damn time you asked me for that." Let's assume you ask her to make them tonight and have them ready for tomorrow.

Depending upon what you want the spirits to do and the stats for them, some will be easier to make than others. In a general sense though, so long as you don't request to make a bunch of super-powerful spirits she'll be able to make 4 spirits for you to use in the knuckles.

>>38132220
>This game has been heavily anti-mindrape
Well that's just boring and gets rid of a lot of the spirit sphere and mind (which is pretty powerful).
>>38132312
Mage the Awakening Page 317
"Spirits may take the forms of angels and demons, faeries and monsters, cars and trucks, swords and kitchen utensils, or creatures so fantastic that they bring madness to any who behold them."
WoD Book of Spirits
"The spirits of animals and plants vie with the spirits of machines, elements, emotions and even abstract ideas in the Shadow ecology."

What have you lot been using spirit powers for if you aren't controlling them or making deals?

Also creating a spirit will get you one that is a third as useful as one you could catch and bend to your will so you are really fucking yourself over by being nice to spirits.

>>38132582
We've mostly used the Spirit magic in a supportive role, though we have used it for some offensive purposes (the MC made a Covert combat spell that does Lethal/Aggrivated damage to spirits and bashing to physical beings).

And the quest has been pretty anti-mindrape because the first two story arcs involved mind control and spirit possession being done by the big bads of those arcs. This arc is the first one where none of that has gone on.

>>38132685
Being nice to spirits has been beneficial though, as Christmas Quest had us have Santa Claus show up and accidentally Awaken an 8 year old while on an airplane.

Honestly, if you have time for it go and check the archives.

>>38132582
>Well that's just boring and gets rid of a lot of the spirit sphere and mind (which is pretty powerful).
Excessive use of those would call for wisdom rolls anyway. Of the current cast:
>Liz was mindcontrolled for a year
>MC is married to Liz and freed her
>Jemma was tutored by Liz
>Sarah is Jemma's sister and was possessed by an Acamoth for 20 years

The only one neutral on the mind control/soul alteration front would be Diana who is more mercenary than sentimental.

>What have you lot been using spirit powers for if you aren't controlling them or making deals?
We haven't been using the spirit rules, just using Spirit Mastery as a skeleton key to problems when using magic would cause Paradox.
>We have a problem
>Magic would be hard
>Let's bribe spirits to do it for us with mana
>[problem solved]

>>38132685
>you are really fucking yourself over by being nice to spirits
This is a game, not an optimization contest. We're guiding a character, not a build.
I get that we're nowhere near using our power to the max potential, but that shit would tank our Wisdom in a hurry.

>>38132857
>Awaken an 8 year old while on an airplane.
That poor little shit.
>>38132963
>This is a game, not an optimization contest.
I get you and sure don't do it if you want but to me it's kinda odd you went spirit route even though you cut a large portion out of it.

>>38132963
The other Mages we've met/rescued are Thyrsus Mages mostly, but we don't know what, if any, fetishes they possess. The other Mage ally - Garen - is a Life Mage first and foremost, and doesn't seem to possess much mastery of Spirit Magic.

We don't know what sort of Mage Tsukuyomi is, just that she has access to illusion magic and some degree of Forces, based upon how she threw MC around like a rag doll just to show off upon first meeting her.

>>38133104
To be fair, I meta-post revealed that the child Awoke at the airport shortly after they landed the plane, not on the airplane proper.

And by in large, most of the players here haven't done/used a lot of spirit magic to abuse because it's a mix of them not knowing how spirits work, not knowing the system by-in-large, and sticking to not wanting to lose Wisdom.

No offense meant to anyone I might've pissed off with the last sentence, it's just what I observe.

>>38133104
We chose the tower based on colour hints, so we didn't know what we were getting until we already got it. We actually got the 6th tower, which is Spirit/Forces and Prime Inferiour. One of the major NPCs already had Forces mastery, so we went with Spirit because it fit the plot. Do read the archive, it's been fun. There's been talk of getting a Legacy for a while now, but no consensus over direction and actually getting one is so time consuming that it would take place between chapters.

>>38133126
Tsukuyomi is probably Mind focused given that one of the hunters got whammied. Illusions are generally done through Mind or Prime by hallucination or forming images out of mana, respectively.

>>38133240
I'm in the "not knowing how spirits work" category (with a healthy dose of anti-Hubris because I don't want Michael to end up like Sarah, and IC, he just got a taste of how horrid that would be). Spirits aren't overly detailed in Mage because they're detailed in Werewolf/nWoD proper. Maybe add a "here's how spirits work and what you can do with them" primer in the Mage Quest Resource Document?

>>38133240
>And by in large, most of the players here haven't done/used a lot of spirit magic to abuse because it's a mix of them not knowing how spirits work, not knowing the system by-in-large
I could sort of guess that

As you are using archmages are you putting gods and shit into the setting with that cold war like shit going on?

>>38133407
Yes and no; Archmages do know there's a Cold War-like tension going on amongst the other Archmages and some unseen/unknown Magical foe, and right now the MC and his allies are operating under the assumption that Tsukuyomi is actually a Seer of the Throne member that wants to suppress Elizabeth and her theory about the Paths (which Michael being a Walker of a 6th Path seems to confirm/support).

But most Archmages in this setting don't know the full extent of how true (or false) the whole Exarchs vs. the Towers war is.

>>38133407
The pax only gets involved when you start using imperial practices or intervening in other archmages' plans. Just using regular practices with archmage power doesn't bother the pax.

>>38133938
Yeah but remember Archmages are all out for each others blood but the only reason they don't fight is because the destruction would cause all reality to break.

>>38134015
Are they all out for each others blood or just have conflicting plans because they have to share one reality?

>>38134118
Both, with the others there the reality they fight for will be contested. So they must remove the other archmages to get the reality of their desire. In every little way they will try to piss off each other unless they are working to a similar sort of reality, by destroying all the small important things to them like loved ones.

>>38132576
Spirits with protection powers would be the most useful in this situation. Particularly protection against the spheres overlapping with Forces, Mind and Prime. Maybe a relatively powerful spirit with Possession to lock down Tsukuyomi.

Anyone else have any ideas? Ideally subtle powers to not attract attention.

For next quest I won't start it right away, instead we'll do a bit of clean-up and item preparation so people can suggest what sort of fetishes they want to have.

>>38136377
Sounds good. Presenting a list of options would also help get the "unfamiliar" demographic voting.