Difference between revisions of "Geomancy"

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You can create a Quality at the [[Glossary#Shaping tables|Shaping tables]]: when you do so, you will be asked for a short description (no more than 20 words) of what form the Quality takes: this may be anything appropriate to the effects of the Quality. The item card will be printed with this description on it.
 
You can create a Quality at the [[Glossary#Shaping tables|Shaping tables]]: when you do so, you will be asked for a short description (no more than 20 words) of what form the Quality takes: this may be anything appropriate to the effects of the Quality. The item card will be printed with this description on it.
  
''Example: His Indomitable Veracitousness Glaive Windborn wishes to create a Marvel Quality. This appears in the Shaping List for Gratification, which is one of Glaive’s Motives, so he can do so himself rather than get someone else to do so. He goes to the Shaping Desk, hands over the mana required (two Red mana, in this instance), and provides a suitable description - in this instance, “A garden filled with beautiful golden fowl”. The Quality card is printed with this description and handed back to him. He can now use it himself, or trade it with another.''
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''Example: His Indomitable Veracitousness Glaive, the Windborn, wishes to create a Marvel Quality. This appears in the Shaping List for Gratification, which is one of Glaive’s Motives, so he can do so himself rather than get someone else to do so. He goes to the Shaping Desk, hands over the mana required (two Red mana, in this instance), and provides a suitable description - in this instance, “A garden filled with beautiful golden fowl”. The Quality card is printed with this description and handed back to him. He can now use it himself, or trade it with another.''
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<h3>Duplicate Qualities</h3>
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Each Territory can only hold one Quality of each type. If a new Quality of the same type is placed on the Territory, the old Quality is removed.
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''Example: Engineer Sprocket of the Endless Optimisation has a 'Creation' type Quality on her Territory that was placed their by her one-time ally in the Walkers. Its description is 'A conference chamber woven of living trees, in which all people of the land can gather.'. She thinks this sounds a bit trite, to be honest. She obtains a new 'Creation' Quality with the description 'An enormous fist of steel and basalt, thrusting up into the sky.'. She places the new Quality onto her Territory: the old one is removed. The aesthetics of the Combine are upheld!''
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<h3>Permanent Qualities</h3>
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Every character starts with one Quality on their Territory, chosen at character creation. This Quality is permanent: it cannot be moved, removed, or replaced. If another Quality of the same type is added to the Territory, the new Quality is removed without effect (it 'bounces').
  
 
<h3>Positive and Negative Qualities</h3>
 
<h3>Positive and Negative Qualities</h3>

Revision as of 12:48, 17 March 2015

Geomancy Concepts

  • Every character has a Territory of their own, which is represented by a tablet on the Geomantic tables.
  • Qualities are game features that appear in Territories, and are represented by cards on the tablets.
  • Your Territory starts on the same table as other people from your Origin. This is called your Realm.

Territories

Territories and petitioners.jpg

When a shaper enters the rift, their essence is threaded into the world by the geomantic engines. This creates their Territory, a pocket of stable reality adrift in the primordial fabric of the Outworld. It is a reflection of their desires, feelings, and what they hold dear: many of them are reminiscent in some way of what they know from the Homeworld, but ultimately you choose how this manifests.

As part of character creation, you may name and describe your Territory. This Territory, and its description, will appear as a placard on the Geomantic tables. It will not change for as long as your character is alive.

Petitioners

Territories will always feature sentient human life, brought into being when the lands come together. They are mortal, and recognise the Territory's owner as their god - but otherwise have no memory that would suggest their recent creation, and live their lives as mortals do.

Petitioners can reach the Nexus, after some journeying. Depending on what happens to your Territory, Petitioners will appear to thank, beg, plead with or harangue you during the event. These Petitioners are played by members of crew, and are marked by an eye symbol on the centre of their forehead. You may interact with Petitioners as you please, but they cannot participate in Affronts or use items; such things are the tools of the gods. They will leave when they feel their business is concluded.

Petitioners never have any mana or other resources to trade. They are there to bring the consequences of your choices to life.


Qualities

Any important feature of the Outworld is called a Quality: this is a broad term to describe terrain features, human creations, exotic creatures and other things of note. Qualities are created as cards; when these cards are placed on a Territory's placard as part of Geomancy, that feature becomes real and appears in that part of the Outworld.

Quality Effects

There are many different types of Territory, appearing across the shaping lists. Each type has its own effect on the Territory it is placed on. Common effects are:

  • "+1 [colour] mana". This means that the Quality will contribute to the Territory's production of mana of that colour.
  • "-1 [colour] mana". This means that the Quality will subtract from the Territory's production of mana of that colour. The lowest amount you can generate is none.
  • "When this Quality is placed, remove a Quality that...". This means that when you place this Quality, another one will be removed from the same Territory that matches the conditions. If no Qualities on the same Territory match that condition, it has no effect.
  • "[Chosen character] can collect [colour] mana from this Territory". This means that a person other than a Territory's owner will be able to claim mana from it.

You can create a Quality at the Shaping tables: when you do so, you will be asked for a short description (no more than 20 words) of what form the Quality takes: this may be anything appropriate to the effects of the Quality. The item card will be printed with this description on it.

Example: His Indomitable Veracitousness Glaive, the Windborn, wishes to create a Marvel Quality. This appears in the Shaping List for Gratification, which is one of Glaive’s Motives, so he can do so himself rather than get someone else to do so. He goes to the Shaping Desk, hands over the mana required (two Red mana, in this instance), and provides a suitable description - in this instance, “A garden filled with beautiful golden fowl”. The Quality card is printed with this description and handed back to him. He can now use it himself, or trade it with another.

Duplicate Qualities

Each Territory can only hold one Quality of each type. If a new Quality of the same type is placed on the Territory, the old Quality is removed.

Example: Engineer Sprocket of the Endless Optimisation has a 'Creation' type Quality on her Territory that was placed their by her one-time ally in the Walkers. Its description is 'A conference chamber woven of living trees, in which all people of the land can gather.'. She thinks this sounds a bit trite, to be honest. She obtains a new 'Creation' Quality with the description 'An enormous fist of steel and basalt, thrusting up into the sky.'. She places the new Quality onto her Territory: the old one is removed. The aesthetics of the Combine are upheld!

Permanent Qualities

Every character starts with one Quality on their Territory, chosen at character creation. This Quality is permanent: it cannot be moved, removed, or replaced. If another Quality of the same type is added to the Territory, the new Quality is removed without effect (it 'bounces').

Positive and Negative Qualities

Some Qualities are marked as positive (+) or negative (-). Positive Qualities provide persistent beneficial effects, while negative Qualities impose persistent penalties. These Qualities are handled differently by Aftermath. Some Qualities are neither positive nor negative, and are removed without effect during Aftermath.

Moving Qualities

Some Grand Qualities allow you to move Qualities that have already been place. When this happens:

  • A permanent Quality cannot be moved.
  • Any Aegis on the destination Territory protects normally (typically, you will not be able to move the Quality to another person's Territory if that Territory has an Aegis on it).
  • Any effects that trigger when a Quality is placed will not re-trigger.

Realms

The protean landscape of the Outworld is divided into five broad areas called Realms, each of which is represented by one of the Geomancy tables. Your Territory begins in the same Realm as everyone else from your Origin.

Majesty

Majesty is used to determine a Realm's Sovereign. Majesty is generated like mana, and there are Qualities that help you increase your Majesty production. Majesty is represented by golden counters, which are placed on the Territory that creates it. Unlike mana, Majesty is not collected for use. Instead, it accumulates on your Territory over time.

Dissonance

Dissonance is a measure of the strain placed on the world by the competing influence of shapers, and is generated by some Qualities. Dissonance is represented by black counters, which are placed in a pool on the Realm's table. Dissonance must be 'bought off' by the Realm's Sovereign to receive their Geomantic Trophies. If it is left to accrue, it can have negative effects on the Realm's Petitioners.

Cycles

  • There are five Cycles each event, which occur at set times.
  • In each Cycle, you can visit the Geomantic tables once. While there, you can do several actions such as:
    • Collect mana from your Territory.
    • Place one Quality.
    • Place or remove an Aegis (if you are a Sovereign).
  • Do not touch the Geomantic tables or anything on them.

Cycle Timing

Motions and Channelling.jpg

There are five Cycles that run each event. For the first event, these are:

  • Saturday 10:00 - 12:00
  • Saturday 13:00 - 15:00
  • Saturday 16:00 - 18:00
  • Saturday 19:00 - 21:00
  • Sunday 10:00 - 12:00

You will need to set aside a few minutes each Cycle to visit the Geomantic tables. You should create or trade for any Qualities you need before you do so.

Access to the Geomantic tables is done via queue, if busy - please do not jump or otherwise disrupt the queue, although we strongly encourage you use this time to gossip with the people either side of you.

You may move to observe the tables at any time, whether or not the Cycle is active. While observing the tables, you may speak quietly with other people, but must not disrupt any Geomancy in progress.

You must not touch the Geomantic tables, or anything on them. If you are taking a move, you will instruct the Apparitions what to do and they will do it for you.

Resource Generation

Before a Cycle, the Apparitions will place the mana and Majesty generated by each Territory onto its placard. They do this by adding together the bonuses and minuses provided by all of the Qualities upon it.

Example: The Crystal Crevasse is a Territory that finished the last Cycle with five Qualities on it -

  • Marvel (+1 green mana)
  • Miracle (+1 green mana)
  • Force (+1 red mana)
  • Palace (+1 Majesty)
  • Disgrace (-1 Majesty)

Before the next Cycle, the Apparitions will place on the Territory: 0 blue mana (no Qualities), 2 green mana (Marvel + Miracle), 1 red mana (Force), and 0 Majesty (Palace - Disgrace).

Your Turn

When you arrive at the Geomantic tables, you can take one turn. In a turn, you can do all of the following:

  • Collect mana
  • Place one Quality
  • Transfer Majesty
  • Place or remove an Aegis (if you are a Sovereign)
  • Have your Hex cards stamped (if you are Hexed)

Collect mana

Present your character card to the Apparition and ask to collect mana from your Territory; they will pick up the mana there and pass it to you. You may also have Qualities placed on other people's Territories that allow you to collect mana from them - if you would like to use those abilities, tell the Apparition which Territories you'd like to collect from.

Example: Warden Hand shows his character card to the Apparition and asks to collect his mana. The Apparitions check which Territory is his, then give him the two green mana and one red mana that was generated between cycles (see previous example).

Place one Quality

You may place one Quality item card you have created anywhere you choose. Pass it to the Apparition and tell them where you want it placed; they will do so.

If a Quality of the same type as the one you're placing already exists on the Territory, it is removed and replaced by the new one.

If a Territory has an Aegis on it, you may only place Qualities on it if you own it.

Example: Warden Hand would like to add to the red mana generation of one of his friends. He's made his own Force, described as 'A scuttling horde of oversized geckos, saturated with mana and prone to exploding.' He hands it to the Apparition, telling them which Territory he'd like to place it on. Unfortunately, his friend has an Aegis on it, so Warden Hand cannot interfere - the Apparition tells him so. Warden Hand chooses a different Territory to host it, where it is placed.

Transfer Majesty

If you choose, you may present your character card to the Apparition and ask to have any amount of Majesty transferred from your Territory and onto a Territory of your choice in the same Realm.

Example: Warden Hand has accumulated four Majesty tokens on his Territory - not enough to stake a claim for Sovereign, but enough to shift the balance of power. He tells the Apparition that he would like to transfer all of his Majesty tokens to his friend's Territory, which is in the same Realm. The Apparition moves the counters.

Place or remove one Aegis

If you are a Sovereign, you may present your character card to the Apparition, and ask to place or remove an Aegis. You may place an Aegis on any Territory that does not already have one on it, or remove any Aegis already on the board.

Have your Hexes Stamped

If you have any Hexes, you can show your Hex card to the Apparition and they will stamp it.

Sovereigns

  • The character whose Territory has accrued the most Majesty in their Realm is named its Sovereign.
  • Sovereigns can place or remove powerful geomantic defences called Aegises.
  • Sovereigns collect Trophies on behalf of their Realm.

Choosing A Sovereign

Realms and Regions.jpg

At the end of each Cycle, Majesty is counted. The character whose has accumulated the most Majesty in their Realm is recognised by the Apparitions as its Sovereign. If this is different to the previous Sovereign, the Apparitions will announce this when the next Cycle begins.

If there is a tie, the Realm's existing Sovereign will be invited to choose which of the leading characters takes on the role. If they do not respond, or there is no existing Sovereign, this will be determined randomly.

Sovereign Roles

How the rest of their Realm regards their Sovereign is likely to vary, based on their origin:

  • The People's Combine recognises a Facilitator-General, who works to establish consensus amongst the brave crusaders of the Combine - both in rhetoric and in military affairs. Recently this role has had to be expanded to include identifying and purging the seditious Industrioclasts, who would seek to undermine this unity for their own nefarious ends.
  • The Valtarian Kingdoms asserts that their Grand High Imperatrix is the beacon of absolute moral, and thus legal, authority. They hold court with their Monarchs and, through them, seek to bring peace and virtue upon all their rightful domain. Which is to say, the entire world.
  • The Visions of Opportunity, notoriously self-serving, have acknowledged the need for a Prime Executive to try to reconcile their disparate interests. A successful Prime Executive will coordinate the Visions into a mutually beneficial strategy, then extract whatever price they can for it.
  • The Walkers reside under the care of a Ranger. Where Wardens protect the lives of individual Walkers, and the Skalds attend to their philosophical health, the Ranger chooses as their vocation the safety and prosperity of the Walkers as a whole.
  • The Penitent Order, for their part, are keen to have a new Grandmaster. They're not entirely sure what a Grandmaster does, exactly - the Sublime Concord used to do that - but they always seemed to know what they were doing, and that kind of clarity is welcome right now.


Sovereign Powers

Corruption.jpg

Sovereigns have several powers:

The Sovereign's Aegis

Once per turn, a Sovereign can place an Aegis on a Territory of their choice. An Aegis is a special Quality that prevents anyone except the Territory's owner from placing new Qualities on it; it is a powerful defensive tool, and will be much sought after. Alternatively, they can remove an Aegis which has already been placed - whether or not it was theirs.

Collecting Trophies

A Sovereign collects Trophies on behalf of their Realm; these are used to create powerful geomantic effects. A Realm has three opportunities to acquire a Trophy in each event; in each instance, if they are successful, the Realm's Sovereign will receive it.

Describing The Realm

Sovereigns will be contacted at the end of the event to ask if they want to change the name and description of their Realm - the lands that stretch between its many Territories. They may submit a name and description no longer than 200 words, which will appear online and on that Realm's Geomantic table.

Voting On Nexus Trophies

During the fifth Cycle of each event, a Sovereign has the opportunity to vote on which Realm receives one of the Nexus Trophies


Trophies

  • Each Realm can acquire one Trophy from geomancy.
  • The other two Trophies are competed for by the Realms.
  • Trophies are used to create powerful geomantic weapons called Grand Qualities.

Geomantic Trophies

At the beginning of the third Cycle each event, a Trophy becomes available to each Realm. To claim the Trophy, the Realm's Sovereign must "buy off" the Realm's Dissonance pool at a rate of one mana (of any type) for each point of Dissonance acquired. They may do this as part of their turn at the tables. If they manage to buy off the pool completely, the Trophy is given to them.

If the Sovereign is unwilling or unable to buy off the Dissonance pool, the Trophy remains unclaimed. It may be claimed later, by buying off the pool - but if the third Cycle of the next event is reached without this happening, the Trophy is lost.

Affront Trophies

Dissonance and Quests.jpg

Each event, the five Realms will be invited to partake in an Affront tournament, in which each Realm faces each other Realm. A Realm's team must be comprised entirely of members of that Realm, although its constitution may change from one battle to the next. If a Realm cannot decide on who will participate in a given battle, they forfeit it.

The timings of battles for the first event are:

  • Realm A vs Realm B: Saturday 10:00
  • Realm C vs Realm D: Saturday 11:00
  • Realm E vs Realm A: Saturday 13:00
  • Realm B vs Realm C: Saturday 14:00
  • Realm D vs Realm E: Saturday 15:00
  • Realm A vs Realm C: Saturday 16:00
  • Realm B vs Realm D: Saturday 17:00
  • Realm C vs Realm E: Saturday 19:00
  • Realm D vs Realm A: Saturday 20:00
  • Realm E vs Realm B: Saturday 21:00

The Realms will be determined randomly at the beginning of the event, and the final schedule announced.

If you win a Realm v Realm Affront, it is possible to Hex your defeated opponents - although participants should be wary of the precedent they set by doing so.

The Realm with the most victories at the end of the tournament will be announced, and granted a Trophy. If two Realms are matched for most victories, they will both be granted a Trophy.

Nexus Trophies

At the beginning of the fifth geomantic Cycle, each Sovereign will be invited to place a hidden vote on which Realm deserves an additional Trophy. The Realm with the most votes at the end of the Cycle will be announced, and granted a Trophy. If two Realms are matched for votes, neither of them will receive a Trophy.

Grand Qualities

TrophiesandGrandMotions.jpg

Combining a Trophy with mana at the Shaping tables will allow you to create Grand Qualities. These are superweapons and implements of titanic change, each of which has the potential to drastically shift the balance of control in the Outworld.

There are 21 different types of Grand Quality, one for each of the Advanced Shaping lists. Besides this, and their colossal power, they follow the same rules as ordinary Qualities.