Memory's Maidens Wiki

Important Note: We play  twice  a week, from 3:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. (EST), on Wednesdays and Fridays (also EST).



Characters

 * Agata Tatlin, Princess of Supernatural Networking and Diplomacy, played by Colette
 * Sasha Kuznetsov, Hero of the Age, played by BLloyd
 * Sergei Volkov, Powerful Runaway, played by Dogii Kruger
 * Celino Castanea, Winter-Bound Martyr, played by Callidon

Current Power Level: Snorkeling. 42 skill points, skill cap Fantastic (+6); consequently, only one skill at Fantastic, and it will make your pyramid rather lanky-looking. Base refresh rate 12. Optional: You can choose to set aside [-2] of preselected supernatural powers or [-3] of preselected mortal stunts. These powers/stunts are held in "reserve," that is, their benefits are "inactive," although they do count against your refresh rate. During any session or side session, even after seeing the results of a roll, you can "activate" their benefits by reducing both your current fate points (or fate points stored as invocations for effect) and your refresh rate by the appropriate amount. Any leftover refresh rate outside of these powers/stunts in "reserve" can be used to purchase powers/stunts in between sessions.

Former Characters

 * Nina Dolohov, Chosen of the Blossom Rod, played by Alderanos/Tharkanos

Miscellany

 * Locations: Important locations, whether due to plot or due to connections to the characters. >implying that the locations page matters
 * Themes and Threats: The over-arching themes and threats of the city of Moscow. >implying that we use city themes or aspects
 * NPCs: Important NPCs. >implying that we ever use these statistics or aspects for our NPCs, or that they are in any way accurate or up-to-date, especially ever since Agata's family was revealed to contain a changeling and two altered humans

These outdated pages no longer even deserve the dignity of links. Except for perhaps the NPC page, but even then, how outdated it is...

Main Session Logs
Colette's Note: I have removed any lines or portions of lines that were rendered obsolete or invalid (such as lines typed out due to miscommunications or lines made invalid by future lines), I have altered our IRC usernames to our characters' names for the sake of uniformity, I have removed any flow-breaking username changes and quit messages, and I have applied any corrections to typographical errors I can find. Other than these corrections, these logs are raw and unedited. Hence, these logs are extremely messy during party split scenes.

By the Score, these logs are incomplete. I profusely apologize; I promise to have them completed by the end of May June July.
 * Session 1: Session 1 OOC, Session 1 IC
 * Session 2:
 * Session 3:
 * Session 4:
 * Session 5 (Half-Session): Session 5 OOC, Session 5 IC
 * Session 6 (Half-Session): Session 6 OOC, Session 6 IC
 * Session 7: Session 7 OOC, Session 7 IC
 * Session 8: Session 8 OOC, Session 8 IC
 * Session 9 (Half-Session): Session 9 OOC, Session 9 IC
 * Session 10: Session 10 OOC, Session 10 IC
 * Session 11: Session 11 OOC, Session 11 IC
 * Session 12: Session 12 OOC, Session 12 IC
 * Session 13: Session 13 OOC, Session 13 IC
 * Session 14: Session 14 OOC, Session 14 IC
 * Session 15: Session 15 OOC, Session 15 IC
 * Session 16 (Half-Session): Session 16 OOC, Session 16 IC
 * Session 17 (Half-Session): Session 17 OOC, Session 17 IC
 * Session 18 (Half-Session): Session 18 OOC, Session 18 IC
 * Session 19: Session 19 OOC, Session 19 IC
 * Session 20: Session 20 OOC, Session 20 IC
 * Session 21: Session 21 OOC, Session 21 IC
 * Session 22 (Half-Session): Session 22 OOC, Session 22 IC
 * Session 23: Session 23 OOC, Session 23 IC
 * Session 24: Session 24 OOC, Session 24 IC
 * Session 25 ( IN WHICH FLORIAN RETURNS AGATA'S FEELINGS ): Session 25 OOC, Session 25 IC
 * Session 26: Session 26 OOC, Session 26 IC
 * Session 27 (Half-Session): Session 27 OOC, Session 27 IC
 * Session 28: Session 28 OOC, Session 28 IC
 * Session 28 Side Scene (Happy Catboy Funtime Original): Session 28 Side Scene Original IC
 * Session 28 Side Scene (Happy Catboy Funtime Retcon): Session 28 Side Scene Retcon IC
 * Session 29: Session 29 OOC, Session 29 IC
 * Session 30: Session 30 OOC, Session 30 IC
 * Session 31: Session 31 OOC, Session 31 IC
 * Session 32 (The Meeting): Session 32 OOC, Session 32 IC
 * Session 33 (Half-Session): Session 33 OOC, Session 33 IC
 * Session 34: Session 34 OOC, Session 34 IC
 * Session 35 (Half-Session): Session 35 OOC, Session 35 IC
 * Session 36 (The Dinner): Session 36 OOC, Session 36 IC
 * Session 37 (Occupy Arctis Tor): Session 37 OOC, Session 37 IC
 * Session 38 (Half-Session): Session 38 OOC, Session 38 IC
 * Session 39: Session 39 OOC, Session 39 IC
 * Session 40 (Phoenix Nocnamoras): Session 40 OOC, Session 40 IC
 * Session 41 (Asgard): Session 41 OOC, Session 41 IC
 * Session 42 (Courtrooms and Mountain Climbing): Session 42 OOC, Session 42 IC
 * Session 43 (Winter Masquerade Ball): Session 43 OOC, Session 43 IC
 * Session 44 (Sergei's Return to School): Session 44 OOC, Session 44 IC
 * Session 45 (Rescue at the Hidden Spiral): Session 45 OOC, Session 45 IC
 * Session 46: Session 46 OOC, Session 46 IC

Side Scene Logs

 * Agata Side Scene 1, Original (chronologically takes place during Session 28): Agata Side Scene 1 Original IC
 * Agata Side Scene 1, Original (chronologically takes place during Session 28): Agata Side Scene 1 Retcon IC
 * Agata Side Scene 2 (chronologically takes place during Sessions 30 and 31): [Agata Side Scene 2 IC]
 * Agata Side Scene 3 (chronologically takes place during Sessions 33 and 34): [Agata Side Scene 3 IC]
 * Agata and Sasha Side Scene 1 (chronologically takes place between Sessions 39 and 40): Agata and Sasha Side Scene 1

Miscellaneous Fixes

 * Social Conflicts: Social conflicts and social stress are gone from the game entirely . We never use them, and they are only ever balanced and believable for one-on-one social duels. Social skills can maneuver, but never directly attack the now-nonexistent social stress track. Under the default social conflict rules, there is no mechanical difference between an argument over where to eat lunch or an argument to sell the family's lucrative business. Really.
 * Consequential Contests: Consequential contests are likewise removed from the game in their entirety, as they are too swingy and impose too harsh a punishment for a single roll. They are seldom referenced within the rules, and so taking them away should not affect much. There is one exception: the Addictive Saliva [-1] power still makes use of the consequential contests rule, as a mental maneuver made against Discipline.
 * Assessments, Declarations, Maneuvers, and First Impressions: Whenever you make an assessment, a declaration, a maneuver, or, using the Rapport skill, a first impression aspect, if you beat the difficulty by 5 or more shifts, you reveal or create two aspects rather than only one.
 * Critical Defense Success: If your defense roll beats the attacker's attack roll by 5 or more, you automatically place a taggable fragile aspect on the attacker, such as "Wrenched Arm" against a Fists attack or "Psychic Backlash" against a mental attack.
 * Full Defense: So as to make the full defense action more useful, it is revised as follows: As a standard action, you can take a full defense action to gain a +2 bonus to all rolls made to defend against attacks and maneuvers until the end of your next turn. You can also choose to forgo rolling for defense and accept an automatic result of +0 on the dice rolls for any resistance. You can still take a supplemental action during the same turn, and taking such a supplemental action does not reduce your effective defense rolls.
 * Grappling: For the purpose of establishing the block strength of a grapple, the natural roll result of any grapple attempt is always equal to +0, and the roll is never subject to any penalties for taking a supplemental action; in other words, the block strength is almost always equal to the grappler's Might, although fate points can be spent to improve this "roll." Grappling applies against all actions, without any exceptions, if only due to the sheer distraction value of having an enemy up close and in one's face. However, grappling is especially effective against and weak against certain types of actions.
 * Especially Effective Against: +1 to effective block strength. Evocations (whether or not a focus item is being used), any roll made to use a firearm, or any roll made to use a weapon larger than a Bowie knife.
 * Weak Against: -1 to effective block strength. Social skills, knowledge skills, perception skills, and any Athletics roll made to wriggle free and sprint away (this is possible, and grapples are weak against this because, unlike most other options, it involves making a concerted effort to actually escape the grapple).
 * Falling Damage: The rules for falling damage are insanely harsh for the gonzo genre the game promotes. Consequently, they are revised as follows: You take 3 stress for every 10 feet fallen upon landing on a hard surface, such as concrete or thick soil. This is reduced to 2 for every 10 feet for more forgiving surfaces such as water, and increased to 4 for every 10 feet for harsh surfaces such as jagged rocks and thin beams of metal. You do not receive any roll to reduce this damage, but you directly subtract your Athletics and your Endurance from the damage taken. For each fate point you spend, regardless of your aspects, you reduce this stress by 2. Toughness powers apply as normal.

Fixes for Skills

 * Burglary: This is skill no longer exists. The Casing and Infiltration trappings are given to Investigation, and the Lockpicking trapping is given to Craftsmanship.
 * Craftsmanship: This skill gains the Lockpicking trapping from Burglary. This skill also gains the Cooking trapping, which can be used to cook anything.
 * Driving: This skill gains the Riding trapping from Survival.
 * Empathy: This skill gains the Animal Handling trapping from Survival. The Social Initiative trapping is removed from the game, due to the removal of social conflicts. The A Shoulder to Cry On trapping is revised as follows: If you have Empathy +2 (or Empathy +0 and an appropriate tagged or invoked aspect), you can spend a scene comforting someone with a mild mental consequence to justify the beginning of the recovery process for that consequence. Empathy +4 (or Empathy +2 and an appropriate tagged or invoked aspect) allows you to do the same for a moderate mental consequence, and Empathy +6 (or Empathy +4 and an appropriate tagged or invoked aspect) can cover a severe mental consequence. If you do not meet the appropriate Empathy ratings, you can roll against a difficulty of +2 for an attempt against a mild consequence, +4 for a moderate consequence, or +6 for a severe consequence. A character can only ever receive one such Empathy roll per Empathy-user against a specific consequence, and Empathy-users must all make their rolls separately rather than using teamwork maneuvers.
 * Guns: This skill applies universally and equally to all projectile weapons, be they bows or guns. Your range with a bow is dependent on your Might: two zones for Might at +0 or +1, three zones for Might at +2 or +3, four zones for Might at +4 or +5, and five zones for Might at +6 and above. Inhuman Strength, Supernatural Strength, and Mythic Strength add 1, 2, or 3 respectively to your effective Might for this purpose.
 * Investigation: This skill gains the Casing and Infiltration trappings from Burglary, and the Scavenging and Tracking trappings from Survival.
 * Performance: This entire skill is only ever complemented by other skills, not modified or restricted. This skill gains the Cooking trapping, which can be used to cook anything. This skill can also always replace Deceit and Intimidation for the purpose of the Incite Emotion power, even if you are not actually performing while you use the power. In addition, if you have this skill at Fair (+2) or above, choose one skill from the following list: Contacts, Craftsmanship, Deceit, Intimidation, Rapport, Resources, Scholarship. If your Performance is higher than the chosen skill, you always gain a +1 to that selected skill. You can choose another skill for each additional point of Performance past Fair (+2).
 * Presence: This skill no longer exists. The Charisma and Reputation trappings are removed from the game entirely; nobody is ever going to bother rolling for passive charisma or "the strength of [your] reputation." The Social Fortitude trapping is likewise obsoleted, due to the removal of social conflicts. The Leadership trapping is spread out across every skill, using whatever skill the leader is attempting to coordinate her followers for; Craftsmanship for construction workers, Guns for a firing squad, Lore for a circle of cultists, Weapons for a group of foot soldiers, and so on.
 * Resources: The Workspaces trapping no longer exists. Craftsmanship, Lore, and Scholarship rolls made in a workspace have no roll limit; common sense is applied as to whether or not a given workspace is valid for a given task.
 * Scholarship: This skill gains the Cooking trapping, which can be used to cook anything. The Medical Attention trapping is revised as follows: If you have Scholarship +2 (or Scholarship +0 and an appropriate tagged or invoked aspect), you can spend a scene treating someone with a mild physical consequence to justify the beginning of the recovery process for that consequence. Scholarship +4 (or Scholarship +2 and an appropriate tagged or invoked aspect) allows you to do the same for a moderate physical consequence, and Scholarship +6 (or Scholarship +4 and an appropriate tagged or invoked aspect) can cover a severe physical consequence. If you do not meet the appropriate Scholarship ratings, you can roll against a difficulty of +2 for an attempt against a mild consequence, +4 for a moderate consequence, or +6 for a severe consequence. A character can only ever receive one such Scholarship roll per Scholarship-user against a specific consequence, and Scholarship-users must all make their rolls separately rather than using teamwork maneuvers.
 * Stealth: This skill gains the Camouflage trapping from Survival.
 * Survival: This skill no longer exists. The Animal Handling trapping is given to Empathy, the Camouflage trapping is given to Stealth, the Riding trapping is given to Driving, and the Scavenging and Tracking trappings are given to Investigation.

Fixes for Pure Mortals and Stunts

 * Template: Pure Mortal: The bonus to refresh rate that a pure mortal gains is scaled up to +3 at refresh rate 8, +4 at refresh rate 10, +5 at refresh rate 12, and so on.
 * Obsoleted Stunts: Due to some of the changes to skills below, the following stunts are now of little to no use, and should be removed from the game: Person of Conviction (Conviction), Tower of Faith (Conviction), Unshakeable (Discipline), Counselor (Empathy), The Social Graces (Empathy), Rule with Fear (Intimidation), Doctor (Scholarship), every Burglary, Presence, and Survival stunt.
 * Better Stunts: Stunts are terribly, terribly weak. Stunts that grant numerical bonuses always stack with other stunts that grant numerical bonuses. The following stunts are now available:
 * New Stunt: Resolve in the Darkest Hour (Discipline) [-1]: You gain a +2 to Discipline against mental attacks, mental maneuvers, and Intimidation.
 * Revised Stunt: Extensive Training (Fists) [-1]: Choose one broad group of weapons, such as "one-handed knives, daggers, and swords," "axes, hatchets, and polearms with an axe head," or "Chinese martial arts weapons." You can use your Fists in place of your Weapons when making an attack with any such weapon that falls in the chosen group.
 * New Stunt: Surveyor (Investigation) [-1]: You can use your Investigation in place of your Scholarship for all matters relating to surveying, mathematics, physics, engineering, computers, and law.
 * Revised Stunt: Finely-Tuned Third Eye (Lore) [-1]: You gain a +1 to Lore when using it for the Mystic Awareness trapping. In addition, the Mystic Awareness trapping now allows you to use Lore as an arcane investigation skill, actively sensing the presence of magic through all five of your senses (touching a creature to feel a supernatural "spark," for example) along with your third eye.
 * New Stunt: Guardian's Challenge [-1]: When an attack or maneuver that can be defended with Athletics, Fists, or Weapons is made against an ally within 3 zones of you, or by an enemy within 3 zones of you, it takes a -2 penalty to the roll if it does not include you or any other ally with the Guardian's Challenge stunt. An enemy making an attack or maneuver that might be affected by this stunt is aware of the effect.
 * New Stunt: Resolute Beacon [-1]: When an attack or maneuver that can be defended with Discipline or Endurance is made against an ally within 3 zones of you, or by an enemy within 3 zones of you, it takes a -2 penalty to the roll if it does not include you or any other ally with the Resolute Beacon stunt, the Phrenic Bulwark [-1] power, or the Reshaping the Dream [-8] power a target. An enemy making an attack or maneuver that might be affected by this stunt is aware of the effect. This has no effect on the Sight.
 * New Stunt: Scent Beneath the Surface [-1]: You can use Alertness, Deceit, or Investigation in place of Empathy when opposing Deceit or otherwise actively or passively uncovering a mistruth or half-truth.
 * New Stunt: Two-World Eyes [-1]: You can use your Alertness, Conviction, Discipline, or Investigation in place of Lore for the Mystic Awareness trapping, and you gain a +1 to all of these skills for the Mystic Awareness trapping.
 * New Stunt: Skill Supremacy [-3]: Choose one skill that you have already have at at least Average (+1), even before any stunts or powers. That skill is considered "maximized" for the purpose of this stunt, and your rating in that skill is automatically considered to be equal to your skill cap + 1. In addition, choose another skill that you have not already "maximized." That skill is considered "boosted" for the purpose of this stunt, and you gain a +1 to that skill for all purposes. However, you can never choose Performance to be "maximized" or "boosted," and the benefits of this stunt never apply to any rolls made to activate supernatural powers, nor to any skill ratings for the purpose of spellcasting.
 * New Stunt: Improved Skill Supremacy (requires Skill Supremacy) [-3]: Choose another skill to be "maximized." In addition, choose another skill to be "boosted."
 * New Stunt: Greater Skill Supremacy (requires Improved Skill Supremacy) [-2]: Choose another skill to be "maximized." The skill must be at at least Fair (+2), even before any stunts or powers.
 * New Stunt: Salient Skill Supremacy (requires Greater Skill Supremacy) [-3]: Choose another skill to be "maximized." The skill must be at at least Fair (+2), even before any stunts or powers. In addition, choose another skill to be "boosted."

New Powers and Fixes for Various Powers
General Fixes:
 * Creature Feature: Addictive Saliva [-1]: This power can work purely off Deceit or purely off Fists, using whichever is higher for any given roll for it. In addition, this power is the only thing left in the entire system that uses a consequential contest.
 * Creature Feature: Aquatic [-1]: This power also grants a +1 bonus to Athletics.
 * Creature Feature: Breath Weapon [-2]: The price of this power is decreased to [-1], given that it is essentially a glorified thrown weapon. It is also compatible with all Strength powers.
 * Creature Feature: Claws [-1]: When you choose this power, you can choose to either increase the Weapon rating to 3 or treat your natural weapons as holy for the purpose of satisfying any Catches.
 * Creature Feature: Hulking Size [-2]: The price of this power is decreased to [-1].
 * Creature Feature: Spider Climb [-1]: This power also grants a +1 bonus to Athletics.
 * Psychic Power: Incite Emotion [-1]: Firstly, when you choose this power, you can opt to either automatically gain a second emotion that you can manipulate, or you forgo choosing any emotions and designating the power as a general "hypnosis" power that renders the target suggestible. Secondly, this power cannot be used on constructs and zombies, as they lack emotions. It also cannot be used on spirits (that is, any creature native to the Nevernever), with the exception of fae and ghosts, who have just enough emotions to be manipulated. This targeting limitation is lifted if you pay an extra [-1] for the power, which consequently allows you to affect any type of creature. Thirdly and finally, if you have the Breath Weapon [-1] power, the Channeling [-2] power, or the Evocation [-3] power, the cost to take the Potent Emotion [-1] upgrade is reduced to 0. You cannot avail of both this discount and the Strength power discount (see below).
 * Shapeshifting: Human Guise [-0]: This power only drops its effects when you deliberately use an action to activate a certain supernatural power, or you make a physical attack that is supernaturally augmented in any way; otherwise, you run into full retard situations wherein entirely passive and subtle effects such as Echoes of the Beast [-1], Marked by Power [-1], or even Wizard's Constitution [-0] cause your guise to drop.
 * Speed: Inhuman Speed [-2]: The benefit of the "Almost Too Fast to See" effect is revised as follows: "You gain a +2 to Stealth, and while you are benefiting from any block against perception, its block strength is increased by 2 for perceiving you. In addition, the difficulty to detect any of your Glamours [-2] or Greater Glamours [-4] is increased by 2."
 * Speed: Supernatural Speed [-4]: The benefit of the "Faster than the Eye" effect is revised as follows: "You gain a +4 to Stealth, and while you are benefiting from any block against perception, its block strength is increased by 4 for perceiving you. In addition, the difficulty to detect any of your Glamours [-2] or Greater Glamours [-4] is increased by 4."
 * Speed: Mythic Speed [-6]: The benefit of the "Like the Wind" effect is revised as follows: "You gain a +6 to Stealth, and while you are benefiting from any block against perception, its block strength is increased by 6 for perceiving you. In addition, the difficulty to detect any of your Glamours [-2] or Greater Glamours [-4] is increased by 6."
 * Strength: Strength Powers: If you have the Incite Emotion [-1] power with the Lasting Emotion [-1] upgrade, the Channeling [-2] power, or the Evocation [-3] power, the cost of any Strength power you take is reduced by 1. You cannot avail of both this discount and the Incite Emotion [-1] discount (see above).
 * Toughness: Recovery Powers: These powers require free actions to clear away mild consequences, not supplemental actions, and any consequence inflicted as part of preparation for thaumaturgy is not affected by a Recovery power.
 * Toughness: Toughness Powers: Any stress boxes from these powers are added to the left of the stress track, not to the right.
 * Vampirism: Feeding Dependency [+1]: The discount from Feeding Dependency increases to [+2] with [-5] worth of attached powers, [+3] with [-8] worth of attached powers, [+4] with [-11] worth of attached powers, and so on.

Revised Faerie Magic: Glamours [-2] Description: You can create minor veils and "seemings" that conceal something from sight or make something look like what it is not. This power is most associated with pure fae and the changelings who descend from them, although it is by no means unheard of for other supernatural creatures or spellcasters to produce similar illusory effects. Effects: Minor Veils. As a standard action, you can draw a veil over something (not particularly large, perhaps the size of a small, tight group of people, or a small automobile) within your line of sight, hiding it from sight and other means of detection. A veil lasts until you dismiss it as a free action, but you can have only one veil active at a time, although a veil affecting only yourself does not count against this restriction. Seemings. As a supplemental action, you can cause an object or person within your line of sight to appear to be something other than what it is. A seeming lasts until you dismiss it as a free action, but you can have only one seeming active at a time, although a seeming affecting only yourself does not count against this restriction. Veil and Seeming Detection. Once per scene per character, a character in the vicinity any veils or seemings can passively make an Alertness, Investigation, or Lore (Mystic Awareness) roll against them, with a difficulty of Fantastic (+6). On a success, for the rest of the scene, that character can cumulatively: (0 shifts) sense the presence and location of any veils or seemings created with Glamours power, (2 shifts) sense the presence of any veils or seemings created with the Greater Glamours power, (3 shifts) see through any veils or seemings created with the Glamours power, (5 shifts) see through any veils or seemings created with the Greater Glamours power. Spellcasting Discount. If you have the Ritual (Veils) [-2] power or the Thaumaturgy [-3] power, and the Spirit element for evocation spells, the cost of this power is decreased to [-1]. Revised Faerie Magic: Greater Glamours [-4] Description: You can create powerful veils and "seemings" that conceal something from sight or make something look like what it is not, and even create "seemings," solid illusions of pure ectoplasm (or, in some cases, more exotic substances such as congealed light) and almost impossible to discern as abnormal. This is a very rare power, associated mainly with the nobles of Faerie (i.e. sidhe fae), although fae and changelings of lesser stature, along with other fringe cases of the magical world, can sometimes weave illusions of similar potency. Musts: This power replaces Glamours [-2], if you already have that power. Effects: Greater Veils. As a standard action, you can draw a veil over something (not particularly large, perhaps the size of a small, tight group of people, or a small automobile) within your line of sight, hiding it from sight and other means of detection. By spending a fate point or taking a mild mental consequence, you can extend a veil over an entire zone. A veil lasts until you dismiss it as a free action, but you can have only one veil active at a time, although a veil affecting only yourself does not count against this restriction. Seemings. As a supplemental action, you can cause an object or person within your line of sight to appear to be something other than what it is. A seeming lasts until you dismiss it as a free action, but you can have only one seeming active at a time, although a seeming affecting only yourself does not count against this restriction. True Seemings. As a supplemental action, you can create an object as large as a small automobile out of pure ectoplasm (or, if your aspects allow for it, something more exotic, such as congealed light). This object appears in your zone, either in your hand or on the ground. An object created this way is not casually detectable as "unreal," so save through deliberate, lengthy examination, it is immune to most efforts to discover the true seeming. As far as the effects of the object are concerned, simply give it the same attributes as a fully real object of its type would have. A true seeming lasts until you dismiss it as a free action, but you can have only one true seeming in existence at a time. Veil and Seeming Detection. Once per scene per character, a character in the vicinity any veils or seemings can passively make an Alertness, Investigation, or Lore (Mystic Awareness) roll against them, with a difficulty of Fantastic (+6). On a success, for the rest of the scene, that character can cumulatively: (0 shifts) sense the presence and location of any veils or seemings created with Glamours power, (2 shifts) sense the presence of any veils or seemings created with the Greater Glamours power, (3 shifts) see through any veils or seemings created with the Glamours power, (5 shifts) see through any veils or seemings created with the Greater Glamours power. Spellcasting Discount. If you have the Ritual (Veils) [-2] power or the Thaumaturgy [-3] power, and the Spirit element for evocation spells,the cost of this power is decreased to [-3]. Revised Psychic Power: Cassandra's Tears [-0] Description: You are afflicted by the condition known as "Cassandra's Tears," giving you a limited ability to see the future and predict the shape of things to come. However the visions you see are ofttimes ill portents that you can do nothing to change on your own, and that will simply not be believed by other people most of the time. Only once in a blue moon can you ever gain an augury that others fully believe. Musts: You must take "Cassandra's Tears" or a similar variant as an aspect. This aspect has the potential to be compelled quite often, and indeed, this power is nothing more than a set of codified guidelines for invoking and compelling the aspect for effect. Prognostications Passing Through Time and Space. You are able to make precognitive predictions or receive them from the GM. Any information you receive from this power is a prophecy concerning events in the future which can be bypassed or averted if the right courses of action are taken. If the prediction spells doom for you or an ally if it is not acted upon, see Visions of Doom below; otherwise, see Visions of Insight. Visions of Doom. You sometimes receive predictions and prophecies concerning ill events that are to befall you or an ally. This is treated as a compel against the subject of the prediction, because from a metagame standpoint, you having this power is what attracts such poor fates to begin with. Visions of Insight. You sometimes receive predictions and prophecies concerning events that are to occur in the future. Unlike the auguries from Visions of Doom, the predictions from this effect are always helpful and always believed by others. While your character has no control over these prophecies, you, the player, do, and consequently decide upon the information gained. This functions roughly as invoking an aspect for effect; you do not generate any aspect from this prediction, since the prediction you gain is its own reward. Visionary Reverie. You can be compelled to receive your predictions and prophecies in such a way that they send you into a brief reverie wherein you can take no actions, but can still defend yourself. During a conflict, a single compel can cause a reverie that lasts for only one exchange. New Psychic Power: Divination [-1] Description: You are gifted with a precognitive sense that warns you whenever you are physically endangered, allowing you to dodge attacks and foil ambushes flawlessly. Furthermore, with a degree of effort, you can even perform full-blown prophecies as to the nature of the future. Musts: You must have Alertness at Average (+1) or higher, even before any stunts or supernatural powers. Skills Affected: Alertness, Athletics. Effects: Prescient Dodge. You gain a +1 to Athletics when using it to defend against physical attacks and physical maneuvers, although this bonus cannot cause your Athletics for defending against such attacks to exceed your skill cap. Ambush Immunity. You gain a +1 to Alertness for the purpose of initiative, and you are always treated as having beaten the Stealth roll of anyone attempting to ambush you. The timing of your precognition against danger is such that you never have the window of opportunity to warn others before they are ambushed themselves. Deliberate Divination. You are able to make precognitive predictions. Any information you receive from this power is a prophecy concerning events in the future which can be bypassed or averted if the right courses of action are taken. This functions roughly as invoking an aspect for effect; you do not generate any aspect from this prediction, since the prediction you gain is its own reward. Evocation Element. Instead of paying [-1] for this power, you can take it as one of your three elements for the Evocation [-3] power. If you do so, you reduce the number of rotes you know by 1. You cannot actually cast any evocation spells using Divination as an element; all you receive are the power's effects and the ability to use it for thaumaturgic crafting. New Psychic Power: Healing [-1] Description: Your spellcasting abilities have been refined, whether through natural talent or training, to the extent that you can biologically manipulate an organism's body to promote healing. While the effects can be quite potent indeed, more major effects require taxing amounts of effort and personal endurance, limiting your healing's overall usefulness. Musts: You must have either the Evocation [-3] power or the Sponsored Magic [-4] power. Skills Affected: Conviction, Discipline, Lore, Scholarship. Warded Against the Smallest of Ills. You are entirely immune to all symptoms and medical conditions that are so minor and trivial that they have no mechanical effects, create no aspects, and have no significant bearing on the plot whatsoever. This includes the common cold, sore throats, mouth sores, acne, hangnails, and the tiniest of cuts. As a supplemental action, you can designate a target within 1 zone, and remove all such effects from that target. Healing Presence. After you have spent a full scene with a target, you can immediately justify the target's recovery from any mild, moderate, or severe physical consequences. This is a last resort for when you have failed with First Aid (see below). First Aid As a standard action, you can designate a target within 1 zone, and attempt to remove a physical consequence from that target. You must take a 1-stress mental hit and succeed on a Conviction (modified by Discipline) roll with a difficulty of Great (+4) for a mild consequence. Increase the stress to 2 and the difficulty to Superb (+5) for a moderate consequence, and the stress to 3 and the difficulty to Epic (+7) for a severe consequence. Mental stress taken through this effect applies whether you succeed or fail, and it cannot be reduced in any way whatsoever. You cannot tag any aspects while making a roll for this effect, and if you fail, you can never retry any attempt against the same consequence. Recover. As a standard action, you can designate a target within 1 zone, and automatically clear out a single fragile or sticky aspect from that target. The aspect must be related to physical ailments, such as "Poisoned" or "Dazed and Winded," the aspect cannot be a consequence, and the aspect must have been created during the same scene. Thaumaturgy Benefit. If you have the Ritual (Biomancy) [-2] power, the Thaumaturgy [-3] power, or the Seelie Magic [-4] power, any of which would severely devalue this power, you gain an additional effect. By spending 15 uninterrupted minutes with a target that remains within 5 feet of you during those minutes, you can grant the target the benefits of the Rejuvenation of Body thaumaturgic ritual (see below). In addition, if the target has a severe consequence and you succeed on a Scholarship (modified by Lore) roll with a difficulty of Legendary (+8), you can choose to reduce that physical severe consequence to mild severity, rather than reducing a moderate consequence. You cannot tag any aspects while making this roll, and if you fail, you can never attempt the same roll against the target until the severe consequence is gone. Evocation Element. Instead of paying [-1] for this power, you can take it as one of your three elements for the Evocation [-3] power. If you do so, you reduce the number of rotes you know by 1. You cannot actually cast any evocation spells using Divination as an element; all you receive are the power's effects and the ability to use it for thaumaturgic crafting. New Psychic Power: Phrenic Bulwark [-1] Description: You are supernaturally resilient against psychic attacks of all kinds, as well as against any source of fear. In addition, you have the ability to attract psychic assaults towards yourself rather than your less iron-willed allies. Effects: Force of Will. You gain a +2 to Discipline for resisting mental attacks, mental maneuvers, and Intimidation. To Safeguard Others. When an attack or maneuver that can be defended with Discipline is made against an ally within 3 zones of you, or by an enemy within 3 zones of you, it takes a -2 penalty to the roll if it does not include you or any other character with the Resolute Beacon stunt, the Phrenic Bulwark [-1] power, or the Reshaping the Dream [-8] power. An enemy making an attack or maneuver that might be affected by this effect is aware of the effect. This has no effect on the Sight. Revised Shapeshifting: Beast Change [-2] Description: You are able to take the form of a beast, rearranging the priorities of your skill list. Musts: You must define the type of beast that you change into. You can only ever have one appearance while in beast form. You must also create an alternate skill configuration for your beast form, using your own number of skill points and following the same skill pyramid rules. You cannot change your Conviction or Endurance for this new pyramid; nor can you change any other skills that determine one of your stress tracks; nor can you increase Contacts, Craftsmanship, Deceit, Driving, Empathy, Guns, Lore, Rapport, Resources, or Scholarship for your beast form skill configuration (decreasing them is possible, and is, in fact, recommended). Skills Affected: Many. Effects: Beast Form. As a free action that can be taken at any point in the initiative order, you take on the shape and appearance of the beast you specified at the time you took this ability, or switch back to your original form. The action required increases to supplemental if you have the Human Form power, but it can still be taken at any point in the initiative order. This only covers a cosmetic change of form and does not convey additional abiilities like Claws or any Speed, Strength, or Toughness powers. Any clothing, items, and equipment on your person melds into your new form, making this power ideal for smuggling items. Anyone who sees you can passively make a Lore (Mystic Awareness) roll with a difficulty of Legendary (+8) to discern you to be something other than you appear, and with 3 shifts, the target can perceive your original form overlaid over your beast form for the rest of the scene. Ambush Immunity. Your bestial senses prevent you from ever being ambushed. You gain a +1 to Alertness for the purpose of initiative, and you are always treated as having beaten the Stealth roll of anyone attempting to ambush you. The timing of your precognition against danger is such that you never have the window of opportunity to warn others before they are ambushed themselves. Skill Shuffle. While in beast form, your skill configuration changes to the pyramid that you had defined when you had first taken this power, potentially allowing you to significantly skills such as physical skills and perception skills. When you do so during a conflict, your initiative immediately adjusts to compensate for your new skills. The Price for the Superb. The price of this power increases to [-3] once you have at least 30 skill points and a skill cap of at least Superb (+5). New Sponsored Magic: Reshaping the Dream [-8] Description: Drawing upon the power of the Astral Plane, the dream-spirits that ward humanity's minds from deleterious influences, and the collective subconscious, you are able to cast spells that relate to psychomancy, dream-spirits, dreams, slumber, and the Astral Plane. In addition, by tapping the wellsprings of creativity and imagination abundant in the Astral Plane, and by applying the principles of reshaping the dreamscapes of the Astral Plane to other realms, you can reshape the world around you to the extent of your imagination's specialties. The Astral Plane does not particularly seek to preserve free will. Much like a therapist or a psychologist is not especially worried about free will, the collective subconscious does not care one way or another about choice. It simply intends to see the minds of all around the world in healthy, undamaged, tip-top, unintruded shape. The sanctity and privacy of a mind must be preserved. Editor's Note: This is a form of sponsored magic that must be taken along with the Evocation [-3] and Thaumaturgy [-3] powers, and that comes with more limitations than most other sponsored magics, such as having the magic still break the Laws. Its applications are also rather niche, particularly since it offers psychomancy, but no ability to deal mental stress or even attempt to break the Third Law or the Fourth Law. In exchange, its additional benefits are more potent than those of other sponsored magics. In addition, Astral Portal and Refreshed Mind Over Tired Body are less of extra benefits and more, "This is what you should be doing with your Astral Plane thaumaturgic effects anyway," making them a simplification of things that could already be done. Musts: This power replaces the Channeling [-2], Evocation [-3], Ritual [-2], and Thaumaturgy [-3] powers, if you already have any of them. Skills Affected: Conviction, Discipline, Lore. Effects: Full Spellcasting Package. You gain all of the effects and benefits of the Evocation [-3] and Thaumaturgy [-3] powers. Your focus items are configured as though you had the Evocation [-3], Thaumaturgy [-3], and Sponsored Magic [-2] powers. However, you must choose Spirit as one of your three elements for the Evocation power. Astral Magic is My Forte. You can cast thaumaturgic effects directly relating to psychomancy, ectomancy with respect to dream-spirits, dreams, slumber, and the Astral Plane with evocation's methods and speed. Force of Will. You gain a +2 to Discipline for resisting mental attacks, mental maneuvers, and Intimidation. To Safeguard Others. When an attack or maneuver that can be defended with Discipline is made against an ally within 3 zones of you, or by an enemy within 3 zones of you, it takes a -2 penalty to the roll if it does not include you or any other character with the Resolute Beacon stunt, the Phrenic Bulwark [-1] power, or the Reshaping the Dream [-8] power. An enemy making an attack or maneuver that might be affected by this effect is aware of the effect. This has no effect on the Sight. Vigilance of Mind. You can instinctively, automatically sense the presence and precise location of powers that are inflicting mental stress, magic that is breaking the Third Law or the Fourth Law, and creatures with Lawbreaker (Third) or Lawbreaker (Fourth). The range of this effect is 3 zones. Astral Portal. As an application of your focus on magic of the Astral Plane, you can spend 15 uninterrupted minutes creating a portal leading to any point in Astral Plane other than someone's personal dreamscape. The portal lasts for 1 minute. You and up to four other creatures can enter; once the limit has been reached, the portal closes. The portal transports anyone who enters it bodily (not just mentally) into the Astral Plane. Any creature that had stepped through the portal can return to where the portal was created with just a thought. Refreshed Mind Over Tired body. You gain a +3 to Endurance for the sole purpose of determining how it modifies, restricts, or complements your other skills. Offensive Limitations. The Astral Plane's magic will never allow you to cast a spell that has the potential to cause long-term mental damage, meaning your evocation spells and thaumaturgic rituals can never deal mental stress to another creature. Furthermore, magic of the Astral Plane does not have as much potential for devastation as other types of magic, so you can never exceed your Conviction in shifts for an attack-type evocation spell. The Astral Agenda: Maintenance. The Astral Plane demands that you make a sincere effort to maintain the Astral Plane's network of dream-spirits, and regularly dust cobwebs off the collective subconscious. This is not very demanding; a weekly inspection of the Astral Plane should suffice. The Astral Agenda: Sanctity and Privacy of Mind. The Astral Plane demands not that you protect the free will of others; it does not care one way or another about choice. Instead, you are to guard the health, well-being, and privacy of other people's minds, emphasizing security. When the opportunity arises, the Astral Plane compels (sometimes literally, in terms of game mechanics) you to halt the usage of powers that have the potential to cause long-term mental damage (in game terms, anything that deals mental stress) through any means possible. For example, if you sense an attempt to mentally take out another person to create a malicious dream-demon from them, it is your duty to intervene. The Astral Plane also compels you to bring any breakers of the Third Law or the Fourth Law to justice, whoever they might be. The Astral Plane does not ask you to hunt these people down; all it asks is that if you see a phrenic perpetrator on the street, you should do something about it. Still Breaks the Laws. Unlike most sponsored magic, your Astral Plane magic still has the potential to break the Laws of Magic, due to how it can send darker shades of magic through one's mind, staining it. All of your magic is still subject to the Laws of Magic. Furthermore, none of your spells can be of the kind that would break the Third Law or the Fourth Law; the Astral Plane's magic will simply never allow you to invade someone's thoughts or enthrall another person. That said, it still allows temporary tweaks to another's mind that would only skirt the grey areas of either law, such as instilling supernatural fear or joy in another's mind, or reading someone's surface thoughts. The Astral Plane is a bit hypocritical in that regard, but as long as it is not actually law-breaking territory, the collective subconscious considers it fair game for your duties.
 * If the subject refuses the compel, no such prophecy comes to you, and the instance of ill fate never happens.
 * If the subject accepts the compel and you or the subject spends no fate points afterwards, the subject gains an appropriate sticky aspect, such as "Doomed to Offend the White Council." This aspect can be tagged against the subject. You cannot convince anyone of the prediction, and you will have a difficult time attempting to avert its ill effects.
 * If the subject accepts the compel and you or the subject immediately spends 1 fate point, the prophecy still stands, but no such aspect is created, and consequently, the prediction has no way to mechanically reinforce itself. You can automatically get anyone to slightly believe your prediction, and, with marginal effort, you can work to prevent its ill effects. With a net fate point gain of 0 points, you effectively break even by gaining the vision and then exerting token effort to cancel it out.
 * If the subject accepts the compel and you or the subject immediately spends 2 fate points afterwards, the prediction still stands, but the subject gains an appropriate sticky aspect related to turning it around and using it to their benefit, such as "How to Not Offend the White Council." You can automatically get anyone to fully believe your prophecy and, with marginal effort, you can both prevent its ill effects and gain a significant benefit from the prediction.
 * If you spend 1 fate point to invoke for effect, the prophecy you gain is moderately helpful. For example, you might predict that the killer will strike again tonight.
 * If you spend 2 fate points to invoke for effect, the prophecy you gain is substantially and significantly helpful. For example, you might predict that the killer will strike again at 11:45 P.M. tonight.
 * If you spend 1 fate point to invoke for effect, the prophecy you gain is moderately helpful. For example, you might predict that the killer will strike again tonight.
 * If you spend 2 fate points to invoke for effect, the prophecy you gain is substantially and significantly helpful. For example, you might predict that the killer will strike again at 11:45 P.M. tonight.

Two Possible Fixes For The Catch
The system for determining the discount for a Catch is very poorly thought-out. The true value of a discount is all but impossible to accurately gauge in most game; Catch discounts should really, really be handled on a case-by-case basis in any given game. Consequently, any given Catch discount is handled on a case by case basis. For example:
 * The Catch: Non-Solid Attacks [+3]: Any attack that is not purely solid satisfies this Catch. This includes bolts of fire, blades of wind, shockwaves, necrotic energy, spirit claws, poisonous gas, and so on. This Catch cannot be attached to only Inhuman Toughness or only Inhuman Recovery.
 * The Catch: Cold Iron [+2]: A slashing or piercing weapon constructed of iron or steel satisfies this Catch. Any other ferrous metals, along with stainless steel, do not satisfy this Catch, so stabbing fae with steak knives and kitchen knives is ineffective. The weapon must actually slash or stab, and bludgeoning attacks never count, and so iron pipes are not ideal. Furthermore, fae and changelings only encounter pain and irritation with an iron or steel slashing or piercing weapon if their skin touches a sharp edge or point, even very lightly. That is, touching the flat of a steel sword will cause no irritation, but there will be agony if the blade is half-sworded while bare-handed, even if it does not actually break the skin. This Catch cannot be attached to only Inhuman Toughness or only Inhuman Recovery.
 * The Catch: Soft Things [+1]: Weapons augmented by silks and other extremely soft materials satisfy this Catch, as long as the silk is reasonably attached to the weapon and the silk makes contact immediately before the weapon hits. Tying a silk ribbon to the target causes all physical attacks to satisfy this Catch.

Another possible fix for the Catch is as follows. Catches do not grant a discount. Instead, you gain a pool called the "Catch Pool." If your Catch is fulfilled during a scene (regardless of how many times), at the end of the scene, you gain a number of fate points equal to the refresh cost of the powers attached to the catch, halved, in your Catch Pool. For example, if you had Inhuman Recovery [-2] and Inhuman Toughness [-2], and your Catch was "hit" at least once during a scene, at the end of that scene, you would gain 2 fate points in the Catch Pool. Fate points in the Catch Pool are tracked separately from "normal" fate points, so they never affect refreshing of fate points, and can be spent as normal.

Fixes for Spellcasting: General

 * Specializations: Specializations no longer exist, and are no longer granted by the Evocation, Thaumaturgy, Channeling, Ritual, or Sponsored Magic. Evocation and thaumaturgy effects are already obliteratingly powerful, even from a complete baseline, so think twice before you believe that this underpowers spellcasters in any way, shape, or form.
 * Kemmlerian Necromancy: This is no longer a form of Sponsored Magic. You truly do not have to spend [-2] refresh just to be able to justify necromancy, even of the Kemmlerian style.
 * Enchanted Item Slots: Enchanted item slots no longer exist, and consequently, neither do enchanted items and potions as mechanical investments that cost slots. Thaumaturgy's crafting function is now handled as a freeform, "eyeballed" method of inserting your evocation elements (thaumaturgy-only effects are off-limits for crafted items) into objects and consumable substances, although this still has to go through the standard thaumaturgy process, complexity and all.
 * How Many Focus Items Do You Have, and How Do They Work?: Disregard everything in Your Story regarding the amount of focus item slots you have, which types of spells their bonuses apply to, what their size should be, and how your Lore should restrict them. Disregard everything regarding power (Conviction) bonuses for evocation, and control (Discipline) bonuses for thaumaturgy. Use the following guidelines instead.
 * You Have Channeling or Evocation: You have a +2 control (Discipline) evocation focus item that takes the form of an object the size of a small rod or wand, and that grants its control bonus to all of your evocation spells. You cannot take the Refinement [-1] power to improve this focus item.
 * You Have Ritual or Thaumaturgy: You have a +2 complexity (Lore) thaumaturgy focus item that takes the form of an object the size of a small rod or wand, and that grants its complexity bonus to all of your thaumaturgic rituals. You can take the Refinement [-1] power once to improve the complexity (Lore) bonus of the thaumaturgy focus item to +4.
 * You Have Channeling and Ritual; Channeling and Thaumaturgy; Evocation and Ritual; or Evocation and Thaumaturgy: You have a +2 control (Discipline) evocation focus item that takes the form of an object the size of a small rod or wand, and that grants its control bonus to all of your evocation spells. You also have a +2 complexity (Lore) thaumaturgy focus item that takes the form of an object the size of a small rod or wand, and that grants its complexity bonus to all of your thaumaturgic rituals. You can take the Refinement [-1] power once to improve the complexity (Lore) bonus of the thaumaturgy focus item to +4.
 * You Have Sponsored Magic: You have a +2 control (Discipline) evocation focus item that takes the form of innate talent and sponsored imbuement, and that grants its control bonus to all of your evocation spells. You also have a +2 complexity (Lore) thaumaturgy focus item that takes the form of innate talent and sponsored imbuement, and that grants its complexity bonus to all of your thaumaturgic rituals. You can take the Refinement [-1] power once to improve the complexity (Lore) bonus of the thaumaturgy focus item to +4.
 * You Have Sponsored Magic and Channeling; Sponsored Magic and Ritual; Sponsored Magic, Channeling, and Ritual; Sponsored Magic, Channeling, and Thaumaturgy; or Sponsored Magic, Evocation, and Ritual: Your Channeling and/or your Ritual are replaced by Evocation and/or Thaumaturgy respectively, since you are entitled to those as part of the discount package for Sponsored Magic. Then, see below.
 * You Have Sponsored Magic and Evocation; or Sponsored Magic and Thaumaturgy: You have a +2 control (Discipline) evocation focus item that takes the form of innate talent and sponsored imbuement, and that grants its control bonus to all of your evocation spells. You also have a +3 complexity (Lore) thaumaturgy focus item that takes the form of innate talent and sponsored imbuement, and that grants its complexity bonus to all of your thaumaturgic rituals.
 * You Have Sponsored Magic, Evocation, and Thaumaturgy: You have a +2 control (Discipline) evocation focus item that takes the form of innate talent and sponsored imbuement, and that grants its control bonus to all of your evocation spells. You also have a +4 complexity (Lore) thaumaturgy focus item that takes the form of innate talent and sponsored imbuement, and that grants its complexity bonus to all of your thaumaturgic rituals.

Fixes for Spellcasting: Evocation

 * Maximum Shifts: The maximum number of shifts a you can ever call up into an evocation spell is equal to your Conviction + 3. In addition, you can only ever have one rote that calls up more shifts than your Conviction.
 * Warming Up: In order to call up more shifts than your Conviction into a spell, you must have successfully cast, within the previous two exchanges, a spell with shifts equal to or less than your Conviction and that did not cause backlash or fallout.
 * Backlash: Backlash for both evocation and thaumaturgy always causes mental stress, not physical stress. In addition, the stress hit incurred by evocation backlash is equal to 1 + the amount by which you failed the control roll.
 * Maneuver Spells: All maneuver spells cost only 3 shifts to place an aspect onto a single target, 6 shifts to place an aspect onto a single target while allowing that aspect to be tagged twice, 5 shifts to place an aspect onto yourself and all designated targets in one zone, or 8 shifts to place an aspect onto yourself and all designated targets in one zone while allowing one of those aspects to be tagged twice. These shift costs never increase. Any aspect you place through a maneuver spell is always fragile, lasting until tagged, until the end of the scene, or until removed with an appropriate skill roll that must be made as a standard action, whichever comes first.
 * Debuff Maneuvers: For any given spell that maneuvers an aspect onto an enemy, the result of your control roll (or your Discipline roll for a rote spell) is resisted by an appropriate skill roll from the target to resist the maneuver. If your result is equal to or higher than the target's result, then the target gains the intended aspect as a fragile aspect. As per the house rules above, if you produce 5 shifts on the maneuver roll, you place two fragile aspects rather than just one, both of which can be tagged.
 * Area-Affecting Attacks: Having an evocation attack spell cover an entire zone costs 3 shifts, not 2 shifts. However, the spell affects only designated targets, so you can exclude allies and objects from the attack.
 * Mental Attack Spells: Mental attack spells are subject to five limitations. Firstly, the maximum number of shifts you can ever call up into such a spell is equal to your Conviction. Secondly, the spell can only ever have one target, so it cannot be made into a spray or area spell. Thirdly, the spell must always target Discipline. Fourthly, the spell must always come with visual or auditory qualities that conspicuously identify it as magic to any observers and to any target who fully resists the spell (a target who fails to resist does not necessarily identify the magic). Fifthly, if you are attacking the mental stress track, you are breaking the Fourth Law, full stop.
 * Sleep Spells: A sleep spell can be handled either as a mental maneuver against Discipline, or as a physical attack against Discipline. As a mental maneuver, it causes only drowsiness, and does not break the Fourth Law. As a physical attack, it functions by psychomantically tricking the mind into telling the body to sleep, which is only an extremely light gray area of the Fourth Law. The Spirit element and Unseelie magic can both accomplish sleep spells.

Fixes for Spellcasting: Thaumaturgy

 * Symbolic Links: In order to cast a thaumaturgic ritual upon a creature, you must be within line of sight of the creature throughout the entire ritual, or you must have a proper symbolic link. Such a link can be either 100 or more grams of substance belonging to the creature (such as blood, hair, or nail clippings); an intimate, prized possession that undeniably represents the identity of the creature (such as the badge of a police officer, the favorite pick of a guitarist, or the bow of a fae elf); or the creature's True Name.
 * Assistants: Ignore everything in the thaumaturgy chapter's Using Help section (Your Story, page 272). There can only ever be one primary spellcaster in a thaumaturgic ritual. Everyone else who is willingly participating is considered an assistant. An assistant must participate in the casting of the ritual, such as by chanting or aligning magic circles and sigils. An assistant also automatically contributes additional shifts to the ritual equal to the assistant's (Lore modified by Discipline), halved and rounded up, minus 1 if the assistant cannot cast the type of thaumaturgy used by the primary spellcaster (such as if the assistant is a pure mortal). Up to two main assistants can provide up to 3 shifts of complexity each; all assistants past those two main assistants can only ever provide 1 shift of complexity each. There can only be up to twelve assistants in a ritual, including the two main assistants; there is a strict limit of thirteen participants in a ritual. In addition to this, any assistants can invoke their own aspects to add shifts of complexity (see below).
 * Declarations: You can only ever make up to two declarations while preparing for a thaumaturgic ritual, and these cannot benefit from any teamwork actions. The skills used have to be separate, and they cannot be Conviction, Discipline, or Lore, because you already use those for spellcasting. These declarations are assumed to cover prior activities such as gathering additional potential power from ritual setup, potent symbolic links, power sources, power components, and sponsor support. Each declaration always has a difficulty of only Good (+3). On a success, you are assumed to have already prepared for the thaumaturgic ritual (thus spending no extra time with preparation), and you gain a fragile aspect from the declaration that you can tag to add 2 shifts to the complexity. If you meet a Legendary (+8) difficulty, you are assumed to be especially prepared, and you instead gain two a fragile aspects from the declaration (and thus 4 additional shifts), as usual.
 * Fate Points, Invocations, and Tags: Fate points, invoked aspects, and tagged aspects apply their bonuses as additional shifts of complexity. A thaumaturgic ritual can only ever gain up to 8 additional shifts from these, and this limit includes any tagged aspects generated by declarations made to prepare for the ritual.
 * Consequences: You can take only moderate and severe consequences to power a thaumaturgic ritual, and you cannot mix consequence types; you could take a moderate mental consequence and a severe mental consequence, but not a moderate mental consequence and a moderate physical consequence. You gain 2 additional shifts for a moderate consequence, and 4 additional shifts for for a severe consequence; this takes into account tagging the consequence to impose a penalty, so the consequence cannot be tagged to your detriment afterwards. Any such consequences cannot have their recovery time or severity reduced in any way whatsoever. In addition, only you are ever eligible to take consequences this way; any other characters simply do not count. "The fresh blood of a virgin," "a pound of flesh from a loyal cultist," and whatnot are handled as aspects created as part of declarations.
 * Time Taken: Actually casting the thaumaturgic ritual takes approximately 15 minutes per exchange. If, on your final Discipline control roll, you exceed the complexity of the thaumaturgic ritual, any additional shifts automatically go towards reducing the time taken for the final control roll as per the time increments chart (Your Story, page 315).
 * Complexity: Ignore all of the rules for complexity and shifts required in the thaumaturgy chapter of Your Story. They are extraordinarily unhelpful, and the example thaumaturgy spells outright ignore them. Simply "eyeball" an appropriate complexity, usually in the 8 to 12 range for thaumaturgic rituals that can easily solve significant problems, or in the 13 to 17 range if the target has exceptionally high defense skills and/or magical wards. Certain commonly-used effects are given fixed complexities, however:
 * Astral Portal (Worldwalking): Complexity of 10 shifts. You create a portal leading to any point in Astral Plane other than someone's personal dreamscape. The portal lasts for 1 minute. You and up to four other creatures can enter; once the limit has been reached, the portal closes. The portal transports anyone who enters it bodily (not just mentally) into the Astral Plane. Any creature that had stepped through the portal can return to where the portal was created with just a thought.
 * Foolproof Tracking (Divination): Complexity of 8 shifts. Given a symbolic link (see above) to your intended target, you can flawlessly pinpoint the geographical location of the target, as though you had rolled a Legendary (+8) Investigation roll, and then produce a holographic local map of the area with the location of the target brightly highlighted. The tracking and the holographic map last for two scenes.
 * Refreshed Mind Over Tired Body (Biomancy or Psychomancy): Complexity of 8 shifts. For a duration of 24 hours, you gain a +3 to Endurance for the sole purpose of determining how it modifies, restricts, or complements your other skills. It is impossible to use this ritual upon any creature but yourself.
 * Rejuvenation of Body (Biomancy): Complexity of 10 shifts. You must be within five feet of the target as you cast this ritual; a symbolic link will not suffice. You remove all mild physical consequences on the target, and then reduce the severity of a single moderate physical consequence on the target to a mild physical consequence. There is no such version for mental consequences, and indeed, it is simply impossible to remove mental consequences via thaumaturgy.
 * Thaumaturgic Stress Ritual (Theme Varies): Complexity of at least 8 shifts. See below.
 * Crafting: Thaumaturgy's crafting function is now handled as a freeform, "eyeballed" method of inserting your evocation elements (thaumaturgy-only effects are off-limits for crafted items) into objects and consumable substances, although this still has to go through the standard thaumaturgy process, complexity and all.

Fixes for Spellcasting: Thaumaturgic Stress Rituals
The following house rules cover thaumaturgic rituals designed for the express purpose of inflicting copious amounts of physical or mental stress onto a given target, such as entropy curses and heart-exploding spells. This also covers other rituals meant to inflict long-lasting physical changes upon a target, such as transformation rituals, and rituals intended to enthrall or otherwise mentally enslave a target. Such rituals still follow all of the house rules for thaumaturgy above, from symbolic links to assistants.


 * Intended Taken Out Result: The intended type of stress (physical or mental) and the intended taken out result of the ritual, such as "extremely poor luck befalls the target and kills the target," "the target's heart explodes," "the target is transformed into a housecat," or "the target becomes my docile thrall" (sure is /d/ in here), must be defined as the ritual is being prepared. Once the ritual is completed, neither can be changed.
 * Prior Warning: Once a thaumaturgic stress ritual is successfully completed, the target must make a Lore roll with a difficulty of Good (+3). Even on a total failure, the target instinctively becomes aware that there is a malevolent, magical force attempting to inflict tremendous harm and/or malevolent change the target at the very moment. On a success, the target identifies the effect as a thaumaturgic stress ritual that has just been completed and that will take approximately 15 minutes before its effects trigger, and should probably reach a threshold and brace itself (that is, take a full defense action). With 5 shifts, the target also gains the fragile aspect "Braced for the Worst." A single assessment, declaration, or maneuver can be made by the target or another character, with any skill other than Discipline, Endurance, or Lore, against a difficulty of Good (+3) to potentially gain another fragile aspect that can be tagged to improve resistance. There simply will not be enough time for thaumaturgy within these 15 minutes.
 * Stress Inflicted: Once 15 minutes have passed after the thaumaturgic stress ritual has been successfully completed, the ritual inflicts the intended type of stress stress onto the target equal to its its complexity - the higher of the target's Discipline or Endurance. Endurance works even against a mental stress ritual; the target's body naturally rejects the vulgar magical energies. If the target manages to take a full defense action before the ritual takes effect, the target's Discipline and Endurance are both considered 2 higher, and so the stress is reduced by 2. If the target or anyone near the target (this is noncumulative) has access to an evocation element that roughly corresponds to the thaumaturgic stress ritual (Unseelie magic for an entropy curse, for example), ritual's effects can be partially counterspelled, reducing the stress by a further 2. For each relevant aspect that the target invokes or tags, the stress is reduced by 2.
 * Thresholds: A threshold has no effect on a thaumaturgic stress ritual when it is successfully completed, but a threshold does have an effect on the ritual once the 15 minutes have passed and the actual stress is dealt. A threshold acts to reduce the effective complexity of the ritual.

Simplified Rules for Thresholds
Any given threshold has a rating from Fair (+2) to Legendary (+8). A threshold applies its rating - 2 as a penalty to all physical attack rolls and supernatural power rolls made by supernatural creatures that have violated the threshold. This penalty increases to the threshold's rating - 1 for physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks. Creatures that have spent only [-2] refresh rate on supernatural powers reduce all penalties by 1; [-1] reduces all penalties by 2; and [-0] (Cassandra's Tears or Wizard's Constitution, for example) reduces all penalties by 3. In addition, a threshold imposes (double its rating) - 3 as a penalty to all supernatural power rolls (or, if that would be inapplicable, the power's shifts) that originate outside of the threshold and cross its boundaries. For example:


 * Fair (+2) Threshold: -1 penalty to physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks. No penalties whatsoever for supernatural creatures with only [-2], [-1], or [-0] refresh rate spent on supernatural powers. -1 penalty to all supernatural power rolls that originate from outside of the threshold and cross its boundaries.
 * Good (+3) Threshold: -1 penalty to all physical attack rolls and supernatural power rolls; increases to -2 for physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks. -1 penalty to physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks for supernatural creatures with only [-2] refresh rate spent on supernatural powers. No penalties whatsoever for supernatural creatures with only [-1] or [-0] refresh rate spent on supernatural powers. -3 penalty to all supernatural power rolls that originate from outside of the threshold and cross its boundaries.
 * Great (+4) Threshold: -2 penalty to all physical attack rolls and supernatural power rolls; increases to -3 for physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks. -1 penalty to all physical attack rolls and supernatural power rolls; increases to -2 for physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks for supernatural creatures with only [-2] refresh rate spent on supernatural powers. -1 penalty to physical defense rolls against spells and Fists/Guns/Weapons attacks for supernatural creatures with only [-1] refresh rate spent on supernatural powers. No penalties whatsoever for supernatural creatures with only [-0] refresh rate spent on supernatural powers. -5 penalty to all supernatural power rolls that originate from outside of the threshold and cross its boundaries.

Rain and precipitation are never thresholds, regardless of how strong they are. A source of water running from the ocean can create a threshold, so as long as the river or stream is three or more yards wide; such a threshold has a base strength of Fair (+2). Sanctified or consecrated grounds (such as places of worship) carry a base threshold strength of Fair (+2) even if they are used by the public, because of the energies of faith that are directed into them. A home where a whole family lives has a base strength of Good (+3), and increases by 1 for each full generation that the same family has lived in the house.

There exists a special type of threshold called the salt circle, which operates on the principle of it being a symbol of the earth and purification. (Any other crystalline substance works, such as sugar, but that attracts ants.) This is composed of nothing more than a circle of mundane salt, "closed" by a drop of blood from any human, or due to silly declarations made in this game, red lipstick. The shape of the circle must be in a closed circle or closed pentagon; a generous amount of leeway is given, so as long as you are trying to aim for a circular or pentagonal shape, it should work, but deliberately creating long ovals or squiggly parallelograms is bound for failure. The creator of the circle is considered to be the one who had shed a drop of blood on it, or the one who had smudged the circle with red lipstick.

The salt circle automatically creates an aspect along the lines of "Salt Circle," but it is considered to be instantly tagged and invoked for effect to produce its penalties. Very minor entities native to the Nevernever, such as minor demons, loas, and pixies, cannot pass through the circle's boundaries. Other entities of the Nevernever are given a compel against their high aspect: they can pay 1 fate point to cross, or gain 1 fate point to refuse to cross. Any supernatural power passing through the boundary of a salt circle takes a -2 penalty to its roll (or, if that would be inapplicable, the power's shifts). If a creature with any supernatural powers (in game terms, anything other than a pure mortal) passes through the salt circle or disrupts it with an object, the circle's protective qualities are broken, and the creature and any other creatures that were in the circle take a -2 penalty to all physical attack rolls and supernatural power rolls until the end of the creature's next turn. If the breaker of the circle is its creator, it still takes the penalty, but any other creatures in the circle are unaffected.

Creating one half of a three-foot diameter salt circle during a conflict takes two standard actions, so it usually takes two exchanges for one character to erect such a circle, or one exchange for two characters working together. They simply are not very practical in most battles. This is the case even if you have any Speed powers, since the precision and mindfulness it requires to create a salt circle does not mesh well with raw swiftness.

Threshold penalties do not stack with one another.