Untitled - The Secrets of the Mind & Body Shaping

Sample Elemental
Forms
Stone: The body is transformed
into solid stone. The magus’s mass
increases fi ve-fold with no change in
overall dimensions (+2 to Size with
correspondingly increased wound
range, but Strength is unaffected).
His Soak receives a +15 bonus, but
Quickness is reduced by 5.
Air: As Cloak of Mist, constantly
in effect.
Fire: The body is transformed into
living fi re. The magus needs no fuel to
burn, but he ignites fl ammable materials
that come into contact with him,
and infl icts +10 damage if he touches
anyone. His fi re cannot be quenched,
and he cannot suppress it.
Water: As Transform to Water, constantly
in effect.
Other elements should be based
upon the effects listed here.
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•
The inner heartbeast gains a new
Minor Virtue. Sanguine heartbeasts
gain Lightning Refl exes. Choleric
heartbeasts gain Reserves of Strength.
Melancholic heartbeasts gain a Lesser
Immunity (the player and storyguide
should determine this immunity
between them). Phlegmatic heartbeasts
gain Intuition. If the character
already has the Virtue in question,
the storyguide should pick another
suitable one.
The combat abilities of the chimera
are determined by the Abilities,
Virtues, and Qualities it retains from
each of its forms.
tHe Mystery of tHe aniMa
(Major House Mystery)
Open Your Heart to the Realm of Magic.
The Great Beast transforms the heartbeast
into a spiritual or elemental form.
These are often the hardest translations
to inner heartbeast to make because of the
new form is so wholly different from the
old one, and are consequently the least
common.
Houses of Hermes
Upon acquiring this Inner Mystery,
the Bjornaer magus can transform into
a creature of the same shape and size as
his outer heartbeast, but composed of
elemental matter. This body may be made
of one of the traditional four elements
of earth, fi re, air, or water, or other matter
such as smoke or shadow. While in
this form, the magus is affected by the
Hermetic Form associated with (or closest
to) that element, rather than the Form
of Animal.
The Inner Heartbeast
in Play
Once Initiated, the form of the inner
heartbeast can be taken by fi rst assuming
the form of their outer heartbeast,
then making a Stamina + Heartbeast roll
against an Ease Factor of 9. This process
takes a full round, in which the magus
can do nothing except defend himself,
using the statistics of his outer heartbeast
until the change is complete. The reverse
process is the same, but requires no roll;
the change from inner heartbeast to outer
heartbeast is automatic.
Any powers or other features possessed
by the inner heartbeast may only
be used when the magus is in that form.
All features of the inner heartbeast apply
equally and simultaneously. The magus
cannot decide to just adopt some features
of his new form any more than he could
take on part of his outer heartbeast. The
Hidden Shape still applies to the inner
heartbeast, although it is often of more
limited use while in this shape, as many
inner heartbeasts have obviously supernatural
characteristics. Unless modifi ed
or refi ned by Inner Mysteries, the inner
heartbeast has all of the Characteristics,
Qualities, Virtues, Flaws, and Abilities of
the outer heartbeast.
Refi ning the Inner
Heartbeast
An inner heartbeast can be refi ned
further by a number of smaller Initiations.
Further Initiations involve changing the
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Size or Characteristics of the inner heartbeast,
or acquiring new Qualities, Virtues,
or Powers. The magus must rely on his
own knowledge for this process of refi nement,
for his Mystagogue has returned to
its solitude in the wilderness.
initiation of a refineMent
Both the teachings of his Great Beast
ancestor and the lore he has gathered
from the House allow a Bjornaer magus
to develop an embryonic rite that serve
as his fi rst step on this path. This rite
begins with no Quest and no Ordeal, and
involves only a season of ritual cleansing
in isolation at an ancestor site (see above),
invoking his ancestors and physically consuming
a large amount of vis, which
causes Warping. However, this rite may
be insuffi cient on its own to Initiate the
refi nements desired, and must be varied
to grant a bigger bonus. All Initiations
use the Presence of the human form, not
that of either heartbeast. This embryonic
Script is unique in that it can Initiate any
Refi nement Mystery; however, it cannot
be used to Initiate any other Mystery.
eMBryonic initiation of a
refineMent Mystery
Ease Factor: Varies, see Refi nements,
below
Script Bonus: +7 + Resonant Bonus
Script Details: The magus must
spend at least one season at an ancestor
site (+3), physically consuming one pawn
of vis (of an appropriate Art) per three
points of the Initiation Ease Factor, and
acquiring 1 Warping Point because of this
(+1). The Virtue acquired can only be
used in the form of the inner heartbeast
(special bonus of +3). The type of inner
heartbeast offers a Resonant Bonus to the
Initiation of certain Refi nements:
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•
•
Mystery of tHe ePitoMe: +3 to
Virtues and Increasing Characteristics
Mystery of tHe cHiMera: +3 to
Qualities and Changing Size
Mystery of tHe aniMa: +3 to Minor
and Major Powers
This embryonic Script is rarely suffi
cient to Initiate the desired Mystery,