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Celestial Troupers
Those who use celestial or popular magic to entertain.Buffonalux
Type: Fool A buffonalux is a fool who is filled with the light of the people. As they perform, they literally shine, inspiring and helping others. Buffonaluxes are clownish and silly, focusing on tumbling, japes, puns, and silliness. They perform in sideshows, in royal courts, anywhere that will have them. Mostly, they perform on the streets, dodging refuse and rocks, mocking the powerful and teasing the ornery. They see performance as an art that helps people, but the imperials scorn them. They wield magic by tapping into the art of their work. The performance and profundity, the craft and cheer. They practice under a mentor, learning all manner of skills, and as they learn their arts, they learn to sense the energies generated by it. When others are inspired by it, when there is something in their work that moves others, when their performances bring a laugh, a frown, a flinch, or a blush, they generate some magic. They gather it up as they perform, and later, they unleash it during their best performances. Eventually, they gather up enough that they begin to have visions. These visions inspire and drive them, and they soon come to understand their power as vessels of magical, celestial light, light drawn from the hearts and minds of the people. This light is something they then put into their performances:- Brilliant gambol: gamboling and tumbling that lets them move with shimmering images of themselves.
- Illuminating jape: a jape, a pun, a joke that causes a spark of light that guides the buffonalux.
- Insightful comment: speaking truth to power in a way that shines a literal light on the exposed truths.
- Crystal bauble: a special glowing bauble (jester's staff) made of crystal that helps them capture celestial light as they perform.
- Shining performance: a full performance of ten or more minutes that culminates in a burst of celestial light with many different effects on different audiences.
Casoaiut
Type: Performer
Casoaiuti are performance artists who use random acts of kindness as their art. The trick is to make the act of kindness both something that is seen and appreciated by others, but not seen as either humiliating for those who benefit from it nor connected to the artist - no one gets credit for it.
They are not dissimilar to the miracleworker rogues. They perform their acts of kindness in ways that help others without drawing attention to themselves, but the goal is not to convince people of miracles. They don’t mind if people make assumptions or come up with explanations for what they did. They just make sure they don’t get credit or profit from it.
They gain their magic from their acts of kindness and from living the virtue of kindness. They are only required to be kind to the oppressed, exploited, enslaved, abused, and other underclass individuals; imperials and oppressors and exploiters and abusers and so on receiving kindness might actually cause more harm than good. If the casoaiut believes the person deserves kindness, though, it counts, no matter who the person is.
They spend years being kind to others, never wavering except to stand up against violence and oppression. They combine this kindness with performance art, any public display of performance. Eventually, after years of this, they are visited by spirits that appear to be golden children; these spirits offer them rewards. If they accept the rewards, they gain the rewards. If they do not accept the rewards, they awaken with special abilities:
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Sense need: the casoaiut can sense the needs of those around them once per day.
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Pretense of kindness: the casoaiut can take on a false air of magnanimity to distract from their actual acts of kindness.
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Distracting recitation: the casoaiut can recite spoken word nonsense or perform some piece of poetry, theatre or so on, and distract others from literally anything magically.
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Shower of trinkets: the casoaiut can call a shower of small objects that are useful to everyone in the area.
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Costume change:the casoaiut can change what they are wearing magically any time they want, taking only a single round to do so, assuming they own what they change into.
Their abilities may vary by the kinds of performance art is their preference.
PRO +1 ATH +1 STR -1 AWA +2 WIL / PRS +2 STH +1
Harmonist
Type: Musician A musician whose harmonic music bonds people together. All music has some magical power to it. Music that unites, connects, and empowers people against imperial powers is celestial. This music is dominated by harmony, polyrhythms, and syncopation.To learn celestial music, harmonists must learn from other harmonists. They need to be trained not only in how to play or sing music, but also how to emotionally connect with others, how to understand their own emotions, and how to work a crowd. They must also be devoted to uniting the people, not the powers that exploit, oppress, abuse, or harm the people.
After years of training and playing with a mentor, harmonists are encouraged to perform before a crowd on their own to test their powers. If they succeed in uniting and empowering the crowd on their own, they unlock their abilities. As harmony is important to their magic, they are much, much more powerful with other musicians, especially other harmonists, but their magic allows them to create harmony without another musician. Most stick with bands and their mentor, but some go work on their own, usually for personal reasons.
Their powers may vary by their chosen instrument and style, but some common powers include the following:
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Looping: in order to create solo harmonies or polyrhythms, harmonists can capture loops of music magically and let them continue playing. They do this by physically grabbing the music out of the air and tying it to their instrument or themselves. This is required for their music to work if they don’t have other musicians or harmonists present. Difficulty is 8. Failure means the looping fails. Successes mean it lasts 3 rounds per success level before needing to be restored. One loop adds enough to a song to activate their magic; two loops adds +2 to their magical music, and another +1 for every loop added thereafter.
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Harmonic unification: anyone who even so much as matches a rhythm or note of the song will sense the emotions of everyone around them and be drawn into the same emotional content (sincerely). If this is sustained for three rounds in combat or three minutes out of combat, certain effects will take place (see below). Difficulty is 14 and must be re-rolled each round. Looping is required.
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Nightingale’s song: a version of harmonic unification possible if songbirds have joined in the song. This is difficulty 17, but does not require re-rolling and is +3 above harmonic unification’s powers.
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Polyrhythmic empowerment: one person per rhythm chooses one skill, ability, or power to give +3 to. Difficulty is 11 and lasts three rounds per success level. Critical failure gives -3 penalties to the chosen score for 12 rounds and cannot be re-attempted in the same amount of time, exceptional failure gives -1 for 9 rounds and cannot be re-attempted in the same amount of time, special means the rhythm cannot be attempted again for 6 rounds, normal failure means it cannot be reattempted for 3 rounds. Tie means +1 to the chosen power, ability, or skill for one round. Looping is required.
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Song of the heart: the emotions the harmonist is feeling is spread to everyone who hears the song. Difficulty is 11, +3 more per target above three targets. It lasts 3 rounds per level of success. Looping is required.
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Syncopation: a target of the harmonist’s choice who can hear the song gets an extra action. Looping is required. Difficulty is 11.
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Emerald note: a single note of pure celestial power will cause harm to any infernal being within 24’. Difficulty is 14 for a protection of power 10, +3 more difficulty for every +2 points above 10. No looping required.
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Ninth chord: on the ninth round or in the ninth minute of a song, a special chord can be played to eradicate any infernal effects on listeners. Difficulty is 11, +1 more for every target above three. Looping is required.
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Shimmering air: a light air gives everyone who hears it whom the harmonist chooses +3 ATH temporarily (one round or one minute). Difficulty is 11, +3 per target after three targets. No looping required.
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Passerine dance: targets who can hear the song may dance and summon songbirds. Difficulty for the harmonist is 14, +3 per target above three. Targets must roll dancing ability vs. difficulty 8, gaining +3 to dancing for special success on the harmonist’s part, +6 exceptional, +9 critical. Looping is required. Songbirds may sing and alleviate need for looping once they are summoned.
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Rousing flourish: a flourish within the song can break stun, LNA, or unconsciousness (but not coma or death). Difficulty is 8 for LNA, 11 for stun, 14 for unconsciousness, +3 per target above three. No looping required.
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Thrush’s song: a song of pure love that makes anyone who sincerely loves another person think of that person and either gain empowerment to act for them or lose time thinking of that person, depending on the harmonist’s intent. Difficulty is 17, +1 per person above three, success rate determines duration and bonuses. Looping is required.
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Alouette: the target (if they can hear the song) will fall apart, one body part per round. Difficulty is 17. Looping is required.
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Chanticleer’s call: a bright rooster call that all allies to the harmonist within 24 miles can hear and respond to. Difficulty is 17. No looping required.
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People’s melody: a song that gains power as more people join in, empowering them against oppressors, abusers, exploiters, or infernal powers. Difficulty is 17. Bonuses scale up as success level does. Looping is required.
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Cumulative song: a song that builds on itself, giving +1 to a skill, ability, or power on all who are affected every round/minute it is played. Difficulty is 14, +3 per target above three. Looping is required.
Harmonic unification has the following effects after three rounds/minutes:
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Empathic communication: all affected by the song can silently communicate via empathic resonance.
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Harmonic action: all affected by the song can act together for every turn.
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Unifying resonance: every subsequent round/minute, anyone hearing but not affected must roll to resist or be drawn in.
Many other abilities are possible. Consult the GM.
PRO / ATH +1 STR / AWA +2 WIL +1 PRS +3 STH -1
Hetaira
Type: Sensualist The hetairai (or hetairo(i) for men, hetaire(i) for others) are sex workers who are highly educated, skilled at art, entertainment, and conversation. They are learned in arts, philosophy, and culture. They are extremely highly valued sex workers, for they are skilled users of sex magic. Their arts and skills were brought over from the west, but in the region, they are still criminalized, even if their clients are high-paying. They often use this to help serve the people or their communities by gathering information, blackmail, or funding. The sex magic of the hetairai is generated with a familiarity with their own bodies and pleasure. They engage in rituals of relaxation, comfort, and physical pleasure in order to learn how to wield their magic, then practice it with clients or lovers. The more intimately they know their own bodies, the more they are aware of the flows of energy within and how it responds to pleasure, allowing them to focus on it and draw it out. With long practice and effort, they learn to draw forth the blue light that can transfer pleasure between themselves and others. They generate this via their rituals, via acts of sexual pleasure, or via arts of seduction. They gain points of blue light every time they do this.- Evoke pleasure: with their touch, they can transfer the blue light to another to cause them to experience physical, sexual pleasure. This costs 1 point of blue light per 3 points of power they wish to roll from.
- Alluring aura: they can wreath themselves in blue light, making themselves alluring to anyone who sees them. This costs 3 points of blue light per minute of 8-power aura.
- Intensify pleasure: with their kiss, they can transfer the blue light to another to cause the physical, sexual pleasure they are experiencing to intensify. This costs 2 points of blue light per 3 points of power they wish to roll from.
- Transform pleasure: with their touch, they can use the blue light to change the physical pleasure someone is experiencing from any kind of physical pleasure to sexual pleasure (i.e., good tasting food becomes sexual pleasure). This costs 3 points of blue light per 2 points of power they wish to roll from.
- Alleviate discomfort: their breath can make someone's discomfort reduce or go away. This costs 1 point of blue light per 2 points of power they wish to roll from.
Rhapsode
Type: Bard A bard whose stories and songs draw from the magic of romantic love.Bards are traditionally employed by a leader or group to maintain oral traditions, entertain, maintain genealogies, and praise the leader or group. Rhapsodes may be employed in this fashion, or they may be wandering entertainers who keep these practices from their nation, culture, or community.
The powers or a rhapsode come from romantic love. To be a rhapsode, one must have experienced romantic love (or be experiencing it), and they must not be someone who has abused, assaulted, or otherwise deeply harmed a loved one intentionally. If they have, they must have quested for redemption and gained the nearly impossible feat of true forgiveness - not the false forgiveness of one gaslit by an alleged lover, but true forgiveness only possible if one has truly been redeemed. If they meet this condition, they must be trained in the abilities of a rhapsode by another rhapsode.
Rhapsodes use their love or memory of love to infuse their work. If they are near others who have experienced or are experiencing romantic love, their own emotions will resonate with it and become stronger. Their own romantic love gives them a base of 10. For every person within 10’ per point of AWA above 8 the rhapsode has, they get +1 if that person has experienced or is experiencing romantic love AND if that person is not working against the rhapsode in some way AND if that person is not a wielder of infernal powers. PCs must have this listed as a Motivation. Any important NPCs should have it noted. Random NPCs, the GM rolls a d100 and anything above 55 means the NPC meets the criteria.
Some powers of the rhapsode include the following:
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Tale of romance: the rhapsode may tell a story - taking no less than ten minutes to tell and no more than ten days - that gives anyone who hears it protection from certain infernal magicks (baleblood, feirua, hollow energy, gossamer light), +1 to +6 PRS when determining if someone’s love is sincere, and +3 to protect their romantic love if they have one. This lasts the same length of time the story took to tell. Difficulty is 14, +3 per target above five.
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Verse of love: the rhapsode may write and perform a poem that amplifies the romantic love anyone who hears it feels (+3 to protect loved ones) and instills a sense of missing something (LNA to stun) to anyone who does not feel it. Difficulty is 11. Difficulty is 3 less if the player actually writes and reads the poem.
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Lover’s ballad: the rhapsode may perform (and possibly write) a song that all who hear it feel moved by. Anyone affected must roll PRS or fall asleep and dream of them. Difficulty is 11. Difficulty is 3 less if the player actually writes and sings the song.
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Romantic lore: the rhapsode has a deep knowledge of romantic stories and histories.
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Bloodline tracing: the rhapsode’s knowledge of genealogy may be rolled when meeting someone and learning their full name (not True Name, though that works, too) to see what they know of their family history.
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Satirical observation: the rhapsode may make a wry observation about someone’s love life and have the impact of a taunt or mockery - inspiring them to sadness, good feelings, or rage. They roll PRS vs. AWA.
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Invocation of tradition: the rhapsode may invoke a tradition of the family, group, or person they are employed by or come from and enforce its rules once per year. Consult the GM to come up with the details of this based on the family, group, or person.
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Romantic archetype: the rhapsode may tap into an archetypical romantic figure from story or history and employ powers, abilities, or skills of that figure by telling their story (ten minute minimum). Difficulty is 11, +1 for every point above 8.
Other abilities may be possible. Consult the GM.
PRO -1 ATH +1 STR -1 AWA +2 WIL +1 PRS +3 STH +1
Raqisa
Type: Dancer
A dancer who creates magical grace.
Raqisas gain their powers in the moment. They are believers in the powers of hope and miracles, and in the act of dance, they find small moments of pure grace. If they notice and draw it in, they can store it for later and wield it. This is something only the most profound believers in hope and miracles, the most optimistic and kind people can sense and wield. Any pessimism or cruelty in their personalities will weaken and eventually take their powers away.
All of their powers derive from dance:
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Flower Blossoming: a wide gesture that instills grace for three rounds during combat or for three minutes out of it in everyone who believes in hope and miracles within 30’.
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Swallow Return: inward gesture that increases ATH for three rounds in combat or three minutes out of it.
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Bounding Lemur: leap of 50’ that allows for standing on walls or ceilings for one round.
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Shadow Wide: a wide gesture that spreads celestial shadow in a 30’ radius, providing a 1% chance of a miracle for anyone who believes (other than the raqisa).
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Lilac Chain: anyone the raqisa touches and anyone that person touches within 1d4 rounds (in combat) or minutes (out of combat) gains +1 PRS for every person touched.
Someone with grace instilled in them automatically succeeds on dodge rolls, gets the benefit of the doubt when speaking up for themself (target takes low die), and resistance to infernal magic (+6).
Belief in miracles must be marked in the character’s motivations for PCs, and for NPCs, if there’s any chance of belief in miracles, GM rolls a d100. One a 1-10, they do.
Raqisas’ beliefs are rare and seen as naive by most. Any evidence of their powers working will be treated as a blasphemy by the authorities in imperial lands.
PRO +1 ATH +5 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL / PRS +2 STH +1
Rimatore
Type: PoetRimatori wield the magic of inspiration via poetry. They are writers and performers of poetry, and the words they wield fill the minds of those who hear it with new ideas, new creativity, new purpose.
To become a rimatore, one must study poetry for many years, and they must learn to read, interpret, write, and perform it. They study all kinds of poetry, but poetry by and for the people is most potent for them. They learn to perform it especially for people in need of inspiration, and they seek to spread that inspiration, choosing poems or writing them with a specific person in mind. This targeted performance is designed to break through writers' block or drive artistic ideas in others.
Rimatori learn to sense the magic in their poetry when they perform it, capturing it when they use it to help others, and storing it up in special pens and ink. These pens and ink become crystal clear as they gain magic, and the rimatori learn to channel their own ideas through it, making it shine as they write with it. When they perform these shining poems, this light flits into the performance and fills others with inspiration. Eventually, after trying this many times, they have visions and see special words that infuse their poetry, giving them abilities:
- Inspiring verse: a basic poem that gives minor inspirations to others.
- Muse's rhyme: a rhyme invoking a specific kind of muse to inspire a specific kind of art.
- Free verse bright: a performance of free verse that creates literal shining lights that people can take with them for inspiration later.
- Epic performance: a long performance of epic poetry that inspires people to fight for what they believe in.
- Elegiac recital: a recital of elegiac poetry that helps people sense and understand their connection to those they have lost, inspiring them to works of art to honor them.
As they learn other forms of poetry, they gain other abilities. Invoking specific poems may invoke specific kinds of magic.
PRO / ATH / STR -1 AWA +3 WIL +1 PRS +3 STH -1
Spaventoso
Type: Celebrity Spaventosi are people who gain fame among the oppressed for something they did that was truly impressive, and that gives them magical powers to instill awe in others. What the spaventoso did to gain fame must be something good for the people - or at the very least, not bad for them or good for the imperials - and it must be true. They gain power from people's reaction to it, from the awe it produces. It may have been done accidentally or without the intention of creating awe, but the spaventoso must seize the moment and capture that energy when it happens. Some do this intentionally, having trained to do it, and some rare ones do it out of instinct or luck. Either way, they do it, they have a profound vision that shows them how to capture the awe, and they learn to wield it.They gain magic by evoking awe from people. They themselves must be overtaken by awe as well and sense and wield the emotional resonance of their own awe. To do this, they must first learn to sense emotional resonance (often taught to them by a mentor) and capture it, sometimes in a jewel called a dumaqu, in a crystal, or in a work of art. The method they use is determined mostly by who taught them. This object becomes the focus of their power, and they must have it present when they later draw awe from others. As famous people, sometimes their name or presence is enough to create awe, but they learn as they draw this in to wield it:
- Awesome voice: the spaventoso may infuse their voice with the awe they have gathered, making others more likely to believe them.
- Profound appearance: the very appearance of the spaventoso may be infused with awe.
- Inspiring words: they may make a special speech to inspire others, giving them bonuses to their next actions.
- Light of the soul: their very souls may shine with awesome light, enhancing the magic of those around them.
- Shining smile: they may give a bright smile that shines and charms others.
GrandGuignol
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