Enlighteners

Those who use magic in research, teaching, archivism, learning, science, or study.

---

Bibliothecary

Alignment: Unaligned

A librarian of psionic books. They have the ability to channel the power of their minds into paper and parchment and leave imprints upon it, creating psionic books, and the ability to absorb enormous amounts of information contained in psionic books and store it.

To wield psionic energy, one must be rigorously trained. Most who learn how start early, recruited for their apparent ability to focus singularly on one thing. Meditation, concentration exercises, memory exercises, and logic puzzles are part of the early training. Later, they are trained via mental exercises that require that they try to affect the world outside their mind with their mind, to move things without touch or to read the mind of another. The first sign of psionic skill is a spark generated from the mind onto a piece of metal, usually a metal headband provided to encourage such activity.

As thoughts and emotions are often indistinguishable, emotional resonance and psionic energy are often difficult to separate. Wielders of psionic energy must practice separating them extensively in order to wield their psionic energy at full strength. Mostly this means maintaining control of oneself in spite of strong emotions like anger, love, or desire.

After the initial spark, training takes place over the course of many years. On average, it takes about 15 years for someone to gain basic psionic ability (two to three psionic skills with scores above 8). For professional level psionic skill, it takes about 25 years (three to four psionic skills with scores above 11). Basic psionic ability is gauged by how well someone can externalize their psionic energy, thus projecting their mental power outside their body.

Once they can successfully externalize their power, they must practice the many specific skills of psionic science. Most have a limited range and must decide between sharpening skills or extending range, as they do not have time and capacity to do both. Bibliothecaries usually have limited range and favor sharpened skills, as the books they work with are rarely far away.

To externalize their psionic energy, they must have an unaligned metal tool to wield it at all. This is usually a metallic headband.

The psionic abilities that bibliothecaries practice are as follows:

• Telepathy: mind-to-mind communication.

• Telekinesis: control of physical objects with the mind. Usually mild in bibliothecaries.

• Mind reading: reading the surface level thoughts of a mind.

• Information scanning: scanning written information (in a language they can read) and absorbing it

• Consciousness sensing: sensing conscious minds nearby.

• Psionic sensing: sensing psionic energy nearby.

• Information transferral: transferring information from a mind or a book to the mind of another or another book.

• Information storage: storing information collected psionically.

• Psionic investment: investing psionic energy into a book.

With psionic investment into a book, the bibliothecary can instill a weak amount of energy to allow it to be better understood, or they can delve deeper and invest more, creating different effects:

• Teaching book: the weakest level, a book with just enough psionic energy to make it more easily understood.

• Memorization book: a book that makes it easier to learn and to memorize perfectly.

• Subliminal book: a book that speaks to the subconscious mind, the part of the mind operating in the background, allowing the information to be deep rooted.

• Instinctual book: a book that speaks to the structure of the brain, making the information instinctual, hard-wired into the body and being of the reader.

• Dream book: a book that can be read while you dream.

If enough books in a library are elevated to consciousness via psionics, they can form a massive hive mind centered on the bibliothecary. All minds are connected, information and communications flow freely and openly between minds and books within this network.

PRO -2 ATH -2 STR -1 AWA +4 WIL +2 PRS -1 STH -1

---

Chronologist

Alignment: Elemental

A recorder of history as it happens. A chronologist uses special machines made out of saturnium metal in order to observe time and record it.

A chronologist’s machines are called chronographical printers. They are made of a magical metal that has elemental time within it, allowing anything made from it to have a magical effect on time itself. A chronographical printer has various abilities built into it, and chronologists are trained in the operation of them. It takes special training both because the machine is complex and because failing to operate correctly can result in harming the flow of time.

Chronologists are not the makers of these machines - the making of them is forbidden by natural law and those who create them are erased from history. Stories of mysterious figures appearing to do this are considered myths; most chronologists believe it happens due to the natural consequences of manipulating time. Thus, they are very careful when they use these machines, which they acquire usually through great effort, wealth, and/or danger.

A chronographical printer has 12 dials, buttons, and levers:

• Record: the printer’s camera turns on and begins recording everything within 24’.

• Review: the printer’s screen turns on and shows a recorded scene.

• Refine: improves or blurs clarity of the recording. A more blurred recording can have a greater range (up to 144’), but only a small radius range within that will be clear - for every 12’, it loses a foot of clarity, starting with 24’ of clarity.

• Refocus: changes the focus of the screen, moving to a different spot.

• Reverse: moves the recording backward.

• Fast forward: moves the recording forward quickly.

• Stop: stops showing the recoding or stops recording.

• Pan: move to the left or right.

• Tilt: move up or down.

• Scripting: opens the keyboard and allows the chronologist to type it up.

• Print: prints off the scripted piece.

• Delete: deletes the recording.

While recording an area, there is a risk of altering the past. For every minute the recording runs, the danger increases. The chronologist must maintain the refinement of the recording the entire time, rolling their skill with the machine against the risk to time. For the first minute, it is a 5 difficulty, then +3 for every subsequent minute. If the timestream is damaged by use of the device, the device breaks, the past changes, and the chronologist is at risk of being erased from existence.

If they do not delete their recording within a day of making it, the temporal fabric is at risk. For every hour after 24 hours of existing, the recording risks altering itself and thus the past. If the chronologist fails to delete it in time, they must roll their chronologistic skill against first an 11, then +6 every subsequent hour or risk altering the past, breaking the device, and being erased from existence.

Furthermore, the more blur used in a recording, the more dangerous it is. For every foot of blur, it is another +3 difficulty to all rolls.

The chronographical printer is a mixture of camera, viewing device, typewriter, and printer. It weighs 30 lbs. It is about 18”w x 8”h x 12”l. It has a special case with straps that allow it to be carried on the back when not in use. It has to be cranked 24 times for every minute it records or reviews.

PRO -2 ATH -1 STR / AWA +3 WIL +1 PRS / STH -1

---

Counselor

Alignment: Unaligned

Counselors are advisers who can see True Names, allowing them to know incredible amounts of information about a person, place, or thing. They may only learn how to do this from someone who already knows how.

To gain this ability, the counselor must have an awareness of their own True Name. This require five rituals of profound magic:

• Journey to the Center of the Mind: this ritual requires meditation and an understanding of one’s own thoughts. The end result of the meditative practice is that their thoughts will be externally visualized, allowing them to know the shape of them. The ritual varies by person, but usually requires extensive journaling of their thoughts, study of neurology, and minor psionic abilities.

• Psychoanalytic Web: this ritual requires therapeutic discussions and an understanding of one’s own emotions. The end result of the analytic ritual is that their emotions are made visually manifest, usually as bright, colorful auras around them. The ritual varies by person, but usually requires guidance by a psychoanalyst, study of psychology, and minor empathic abilities.

• Self-Vivisection: this ritual requires self-surgical investigation of the counselor’s body such that they can understand every part of themselves. This requires extreme body magic, usually provided by someone else, as well as surgical skill.

• Metaphysical Innerlogue: this ritual requires a vision-quest into one’s own soul and interrogation of their entire past and all their metaphysical being, usually guided by their mentor.

• Nommic Profusion: this ritual requires combining everything learned from the previous four rituals to look into a mirror and see one’s full true self. If successful, the counselor will gain the power to see the True Name of anything.

The power to see True Names is not absolute. Every time they view a True Name, their own True Name is put at risk. They must expose a part of themself, something vulnerable, when they do it, and they rarely have the capacity to understand fully what they see. Every time it is used, therefore, they must roll STR (body), AWA (mind), PRS (heart), and WIL (soul) against the target’s same stats. Any normal or special failure means that that aspect of the target is occluded to their sight, and an exceptional or critical failure means permanent loss of the relevant stat (-1 for exceptional, -3 for critical).

Then the counselor must roll AWA to understand what they see fully. For every successful roll, the difficulty goes up - normal success +1, special +2, exceptional +3, critical +4. If they get a tie on this roll, they understand basic information about the target. If they get a normal success, they can view relevant stats to any aspect they succeeded on. If they get a special success, they can view any relevant stats, abilities, powers, or skills to any aspect they succeeded on. If they get an exceptional success, they can read any relevant motivations to any aspect they succeeded on. If they get a critical success, they can view the full character sheet and ask the GM any questions they like. However, for every question past three, they must roll PRS against a +3 each time or risk believing they are the target.

Counselors use this power to serve as advisers. Because there is such risk, they use it sparingly and often work from the sidelines due to the fact that anyone who knows and understands their powers might try to use their exposed vulnerabilities against them.

PRO -1 ATH -1 STR -1 AWA +4 WIL +3 PRS +2 STH -2

---

Enlightener

Alignment: Unaligned

An enlightener is a logician who uses the power of the mind, specifically the parts of rationality and logic, to analyze, research, learn, advise, and teach. To do this, they must alter their own being and cull parts of their minds, hearts, bodies, and souls to focus on the most cold, logical parts of themselves.

Enlighteners are taught in special schools where they are taught the philosophy and theory of hyperlogic, the magical psionic science that gives them their powers. After decades of study, they are given the choice - engage in the rituals that will give them their magical powers, or go into another field of study. Those few who choose to do this must then pass the following ritual tests:

• Test of Pain: this test requires they learn to ignore pain and think clearly in spite of it. The rituals vary by school, but the end result is always that the enlightener has a nail inserted in their chest permanently.

• Test of Whelm: this test requires they learn to ignore intense emotion and think clearly in spite of it. The rituals vary by school, but the end result is always that the enlightener has a locket with a reminder of something intensely emotional.

• Test of Memory: this test requires they learn to erase memories in favor of expanding their logical capacity. This hones the brain to be a machine of logic, keeping few memories that do not fuel the tools of logic and rationality.

• Test of Consciousness: this test requires they learn to shape their conscious thinking to filter out anything but their current focus, taking in only relevant information.

• Test of Dreaming: this test requires that they learn to reshape dreams and subconscious aspects of their mind to work only on their logical processes and not on dreams, imagination, or unnecessary processes.

• Test of Metaphysics: this test requires that they sacrifice aspects of their soul such that it is reconfigured to only amplify and fuel their logical consciousness, absorption of factual data, and relevant skills and abilities.

If these are all passed, the enlightener gains some or all of the following powers:

• Rational response: they are immune to normal or special stun because pain is merely information from the body. Exceptional stun is stun condition for one round, then unconsciousness the next.

• Internal observation: any attempted emotional effect on the enlightener suffers a -6 penalty because emotions are to be observed and not acted upon.

• Organized recollection: all factual data they learn is organized within their minds in a way that makes it easier to recollect. This is rolled in place of memory rolls for factual information, making it much easier to remember things.

• Clarified observation: any perception rolls gain +6 when they are taking in factual data, but they have -6 to read people rolls, persuasion, and deception.

• Subconscious sorting: they can passively attempt to solve a puzzle or mystery, put together information, or review studied material, allowing them to roll AWA for understanding, logical conclusions, or analyzing something while also performing other actions at the same time.

• Telepathic communication: they can communicate mind-to-mind. This power replaces one innate power they were born with due to their species.

• Factual scanning: they can use their psionic powers to scan an area 30’ in radius around them to identify all people or things present within it. This power replaces one innate power they were born with due to their species.

• Informative connection: they can mindlink with someone and psionically deliver factual data to them rapidly. This power replaces one innate power they were born with due to their species.

Other powers may be possible. Consult the GM.

Enlighteners are scholars first, advisers second, and teachers third.

PRO -2 ATH -2 STR -3 AWA +6 WIL +2 PRS -1 STH -1

---

Fundamentalist

Alignment: Elemental

A scientist who uses elemental magic to understand the fundamental forces of the universe. Because science in this era is not yet grappling with nuclear physics, their understanding is limited to some basic understanding of gravity and electromagnetism.

Their elemental magic is gained via study and understanding of physics, but with understanding, they gain an allegiance to nature itself. They feel compelled to protect it, and they begin to use their studies to do so. As they do this, they begin to face magical challenges to prove themselves. Elemental energies suffuse them as they succeed, giving them certain abilities to understand, study, research, and minorly wield these forces.

This approach is not approved by any official institution in the colonies (who are loyal to the powers-that-be and thus the industries that threaten nature), so those who find it and follow it end up being kicked out of academia. They become rogue researchers, mad scientists, and crackpots in the eyes of the public.

Powers that they gain revolve around their understanding of these forces:

• Hyperoptic lens: with their understanding of light and optics, they can alter their own eyes to help them focus on the forces around them, seeing both gravity and the electromagnetic spectrum at will. This causes them to lose other visual abilities every time they use it for increasing periods of time.

• Experimental gravity: with their understanding of gravity, they can wield elemental magic to create an A/B test, increasing it in one space and weakening it in another in order to understand better how it works. The longer they hold this, the more likely their own personal gravity might permanently change. They do this via a device called a gravitational adjuster, made of elemental metal.

• Magnetic reaction: with their understanding of magnetism, they can wield elemental magic to cause any object within 50’ to react as if pulled or repulsed by a magnet. If it is something that would naturally react, it will be thrown or pulled 50’. If it is something that would not naturally react, it will be thrown or pulled 10’ opposite of what was intended. They do this by magnetizing the iron in their own blood temporarily.

• Electrical key: with their understanding of electricity, they can draw it to an elemental metallic key, store it there, and release it when they wish to test its effects. If they release it for nonscientific reasons, it will burn them as well as the target.

• Infrared analysis: with their understanding of infrared, they can shift light in the area into the infrared part of the spectrum and see heat or see in the dark. They do this by altering their eyesight, which might permanently damage their eyes.

• Ultraviolet analysis: with their understanding of ultraviolet light, they can shift light in the area into the ultraviolet part of the spectrum and gather various forms of information, including the presence of blood and certain chemicals. They do this by altering their eyesight, which might permanently damage their eyes.

• X-ray cone: with their understanding of x-rays, they can focus them and direct them in a cone 30’ long and 20’ wide at its widest, affecting everything within the range as x-rays do, giving the fundamentalist insights into everything affected. They do this by altering their eyesight, which might permanently damage their eyes.

The elemental magic they wield to do this takes its toll over time. Above and beyond the listed downsides, it also irradiates them, with all of the effects that comes with over time.

PRO -2 ATH -1 STR -1 AWA +3 WIL +1 PRS -1 STH /

---

Hyperscientist

Alignment: Unaligned

Those who experiment with the energy of possibility using special glass beakers and other materials to create magical experiments. Using possibility is very difficult, though the methods seem simple, as the potíri required to use it is very fragile, rare, and expensive. To wield possibility, one must use the correct materials and engage it, invoke it, through strict adherence to the scientific method: questioning, hypothesizing, experimenting, analyzing, and concluding, often in repetition.

• Question: a hyperscientist of any scientific discipline must first draw obsevations and being to question how things work. Once they are aware of (at least) two competing possibilities, they are able to engage the energy.
• Hypothesis: they must then propose two hypotheses that cannot coexist. In this, they must not simply think it, but invoke the hypotheses through written or recorded methods.
• Experiment: the experiment is the key to wielding possibility. Once they have their hypotheses, they must gather appropriate materials for the experiment. If the experiment does not require glassware, they must find a way to incorporate it, even if it is as simple as using lenses to observe or a pen to jot down notes. The glassware (see below) channels the possibility that has formed in the mind of the hyperscientist and been invoked through recorded hypotheses. The experiment must have an outlet for the hyperscientist to draw from their mind the energy of possibility. This involves a direct connect to the mind, often through the eyes, as a lens made of potíri is the easiest method. Once the energy is drawn out (appearing as a green spark), it must be captured in potíri glassware. Once it is captured, it can be drawn out via tubing or by applying heat or electricity to it. With enough of it, it can be used to multiply the experiment at hand in order to test multiple hypotheses at once, running them simultaneaously in separate facets of reality.
• Analyze: analysis of the various results can be done mundanely, or, if there is enough possibility left, it may be applied to the results via special lenses to aide in gauging multiple results at once.
• Conclusion: any conclusion made will close the loop on the possibility engaged to experiment with, and any surplus possibility generated through the experiment will be stored in the glass used. If used for a related experiment, it will be even more potent.

Hyperscientists' abilities vary by field of science. Consult the GM.

PRO -2 ATH -1 STR -1 AWA +3 WIL +1 PRS -1 STH /

---

Lorekeeper

Alignment: Fey

An archivist and librarian of fairy lore. Lorekeepers wander the world gathering stories, tales, superstitions, myths, beliefs, and lore from those they meet, recording it and using a magical canister to deliver it to their archives.

Lorekeepers gather lore for years before they earn their canister. Many have no idea they are doing it or what its purpose is until the dreams begin. As they gather lore, they begin to dream of it. They dream of the stories and legends they collect, often finding themselves within them. Eventually, a powerful fey who is concerned with the preservation of the lore will contact them via dreams and make them an offer. If they can gather a certain number of obscure pieces of lore and deliver them to a magical place of the fey’s specification, they will be given powers. The number and lore vary by individual, but the location is always a library that exists only in the realm of Faerie.

The lorekeeper must gather a piece of lore, then go to the library and deliver it. After the first piece they gather, they will be given the canister with the caveat that if they fail to gather the rest of pieces of lore, they will suffer dire consequences. They are often given a time limit. For each piece of lore they gather, if it is not yet recorded in the library, they gain some magical power. For every seven pieces of lore, they gain a new ability:

• Dream scripting: they can write things down while asleep to save time on doing it while awake.

• Story seeking: they can roll AWA and sense where myths, legends, or lore might be within 100’.

• Their perspective: they can close their eyes and see through the eyes and mind of another person, WIL vs. WIL. For every 10 seconds they do this, they must roll WIL again to remain and PRS to maintain their ability to remember themselves.

• Sense of place: upon arriving in a new location, they can spill blood in it (their own or another’s) and gain an understanding of its story.

• Conflict avoidance: once they are aware of the plot of a story, legend, or myth, they can either record it or use it as fuel to avoid actual combat.

• Viewing beneath: while learning about a story, they can give up a point of any skill, ability, power, or substat to understand perfectly the themes of it.

More powers are possible. Consult the GM. Lorekeepers would start the campaign with at least one power and at least two pieces of lore owed to their fey benefactor.

PRO +1 ATH +1 STR / AWA +3 WIL +1 PRS +1 STH +1

---

Microbist

Alignment: Elemental

Scientists who use elemental magic to study microbes. In a world where most people do not yet know germ theory, those who wield elemental magic rarely understand the existence of microbes deeply without a scientific background. Thus, microbists are very rare.

To become a microbist, one must both have some knowledge of microbes and be a friend to nature. They are often kicked out of academia for not being loyal to the powers-that-be, thus being mad scientists in the eyes of the public. Usually after they are kicked out or in secret while in academia, they begin going out into nature to study it more closely, and they begin working against the wishes of the powers-that-be who wish to destroy, control, or defile it. In doing so, and in focusing on microbes or some variant understanding of them, they come across rare elemental beings that guide their understanding. Eventually, if they prove worthy, they will find they can alter the tools of their study to help them:

• Elemental microscope: as naturalists who study microbes, they always have a set of microscopes to use. These are magically empowered to view the tiniest living things.

• Gathering dish: they can create a rudimentary, magical petri dish out of a common saucer.

• Cellular feast: they can attract microbes by providing them with a small feast of elemental material they create by chewing special seeds, fats, and dirt.

Microbists use their elemental powers to gather, influence, and in a very strange way, befriend microbes. They do this in part because of their scientific fascination, but also in part because if they do this, they might avoid infections and diseases. They seek to find a way to coexist with these living things without having to destroy them to survive. They are also aware of the microbes that do this, often helping mortal beings, and they want to foster them as well.

If they do manage to befriend a specific kind of microbe, they can wield it in a focused way by transforming it into an elemental fluid called ygroia. This fluid will only affect those the microbist direct it toward (physically). Players choose one microbe to have done this with and colleced for use.

PRO / ATH -1 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL / PRS -2 STH /

---

Sage

Alignment: Celestial

Sages are keepers and advisers of celestial wisdom.

They are walkers of the Long Path, a philosophy that states that the more difficult path is the one that teaches the most lessons. By intentionally seeking this out - with discernment of what is a difficult path and what is an impossible one, what is a worthwhile path and what is unnecessarily difficult or dangerous - they generate deep wisdom and celestial mental powers.

To become a sage, one must have walked the Long Path for two-thirds of their life. There are no young sages, for being a sage is an achievement defined by converting long life experiences into celestial magic. They are people who have attained at least 20 notable goals on the Long Path and gained magic and specific abilities from it. This means the player must develop an extensive backstory to justify this with notable life events and difficulties, including pivotal moments where they made crucial and difficult decisions, and the latter times when the knowledge gained from this was applied to improve the lives of those around them.

As a sage, they have learned hard lessons and shared deep wisdom with people for years. They spend much time meditating on it and seeking the wisdom and magic within themselves. They learn to draw it out and store wisdom externally in urns or jars, creating yellow psionic clouds that can be shared with others to give them memory and experience and applied knowledge.

They also have the following powers:

• Heightening: sages can psionically open the mind of a person who is willing to listen to them, making them more receptive to learning.

• Referencing: if someone comes to a sage with a problem, they can psionically explore the supplicant’s mind and find relevant memories to draw forth for them to learn from and apply.

• Associative identification: a sage can psionically scan a person or thing and compare them to something from their past to gain an insight into them/it.

• Strategic splitting: a sage can meditate on a problem, spending psionic energy, and foresee the consequences of four different decisions.

• Wise hesitance: a sage can sacrifice a round of combat or a minute of time out of combat to psionically assess a situation to gain bonuses to their next action.

Other powers may be possible. Consult the GM.

PRO -1 ATH -1 STR -1 AWA +5 WIL +2 PRS +1 STH -1