Unaligned Laborers

Those who use unaligned magic for common work or crafting.

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Hypermachinist

Type: Machinist

Hypermachinists are those who stretch the limits of technology. They find all the ways they can to push modern technology past the bleeding edge.

To become a hypermachinist, one must be trained extensively. Most go to a university, but some are apprenticed to other hypermachinists via the Machine Guild, which is even more exclusive than the universities. As both of these options require wealth and influence to get into, most poorer people never have an opportunity to become one. The ruling classes keep hypermechanics as limited discipline for their own pursuits. Those who find a way to operate outside the imperial sphere are rare and usually eccentrics.

Hypermechanics is a magitechnical practice. They channel an energy they call "the dynamic". The dynamic is an energy derived from the evolution of technology itself, as well as the forces that influence that evolution. The dynamic comes from everything from necessity to past inventions to adaptation even to things like funding, patent law, or access to materials. It is a nebulous energy that is impossible to harness directly; it is something that "strikes" a hypermachinist once they are in the depths of study, experimentation, and invention. To wield it, one must be so thoroughly entranced in the work that they see nothing else but the work, and they must have an extreme level of training and understanding of everything that goes into what they are working on. Once this state is achieved - usually after a decade or more of training - the hypermachinist might feel the dynamic, and if they are keen enough to recognize it, they will be able to capture it in a kanalkrug, a specially designed phial. Once they have this, they can attach it to a device called a dynafloss, which allows them to infuse themselves with it periodically. If they do this correctly, they can create a feedback loop that recharges the kanalkrug as they work; their limits are therefore technological - the capacity of the kanalkrug and dynafloss that they use are what limits their ability score.

Some common devices used by hypermachinists include the following. Players may choose three for their hypermachinist to start with:

• Almucantar map: a spherical map of the known cosmos. Cost to build: 10,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 25,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 19. Difficulty to invent: 31.
• Autoabacus: an abacus that assists in calculations automatically. Cost to build: 2,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 3,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 13. Difficulty to invent: 25.
• Betweeners: a special kind of gravboot made on the White Moon especially that allows the wearer to adjust gravity as well as plane of reality. Cost to build: 10,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 20,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 16. Difficulty to invent: 28.
• Comboscope: a combination telescope and microscope that can see vast distance or infinitesimal objects, depending on how it is adjusted. Cost to build: 8,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 16,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 15. Difficulty to invent: 27.
• Froster: a contained mini-fridge. Cost to build: 20,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 100,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 17. Difficulty to invent: 29.
• Hydroskin: a magical film of hydrogen atoms over the skin to protect from radiation events. Cost to build: 12,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 50,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 22. Difficulty to invent: 34.
• Hyperluminous arc: arc lamps that produce extremely bright lights. Cost to build: 7,500 mynet. Cost to buy: 15,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 11. Difficulty to invent: 23.
• Monocarriage: an early version of a bicycle similar to a dandy horse. Cost to build: 1,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 2,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 10. Difficulty to invent: 22.
• Multitemporal chronograph: a writstwatch that measures time in multiple locations and has a stopwatch feature. Cost to build: 15,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 60,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 17. Difficulty to invent: 29.
• Pneumatic rifle: a rifle powered by compressed air. Cost to build: 20,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 40,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 18. Difficulty to invent: 30. Damage rating: 17/26/35/44.
• Rotary borer: a large boring machine run via a massive crank. Cost to build: 100,000 mynet. Cost to buy: 500,000 mynet. Difficulty to build: 20. Difficulty to invent: 32.

All of these devices are extremely expensive to develop or buy, and they are rare for anyone other than a hypermachinist. A magitechnical version of any invention up to 1820 on Earth is fair game for a hypermachinist in this era. Consult the GM if you have ideas.

To build a device, a hypermachinist must have the designs for it. If they don't have the designs for it, they must invent it.

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

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Putrewicker

Type: Chandler

A putrewicker is a chandler who makes candles that burn not with hot flame, but with a cold flame made by the decay of reality.

To make a putrecandle, these chandlers must witness the infinite, understand the impossible, and believe nothing. They must rewire their brains to understand concepts and possibilities that others cannot conceive, and to do this requires powerful chemicals, extensive education, a lot of money and time, and some weird technology. They are either trained in a guild as an apprentice or in some kind of university. At some point in their training, when they are deemed ready, they are drugged (sometmes consensually, sometimes not) with a potent hallucinogen, locked in a chamber, and tested in mathematics, physics, and magic for three straight days. At the end of it, they are given a sedative, allowed to rest for an hour, then awakened with loud noises and asked rigorous questions until they pass out. There are less traumatic ways to do this, but the imperials who control the guilds and universities prefer the dangerous efficiency of this.

After this, they are shown images via super-powerful microscopes that show them the wonders of the minuscule. If they leave this experience understanding decay, they will be able to use the technology to make putrecandles. The materials they need are as follows:

• Hydrogenic wax: hydrogen-rich wax that is used to make the candles.
• Dematerial pot: the pot the wax is boiled in, a special pot that breaks down the wax's molecular structure and reforms it.
• Effusive wick: a wick that only burns cold with decay.
• Fragrances: any fragrance the putrewicker prefers.
• Orange dye: by imperial and colonial law, putrecandles must be orange.
• Helix mold: molds for shaping the wax into helix shapes.
• Tellurium casing: casings and containers for putrecandles must be tellurium or they decay too quickly.

Though the flame is cold, the candles still "melt" because of the decay energy used.

The candles they make have different effects depending on the fragrances they use:

• Fruit: fruit scents alter magnetic fields.
• Flower: flower scents create protective clouds.
• Animal: animal scents create attraction.
• Fungal: fungal scents enhance the mind.
• Mineral: mineral scents enhance the senses.
• Synthetic: synthetic scents affect technology.
• Scentless: putrecandles without scents cause everything around them to decay. These are highly restricted.

Other categories are possible. Consult the GM.

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

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Revolvist

Type: Wheelwright

There is a major religion among the peoples of Shem called Vruthamism that centers on the belief that vast, alien, spinning wheels made of stone and fire called karangunnus are messengers of deific power. This religion is most popular on Shem, but there are many in the cosmic realms that also follow it, as they are more likely to interact with a karangunnu than others. Among them are holy wheelwrights known as revolvists who make smaller, replica wheels as symbols of their faith.

The wheels are usually about 2' in diameter. Their outer rim is a stone cylinder about 3" tall; the outer rim is connected to an inner rim about 6" in, which is half the height of the outer rim. The rims are connected via tubular spokes about 1/2” in diameter. There are 18 spokes; they all meet in the center in a circular hub that is about 1" in diameter. Where each spoke touches the outer rim there is a blazing sphere of multicolored flame, which is a bit of fire from an actual karangunnu that gives the wheel the power of a vessel of faith. The manner the wheels spin (often at the end of vertical axles carried by the revolvists or other Vruthamists) create patterns that are messages from the karangunnu.

To become a revolvist, one must be a member of the Vruthamist faith, and one must be trained both in making the wheels and the practices of the faith. They train for years, often from youth, in the rites of the faith, and work as actual wheelwrights as well as religious ones. Once they are considered skilled enough in their craft and versed enough in their faith, they are annointed, tested, and initiated, then given access to the sacred store of karangunnu flames their faith keeps in their temples.

The wheels they make are holy symbols that enhance the faith of the bearer - if that faith is Vruthamism - and help them communicate with the karangunnu. The wheels must be made of stone and have a core of holy flame, and if they are spun, they will move independently and form certain patterns the revolvist is trained to interpret. They may also give the wheel to someone else of their faith to let them use and interpret.

They gain favor from the karangunnu much like a follower of a Divine so long as they adhere to the philosophies of the faith. If they are sincere in their faith, their wheel also gives them some of the following abilities:

• Supernatural speed: they can temporarily enhance their speed.
• Farsight: they can see deep into the cosmos.
• Flight: they can fly for short periods of time.
• Metapyre soul: they can control flame with their faith.
• Impressive visage: they can temporarily make themselves more impressive while speaking of their faith.
• Voice of the wheel: their voices can become hypnotic.
• Petrifying gaze: they can turn people to stone with their gaze once per Shem-week.

Their faith is about the cycles of life, the universe, and the soul. It is about the cyclical nature of time, the balance of energies within the universe, and the importance of being attuned to the flow of those energies. See Religion for more.

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

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Ruddy

Type: Miner

Miners who gather materials in special sacks that help draw out the menab'e, the raw energy of resource, within them, which they then convert to special objects that allow them to draw on the esoteric resource in different ways.

In the colonies, ruddies are miners or prospectors who gather menab’e from minerals and metals. They must find it, mine it, and refine it to use it. They sense the menab’e with a special machine that resembles a samovar - they call it the resonator, but its original anime was a dìzhèn yí. It often takes multiple ruddies to operate the machine and use special flat stone clubs to strike ore veins or other targets. The resonator reacts to the vibrations on the club, showing the direction and strength of the menab’e. All tools used to find, mine, and work must be made with unaligned materials, and the primary tool of mining (usually a pick or sifting pan) must be washed in “red water”, which is water with menab’e dust in it.

Their most important tools are their ruddysacks, which are used to smelt the ore as well as carry it. If someone else tries to carry it or use the menab’e they mined before they smelt and mold it, it will lose its power. They add dust from the mines or water from the stream to the fire to make it capable of melting the ore or dividing the minerals, then pour the results into the ruddysack. They then carry it to a special location, pour it into a receptacle with mine or stream water, let it separate and cool, forming cool liquid metal or a mineral solution and a separate muddy mixture. The mixture is removed, the metal or solution is taken to a specially designed mold - in the colonies, the molds are always shaped like the owner’s logo or mark. In the mold, it hardens, creating a tool that can be used by anyone.

It can at this point be wielded by anyone who has been taught the method to tap into it - literally a tapping pattern that is determined by the shape of the mold and the ruddy who made it. No more than seven taps, no less than three, it is always in an arrhythmic pattern designed to be hard to guess. Once tapped, the mold will flash red and the user will have esoteric resources to draw upon. Tapped molds can do one of the following:

• Improve base stats temporarily

• Improve skills temporarily

• Improve powers temporarily

• Fuel unaligned powers or magic

• Fuel a battery or other power source

• Give temporary abilities

• Stave off death or unconsciousness for a round

• Remove penalties for a brief period, or some penalties

• Improve weapons, armor, or items temporarily

• Convert into aligned energies at the cost of the entire mold

Other uses are possible. Tapped molds get used up when the menab'e is gone. How much menab'e is in them depends on the original ore and the skill of the ruddy who made it.

In a typical mine in imperial colonies, bosses take about 80% of the ores that are mined. Some are smart enough to wait until after it has been molded so that they can access the menab'e, but most take the raw ore and sell it as a raw material to others. This stolen menab'e is a point of contention when the miners are organized. Because so many of the tools needed for this are expensive or difficult to build, ruddies often need sponsors, patrons, or investors. Hence, they become exploited by the ruling classes often.

Ruddies will start with two molded objects with 10 points each, 25 points of unrefined menab’e, and a handful of tools.

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

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Troweller

Type: Builder

Artisans who build large structures with materials infused with powerful magic. Stones, plaster, and trowels with this gebvelic energy in it are commonly used.

The first step to wielding the magic of the structure is to draw it forth from a structure. To do this, one must build a facsimile of the structure one wishes to build, often using materials replete with the energy, but always with materials that do not contain energies of one of the four aligned powers. Once the structure is built (a process called towering, because this was original done with towers), the troweller positions the structure before the place they will build the full structure.

The shape of the structure is a critical part of generating the magic. Fundamental shapes - rectangle, triangle, circle, any polygon up to octagon - generate the most power. Though the structures can be complex, the use of these fundamental shapes in specific parts of the structure - especially towers - generate the energy.

The troweller then must position themself exactly, precisely 14' from the structure, bury their feet in the ground (or cover them in natural materials nearby, if the ground cannot be opened). Then they must raise their tools up (even if it is merely their bare hands) and call to the structure. The number of times they call depends on the size of what they intend to build, but it will be no more than 49 and no less than seven. Once they hit the right number, always a multiple of seven, the fascimile will glow.

When the troweller begins building after this, the glow will follow them through the whole process, fading as they go. Once they finish, the glow will be gone, and the structure will have bonuses to every facet of solidity, of strength, of fortification. It will make it more dependable and lasting.

The most vital part of the process is the materials. The most powerful are those materials that naturally have structural magic in them, materials that resonate when used to build something. Consult the GM for the list.

The most important tools for a troweller are their trowel and apron. The apron is adorned with the symbol of the troweller, an agouti. The trowel is made from special materials and shaped with a perfect triangle head.

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

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Turogzot

Type: Engineer

Turogzots see the world as an endless chain of cause-and-effect, and their in-depth study of it allows them to manipulate that chain to cause long-term effects. To them, everything is a Rube-Goldberg device waiting to happen. They see the butterfly flap its wings and know when and where the hurricane will happen on the other side of the world, and they know how to interrupt, alter, reverse, or control that process.

To become a turogzot requires incredible amounts of study. Part of their study is mundane, but in a magical world, they need to study it magically as well, and they need a way to tweak those energies to their needs. This is why they study the systemic magic of vonzot.

To tap into vonzot, a turogzot needs to introduce an antithetical, unpredictable element into any system they wish to manipulate. As part of their training, they learn to do this and gain other powers by introducing the unexpected into their own mental systems, usually in the form of trepanning at the hands of another turogzot. This leaves a permanent hole in their head, preferably in an inconspicuous place that can be covered by a hat, and an unpredictable but potent ability to see the lines of vonzot extant in any system. With this, they can simply mentally "grab" these lines and alter them, inserting the unpredictable in the system and allowing them to insert change that they can control. The paradox of this is inherent to their magic.

Some common powers include

• Reversal: seeing the inevitable end to a series of causal events, they tweak the lines to make the exact opposite happen.

• Hasten: seeing the inevitale end to a series of causal events, they tweak it so it happens sooner.

• Delay: seeing the inevitale end to a series of causal events, they tweak it so that it happens later.

• Interrupt: seeing the inevitale end to a series of causal events, they tweak it so that nothing happens.

• Direct: seeing the inevitale end to a series of causal events, they take total control of that series of events to alter it point by point.

• Redirect: seeing the inevitale end to a series of causal events, they tweak it so that something different happens.

• Undirect: seeing the inevitale end to a series of causal events, they tweak it so that something they can't predict happens.

And this would be perfect, except that no system is isolated enough for this to always work, and the vonzot itself is unstable. If any people are involved in the system they are tweaking, the existence of free will has an unfortunate effect on their plans. Chaos, fortune, and other powers may cause unexpected disruptions. And vonzot has a tendency to simply go off the rails. And these are only some of the factors involved.

• People: every person involved in a system a turogzot is affecting must roll WIL, whether they know the effect is happening or not. Failure means they are subject to the turogzot's control, but every action they are forced to take is another WIL roll.

• Other energies: before a turogzot attempts to manipulate a system, either the player or the GM will roll a d100. On a 100, there is no interference. Anything less than that, there is interference on an escalating scale ((100-N)/4, where N is the result of the roll, rounding up).

• Instability: before every tweak to a system, the turogzot rolls their skill or WIL-3, whichever is higher, against a difficulty determined by a roll of 3d12+N, with N being the number of attempts after a failure.

Any failure results in the unpredictable.

PRO -1 ATH -1 STR -2 AWA +5 WIL +3 PRS -1 STH -1