Changelog

Version 3.6.4

• Possessed abilities have been updated. Quid Pro Quo now allows a little more playing with the dice. Monophysite has been added, allowing the player to pick between Perfect Sync or One Mind, both offer the same bonus, but carry different flavours.
• The Parting Gift ability for Possessed now allows the player to switch Path to either Undying, Half-Blood, or Cursed.
• The Thoughtform ability for the Spirits has been updated. It allows a spirit to pick a Keyword from the Fey or Elemental portfolio in addition to the Path Keyword they get at the Mane rank.
• Oaths now work between the Possessed and their Passenger, and a Possessed breaking and Oath with their Passenger would feel the consequences.
• Oaths have been slightly modified, now it is not simply speaking a promise that can trigger an oath, but also agreeing to an oath or promise.
• Removed Strike, Cinder, and Keyword instances from Advancement.
• There's always been hospitals in town, but now we've named one in Newton. Say hello to St. Erasmus.

Version 3.6.3

• We have clarified the wording around what manner of entities are eligible for the Possessed as a pasenger in the Guidebook:
• The Cursed abilities have been modified. Reflection has been removed, and False Hope and MAD has been added.

Version 3.6.2

• An Arcanist can now cast their prepared spells up to four times a day, but must roll a d6 for Resonance each time.
• Grounding for Undying has been clarified. It does not reset their magic use, but stabilises them.

Version 3.6.1

• Undying greedily had access to two versions of Null. Now they just have the one.

Version 3.6

• Assistance no longer modifies Threshold. It now adds 1d6 to the rolling character’s dice pool. If the assisting player chooses, they may roll and add 2d6 with an exceptional success. Enchanted items with the "Assistance" mechanic will follow the new rules. Familiar abilities have been rephrased, they still modify the Threshold once per thread, they do not offer Assistance.
• Mundane humans have a temporary 4d6 Cinder pool only for ritual Assistance rolls. This is meant to demonstrate that mundane humans are able potentially to read runes or pick out errors, without being dedicated ritualists themselves.
• Shifter Synergy’s Threshold modifier has been reduced to 1.
• Rules around Mundane Humans and rituals clarified: they have a threshold of 5, but can use the Circlebreaker Cinder pool.
• Iron Will has been updated. It now offers 5d6 in bonus versus mind affecting magic for Mundane Humans.

Version 3.5

• Spirits now only have their native Path Keywords, with no access to the general Magic Keywords.
• The Spellbook quick-cast power for Arcanists only functions for non-enchantment spells, so it cannot make items.
• Reputation system has been overhauled. Point gaining is now linked to events and there is a single rank ladder, not two. At 31 points, players can choose their character's vanity title.
• Hotspots will now remain static until visited by PCs.

Version 3.4

• Advancement requirements for Aberrant (Novice) to Herald (Apprentice) modified.

Version 3.3

• In the event of the Sorrows impacting other players through abilities such as Reflection or anything similar, any mechanical penalty is limited to a single post.

Version 3.2

• The keyword "Pandora" has been changed to "Disorder" for clarity.
• The old effect where Spirits are more affected by magic has returned. Cinder Magic use targets a Spirit’s Manifested DC even when unmanifested.
• Healing magic codified here

Version 3.2

• The Cursed, Possessed, Undying, and Spirits have gained an additional Cantrip at Apprentice rank.
• Shifters have gained another Aspect at Apprentice rank.
• The Half-blood ability “Embody” has been further defined as an additional Cantrip and Maker’s Mark.

Version 3.1

• Familiars can now cast their associated Arcanist's Charms, although the instances where the familiar uses the Charm do not count towards Advancement.
• Afflicted Shifter DCs have been adjusted. Their DC is 4 in human form and 5 when entirely shifted.
• The amount of times a shifter can shift before turning feral has been adjusted. They now can shift up to half the number of dice in their Cinder pool, rounded down, before they become feral. They can be feral in both shifted and human forms.

Version 3.0

Version 3.0

• Major Update to Luck: All Paths now begin with a base of 4 Luck.
• Major Update to Rolling: Targeted Cinder rolls now must meet or exceed the DC of the target, not the Success Range. Untargeted rolls with Strike and Cinder still use the Success Range.
• Exchange Equipment no longer provides a bonus to Shifters or Undying.
• True Sunlight reduces Strike pool to 4d6 unless the undying has Daywalker, then the roll is contested. It deals 2 to Luck when the True Sunlight touches the Undying in a physical hit.
• If a shifter is touched by silver it saps their strength (-1d6 to Strike), and wounds by silver weapons will heal at a human rate. It deals 2 to Luck when Silver touches the Shifter in a physical hit.
• The Magic Keywords Empathy, Mimicry, Psychometry, Null, and Prescience have been added to the Shifter's Path Keywords.
• The Fortune keyword has been updated. After a successful hit with Strike or Cinder, a character with Fortune can do an additional Cinder roll to "steal" a Luck point from their opponent This will either add to their Luck (if their opponent missed) or keep their Luck stable (if their opponent hit).
• Rituals no longer take 3 posts, but 3 successful Cinder rolls, plus the activation roll.
• Casting without an energy source now brings a caster's luck down to 1.

Version 2.9.4

• If a human without a Path has Exchange Equipment in combination with Iron Will, they receive an additional +1d6 to the Iron Will effect, for a total 5d6 in their mental resist Cinder pool.
• For a combo keyword to succeed, a player must roll a successful roll for a normal keyword and a successful roll for a combination keyword roll. For shifters, the combo keyword roll must be Cinder.
• The combination keyword "Heal" for Shifters has been renamed "Fortify", and its effect has been adjusted. It allows a Shifter to return up to 2 Luck to another character if they successfully rolled for it. The Luck boost cannot increase the maximum luck of the target.

Version 2.9.3

• Narcotic Saliva folded into the Poison/Venom keyword and allowed for a contested Strike roll to resist the effects of this keyword.
• Shifter animal species clarified to be primarily apex predators.
• Updated Arcanist advancement requirements

Version 2.9.2

• Updated wording for Aspect of the Beast to make it clearer
• Added Focus Objects alongside familiars
• Clarified a lack of power sources for rituals: The loss of Luck has been changed from "half luck rounded up" to "rounded down." When someone rolls a Partial Failure, everyone in the proximity of the ritual (and the caster) will lose half of their Luck rounded down.
• The keyword of "Teleport" has been changed to "Transmission"
• Clarified how curses affect half-bloods: they cannot take root, but they make the half-blood very ill.

Version 2.9.1

• Salt and Spirits - when a spirit is trapped in a circle of salt, they retain their full cinder pool but cannot affect the luck of anyone outside the circle.
• Spirits are always at 4 Luck whether or not they have manifested.

Version 2.8

Version 2.7

• Double or Nothing removed
• Shifters, Undying, Spirits, Half-bloods, and Possessed may now utilize their magic keywords up to half the number of dice in their Cinder pool, rounded up.
• Added Cantrips to Half-Blood, Undying, and Spirits.
• Removed the Thrall keyword.
• Removed the Shadow Step Keyword. It is now under the umbrella of the Shadow Keyword.
• Added the Null Keyword to the Cthonic portfolio.
• Added Animate to Fey Portfolio.
• Changed Astral Walk to Astral Manipulation.
• On equal or more passes than an attacking roll (or target roll), the Null keyword cancels magic used.
• On equal or more passes than an attacking roll, the Shielding keyword prevents Luck loss
• Assistance updated. A character who assists can only assist that post, they cannot do more actions or rolls. To assist a ritual, characters need to roll Cinder.
• Adjusted Familiar assistance. They can assist once per thread.

Version 2.6

• Spirits - The penalty to Inhabit has been removed and their Defence Class lowered to 2. At Eidolon rank, a Spirit can now use Inhabit to permanently switch Paths if they inhabit a brain-dead or otherwise unoccupied human or half-blood body. Their Path progress will start at the Untrained rank in the new Path.
• Shifters - Hyrd to Deor levelling requirements modified slightly, experiencing the effects of aconite added. The effects of aconite has also been clarified.
• Possessed - The penalty to Strike during Unchained has been removed. Possessed can now select new Combination Keywords from the list on their Path page. See the levelling overview for when you can select Combination Keywords.
• Enchanted Item Creation - The framing of item creation has been expanded, read all about it on the Enchanted Items Guidebook page.
• Ritual Mechanics - For Arcanists, using keywords they do not have has been adjusted. As before it requires the use for their Circlebreaker Cinder pool, but now the Threshold is increased from 4 to 5. If a non-human or tainted human attempts to perform a ritual, they must use their Path Cinder Pool and the Threshold is increased from 4 to 5.
• Keyword Expansion - We've added elemental keywords to different portfolios: fire into empyrean, earth into cthonic, water into eldritch, and air into fey. The Undying have gained the Keyword 'anti-venom'.
• Ritual Components - Components now have quality levels, ranging from Poor to Superb. Read more about how they work on the Enchanted Item Guidebook page and the Arcanist Path Guidebook page. Rolling Cinder, a partial failure results in Poor, complete success in Average, exceptional success in Good, and a Critial Hit (10 passes) gains Superb components.
• All Paths, Luck Drain - After pushing past the limit in the Paths, be it Bloodrush, Feral, Unchained, Resonance, or needing to Ground, each use of a Magical Keyword in those states will subtract 1 Luck from the character using the Keyword.

Version 2.5

• Reputation - The weight of minor and major events has been adjusted from 5 and 2 to 2 and 1 to encourage a slower growth. All reputation earned before this update remains the same, so there are no retroactive changes, but this will be how things are graded in the future.
• Tokens - The concept of 'tokens' at character creation has been removed, but nothing has changed mechanically. At creation, players can still choose to take an additional rank in their Path or take a mundane skill for their character.
• Shifter Dice - Now that we've gained more experience building for Strike & Cinder Dice, we've slowly made balance changes. The shifters now earn one Cinder die per rank instead of skipping a few levels. It was determined that this change would have minimal effect on overall game balance while simplifying the leveling system.

Version 2.4

• Healing - On using Healing magic for Luck: On a Complete Success, the healer restores +1 Luck to themselves or another. On an Extraordinary Success, the healer restores +2 Luck to themselves or another. A character cannot restore Luck above the maximum for any character.
• Order > Abidance - The keyword “Order” has been changed to “Abidance” to better convey the powerset it represents.
• Partial Success > Partial Failure - The wording for "partial success" has been changed to "partial failure" to better convey the inherent risks of utilizing magic.
• Path Keywords - The total number of keywords for each Path (except the Arcanist) has been updated to eight, spread throughout the ranks. Make sure to check the documentation for your Path, and if you find you are missing one, tag @admin in the mod-request channel to update your selection.
• Shape Shifting - The keywords of Dire Beast, Fascimile, and Partial shifting have been redefined to allow for greater flexibility.
• Bloodrush Update - When a half-blood goes into bloodrush, their Cinder rolls no longer explode on a 5 and a 6 and they no longer lose 2d6 from their Strike pool. Like the other Paths, this has been dropped in the interest of balance and pushing the true flavor and creativity of Bloodrush, much like the other Paths (e.g. Feral, Deanimation, Resonance, etc). When a half-blood pushes themselves beyond their limit, they take on the best and the worst of their inhuman ancestor. Emphasis on the worst.
• Double Luck - Cinder rolls now no longer do double damage to Luck on an Extraordinary Success (5 or more). Instead, any character can achieve double damage to Luck on a Strike or Cinder roll that meets or exceeds 10 passes.
• The Shifter Path has been given its own unique Keyword pool to reflect their more unique use of magic. Along with this, they have been given what is known as Combination Keywords.

Version 2.3

• Exchange Training Exclusivity - Exchange Training and its bonus can now only be applied to current Exchange Agents. This means that PCs no longer active in the Exchange lose the bonus if they have the keyword.
• True Sunlight Damage - True Sunlight now reduces undead Strike dice to 4d6 when the Undying Path or undying-type Encounter monsters are exposed to it. This does not impact their Luck when they enter combat.
• Strike and Luck - Penalties to Strike dice do not impact Luck; only bonuses to Strike impact the Luck pool. On entering combat or a situation where Luck is necessary and does not have any bonuses, the Luck pool is set at the standard Strike dice number for the PC or Encounter NPC despite any possible penalties to Strike when entering combat.
• Possess Moved - The Possess ability for Spirits has been moved up to the Phantasm rank.
• Unchained Possessed - The Unchained ability for the Possessed Path has been elaborated. When a Possessed human experiences being Unchained, the Passenger has assumed direct control of the Vessel's physical body, shunting the Vessel to the back.
• Shifter Clarification - The Shifter Path keywords Dire Beast and Facsimile has been clarified. Dire Beast is the unnaturally or monstrously large form, while Facsimile is the normal-sized form, equivalent to the average size of whatever animal the Shifter transforms into. Animal Form and hybrid are the descriptions of which shapes they turn into.
• Telekinesis - Levitation has been changed to the broader Telekinesis in the Paths.
• Mundane Keywords - We have added a clarification on the mundane keywords and their use. Aside from Iron Will, a character does not need a mundane keyword (Brawler, Ballistic, or Melee Weapon) to use a mundane skill. The mundane keyword describes a certain level of prowess and allows for a bonus to Strike if the mundane keyword is applicable.
• Shifter Flexibility - Shifters can now use their Strike pool for certain keywords. If the keyword can be used in a physical way, the Strike pool can be used to roll for it. If the keyword takes on a mental or magical flavour, the Cinder pool is used.
• Cursed Abilities - Cursed abilities have been updated with Echo, Third Eye, Trickster, Reflection, Twist, and Maelstrom. For more details on all of these, read the abilities list on the Cursed documentation.
• Double Damage Change - The ability to deal double damage with a critical hit (an exceptional success on a Cinder roll) has been removed from instant magic, such as Blood Magic and an Arcanists fast casting ability. Rituals are still capable of dealing double damage on an exceptional success.
• Enchantment Clarification - We've added a more explicit clarification around enchantments. All objects enchanted through rituals must be submitted to the Mod Request thread and then reviewed before describing it in detail in the creation thread. A player would provide the object's purpose, the desired effect based on the keyword(s) used in the creation, and any additional information based on a template we provide.
• Short Stories - We have added a Short Story forum, where players can post canon short stories for their characters, personal stories, private development, or fun vignettes. Any thread in this forum does not count towards Reputation gain or opportunities for advancement up the Paths. Still, you can develop new powers for your keywords if a normal collaborative RP thread will not work for you.
• Arcanist Ritual Failure - More details have been added and defined in the section on ritual failure. Rolling a partial success on performing a ritual results in backlash, and the ritual fails. Ritual backlash reduces the caster's Luck by 2. An arcanist may make an additional spellcraft roll to contain the ritual and reduce their Luck by only 1. Rolling less than a partial success on a Cinder roll is considered a critical ritual failure and triggers major backlash. Read more on the Arcanist documentation page.
• Spellbook and Fast Casting - Spellbook is the ability of Arcanists that allow them to scribe spells into their spellbook after creating and casting them as a ritual first. Unlike the spontaneous casters, these spells are very specific, with the same effects every time, but this is how arcanists can quickly cast their magic.
• Resonance Backlash - Resonance is a new ability added to the Arcanists that functions much like a Half-Blood Bloodrush. The more prepared spells an arcanist performs in one thread, the more they run the risk of infusing themselves with magic. An arcanist can perform prepared spells up to half their Cinder dice, rounded down in one thread. After this point, the magical Resonance causes them to suffer severe side effects that reflect the keywords they utilised for each spell.

Version 2.2

• Luck and Keywords - The Luck Stat has been updated to include applicable mundane and magic keywords. In terms of the mundane combat stats, if your character is holding the appropriate weapon when the encounter starts, then the Strike dice are added to their Luck. In the cases of unarmed combat and Exchange training, these are always active, unless the character is somehow restrained. In terms of magic keywords, having the Fortune keyword gives a boost of 1 to Luck.
• Lovecraft Locations - Although we have creatures from the Lovecraft Mythos, we, unfortunately, do not include the locations as this may conflict a little too heavily with existing lore.
• Shifter Affliction - Catching the shifter curse is considered very difficult and more often than not, downright deadly. The infection is also asymptomatic. If a character has been attacked by a shifter, and you would like to see if they've caught the infection, submit a request in the mod request forum. You will know their fate on the next full moon!
• Silver for Shifters - The effect of silver on a shifter's Luck in combat has been reduced from 3 to 2.
• Sky Iron and Half-Bloods - As noted, sky iron has a proximity effect on half-bloods that is pure flavor. We have added a mechanical effect: half-bloods lose 1d6 from their Cinder pool as long as they are physically touching the material.
• Arcanist Charms - The Arcanist path is granted one charm per level now. If someone moves away from the Arcanist path, they lose access to these charms, but they retain the keywords they learned at the Circlebreaker rank.
• Spirits and Magic Items - As beings of pure magic, spirits often find it challenging to interact with the mundane world. However, magic items are a different story. Spirits are able to hold these things without difficulty, although it's theorized that they are actually holding the item more by the magic inherent than its physical container.
• Undying: Hibernation - With preparation and will, an undying can force themselves into hibernation. This is a state in which they are almost inert, generally unconscious to the world and vulnerable if they do not take steps to protect themselves. A sudden change around them, like their tomb being broken into, can awaken them, but they will be starving and desperate to feed and regain strength. Many undying through the centuries have hibernated and been protected by followers, leading to interesting myths and scary stories around campfires, as well as entire cults dedicated to them. These cults generally experienced quite a nasty surprise when their object of worship awakened.

Version 2.1

• Removed dice roller plugin - if there are broken links because of it, that's why. Everything is rolled in the official-dice channel.
• Changed Strike DCs. They are more in line with the much more stable Cinder success range.
• Assistance mechanic.
• Double or Nothing mechanic.
• Resist mechanic.
• Created rulings for Cinder in combat and Strike outside of combat.
• Iron Will now allows base humans to roll 4d6 to resist mind affecting magic.
• Added Fame & Infamy
• Created the "Time Until..." City Goals
• Added random encounters!

Version 2.0

• Removed Success-Fail-CritFail dice system
• Created pass-fail dice pool system, including Strike and Cinder dice pools, and Death & Glory
• Removed combat percentages
• Updated Undying ability and features
• Updated Shifter ability and features
• Updated Cursed Humans
• Renamed Half-Blood Ability
• Renamed Ritualists to Arcanists
• Renamed Arcanist Ability
• Adjusted thread requirements for ranks to be less harsh

Version 1.2

• Finalized early thread requirements for advancement

Version 1.1

• Renamed Tracks to Paths, adjusted combat percentages after testing
• Finalized thread requirements
• Created Possessed and Cursed

Version 1.0

• Developed percentile d100 system, Success-Fail-Critfail, combat percentages.
• Created Ritualists, Shifters, Half-Bloods, Undead, Spirits