January has zoomed past, and we've been busy bees. We've had more opportunities to see the system in action, further develop it, spot gaps, and enrich some Paths. Below is a complete list of changes implemented throughout January, but take the time to read over the relevant documentation for your Path if it has been updated.

All changes below come into force in February, and any use of the old rules in January will still count towards advancement. This applies to all future updates as well, even if we're editing the documentation as we go. We'll always note down each new feature or edit and publish at the beginning of the next month so everyone can track the changes.

Development
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 This means that PCs no longer active in the Exchange lose the bonus if they have the keyword.

If you take Exchange Training with a token at creation when the character is not active Exchange, you do not receive the bonus. We have also added criteria to gaining Exchange Training in-game through various thread prompts.

While retirement is an option within the Exchange, most do not choose to leave the organization. It is difficult to go back to normal life at the end of it all. So they remain on board (and thus retain the bonus) often serving as archivists or researchers. Alternatively, an agent may go rogue and retain their bonus, but they will then be avidly hunted by the Tongue-Tyers and more often than not meet a swift end. The third option is allowing the Tongue-Tyers to take it all from you so that you may go on to live a normal life in ignorance, thus losing the bonus.

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.

Census List
The census list has been cleaned up. It now provides counts for all main character groups with some additional information.

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.

Mature Rating
Our NSFW policy has been updated. Posts with mature content can be marked with Mature or [M] using the [note] code at the top of the post, if the Mature rating only applies to a few posts. Threads with mature content can also be marked with a mature tag with a checkbox in the first post.

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.

Forum Changes
The communications and bulletin boards have been renamed to "Call Me" and "Internet Says..." while the Development forum, Archives, and the new Shipper and Plotter forum has been moved to the new category of Character Development.

New additions
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.

Mini-Profile Strike & Cinder
We have added a section in the mini-profile with Strike, Cinder, and Luck fields players can fill in themselves. The DC has also been added, but administrators add this at creation or Path change.

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.

Path Advancement
The first set of advancement prompts, and requirements from Untrained to Dabbler has been published. They are found on the Advancement page.

New Skin
A new and more modern skin is in the works, and we're opening access to it for player testing. We welcome any general feedback but keep in mind that it is still in development in both look and features. This skin is only on light mode right now and is not functional on mobile yet.

Upcoming

• Further development of Shifter Path keywords
  
• Further advancement prompts from dabbler to the higher levels.
  
• Changing the organisation of the Guidebook for ease of use.
  

February Hotspots

Time Until

Our Time Until meters can be found in the header beneath the hourglass. The mystery persists as January did not manage to tip the scales! Maybe February will be our lucky month!

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That's it for the February update! Keep playing and having fun, and don't forget to dive into the Chinese New Year Event running through February! Any threads started in February can continue the event beyond the deadline, but if you want to jump into one, get to it before the 28th!