Editing The Gift:Characters (section)

===Desvio===

The philosophy behind Desvio is very simple: the first task of the mage is ensure their own survival.  Desvio is an entirely pragmatic school.  It has no moral teachings and no theory of magic.  Scholastic and theoretical pursuits are not looked down on, but it is emphasized that only a mage who lives is free to pursue them.  The school was founded by a Spanish Hermetic mage and fencing instructor named Tavio Vargas shortly after he moved to California in 1850.  The original style was as much a fencing technique as anything else, but due to Vargas’ emphasis on flexibility and open-mindedness, the school has evolved greatly through the years, to the point where the sword plays no role at all.  Modern Desvio martial arts owe more to Hsing I Chuan kung fu than to European arts.  Desvio ritual and symbolism is a mish-mash of Spanish, Chinese and Native American elements, along with plenty of tricks borrowed from other sources and plenty of inventions of their own.

Mages of Desvio take on students for a variety of reasons.  Some want to hone their own skills, some want to make sure that their skills live on, and others just want to give a young relation every advantage in life.  Apprentice training is almost entirely centered around self-defense and survival and magical techniques focus on warnings, self-healing, and above all, assault with fire.  Most Desvio PCs would receive the skills and spells below, although there is some variation between mentors.

Cost: 24 points.

Perks:  Style Familiarity (Desvio)

Skills:  First-Aid, Drive (Automobile), Escape, Guns (Pistol), Guns (Rifle), Judo (Desvio), Karate (Desvio), Melee Weapon (Knife), Stealth, Streetwise, Symbol Drawing (Desvio), Throwing.

Techniques:  Aggressive Parry (Karate), Backstrike (Karate), Backstrike (Melee Weapon: Knife), Close Combat, Counterattack, Jam, TA (Karate Punch / Throat), TA (Knife Thrust / Vitals), TA (Throwing / Face).

Spells:

Fire:  Create Fire, Explosive Fireball, Ignite Fire, Fireball, Shape Fire.

Healing:  Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Minor Healing, Stop Bleeding.

Protection and Warning:  Sense Danger, Watchdog.


House Stances

Magic:  Magic is just a force like any other.

Themselves:  We survive.

The Council:  They have numbers, but they cannot trust each other.  So their numbers are a weakness.

The Circle:  Some of them are masters of the art of survival.  Some of them just accept whatever befalls them.  Only the Crescent Moons and the Line of Mary Wood are really dangerous.

The Cooperative:  It is good to evolve, but are they really looking where you are going?

Independents:  The only ones who can fight worth a damn are the Church of St. Christopher on the Mountain, the Paulites and the Order of St. John of Manhattan.