| Latest revision |
Your text |
| Line 124: |
Line 124: |
| | | | |
| | ==Secret Arts== | | ==Secret Arts== |
| − | ===Expanded Scholar Arts===
| |
| − | (The following is a prior version of [http://wulinlegends.pbworks.com/w/page/59327464/Expanded%20Secret%20Arts%20of%20Prediction these tools and techniques] from the wulin legends wiki.)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In addition to the default manner of creating Predictions, those with access to the Secret Art of Prediction loresheet may purchase the following Toolsets to augment their divinatory practices.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''The Story of the I Ching''' (3 Destiny)<br>
| |
| − | Skill: Learning<br>
| |
| − | Modifier: -5 to 0<br>
| |
| − | Limitation: You must use some tools to generate trigrams and consult an I Ching Manual.<br>
| |
| − | Description: If you improvise tools -- e.g. coins from the street, twigs taken from a tree -- you have a -5 penalty to your Prediction. Otherwise, see corebook p. 257.
| |
| − | *1 Secret: You have committed the entire Book of Changes to memory, and need not consult an I Ching manual to make your predictions.
| |
| − | *2 Fortune: You have an exceptional set of trigram-generating tools; using them gives you a +5 bonus to making Predictions.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''The Story of the Three Arts''' (3 Destiny)<br>
| |
| − | Skill: Special; usually Politics, Tactics or Survival.<br>
| |
| − | Modifier: -5 to +5<br>
| |
| − | Limitation: Requires extensive research prior to Prediction, along with specially made tools.
| |
| − | Description: The Three Arts (comprising the distinct-but-related Divine Reckoning, Wondrous Doors, and Great Cycle methods) are the height of metaphysical science in Shen Zhou. Combining Five Element Theory, the I Ching, astrology, and numerology, this approach to Prediction is both the most powerful and most demanding of the Scholar's tools for divination. Divinations made in this manner, when dealing with especially weighty matters, have been known to take as long as a month to arrive at. As with the standard approach to making Predictions, the appropriate Skill is determined by the subject matter; however, a Scholar employing the Three Arts may choose to employ the Learning Skill at a -5 penalty. In addition, the Prediction roll has a modifier based on the amount of time the Scholar spends and the quality of information he has at his disposal; if he spends more than the minimum time or has, say, an Imperial library at his disposal, he gains a +5 bonus. If he attempts to rush his work or is working without access to the proper charts and tomes, he suffers a -5 penalty (in which case, he cannot substitute the Learning Skill for a more appropriate one).
| |
| − | *2 Fortune: You have a quality set of equipment for performing Three Arts divination; using it gives you a +5 bonus to making Predictions in this way.
| |
| − | Three Arts-Specific Extraordinary Scholar Techniques
| |
| − | *Strengthen Destiny's Weight (2 Destiny; Augment/Extended): You may attempt to raise the Recovery number of your own prediction by making a Learning roll. If the result exceeds the Recovery number of the Prediction, you may spend another point of Joss to set the Recovery number at the new result; if the result equals or is exceeded by the original Recovery number, there is no effect and you may not attempt to use this technique again on that Prediction.
| |
| − | *Finding the Loopholes (4 Destiny; Augment/Extended): You may make a Learning roll on your own or another's behalf to Resist the effects of a Prediction. If applied to yourself, this replaces your Wu Wei roll; if on another's behalf, it is in addition to his or her Wu Wei roll, and the higher of the two results is taken. You must be aware of the Prediction to be resisted, at least in broad outlines, and give some plausible reason why you or the target is exempt. If successful, the resistance lasts one chapter.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Some Scholars become experts in one or more of the Three Arts, which gives them added bonuses and access to additional Extraordinary Techniques.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | *2 Secret: Divine Reckoning Expertise
| |
| − | **0 Bonus: You have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions concerning matters of state (war, diplomacy, succession) or similarly large-scale events.
| |
| − | **0 Bonus: You have the equivalent of 3 Status among Scholars who know of your expertise. If you have expertise in two of the three methods, you have the equivalent of 5 Status; if you have expertise in all three, you have the equivalent of 8 Status.
| |
| − | *Divine Reckoning-Specific Extraordinary Scholar Techniques
| |
| − | **Heaven's Final Word (3/5 Destiny; Augment/Extended/Flood) You may Flood a single die from your River while making a Prediction using the Divine Reckoning method of the Three Arts; if you do and your Prediction contradicts an existing Prediction, you have a +10 bonus to your roll solely for the purpose of opposing the contrary Prediction. This bonus also applies if another Scholar makes a Prediction that contradicts yours at a later time. For an additional 2 Destiny, the bonus increases to +15.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | *2 Secret: Wondrous Doors Expertise
| |
| − | **0 Bonus: You have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions concerning the gain or loss of wealth, fame, or social standing.
| |
| − | **0 Bonus: You have the equivalent of 3 Status among Scholars who know of your expertise. If you have expertise in two of the three methods, you have the equivalent of 5 Status; if you have expertise in all three, you have the equivalent of 8 Status.
| |
| − | *Wondrous Doors-Specific Extraordinary Scholar Techniques
| |
| − | **Following Paths to Hidden Doors (4/6 Destiny; Augment/Extended) After being affected by a Prediction or spending a scene interrogating someone else who was, you may make a Hard [30] (if you were affected) or Memorable [40] (if you interrogated someone else affected) Learning roll to learn the details of the Prediction. For an additional 2 Destiny, on a Critical Success you also gain some clues as to who made the Prediction.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | *2 Secret: Great Cycle Expertise
| |
| − | **0 Bonus: You have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions concerning natural phenomena, including agriculture and animal husbandry.
| |
| − | **0 Bonus: You have the equivalent of 3 Status among Scholars who know of your expertise. If you have expertise in two of the three methods, you have the equivalent of 5 Status; if you have expertise in all three, you have the equivalent of 8 Status.
| |
| − | *Great Cycle-Specific Extraordinary Scholar Techniques
| |
| − | **Five Phase Predictions (5 Destiny; Augment/Extended/Flood) You may Flood a single die to create a special type of Prediction. Instead of specifying a single circumstance that will or won't come to pass, you create a sequence of events that will or won't come to pass, following the cycle of Birth, Growth, Maturity, Withering, and Death. You may begin at any stage of the cycle, and may specify a weakness or hyperactivity to be associated with each stage, but each element of the prediction must be plausibly associated with one of the stages, the stages must occur in sequence, and each element must be bounded (i.e. "The Imperial Army will never be defeated" is not OK; "The Imperial Army will suffer no defeats this year" is).
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''The Story of Physiognomy''' (3 Destiny)<br>
| |
| − | Skill: Awareness<br>
| |
| − | Modifier: -5 to 0<br>
| |
| − | Limitation: Requires an examination of the subject of the divination; predictions must be about that individual.<br>
| |
| − | Description: It is said that our destinies are written on our bodies, if only we know the script. Scholars who know the Story of Physiognomy are able to read that script. Through a thorough examination of the body, especially of the face and the hands, a Scholar may divine the fortunes of that individual -- and that individual alone. The examination must be thorough; if it is rushed (less than a scene spent in examination), or if there are limitations on the examination (e.g. only visual examination permitted), the Scholar suffers a -5 penalty.<br>
| |
| − | *0 Bonus: You may choose to give the Prediction a Breath bonus/penalty instead of an Action bonus/penalty.
| |
| − | '''Physiognomy-Specific Extraordinary Scholar Techniques'''
| |
| − | *The Bloom of Health (2 Destiny; Augment/Extended) You may make a Memorable [40] Learning roll to aid in your own or another's recovery from an Injury Condition. The result of this roll is treated exactly as a Doctor's Medicine roll -- i.e., the one attempting a Recovery roll can use the higher result of her Hardiness and the Learning rolls.
| |
| − | *Medical Evidence Approach (3 Destiny; Augment/Extended) You can use your knowledge of an existing Medical Condition as a predictive tool. You extrapolate it in Internal-External fashion, seeing how the imbalance in the subject's body influences her fate. When you make a reasonable reference to this knowledge while making a Prediction using the Story of Physiognomy, you have a +5 (if the Condition is Trivial or Minor) or +10 (if Major) bonus.
| |
| − | *Health and Fortune Intertwined (5 Destiny; Augment/Extended/Flood) You may Flood a single die from your River while making a Prediction using the Story of Physiognomy to Discover a Medical Condition along with your Prediction. For the most part, the difficulty to create the Medical Condition is the same as that of the Prediction, though the Sage may set it higher if the condition you wish to create is only tangentially related to your Prediction, or is otherwise unlikely.
| |
| − | <br>
| |
| − | '''The Story of the Old Ways''' (3 Destiny)<br>
| |
| − | Skill: Wu Wei<br>
| |
| − | Modifier: 0 to +5<br>
| |
| − | Limitation: Requires animal bones or shells to be burnt and shattered<br>
| |
| − | Description: It is said that Fu Xi, the first of the mythical Three Sovereigns who brought civilization to Shen Zhou, taught the people the arts of divination, so that they might not be confused about Heaven's inclinations. What he taught them was to become the basis of all ritual divinatory practice that followed, and brought great blessings to early, heroic Dynasties of the land, but few now know the original ways. Animal bones -- any of sufficient size will do in a pinch, though the method is especially effective when it employs tortoise shells or the shoulder blades of oxen (+5 bonus) -- are inscribed with the question to be answered, and then thrown in a ritually prepared fire. The bone is then struck, and its shards removed from the flame; the way the bone fractures tells the Scholar how Heaven views the question asked.
| |
| − | *0 Bonus: Once per story, you may make a Prediction without spending a Joss.
| |
| − | *2 Fortune: You have been instructed in the Old Ways by one of the few remaining genuine savants; you have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions in this way.
| |
| − | '''Old Ways-Specific Extraordinary Scholar Techniques'''
| |
| − | *Balancing Fortune's Scales (4 Destiny; Augment/Extended): When making a Prediction, you may opt to spend a second Joss of the opposite type from the first you spent. If you do, you create a second Prediction (with the same Recovery number) with the opposite action modifier (akin to Yin-Yang Technique); anyone attempting to resist either Prediction suffers a -10 penalty. The second Prediction must be described as 'balancing out' the first.
| |
| − | *Blessings of Fu Xi (6 Destiny; Augment/Extended/Flood): You may Flood a single die from your River while making a Prediction using the Story of the Old Ways; if you do, the associated bonus or penalty applies to Chi Aura and Rippling rolls.
| |
| − | <br>
| |
| − | '''Additional Extraordinary Scholar Techniques'''
| |
| − | *Riding Fortune's Wave (5 Destiny; Extended/Wave): Whenever anyone in your presence (roughly: the same zone) gains Joss of either type from Interesting Times, you may make a Memorable [40] Wu Wei roll to accept Interesting Times as well and gain a Xia Joss. In combat, you must make this roll as a Wave on your Initiative roll in the round following the Interesting Times.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | *Learned Sage Approach (3 Destiny; Augment): Spend one Joss of either type to ignore Fears penalties and to deny opponents Laughs At penalties. This technique overrides any kung fu techniques; the effect lasts for the length of a combat, or for one scene.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | *Scholar's Diffidence (3 Destiny; Extended/Wave): At your option, you may use Learning as the basis of a Resist roll to defend against Discovery of a Medical, Passion/Inspiration, or Curse/Influence condition, or a Doctor's, Priest's, or Courtier's Secret Arts attack. You should act out a pedantic refutation of the would-be discoverer's logic.
| |
| − |
| |
| | ===Extraordinary Warrior Techniques=== | | ===Extraordinary Warrior Techniques=== |
| | [http://wulinlegends.pbworks.com/w/page/66311203/Additional%20Extraordinary%20Warrior's%20Arts Additional Extraordinary Warrior Techniques] | | [http://wulinlegends.pbworks.com/w/page/66311203/Additional%20Extraordinary%20Warrior's%20Arts Additional Extraordinary Warrior Techniques] |
