Here There Be Monsters

Mysterians

Drake Bale is an example Mysterian.

Miles Hendricks is an example Mysterian / Wizard combo.

Mysterians are practitioners of Mysteria, also known as Ars Mysteria, Craftwork, Enigmistra, and various other esoteric names. Wizards tend to derisively call them Hedge Workers, or similar disrespectful terms. Mysteria is powerful and practical, but practitioners usually lack the theoretical and profound understanding of the multiverse that Wizards tend to develop.

Rather than the flexible Rote magic of Wizards or the primal manipulation of fundamental forces developed by Spellbinders, Mysterians learn specific and highly structured Spells, eventually developing a deep and personal mastery. Some of the greatest Mysterians forge new paths and create new Spells.

Mysterians have abilities broken down into two basic categories, which must be taken in a Mystic Resource Pool:

Spell: Mysterians cast Spells directly, which they pay for as custom Spell skills.
Innate: Mysterians internalize some of their magic, becoming altered and more capable over time due to their exposure to supernatural forces.

All Mysterians know at least one Spell skill, most know many. Innate abilities are optional.

Restrictions

In a Here There Be Monsters campaign, Mysterians have the following restrictions:

Spell skills
- Mysteria Spells are designed as Power constructs (including Compound Powers), which are associated with a 3d6 "Spell skill".
- Mysterians do not pay the cost for the Power constructs of their Spells, rather they pay for the associated Spell skill.
- Each Spell skill must be purchased as a GEN Skill (11-) with a base cost of 3 points; each +1 to a Spell skill costs 1 point.
  - An 8- Familiarity Roll with a Spell skill can be taken for 1 point
  - A 10- Proficiency Roll with a Spell skill can be taken for 2 points
- The campaign Skill Maxima of 14- applies to Spell skills as explained later.
- Spell skills suffer a penalty equal to the Real Cost / 10 of the Power construct they represent rather than the typical Active Points / 10.
The total Real Cost of Innate abilities cannot exceed the Mysterian's ((Base Points + Max Complications + Experience Points) / 5).
Spell skills cannot have more Active Points than the Hermetic Mysterian's (INT + EGO + PRE + CON) + 15. For example, a Mysterian with 10 INT, 10 EGO, 10 PRE, and 10 CON can have Spell skills with up to 55 Active Points.
A Mysterian maximum number of Spell skills is equal to their CON. For example, a Mysterian with 10 CON can have up to 10 Spell skills.

KS: Hermetic Lore

Mysterians are not required to have Hermetic Lore, and they do not need it for their magic, but some Mysterians develop the knowledge. Some even eventually become Wizards.

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KS: Hermetic Lore: This skill provides information regarding Hermetic traditions, capabilities, and notable history.

KS: Mystic Lore

Mysterians are not required to have Mystic Lore, and they do not need it for their magic, but it is common for knowledgeable Mysterians to have the skill for general knowledge purposes.

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KS: Mystical Lore: This skill provides very broad information regarding Magic in general. It is not as precise as a more specific skill such as KS: Hermetic Lore or KS: Alchemy, but it grants a high level picture of Mystical concerns.

KS: Supernatural World

Mysterians are not required to have KS: Supernatural World, and they do not need it for their magic, but it is common for knowledgeable Mysterians to have the skill for general knowledge purposes.

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KS: Supernatural World: This skill indicates a general awareness of the Supernatural World and the monsters, magickers, and misanthropes that comprise it.

Spell Skills

Mysterians have the ability to cast at will rigidly defined set of Spells that they have permanently memorized. Mysteria is not 100% reliable, and even the most powerful and experienced Mysterians cannot gaurantee success for every attempt to cast a Spell.

Each Spell skill has a number of Active Points available to it equal to the skill roll x 5, up to 70 Active Points. Thus the Power construct in an 8- Spell skill can have up to 40 Active Points, while a Power construct in an 11- Spell skill can have up to 55 Active Points, and a Power construct in a 14- Spell skill can have up to 70 Active Points.

Total Real Cost of Spell Skill	Spell Roll	Active Point Range
1	8-	1-40
2	10-	1-50
3	11-	1-55
5	12-	1-60
7	13-	1-65
9	14-	1-70
+1	+1 to the adjusted Spell skill roll

To use a Spell a Mysterian simply makes a skill roll with the appropriate Spell skill. If the Spell skill roll succeeds then the Power construct represented by the Spell skill is activated, otherwise nothing happens save that any Endurance Cost must be paid and any applicable Side Effects occur.

Real Cost Penalty To Spell Skills

Spell skills suffer a penalty equal to the Real Cost / 10 of the Power construct they represent, rather than the typical Active Points / 10. Thus the more heavily limited a Spell is the easier it is to cast.

If a Spell skill does not use all of the Active Points available to it, a +1 bonus is gained per 15 Active Points that are unused. Thus if a Mysterian bought an 11- Spell skill which would allow up to 55 Active Points for a 25 Active Point Power construct, the Spell skill would gain a +2 bonus. This bonus cannot take a Spell skill roll over the campaign Skill Maxima of 14-.

Spell Skill Roll Bonuses

A Mysterian can buy a Spell skill roll higher without raising the Active Point limit for the Spell to offset the Real Cost penalty, or to improve their odds of success, but cannot exceed the campaign Skill Maxima of 14-.

Situational Penalties

As this magic system is skill based, Mysterians suffer from situational skill roll penalties. The adjoining table has some example penalties.

Mysteria Casting Modifiers
Circumstance	Modifier
Suffered BODY since last Phase	-1 / 3 BODY
Being jostled	-1
Hostile environment	-1

Spell Signature

All of the Spells cast by a particular Mysterian have a "signature" that identifies the Spell as theirs and that can be interacted with by other Spells. A Mysterian can attempt to "disguise" their signature when they use a Spell skill; to do so they declare their intent and take an additional -2 penalty to their Spell skill roll. Penalty Skill Levels can be purchased to offset this penalty.

Triggers

Triggers deserve a special mention. It is expected that Mysterians might have one or more Triggered Spell effects activated via Command Words or At Will, allowing them to basically cast a Spell earlier in a given day when it is convenient and then float the Spell's effect until it is needed later. In moderation this usage of Triggered effects is an acceptable and even desirable aspect of Mysteria.

However if not restricted, it is open to abuse by unscrupulous players. Thus as a campaign groundrule a Mysterian may only have one Trigger active for a given Spell skill at any time. It should be pointed out that it is common for people to forget that all Advantages built into a Power construct must be used when that Power construct is activated.

Thus unless a Power construct is designed somewhat unusually it normally is only usable via it's Trigger mode. Effectively this means that in most circumstances if a Mysterian has a Trigger active for a Spell skill they must use that prepared Trigger before using the same Spell skill again.

Mysteria Spell Design Restrictions

There are some limitations on the design of Power constructs (Spells) used with this magic system, as described below.

No Spell may be on Charges
No Spell may have No Conscious Control (NCC)
No Spell may be Independent
No Spell may have an Activation Roll
All Spells must either cost END by default or take the "Costs END" Limitation
- Spells may take Reduced END
- Spells may take "Costs END Only to Activate" where allowed by the rules normally
  - All Costs END only to Activate Spells must have a defined termination, expressed either as a duration or a specific and reasonably common event, or using the Time Limit modifier (6e)
- Spells may be built with Reduced Endurance (0 Endurance), but must take a Side Effect that always occurs automatically whenever the Power is used (Costs AP/10 In END When Cast) as a -1/2 Limitation.
Spells may not be embedded in a Universal Focus, but a Personal Focus required for activation is allowed
All Spells must have at least -1/2 in Limitations
No Spell can NOT Require a Skill Roll to be cast; the Spell Skill itself serves this purpose.
- A Spell may Require an additional Skill Roll other than the corresponding Spell Skill to take effect.
Frameworks, including Unifed Power (6e), are not allowed for Mysteria abilities.

No Charges, NCC, Independent

Mysteria is incompatible with Charges of any sort, No Conscious Control, and Independent. Mysterian Spells may not be built using any of these Limitations.

Costs Endurance

The single greatest restriction on this magic system is that all Spells must cost Endurance to activate. This serves to restrict the frequency of magic use over a short term period, such as combat scenes, but grants practitioners of Mysteria the ability to take part in multiple encounters over the course of a day.

It also prevents or discourages certain Power constructs from being used by Mysterians due to mechanical conflicts or inefficiency. Note however that Mysterians that have END Reserves can get around many of the inconveniences of mandatory END costs.

Continuing Effects

Continuing or Constant Spells are possible with Mysteria but unless they only cost END to activate they will deplete the Mysterian's END quickly.

No Universal Foci

Mysteria is an internal sort of magic and thus Universal Foci are inappropriate. There is no way to "take away" the magic of Mysteria Spell skills by absconding with an inanimate object, and similarly a Mysterian cannot just lend out a gizmo that allows someone else to use a Spell skill. Personal Foci are permitted (though not encouraged).

Minimum Limitation

All Spells must have a minimum of -1/2 in Limitations upon them. Common choices are Incantations, Gestures, Extra Time, Concentration, and Side Effects, but any Limitation that is not specifically restricted is sufficient, subject to GM veto.

Requires a Skill Roll

All Spells require a skill roll with the Spell skill itself to be cast for no Limitation value. No Spell may take the Required Skill Roll Limitation on a Power construct to indicate the associated Spell skill, but RSR may be used to indicate that other Skill or Characteristic Rolls are required in conjunction with a Spell skill roll.

Creating New Magic Items

Mysterians do not create magic items; their magic is far too personal for that.

Innate Abilities

Mysterians often have or eventually develop subtle abilities stemming from their intimate contact with magical forces. A couple of very common Innate abilities are provided below.

Innate Ability: Supernatural Awareness

Many Mysterians take the Supernatural Awareness Talent or an equivalent ability built up directly using the Detect Power with different modifiers and adders.

Innate Ability: Longevity

Some Mysterians take the Life Support (Longevity) ability to represent extended life spans. GM permission is required.

Mysteria Endurance Reserve

Mysterians may have a Mystic Endurance Reserve if they wish, though their Powers may also be bought 0 END if they prefer. However, a limitation is imposed upon the total number of Character Points a Mysterian can spend on their Mystic Endurance Pool as given below. Character Points within the limit can be spent on either Recovery or Endurance.

Endurance Reserve 5e

5e Scaling Capacity Point Cap = (10% of Total Character Points) {round in the character's favor}

EXAMPLE: Drake Bale has 125 total Character Points; thus he could spend (125 * .1) = 12.5 Character Points on a Mystic Endurance Reserve. This could be allocated as any combination of Recovery and Reserve with a total Real Cost of 12.5 or less points.

Endurance Reserve 6e

Check out the House Rule on 6e Endurance Reserves.

6e Scaling Capacity Point Cap = (Total Character Points / 5) {round in the character's favor}

EXAMPLE: Drake Bale has 125 total Character Points; thus he could spend (125/5) = 25 Character Points on a Mystic Endurance Reserve. This could be allocated as any combination of Recovery and Reserve with a total Real Cost of 25 or less points.

Distinctive Features: Magi

A Mysterian should take the following Distinctive Feature Complication. Other Supernaturals can detect the Mysterian from a fair distance, regardless of intervening mundane structures, whenever they are using any of their non-Invisible abilities.

Distinctive Features: Magi (Concealable; Extreme Reaction; Detectable Only By Special Abilities; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures)

Example Spell Skill: Arcane Blast

By means of this Spell a Mysterian can attack foes with a blast of magical force.

Effect: Killing Attack - Ranged 4d6 (vs. ED) (60 Active Points); -2 Decreased STUN Multiplier (-1/2), No Knockback (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4); 6 END to cast

60 Active Points requires a base 12- Spell skill roll, with a Real Cost of 5. The standard Real Cost of 30 imposes a -3 penalty to this 12- roll for an adjusted Spell Skill of 9-.

Arcane Blast: 9-; Real Cost: 5

EXAMPLE: Drake Bale has mastered Arcane Blast; he has Arcane Blast 14- for a total Real Cost of 10 points; 5 points for the base Spell skill, and +5 points to raise the roll from 9- to 14-.

Example Spell Skill: Dweomer Denial

By means of this Spell a Mysterian can dispel magical effects.

Effect: Dispel 12d6+1, Mystic Powers (+1/2) (55 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Perceivable (Extra Noticeable To Supernatural Awareness; -1/4); 10 END to cast.

55 Active Points requires a base 11- Spell skill roll, with a Real Cost of 3. The standard Real Cost of 27 imposes a -3 penalty to this 11- roll for an adjusted Spell Skill of 8-.

Dweomer Denial: 8-; Real Cost: 3

EXAMPLE: Drake Bale is skilled at Dweomer Denial; he has Dweomer Denial 12- for a total Real Cost of 7 points; 3 points for the base Spell skill, and +4 points to raise the roll from 8- to 12-.