Mystic Arts are collections of rituals, spells, and arcane techniques that allow a practitioner to tap into the various supernatural forces of the world. These Arts are primarily the domain of Fangshi, mystics who are well-versed in the arcane arts, but it's not unheard of for a bushi or courtier to learn an incantation or two from a willing mentor.
A character can learn the Invocations of a Mystic Art in any order they wish. Characters are not "locked in" to Mystic Arts once they learn an Invocation from that Art; they can choose Invocations from multiple Mystic Arts, creating their own collection of rituals and spells by combining the Invocations they find most useful from multiple Arts, or they can attempt to master a single Mystic Art in all of its intricacies. Both are considered to be perfectly acceptable paths for a character to walk.
Mystic Alignment: Each Mystic Art has an associated Mystic Alignment. While any character can potentially learn an Invocation from a Mystic Art, Mystic Alignments are typically only learned by Fangshi as a result of their school bonus.
Mystic Quirk: Those who delve too deep into a Mystic Art are often changed by the experience. After a character has learned their third Invocation from a Mystic Art, they also gain that Art's Mystic Quirk. While these changes can be useful, they also mark the character as someone who has been irrevocably changed by the magic they wield.
Casting Invocations: Each Invocation has a Cost and a Casting TN. In order to use an Invocation, a character must pay the required Cost in Ki Points and then make an Invoke (Spirit) Skill Roll at the listed TN. On a success, the Invocation takes effect as stated in its description. On a failure, the character fails to channel the power they need and the Invocation has no effect. Unless otherwise stated, using an Invocation requires a Standard Action.
Resist: If the Invocation can be resisted, this section will list whether it is resisted by Defense or Conviction. Even if the Invocation is successfully cast, if the final total of a character's Invoke (Spirit) Skill Roll is not equal to or higher than the target's Defense or Conviction (as appropriate), then that target is unaffected. If the invocation targets multiple characters, this could result in some characters being affected while others are not.
Success Margins: If an Invocation allows a character to spend Success Margins on additional effects, those effects will be denoted with the "O" symbol, with each "O" representing one Success Margin.
Mystic Arts
Re: Mystic Styles
Unbound Darkness
The Unbound Darkness Art allows a practitioner to manipulate darkness and shadow, infusing them with unnatural life and insatiable hunger. The majority of its practitioners hail from the cursed Toad Clan.
Mystic Alignment: When checking to see if a character is affected by one of your Unbound Darkness Invocations, that character's Defense and Conviction are reduced by 5 if they are in a shadowy area, or by 10 if they are in a dark area.
Mystic Quirk: You can issue commands to your shadow as if it were a loyal retainer. It can leave your side and perform errands for you, but it cannot interact with the material world or make any sort of sound, making it most useful as a spy (though any information it brings back to you must be conveyed via pantomime). Your shadow is considered to have the same Attributes and Skills as yourself; it is immune to damage, but can be "killed" by being trapped in an area of bright light, in which case it reforms at your side one week later.
The Unbound Darkness Art allows a practitioner to manipulate darkness and shadow, infusing them with unnatural life and insatiable hunger. The majority of its practitioners hail from the cursed Toad Clan.
Mystic Alignment: When checking to see if a character is affected by one of your Unbound Darkness Invocations, that character's Defense and Conviction are reduced by 5 if they are in a shadowy area, or by 10 if they are in a dark area.
Mystic Quirk: You can issue commands to your shadow as if it were a loyal retainer. It can leave your side and perform errands for you, but it cannot interact with the material world or make any sort of sound, making it most useful as a spy (though any information it brings back to you must be conveyed via pantomime). Your shadow is considered to have the same Attributes and Skills as yourself; it is immune to damage, but can be "killed" by being trapped in an area of bright light, in which case it reforms at your side one week later.
- Cloying Darkness
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Defense
- A character in the current scene is surrounded by clinging darkness that hampers their movements and vision. The character becomes Blinded for 5 rounds and must use Standard Actions to take the Move Action (instead of Simple Actions).- O - This Invocation affects 1 other character you can see.
O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by 5 rounds.
- O - This Invocation affects 1 other character you can see.
- Hungering Night
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Defense
- You cause shadows to rise up and feed upon a character in the current scene. The target suffers 2k2 Damage. This increases to 3k3 Damage if the target is in a shadowy area, or 5k3 Damage if they are in a dark area.- O - Increase the damage dealt by this Invocation by +1k0.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as an affected character.
- O - Increase the damage dealt by this Invocation by +1k0.
- Twilight
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: None
- One Zone in the current scene becomes shadowy for 10 rounds. If the Zone was already shadowy, it instead becomes dark.- O - Choose one additional Zone that you can see to be affected.
O O - Apply the effects of this Invocation twice to each affected Zone (thus making each one dark).
- O - Choose one additional Zone that you can see to be affected.
- Nightmare Wings
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: Conviction
- Large wings of pure darkness erupt from the back of a character within your Zone (which may be you), allowing that character to hover in place or to fly quickly through the air. The character can take Move Actions as Bonus Actions, and she may move into the "Sky" Zone of any combat in which she participates. The wings last for 1 hour, or until this character dismisses them with a Bonus Action.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by 1 hour.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as an affected character.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by 1 hour.
- Shadowed Path
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: Conviction
- A character of your choice in an area of shadow or darkness (which may be you) fades away and reappears in a shadowy or dark area within 1 mile of your current position. If the area you sent the character to is not shadowy or dark, they instead reappear as close to the intended area as possible, in a shadowy or dark area.- O - This Invocation affects one additional character within the same Zone as an affected character.
O - Increase the distance that can be traveled by 1 mile.
- O - This Invocation affects one additional character within the same Zone as an affected character.
- Night Terror
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 30
Resist: None (see text)
- You give life to the shadows in one Zone in the current scene. At the start of their turn, every character in the Zone with a Conviction less than your Invoke roll becomes Frightened. At the end of their turn, every character in the Zone with a Defense less than your Invoke roll suffers 1k1 Damage; this Damage increases to 3k1 if the Zone is shadowy, or to 4k2 if the Zone is dark.- O O - Choose a Zone adjacent to an affected Zone to be affected.
O O - Characters in an affected Zone must use Standard Actions to take the Move Action (instead of Simple Actions).
- O O - Choose a Zone adjacent to an affected Zone to be affected.
Re: Mystic Styles
Fortune's Smile
Fortune's Smile is a Mystic Art that manipulates luck and probability. It is particularly popular among the Fangshi of the Cat Clan, who guard its secrets jealously.
Mystic Alignment: A number of times per session equal to your Spirit, you may reroll one of your Skill Rolls that has not already been rerolled with this ability. You must take the results of this second Skill Roll.
Mystic Quirk: You have unnaturally good luck, and random chance always tilts in your favor. You win every game of chance that you play; if another character with this ability is involved, then either you both win (if possible), or you determine which of you wins as normal. Additionally, detrimental effects that do not directly originate from other characters do not affected you or your property (i.e., you do not get wet in the rain, your property is undamaged by floods or fires, and you can walk safely through a burning building without suffering harm, but you can still be slandered in court or attacked with a sword).
Fortune's Smile is a Mystic Art that manipulates luck and probability. It is particularly popular among the Fangshi of the Cat Clan, who guard its secrets jealously.
Mystic Alignment: A number of times per session equal to your Spirit, you may reroll one of your Skill Rolls that has not already been rerolled with this ability. You must take the results of this second Skill Roll.
Mystic Quirk: You have unnaturally good luck, and random chance always tilts in your favor. You win every game of chance that you play; if another character with this ability is involved, then either you both win (if possible), or you determine which of you wins as normal. Additionally, detrimental effects that do not directly originate from other characters do not affected you or your property (i.e., you do not get wet in the rain, your property is undamaged by floods or fires, and you can walk safely through a burning building without suffering harm, but you can still be slandered in court or attacked with a sword).
- Cascade of Adversity
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- You curse the luck of a target in the current scene, creating small but numerous misfortunes that distract them and hamper their effectiveness. For 10 minutes, the TN of any Skill Roll made by the target increases by +5.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 minutes.
O - Increase the TN penalty by +5.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the initial target.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 minutes.
- Fangs of Misfortune
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- You twist misfortune around a character in the current scene, worsening any wounds they might suffer. For the next 5 rounds, when any Damage roll is made against the target, increase the value of each Damage die by +1. This adjustment occurs after resolving any dice explosions.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 rounds.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the initial target.
O O O - Increase the value of each Damage die by an additional +1.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 rounds.
- The Shining Path
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: None
- You bestow favorable luck upon a target in the current scene, allowing them to circumvent whatever hardships they might have otherwise encountered. For 1 hour, when the target makes a Skill Roll, it ignores any TN penalties to that Skill Roll, other than Pain Penalties.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 hour.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the initial target.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 hour.
- Reap the Changing Winds
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: None
- Your harvest the good fortune of your enemies to bolster the luck of your allies. For 5 rounds, each time a die rolled by an opponent in your Zone explodes, this Invocation accumulates 1 Fortune Point. At the start of your turn, you may distribute any accumulated Fortune Points to friendly characters in your Zone (including yourself) in whatever manner you wish, to a maximum number of Fortune Points equal to that character's Spirit. Any unassigned Fortune Points are lost without further effect.
When a character with Fortune Points makes a Skill Roll, she may spend any number of Fortune Points to roll that many additional dice. At the end of an affected character's turn, if she has any remaining Fortune Points, she loses 1 Fortune Point.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 round.
O O - Extend the effects of this Invocation (i.e., gathering and distributing Fortune Points) to an adjacent Zone.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 round.
- The Hand of Fortune
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: None
- You grant a boon of incredible luck to a target in the current scene. For the next 10 minutes, after the target makes a Skill Roll, they may choose to make the Skill Roll twice and keep whichever roll they prefer. After doing so, this Invocation ceases to affect the target.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +10 minutes.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the initial target.
O O - The target(s) can make one additional reroll before the Invocation ends.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +10 minutes.
- Strings of Fate
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 30
Resist: Conviction
- You manipulate fate to ensure that an event of your choosing befalls a target in the current scene. Over the course of the next week, various moments of chance resolve themselves in such a way as to place the subject in the ideal circumstances to make the event come to pass. This Invocation does not actually change elements of the world; it merely adjusts the probability of various events occurring in order to reach the desired goal. For instance, it cannot directly kill one of the target's enemies, but it could result in the target encountering a sympathetic assassin who also hates their enemy, or perhaps the target learns of some compromising information that, if exposed, would result in their enemy committing seppuku. Similarly, this Invocation cannot change feelings or emotions: trying to make someone fall in love with the target is bound to fail, though making that person become engaged to the target is very possible.
The changes wrought by this invocation tend to follow the path of least resistance. Thus, if you cast this Invocation with the intention of allowing an advisor to take the Emperor's place, then the advisor will most likely be presented with such an opportunity. Attempting to make a peasant become an Emperor, though, may simply allow the peasant to assume the role of the Emperor during one of his village's plays.
Casting this spell while a previous casting is still resolving itself is ill advised, as plucking at too many strings only leaves everyone entangled in an increasingly complicated chain of unraveling events. The targets can get swapped if one is an easier "fit" for an intended event, or the goal of one casting may directly interfere with the goal of another, leading to messy complications, or the caster may find themselves pulled into the unfolding events, compelled to perform certain actions as the magics they unleashed seize control of her mind and body.
The caster has no control over exactly how events unfold, and the repercussions of those events may be felt long after the desired event has occurred. As a result, most characters who know this invocation tend to cast it sparingly, and even then, with smaller, more reasonable goals in mind. "Going big" usually causes progressively larger and more vulgar shifts in probability in an attempt to reach the desired goal, often with unintended consequences.- O O O - You may specify a "sub-event" that befalls the target, in addition to the original event; this sub-event must be less impactful than the original event. The sub-event also occurs, either at the same time as the original event, or at some point prior to the original event's occurrence (as determined by the GM).
Re: Mystic Styles
The Crimson Well
The Crimson Well is the Art of blood magic, which draws on the inherent power of blood to fuel a variety of extremely useful (if somewhat gory) effects. It is a specialty of the Fangshi of the Tiger Clan, who use its power to support their bushi on the front lines.
Mystic Alignment: When casting a Crimson Well Invocation, if you are holding a bladed weapon, you may inflict the Bleeding Condition on a helpless or willing character within your Zone (which may be you). After you successfully cast a Crimson Well invocation, you gain a number of Success Margins equal to the number of Bleeding characters in your Zone (to a maximum number of Success Margins equal to your Spirit).
Mystic Quirk: Your blood takes on a life of its own. You become immune to the Bleeding Condition, as your blood simply refuses to leave your body. At the start of each of your turns, if you are still alive, you heal Health equal to your Spirit. If one of your limbs is severed, you may reattach it to your body and regain its functionality by holding it against the stump for 1 minute. Decapitation still results in your death.
The Crimson Well is the Art of blood magic, which draws on the inherent power of blood to fuel a variety of extremely useful (if somewhat gory) effects. It is a specialty of the Fangshi of the Tiger Clan, who use its power to support their bushi on the front lines.
Mystic Alignment: When casting a Crimson Well Invocation, if you are holding a bladed weapon, you may inflict the Bleeding Condition on a helpless or willing character within your Zone (which may be you). After you successfully cast a Crimson Well invocation, you gain a number of Success Margins equal to the number of Bleeding characters in your Zone (to a maximum number of Success Margins equal to your Spirit).
Mystic Quirk: Your blood takes on a life of its own. You become immune to the Bleeding Condition, as your blood simply refuses to leave your body. At the start of each of your turns, if you are still alive, you heal Health equal to your Spirit. If one of your limbs is severed, you may reattach it to your body and regain its functionality by holding it against the stump for 1 minute. Decapitation still results in your death.
- Exsanguinate
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- You cause a target in the current scene to begin bleeding profusely. The target suffers 2k2 Damage, ignoring Reduction, and becomes Bleeding. If the target was already Bleeding when you cast this Invocation, it instead suffers 4k2 Damage. This Invocation has no effect on characters without blood or ichor.- O - Increase the damage dealt by this Invocation by +1k0.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as an affected character.
- O - Increase the damage dealt by this Invocation by +1k0.
- Mend the Sundered Flesh
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: None
- You cause the blood of a character in the current scene to coagulate and replenish itself. The target heals Health equal to twice your Spirit. If the target is holding a severed limb against a stump when this Invocation is cast, the limb reattaches to the stump and regains its functionality. This Invocation has no effect on characters without blood or ichor.- O - The target heals an additional amount equal to your Spirit.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the affected character.
- O - The target heals an additional amount equal to your Spirit.
- Sanguine Caress
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: None
- You inure a character in the current scene to pain, leaving them numb. For 10 minutes, the target ignores its Pain Penalties. This Invocation has no effect on characters without blood or ichor.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 minutes.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as an affected character.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 minutes.
- Tides of Suffering
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: None
- You wrack the body of a character in the current scene with intense pain. For one minute, the target's current Pain Penalty is treated as if it were one level lower (e.g., if she is Healthy (+0 Pain), she treats her Pain Penalty as if she were Grazed (+5 Pain)). This Invocation has no effect on characters without blood or ichor.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 minute.
O O - The target's current Pain Penalty is treated as if it were one additional step lower.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the affected character.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 minute.
- Wasting Sickness
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: Conviction
- You thin the blood of one target in the current scene, weakening them. Until the next sunrise, the target cannot regain Health through any means, and each time the target suffers 5 or more damage from a single source, she gains the Bleeding condition.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 day.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the affected character.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 day.
- Conjure Blood Beast
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 30
Resist: None
- You ignite the sparks of dwindling life in spilt blood, creating a murderous beast of animated gore in either your Zone or an adjacent Zone. The Blood Beast has Physical Attributes equal to the number of Bleeding characters in the Zone at the time it is created, and Mental Attributes equal to half this number, rounded up. If there are no Bleeding characters in the Blood Beast's Zone when it is created, it immediately perishes and this Invocation ends.
The Blood Beast obeys your commands and acts immediately after your turn is finished. It possesses a single Claw attack with Skill Ranks equal to your Spirit and a base Damage of 1k3. The Blood Beast has the Bleeding condition (which cannot be removed), ignores Pain Penalties, and remains animated for 1 minute, after which time it collapses back into a mass of normal blood.- O - The Blood Beast gains +2 Reduction.
O O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 minute.
- O - The Blood Beast gains +2 Reduction.
Re: Mystic Styles
Opulent Tenacity
Opulent Tenacity is a subtle Art that allows a practitioner to manipulate the minds of others. This insidious art is a closely-guarded secret of the Carp Clan, who use it to sap the wills of their enemies, turning them into allies.
Mystic Alignment: When you cast an Opulent Tenacity Invocation, you may spend +1 Ki to mask the Invocation's casting as normal conversation, making it completely undetectable.
Mystic Quirk: Your soft voice and piercing gaze are mesmerizing to others. You gain +1k1 on all Social Skill Rolls, and your Conviction increases by +5 when defending against Social Skill Rolls.
Opulent Tenacity is a subtle Art that allows a practitioner to manipulate the minds of others. This insidious art is a closely-guarded secret of the Carp Clan, who use it to sap the wills of their enemies, turning them into allies.
Mystic Alignment: When you cast an Opulent Tenacity Invocation, you may spend +1 Ki to mask the Invocation's casting as normal conversation, making it completely undetectable.
Mystic Quirk: Your soft voice and piercing gaze are mesmerizing to others. You gain +1k1 on all Social Skill Rolls, and your Conviction increases by +5 when defending against Social Skill Rolls.
- The Carp's Kiss
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- You cloud the mind of a character in the current scene with lethargy and apathy. For 5 rounds, the target rolls X fewer dice on all Skill Rolls, where X is equal to your Spirit.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 rounds.
O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the affected character
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +5 rounds.
- The Unwritten Scroll
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- You search the mind of a target in your Zone for the answer to a specific question. You learn a truthful answer to the question from the target's perspective; if the target does not know an answer, then the answer to your question is "I don't know." If the answer is complicated enough that it required elaboration, the target elaborates to the best of their ability. Because this Invocation relies on information from the target's perspective, it is possible to gain an incorrect answer if the target is misinformed about the topic.
Since the information is obtained mentally, the target is unaware that she provided you with any information (or, indeed, that you asked a question of her), though she (or others) may still notice you casting this Invocation as normal.- O O - You may ask one additional question of the target.
- xxx
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- xxx- O - xxx
O - xxx
- O - xxx
- xxx
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: None
- xxx- O - xxx
O O - xxx
- O - xxx
- Seize the Strings
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: Conviction
- You seize control of the mind of a target within the current scene. For 1 round, at the start of the target's turn, you can nonverbally dictate the target's actions on that turn, decide what dice they keep on any Skill or Damage Rolls they make, and can force them to spend Ki Points. You cannot force the target to take obviously suicidal actions (such as stabbing themselves or jumping off a cliff), but you can force them to do incredibly reckless things (such as charging solo into combat against an enemy army or climbing an old tree growing precariously from the side of a cliff). The target is aware of what is happening during this time, but they are simply not in control of their actions.
This Invocation does not grant you any knowledge of the target's training, and thus, you cannot force the target to use a Technique or cast an Invocation that you do not know (or at least suspect) they possess.- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 round.
O O O - This Invocation affects one additional character in the same Zone as the affected character.
- O - Increase the duration of this Invocation by +1 round.
- Altering the Path
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 30
Resist: Conviction
- You change a single memory possessed by a character in the current scene. You must have some way to identify the memory in question, such as by event ("the last time you spoke with your lord...") or time ("yesterday morning after breakfast..."), and the memory must be of something that happened within the past 24 hours. The memory changes to whatever you wish, though memories of jarring or impossible events - such as causing the target to remember that they died, transformed into a cat, or were suddenly doing something thousands of miles away from their actual location - are likely to be dismissed as a daydream, rather than what "really happened."
The new memory is as vague or detailed as you wish, but the more it conflicts with the target's normal behavior or beliefs, the more likely they are to question it. A murderous ronin might not give much thought to a memory of them killing a samurai that had been harassing them, as it's more or less in character for them, but a pacifistic scribe would likely be horrified at her actions and may spend a great deal of time trying to determine why (not to mention how) they did something to heinous. In general, the more vague a memory is, the more the target's imagination will fill in the details to make it "fit."
Realizing that a memory is fake in no way restores whatever "real" memories were overwritten by this Invocation, but it might lead to further investigation and suspicion of someone meddling with their memories, which is, generally speaking, the sort of thing that people who favor this Invocation try to avoid.- O - Increase the age of the memory that can be changed by +24 hours.
O O O - You may change a second memory possessed by the target.
- O - Increase the age of the memory that can be changed by +24 hours.
Re: Mystic Styles
xxx
Xxx
Mystic Alignment: xxx
Mystic Quirk: xxx
illusions - shark
mind - carp
interrogate spirits - crow
ancestors - bear
moon - shark
alchemy - eel
summoning - crow
dark spirits - toad
Xxx
Mystic Alignment: xxx
Mystic Quirk: xxx
- xxx
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Defense
- xxx- O - xxx
O - xxx
- O - xxx
- xxx
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Defense
- xxx- O - xxx
O - xxx
- O - xxx
- xxx
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 20
Resist: Conviction
- xxx- O - xxx
O - xxx
- O - xxx
- xxx
Cost: 1 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: None
- xxx- O - xxx
O O - xxx
- O - xxx
- xxx
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 25
Resist: Conviction
- xxx- O - xxx
O - xxx
- O - xxx
- xxx
Cost: 2 Ki
Casting TN: 30
Resist: None (see text)
- xxx- O - xxx
O - xxx
- O - xxx
illusions - shark
mind - carp
interrogate spirits - crow
ancestors - bear
moon - shark
alchemy - eel
summoning - crow
dark spirits - toad