By Paul Harris (paul.harris1@virgin.net)
Vampires, Wraiths, changelings and even Mages are unable to learn shadow magic yet mortals and werewolves can. Why? It is clear that the bête have a spiritual inner "core" that is unique only to them and no other entity on the planet which could explain it. But even mages have a similar, albeit different spritual "core," which should allow the use of primitive magic. Daemons and such are able to teach and use these powers yet no "divine beings" have ever been seen using this magic.
To understand why and how hedge magic works it is first necessary to understand the Gaian soul.
Picture a glass. Picture a deep dark ocean full of such glasses. Some quarter full of clean water with no cracks or imperfections at all. This is similar to the way a soul of a normal child would look. As it grows imperfections would appear the level of the water may rise and fall along with its level of purity until one day the glass would just fall apart for some reason or another. The inner water can be likened to the individual's spirit, the imperfections the darker aspects of their character and the glasses strength would be based on their willpower. The ocean is like the constant outer threat from evil spirits and the like trying to corrupt the water within the glasses. The more cracks the more chance of the dark water getting in and dirtying the water.
Got it? Okay time for Bête souls 101.
A bête's "glass" would be filled with lots of clear water (Gnosis) although it isn't pure. It may have lots of imperfections (dependrnt on Rage levels) and generally quite strong (Willpower). Unlike a mortal, the bête's soul has a greater threat of breaking. Lots of water means lots of pressure being exerted on the glass, increasing the chances of breaking. A mortal has little water and so if any big cracks occur the water will slowly trickle out. If the same scenario happened to a bête the large volume of water would trickle to a point and would then simply would pour out breaking the glass in the process.
Bête utilise the water to power their gifts and such and can harness the cracks to give them Rage by leaking in small amounts of darkness to give them strength, speed and their bad tempers. If too much leaks in their souls will be corrupted. However, they aren't stupid and so only rarely will the soul be completely damaged by Rage. It will usually be Harano or expressed through Frenzies. Frenzies, although bad, do give bête a form of cathartic relief. This is the reason why when a bête turns over to the Wyrm it is doomed to die eventually. Dark rites such as the Black Spirals dance of passage help fortify the glass by using the darkness itself to keep it together for a time.
When a member of the changing breeds learns certain paths they may leak in small amounts of darkness which forever taints the water but can be utilised to the users wishes and ability. Too much and a lot of Rage will mean that the powers cannnot be used for long; their souls just can't handle it. If the glass is strong, the water fairly clean and not too many cracks then the introduction of the shadow magic will have little effect except make the person stronger. Get it?
Earlier on I said sometimes. Like all things in the World of Darkness the dark ocean isnt actually black, it's more grey and in shades. Some powers come from the clean parts of the ocean and come into the top of the proverbial glass. These clean parts represent the Gaian influence in the world (the good parts). Learning powers from these parts is easier but in general less practical then the darker ones.
The Reason that the Bête are more adapt at this then mortals should be apparent. The bête utilise their existing abilities almost without effort and so they can adapt and comprehend easier then a mortal simply because its like their existing powers.
Now . . . to put all this into rules
Shadow magic falls into three categories; Light, Grey and Dark.
The Light ones are: Divination, Enchantment, Ephemera, Herbalism/Brewing, Healing and Shapeshifting. These represent the purer magical paths that bête tend to learn first and to which they have a higher affinity.
The Grey paths are: Alchemy, Conjuration, Conveyance, Weathercraft and Summoning (Material). These paths are neither dark nor pure.
The Dark paths are: Cursing, Hellfire, Fascination, Shadows and Summoning (Daimonic). These represent all of the darker powers available.
The term Shadow Folk includes any/all bête involved in the occult world of Shadow magic no matter where their allegiances lie, be it Gaia, The Wyrm, the Weaver or none. All distrusted. Even BSD's distrust those who walk the dark path of shadow magic.
The different path aspects (Light, Dark, Grey) can be learnt by any Bête and are by no means exclusive to breeds, species, tribes or ethnic origin. In fact a bête can learn whatever paths he/she wants to. The aspects will be explained later.
Paths "work" by rolling dice applicable to the path. The actual paths represent the level of ability rather then representing the dice you roll. Each spell requires a separate ritual that must be enacted to make it work.
The Bête largely created most of the rituals that exist today and it's no wonder that they are the masters of rituals.
Dice rolls: All Bête roll Intelligence + Rituals for all paths except Alchemy and Herbalism. These two use applicable abilities (i.e., Science (Chemistry) etc).
Difficulty: Basically the higher the level, the bigger the effect, the higher the difficulty.
Effect: Buy the book
Experience: (Here's the good bit) All paths cost 3/4 the normal experience cost!! Why? Read the intro. (I haven't reduced it from the costs below so work out the total then find out 3/4 and spend it).
The costs are:
Rituals: Each ritual requires specific events. Players should write down all their rituals, including effect, difficulty (storyteller), ingredients, time (usually based on level), gestures, path, level and anything else crucial to the ritual. They must be adhered to each time the spell is being cast. Each Ritual has a single specific effect based upon its related level of path.
Additional Bonuses: No Bête need spend a Willpower point at all in the spell casting. They may spend one for a success but they don't have to. Bête may spend a Gnosis point for another success and may spend additional points for additional successes. If they have no Gnosis left then they may not gain any bonuses from being a bête.
Negative effects: All Bête must sacrifice one experience point every time they are issued points. If they don't then they may not use their powers until they pay up. If this happens more then five times each additional time afterwards a path point will be lost.
If a Gaian Bête spends a Gnosis point on one of the Dark paths she receive a taint point. If she has Seven taint points she will register as Wyrm to any gifts and powers associated. Every time a point is received a dice must be rolled. If under the no. of taint points a derangement will be given. Likewise if a Black Spiral Dancer (or corrupted Bête) spends one of its Gnosis points on a light path he receives the equivalent of a Gaian taint. However he will not register as Gaian . . . ever (unless through magical means). Likewise he will receive derangements for rolling under his taint points.
Botching a Dark power will result in the issuing of a taint point. Reversed for Black spiral dancers and other corrupted bête.
All bête receive the 3 point flaw "Taint of Suspicion". The character is not Wyrm-tainted but everyone she meets will get an eerie feeling about her (See Uktena Tribebook).
New traits: Bête who walk the Shadow path may spend experience points on the following backgrounds upon first gaining knowledge of a path: (1 for 1)
The backgrounds details should be plausible and must link to the new insights into Shadow magic (e.g.,. meeting a mentor, finding some occult books, meeting fellow Shadow Folk etc).
New Powers: These level six powers are available only to Bête. Rank is irrelevant although elders are loathe to give away powers it took them years to learn. They do cost a lot and will be hard to pull off.)
N.B. I really would like to give out all the rules but I dont want my arse sued for breaking copyright laws. Sorry.
Level Six Enchantment: As per the level five powers, only the objects are more predictable, and do not require a ritual to use (only in creation). They are also capable of bigger effects.
Level Six Ephemera: The bête may enter the Shadowlands but not at will. Their astral projection is also not blocked by any spiritual boundaries.
I have not included daemonic powers and such. Go buy the books.
Characters shouldn't really begin with points in Shadow Magic. It's best to learn as you go. It's just too expensive at character creation. But I'm not one to stop people doing what they want.
Paths cost 7 XP irrelevant of level and don't have the typical reduction (only XP costs do). Rituals cost a point. You must have three rituals in a path level before you proceed onto the next level.
You can only have as many paths as your Willpower score.
The level six powers can be learnt by all bête.
New Gifts:
Members: The most likely candidates for Shadow Folk membership:
Inapropriate candidates include: