[Amendment] Voidal Eminence

Shadeleaf · May 13

Introduction & Rationale

Hello! Based on suggestions added to my previous post on Eminent and from some discussion with LT, this version of my attempt to modify Eminent has been formatted as an amendment with traditional ~~strikethrough~~, italics, and bold formatting. That said, there will be two primary sections to this amendment. In the first, I’ll be modifying existing features. ~~rewriting the flavor of the feat, clarifying feature text and redlines, and addressing what the Affection is and does.~~ In the second there will be the addition of ‘new’ features (you’ve seen them before!) without this standard formatting. For all features and changes presented my rationale will be included in a helpful “WHY” annotation.

I’m looking to change the wording and flavor in this first section for two primary reasons. The first is that the Affection is a poorly defined lore object for something so crucial to this feat. Presently, the Affection is a “Voidal manifestation” created by channeling a ton of mana into an object; this allows a character the abilities of Eminence -- ok how? Presently, there's no ‘Why’, no lore tie-ins, and only a vague suggestion towards something called the “inner void” that one masters. The inner void is not described anywhere I can find on the forums other than here and Voidal Artificery - and its corollary the ‘outer void’ is only mentioned once within voidstalking.

Additionally, it’s my belief that the current aesthetic of Eminent are (compared to other character defining feats) flat, and direct characters into a single non-nuanced uber-smart perfectionist archetype with questionably implemented mental health issues. My additions to the feat’s “Mental effects” section allow a different style of play for those who want to look inwards, and wrestle with the difficulty that supposedly unparalleled power might afflict an individual with.

I also believe that this lore suffers from ‘over-amendment-itis’ much like tawkin, where the lore itself has started to look like a Frankenstein(‘s monster) from the differing opinions that helped form it. This is a good and important part of LotC’s lore ecosystem, though much like a real ecosystem, things start to accumulate around the outskirts (grammar /spelling errors) and the water of the wetlands starts to get a bit murky (different writing styles clash and derail some style the piece had outside of its mechanics). As much as I'm changing flavor, I'm also adding consistency of voice throughout this piece.

Primary modifications from my last post are simple: Affectionate Casting has been modified to remove tell blending, and instead just leaves aura and sound manipulation within the feature. All other features remain roughly the same as in the initial rewrite (with a few such as the time it takes for an Eminent to drop their second magnum opus “nerfed”) . With that said, please enjoy the re-read, this time with spoilers! Should this amendment not go through in its entirety, I’m happy for it to be taken piecemeal. Additionally, I’ve highlighted any of those aforementioned spelling / grammar mistakes of the original lore in red for the sake of maintenance.

Standard Amendment Section

Italicized or Bolded text has been changed. Text marked as strikethrough has been removed

Mental Effects

Spoiler

Those warped by Eminence will undergo a variety of possible mental changes, and may suffer from the following:

The mind of an Eminent is one that inherently seeks perfection of craft - a state that is wholly unattainable. Accordingly, the Eminent will find themselves in one of two categories: convinced of their eventual attainment of perfection, or with an understanding of the futility of their task - forced to maintain a veil of competence for the sake of outward appearances. A non-exhaustive list for traits for these categories may be found below, and such traits may shift as roleplay demands.

Selfishness! It is something all users will develop.

Susceptible to taking advantage, using, and manipulating others for your own advantage. Sometimes others can have use in your pursuit for more.

Constant craving for power. It’s in best interest to seek it through any means necessary. (Political, personal, etc..) Most Eminence users develop Megalomania.

Various “negative” complexes are common. Someone may develop a “hero complex” which makes them tackle harder work that they later brag about in search of recognition. Other complexes may include:

God complex

Superiority complex

Martyr complex

Ignorance, and arrogance. Opinions aren’t swayed easily. Descendants with this feat value their personal views, and take little consideration in hearing the opinions of others.

Disregard for the feelings of others. Indifference!

Impulsive decisions are made at times, often when proven wrong. Users may feel intense urges to perform daring acts out of the blue.

Narcissism, and Nihilism may develop.

Sociopathic tendencies. Descendants affected by Eminence lack the ability to notice/understand the feelings of others.

Urges to show off, or gloat about the “best parts” of one’s self.

The delusion that your top qualities are the best of the best.

Substance abuse for a “greater” feeling.

Perfectionism

An extreme sense of pride.

Different triggers, or events may cause ego trips (an event where you may feel admired, or noticed for something and your only goal is to increase this feeling.)

Various mental disorders may develop as well:

Minor, to extreme cases of Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Binge eating disorders

OCD

archmage__arcane_gladiator_tcg_by_mantho

- Mania & delusions of grandeur

- Narcissism

- Indifference towards others

- General misanthropy

- Pre-disposition to substance abuse

- Impulsive behavior

- Deep, thinly veiled insecurity

- Lone-wolf mentality

- Manipulative interpersonal tendencies

- Martyr/god/hero Complex

- Anti-authoritarian ideological shift

- Increasingly fragile ego

WHY:

Poor formatting, inconsistent punctuation / wording, incoherent effect pairings, and a broken image link for starters. Additionally, the inclusion of actual real-life diseases as ‘Bipolar Disorder’, ‘OCD’, and ‘Binge Eating Disorders’ are in extremely bad taste. Stigmatizing mental illness in this way is not only inconsiderate to those that suffer, but misses several dimensions of these disorders and instead encourages RP of only caricature-like versions (very few people are digging through the DSM to understand the nuances of bulimia in an archmage). This list - loathe as I am to include it - also allows for a more introspective and self-concerned Eminent, something that is arguably missing in current voidal RP. The archmage that ponders their orb is as valid as the flashy freak that the current version suggests.

Abilities and Spells

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Aura Sensory Attunement

Spoiler

Old:

Spoiler

[Passive] [Noncombat] - Aura Sensory

An affinity for their sect, one may find themselves sensing mana in a more literal form. As once when first connected, mana and voidal presence was a new feeling which faded with time - a magi may find themselves once more, feeling the same way. Unlike the product of amateurism before, the feeling becomes deeper and more profound, enabling the magi to understand the presence and concentration of mana, perhaps even giving insight to its origin.

A Voidal Magi possessing this feat may sense voidal energies and it’s concentration, within a given area of item to determine potential information required for further understanding. This may manifest in finding ones Aura Colour, detecting if the area had been recently cast in; and if so, what type of casting, and so on.

Eminents are further evolved in their understanding of arcane and thus perceive its flow with greater clarity, allowing them to become visibly aware of one's own (or another's) exhaustion when it comes to voidal spellcasting. This is to say that an Eminent will be able to distinguish the slightest flicker in their own or another's aura as spells are cast, which implies that they may tell when an arcane mage is more or less drained by the act of mustering a spell.

This effect is wholly aesthetic and cannot provide one any sort of combative advantage (or disadvantage) in any capacity, including but not limited to relaying information about another's spellcasting exhaustion. It is but a harmless, vain tool to allow Eminents another storytelling resource and all that one may see when another (or even oneself) starts becoming exhausted due to over-exertion is a decrease in light arouund the caster's aura.

Redlines

- Aura Sensory and all applications of Voidal Eminence do not apply to Kani’s passive mana, or other magics unless they are Voidal in nature.

- Aura Sensory may not “Detect” if someone is a mage. It is more of a hook-tell system, in which were a magi recently casting, one would be able to discern the specifics from their in accordance to opponen emotes of the magi being examined. This only applies to Voidal magi unless otherwise specified in lore, and any other type of mage may not be "detectable".

- Aura Sensory may only detect casting as recent as one OOC, or if agreed upon, narrative hour since the spell was cast.

- Aura Sensory has a range of ten blocks and requires line of sight.

- Aura Sensory examining Aura Colour does not discern who is a magi and who is not. Aswell, one does not have to be a magi to possess a latent aura colour.

- Active spellcasting or Active Enchantment would be much more vibrant and easily visible to The Voidal Eminent. Enchantments and spells unactivated or non-voidal in nature would be observed no differently than normal.

New:

Spoiler

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Aura Attunement

Awareness and Reaction. These two elements separate a dead mage from the living, and a successful scholar from charlatan. The Eminent - bolstered by their Affection - has these elements more than any other heightened by its presence, able not only to analyze the material world - but the world beyond with ease.

An Eminent may - with a single emote - indefinitely activate Aura Attunement by turning their Affection’s ‘awareness’ to the material world. Accordingly, an Eminent may deactivate this state with a single emote as their focus would turn inwards. In an active state, the Eminent may identify sources of Voidal energy and their concentration out to a 10 meter radius. This ability may be used to identify prior voidal casting in an area within 1 OOC hour, or 1 narrative day with OOC permission from the initial caster. With proper permission, spell-tier (intensity) and discipline (type) may be determined.

At the second tier of Eminence, the Affection may be used over the course of two emotes to affix a low-power Voidal anchor to an object upon touch. This anchor persists for 3 OOC days, or until the Affection is destroyed - whichever is sooner. Any Eminent during this time may identify the presence of this anchor via Aura Attunement; it is additionally visible to any features with ‘spell sight’, such as the 'Aura Sensory' of other Voidal feats or the 'Arcana Flow' potion.

The third tier of Eminence allows the caster to permanently affix aspects of their aura to an object in a free-form enchantment ritual over 5 emotes via their Affection. The details and complexity of such follow guidelines set in ‘Arcanic Manipulation’, but are intended to allow for customization of arcane foci, clothing, or mundane objects such as tomes and scrolls.

Redlines:
- Aura Attunement and all applications of Voidal Eminence to not apply to Kani's passive mana, or other magics unless they are Voidal in nature.

- Aura Attunement may only detect if an individual is actively casting, not if they possess Voidal MAs or CAs.

- Aura Attunement may only detect casting as recent as one OOC, or if agreed upon, narrative hour since the spell was cast.

- Aura Sensory Attunement has a range of 10 blocks and requires line of sight.

- Aura Sensory Attunement examining Aura Colour does not discern who is a magi and who is not. As well, one does not have to be a magi to possess a latent aura colour.

- Active spellcasting or Active Enchantment would be much more vibrant and easily visible to The Voidal Eminent. Enchantments and spells unactivated or non-voidal in nature would be observed no differently than normal.

- T2 ‘tagging’ requires OOC consent if the object is in possession of another character.

- T2 ‘tagging’ must be emoted in at least ‘quiet’ range.

- T2 ‘tagging’ and T3 ‘augmentation’ is additionally visible through Transfiguration’s T2 'Voidal Feeling'.

WHY:

As we get into our first amended feature we can see that Sensory has been turned to Attunement. This is because Eminent lacks any form of day-to-day RP potential outside of combat presently outside of improved spellforging. Accordingly, we’ve introduced a form of aura ‘marking’ with generous emote counts for the party being marked (if unwilling). This may be used to flavorfully find known hidden tomes, track the clothing of someone interacted with in a market, or even as a swindling mechanism in card tricks.

With the Affection now being a fully defined hole in the veil (tiny tiny hole), the marking now occurs via a concentration of that energy with the mage’s own onto a single point, much as a soldering iron may burn the smallest hole in a piece of plastic. The sensory aspect activates the Affection as a sensor given its voidal acuity, and provides most of the base-effects of the original piece.

Finally, redlines have been greatly simplified. Some of these were written in a circuitous and unnecessary manner so cleaning up the big points into easily digestible, readable at-a-glance versions will both help the Eminent looking for their own information while RPing, and also anyone seeking clarification without first-hand knowledge of the lore.

[Passive] [Non-combat] Magister Magnificus

Spoiler

...

Redlines:

-An Eminent may choose to replace their ‘learned’ Magnum Opus slot for a second ‘Created’ one. Note: Created Magnum Opuses cannot be dropped.

- Dropping the Eminent FA only frees up the second slot (if filled) after 2 OOC years of feat inactivity.

WHY:

This has been rewritten to remove any mention of the inner void, and also to stress the Affection’s mental effects on the Eminent being what allows them to push into second opus territory. The feature has been shortened accordingly, as the actual ability is not super complicated, with the largest change being made to the ‘redlines’ section.

~~Most redlines stay the same, though~~ I’ve changed the ‘opus sticks to you forever’ clause to be ‘opus sticks to you for 2 OOC years’ non Eminence clause. This is effectively the same thing in my humble opinion, and also allows a way out for characters who totally change their aesthetic and direction to eventually drop any semblance of Eminence (besides lingering mental effects).

[Active] [Noncombat/Combat] - Expulsion

Spoiler

Old:

Spoiler

[Active] [Noncombat/Combat] - Expulsion

Expulsion is the act of temporarily becoming a focus - withdrawing the mana around one’s self and condensing it, before firing it in a metaphorical, metaphysical “ring” outwards. In doing so, no matter the circumstance - a Magi would be significantly hindered, if not outright knocked out from sheer mental strain; let alone killed outright, upon the unlikely case of overexertion.

Expulsion would require the mage take two emotes, outside of any other casting - one emote for “Condensing” mana, all of which may be around them, and a second emote for “Expulsing”, or pushing out all the mana they had condensed.

Expulsion would reach up to ten-metres outward from the mage in every direction, causing a knockback effect of at least three meters upon targets. Extremely heavy (Golem or heavier) targets may only be staggered, while those below such a threshold would be put to the floor - requiring an emote to get up once more. This forceful movement would encourage unnatural body movements and likely dealing damage with the colliding environment.

Due to “Active” mana being the main focus of the magi, it may be that of a familiar magic- outside of just pure force. This may manifest in the form of different evocation, although ineffective with other forms of voidal magic.

Fire Evocation may send out an incinerating plume of flame- alongside the knockback and knockdown effect, may inflict light (first degree) burns along exposed areas of the target. This may aswell manifest to smoke, which may temporarily blind or choke opponents.

Water Evocation may manifest into water or ice, bearing the force of such aswell - enough to knock even the heaviest opponents to the ground, or expulsing objects akin to hail, ranging from mostly harmless or lightly irritating pebbles to larger shapes and sizes to golfballs or rock-like objects with harmful edges which may bruise and give minor cuts.

Earth Evocation may manifest as rocks or sand, the prior bearing the force to knock down the heaviest opponents and even dent armour; the latter, sand, which may temporarily impair an opponent's vision and graze exposed skin.

Air Evocation would be more difficult to utilize, but potentially far more effective - knocking down opponents with much more force, and twice as far. An opponent may be sent flying a direction up to six meters away, and down much harder; enough to knock the wind out of someone, encouraging exhaustion and still requiring one emote to stand once more.

Other forms of voidal magic would bear an aesthetic affect representative of that magic - Translocation perhaps an intermittently-disappearing-and-reappearing ring, illusion potentially taking on an appearance as a reflection of light or someother, etc.. Each of these effects would be strictly aesthetic however, do not provide any harmful advantage in combat.

Expulsion would at the least disable a mage from casting further, and put them at a high level of exhaustion - optionally, a mage may be outright knocked out from the amount of force conjured.

Redlines

- After Expulsion, a caster may not utilize any spells, and may not provide any meaningful combat; barely able to pick up any form of weapon, and inable to complete any physically-arduous task, despite prior-strength or stamina. Unless magically rejuvenated, the recovery process a full day in narrative time.

- After casting Expulsion, the magi physically acts objectively worse in all forms of movement and combat than a standard, normal descendant of any class, and is easily outperformed and outmaneuvered.

- Expulsion may not be used to damage (or by side product damage) the environment unless with RO consent.

New:

Spoiler

[Active] [Combat] - Expulsion

As water through a river, as light through a prism, as smoke through a flume - so too may an Eminent channel excess arcana from their Affection to ranchorus effect. Equivalent in consequence to some of the most heinous Voidal rituals devised, an Eminent may embrace the full volume of the energies coursing through their Affection in glorious calamity.

Over the course of two emotes independent to prior casting, the Eminent may condense the arcana flowing through their Affection their own mana pool - disabling all visual effects of aura-modifying abilities - before expelling it in a grand, ill-conceived burst of energy-made-manifest.

The force explodes out from the Eminent (or a location within 20 meters if having reached 2-charge Incanter’s Flow) in a 10 meter radius, resulting in a knockback effect of at least 3 meters for any caught within. This expulsion would knock standard combatants prone, and stagger extremely heavy targets such as golems or pale-knights.

The Eminent may - on account of their own mana being channeled - apply one of three effects to this expulsion dependent on their available casting affinities; the ‘aura’ augmentation is only available at T3 Eminence. Eminents may also choose to leave Expulsion unmodified, for the base effect described above.

Evocational - Requiring at least one evocational Void magic be known (fire, water, earth, etc), expulsion additionally deals moderate elemental damage to exposed targets (second degree burns, large ice shards, moderate rock-spray) caught in the blast while applying a less powerful 2-block knockback effect.

Worldly - Requiring knowledge of transfiguration or air evocation, an Eminent may charge this ability to instead knock foes back 4 meters, or up to 3 meters into the air. Force would be applied to ensure a ‘rough’ landing for those affected by the second option, leaving targets prone.. Maximum range for this version of Expulsion is reduced to 15 meters when cast at stage 2 Incanter's Flow.

Aura - Active mana rips through those in the radius, resulting in minimal 1 meter knockback unlikely to knock a target prone, but immediate disconnection from the Void (if present), and the ‘short-circuiting’ of Voidal enchantments for those caught within. Individuals in this radius would be unable to re-connect or charge their enchantments for two emotes thereafter as their bodies radiate with the color(s) of the Eminent’s aura in spectacular fashion. Individuals affected this way may still move as normal.

With knowledge of illusion, any of these three (four with base effect considered) variations may be made to shimmer, or appear even more grand while providing no additional combative effect.

Following the completion of this ability, an Eminent and their Affection are rendered utterly drained of energy - both physical and metaphysical. This results in a heightened state of exhaustion or - depending on the prior amount of casting - unconsciousness.

Redlines:

-An Eminent may cast no spells after Expulsion is triggered for the remainder of the CRP it is used in and 1 OOC hour thereafter, or be subject to Thaumburn unless magically rejuvenated (see. Voidstalker's 'Arcane Replenishment').

- After triggering Expulsion, an Eminent is no longer able to spring, wield offensive or defensive weapons in any capacity, and has their mobility greatly reduce to below the baseline of a standard mage. This effect terminates after 1 OOC hour or upon receiving magical rejuvenation.

- Expulsion may not be used to damage the environment without RO consent, or unless part of the environment (i.e. a ballista) is actively being used in associated CRP.

- For the purposes of Thanhium and related effects, Expulsion in all flavors counts as a T5 spell.

WHY:

Of the existing spells that I did choose to modify, expulsion got the most thorough reworking. To begin, we’ve reworked the wording to be in-line with the Eminent’s channeling of arcana through the Affection, with the bolstered expulsion of their own mana (charged with the Affection’s own arcana) being the thing that knocks opponents down at the end of casting. We’ll also touch on the redlines upfront, as the design philosophy here may take a bit.

I’ve made a point of specifying the degrees to how an eminent is hindered physically and magically (along with associated consequence) instead of vague notions of ‘objectively worse in all forms’. I’ve clarified the environmental damage to be potentially damaging to built-structures involved in combat against the eminent without RO consent, and additionally noted the tier at which Expulsion affects Thanhium. I chose tier 5 for the Thanic effect, given this is the rest of a mage’s mana more or less, jettisoned with the force of the veil acting in an omni-directional explosion.

Onto the main design changes; base knockback has remained the same at 3 blocks - however base damage has been removed from this ability - as a 3 block knockback is reasonable, but not a fantastic combat utility in exchange for not being able to do combat anymore. The range has also been reduced from 'as far as you can cast a spell' to 20 meters from focal point to caster max in an attempt to make this local environmental spell feel local instead of a cross-map nuke. Specializations are where I believe expulsion now shines, and I've made an attempt to balance the weight of this ability with more situational effects. Evocational trades knockback for damage, Worldly amps knockback further at the cost of potential range, and the Voidal EMP of Aura trades both knockback and damage for anti-caster utility.

Overall, I attempted to take a formerly simple ‘ultimate’ combat ability and allow an Eminent to choose how they’d exit CRP with a bit more style. I think it’s neat.

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Incanter’s Flow

Spoiler

...

2 Completed Spellcasts (or 2 emotes noncombat) - After the threshold reached, one would have their aura manifest more physically - brighter, denser, or far more prevalent in general. Should the caster be unable, they would be able to manifest their aura colour into their spells. Aswell, the Spellcaster may utilize Expulsion through range, allowing the focalpoint of knockback to be focused wherever a spell may land.

2 Completed Spellcasts (or 2 emotes noncombat) - Expulsion becomes usable at a range of 20 meters-to-center (within line of sight). Additionally, any ongoing aura effects associated with the Eminent intensify in color, luminosity, and general grandiosity.

...

Redlines:

...

- Reduced casting time only applies to spells of with an effective Tier of 1-4, and cannot be used to lower the casting time of Tier 5 spells.

...

- When physically acting (movement, dodging, withstanding, so on) or physically fighting (parrying, blocking, swinging, so on) in combat, a magi with unbreaking focus would be objectively worse than any average descendant, and not capable of overpowering, outmaneuvering, or outperforming any other descendant successfully in these fields. Considered to be at half of their usual strength.

- A magi with 'unbreaking focus' as described disables a mage’s ability to sprint, use weapons above ‘light’ weight (1-ingot) offensively, and generally reduces mobility to below the baseline of a standard mage.

...

WHY:

I’ve moved the ‘enhanced aura’ casting off of T2 Incanter’s Flow and into its own sub-ability ‘Affectionate Casting’. I’ve done this as I believe this tier of Incanter’s is super cool, and should act instead as a raw option for Eminents to enhance their abilities instead of relying on Incanter’s specifically. Additionally, I’ve once again clarified physical and voidal connection requirements within the feature itself, and within the redlines. Notably, pay attention to the word ‘effective’ regarding Tier requirements, as this will prevent modified T4 spells technically being legal, even if they have a T5 mana cost (Looking at blue fire specifically). Redundant redlines removed, overly wordy ones condensed.

[Passive] [Noncombat/”Combat”] - Clarity of Mind

Spoiler

...

Redlines:

Clarity of mind is not a metagaming tool. It is strictly a flavourful way to intensely focus on tasks, situations, or scenarios which require good thought or intuition.

- Clarity of Mind exists as an aesthetic tool to reinforce the mentality of an Eminent, and not as a means of metagaming, or powergaming.

- Use of Clarity of Mind in combat grants no direct mechanical advantage, but rather dictates how well an Eminent may synthesize an emerging situation.

- Clarity of Mind does not grant an Eminent enhanced reflexes or other physical abilities.

WHY:

These changes really are ~~just the full injection of the Affection into the feature description, and~~ splitting the redlines out into more clearly understood elements. ~~Another flavor edit and some modernization.~~

Tier Progression

Spoiler

Tier 1

A Magi familiar with Voidal Eminence would begin to feel the physical and mental changes rather rapidly onset, likely causing some mental instability and physical confusion; resulting in cold or fever-like symptoms as the body adjusts to changes. As well, the magi is plagued by periodic headaches and miasmic visions of errant Mana as they grow accustomed to Aura Sensory. This Tier lasts two weeks.

The fledgling Eminent is overcome with headaches and mild-distress as they adapt to the new-found energy flow from their Affection. Basic Aura Attunement and Arcanic Manipulation become available. This tier lasts for two weeks.

Tier 2

A Magi familiar with Voidal Eminence would have the physical and mental changes apply in full at this point, becoming more solid and far less afflictive. They would begin to understand the basic core of what they are capable of; finding themselves able to use Aura Sensory and Expulsion. This Tier lasts two weeks.

The Eminent is now comfortable with managing their Affection, and begins to understand the minutiae of its operation. Affectionate Casting, and Expulsion become available. This tier lasts for two weeks.

Tier 3

A Magi familiar with Voidal Eminence would be much more controlled and understanding of their abilities, grasping at the finer edges of their practice; able to utilize Incanter’s Flow and Clarity of Mind in their casting.

The Eminent and their Affection become one - echoing intent, and operating in tandem with little concern for self-disruption. Master Magnificus, Incanter’s Flow, and Clarity of Mind become available.

WHY:

Given the changes to core features and the addition of two more, tier progression has been modified to account for these extras. Moving Aura Attunement to T1 seems reasonable given it’s rp utility as an Eminent finds their footing, while defining Master Magnificus as Tier 3 here is also good housekeeping. I’ve decided on T2 for Affectionate Casting, as it demonstrates an Eminent is gaining mastery over their Affection, but has not yet fully done so.

Additions Only Section

No formatting rules here!

[Noncombat / Combat] - Affectionate Casting

Spoiler

One’s mastery of the Void need not be simplistic. Through the Affection, an Eminent finds another path to the Void, one to be exploited in tandem with their own. Though weak, this connection is what separates a truly proficient mage from the rabble.

Affectionate casting uses the Affection’s passive stream of arcana to change the appearance and effects of the Eminent’s spells. An Eminent may choose to imbue their spells with up two of their aura colors, as the Affection provides a second (lesser) conduit to channel through.

At higher tiers (T2 and above) the Eminent may also apply ‘sound effects’ to their casting, often booming thunder or crackling energy to further sell the intensity of evocation. These sound effects will never be loud enough to disconnect a mage.

At the highest state of mastery (T3), an Eminent may extend this effect outwards to allies within a 10 meter radius of their Affection, allowing allied Voidal magi to take advantage of this aesthetic modification, but only those effects being presently affected by the Eminent.

Redlines:

- Affectionate Casting provides no mechanical combative advantage to oneself or their allies.

- ‘Sound Effects’ can at no point be loud enough to affect disconnection of magi.

- Aura casting can at no point shroud or veil the actual effect being affected by the spell.

WHY:

Affectionate casting has been modified to remove the blending of voidal effects upon LT manager and community suggestion. I still personally believe this is a great idea, however I appreciate the will of the people. This ability is designed to allow an Eminent to be flashy with their spells, further selling the archmage angle without actually providing any additional power to back the casting up. This is all enabled by the excess arcana of the Affection, bolstering the already present aura of the Eminent to the levels we see here. This is effectively a way to vent excess arcana, and look cool while doing so.

[Noncombat / Combat] - Arcanic Manipulation

Spoiler

The flow of arcana available from a newly-formed Affection is overwhelming. Spurts of aura and Voidal ‘hiccups’ are common in the early stages of Eminence, but much as a muscle - with proper training control of this raw energy may be honed - and turned into something beautiful... or terrifying.

With a steady flow of active, nearly unusable arcana from their Affection, an Eminent may - with training - direct that energy outwards as a constant expression of aura. At first this may simply be diffuse energy, but with training (T2 and above) the Affection may be used to set low-energy Voidal anchors about the Eminent, sustaining them passively regardless of the Eminent’s connection status.

The resulting effects of aura may manifest as incandescent streams of energy wrapped about the Eminent as a scarf, or serve to highlight specific elements of clothing. Ever-glowing eyes, hands enwreathed in aura, and halos of arcane-energy are other common uses for Arcanic Manipulation, furthering an Eminent’s projection of grandeur.

Given the Affection maintains all Voidal anchors, traditional injuries or effects that would disconnect the Eminent would not interrupt the projection - only direct, physical strikes to the Affection may do so.

Redlines:

- Arcanic Manipulation may be displayed in combat, but does not affect combat mechanically in any way.

- Aura projected through this ability follows all redlines outlined in the Voidal Connection document.

- Direct strikes to the Affection with the strength of a longbow, warhammer, or T3 offensive magic will cause the effect to end, with lesser strikes causing the effect to flicker.

- Arcanic Manipulation does not ‘pre-connect’ an Eminent, who must emote appropriately with distinct casting-tells that may NOT be shared by this ability.

- For the purpose of mana-sensing abilities such as ‘Aura Sensory’ and the ‘Arcane Flow’ potion, Arcanic Manipulation in all forms would count as a weak, but active effect.

- ‘Customizations’ and projections via Arcanic Manipulation must be within 1 meter of the Eminent’s Affection, with creativity of projections highly encouraged.

WHY:

To keep things short and incredibly sweet, archmages draped in aura look spectacular. This allows for character customization and expression in a way previously infeasible due to a mage being required to maintain connection during aura decoration via ‘Imagination’ per Voidal Connection rules. Freedom of aura-decoration supports both elements of this amendment’s vision for Eminent, as voidal power is often observed through the manifestation of aura. Let the archmages glow, it'll be fine, they need more flavor features.

Deprecated Section - Do not MAG

Spoiler

Background/Origin

Spoiler

Long has the Descendant sought mastery over the incomprehensible. The Void, an infinite of creation and destruction, tangible only in it’s most outwards tendrils unto the physical plane. Ever since the first spark of connection, Descendantkind’s first dream was to master The Void. Arrogance, Selfishness, Ignorance; traits of one stubborn in perceiving understanding of something so minutely tangible.

The first words began to proceed throughout history; Ailer, in Elven cultures. Wizard from the halflings; Archmage, and Evoker, from Mankind. Words saved for those who sought to master what they could barely understand, Eminence, over The Void. Although, not every sorcerer was the name they wrought. The titles spread, the words commonplace- and soon anyone could call themselves a Master of The Void. Throughout history has pervaded those who excelled and proceeded beyond what any were capable of imagining- secrets spread to those who truly had excelled above all. These went by few appearances; enhanced understanding, power, and mastery, over The Void. Thus was created- Voidal Eminence, for those truly who ascended above all.

In the ego of each and every descendant there is a desire, no matter how dim, for perfection. This desire was not foreign to the first mage, as even the ‘greats’ of centuries long past sought fecklessly towards an unknowable perfection of craft and skill. No matter how much practice was had, how many spells were learned, or the depths of understanding a mage came to think they had ventured, it was only through outside sources of power and influence that one rose above another.

Eminence changed that.

Through direct and unceasing access to the raw energy that once made creation, mediated through a self-structured ‘Affection’, the Eminent seeks a pure mastery of the Inner Void. Freed from the expectations of moral, political, and impure magical creeds now does the Eminent strain against the breadth of creation at their fingertips; all that perfection requires is the ability to harness it, and not lose oneself in the process.

WHY:

In this section, we redefine the purpose of Eminence from pure perfection to pure ego. Wording has been changed to incite feelings of impossibility in the reader (“fecklessly”, “unknowable”, “outside sources”) when focusing on perfection of vodial arts. Nevertheless, the second (third if you count the transition sentence) paragraph serves to re-focus the reader that something might be possible, despite the risk. This introduction provides a much more stable foundation to build off of, with seed-thoughts of struggle, egoism, and contradiction established much more directly.

Magic Explanation

Spoiler

Eminence is a pseudo mastery of The Inner Void, an understanding of how to utilize it to one’s best advantage. It is taught through a ritual with another Voidal Magi in which one binds themselves to an Affection, which acts as a catalyst for their mastery.

To be a Voidal Eminent is to construct an ‘Affection’ - a Voidally imbued tether - through laborious arcane effort. Eminence is the mastery of this tether, a thing that is so imbued with energy as to maintain a minuscule puncture in the Veil once activated. In this mastery, an Eminent is granted access to droves of arcana when properly focused, and a steady stream of the same as they progress through life - whether they want it or not.

Voidal Eminence requires 3 slots dedicated to Voidal Magic to learn. One’s Eminence will go dormant if they lose knowledge or practice of Voidal Arts.

Voidal Eminence is self-taught, initiated through ritual.

Voidal Eminence is a Feat and one would make an app for so. This app requires the aiding-magi to place their approval on the FA.

Voidal Eminence is mutually exclusive with other Voidal Feats (Voidstalking, Scion, or Artificery).

Augmented knowledge enables one to feel the very substance of spells, and of active mana, expediting the flow of spells and rendering one capable of passively accumulating active mana throughout spells to perform an array of feats in combat

Augmented knowledge and understanding of the Void as perceived through an Affection allow an Eminent preternatural understanding of the spells they cast, of arcana, and a means by which to imbue the former with the latter.

WHY:

This is where things get a bit sticky lore wise. The Inner Void is not mentioned in any lore on the forums outside of Eminence and Artificy. Unless we’re missing hidden lore in the LT section, this is a concept introduced exclusively for Eminent, Artificy, and Voidstalker (ex. the outer-void). What we DO have that is public knowledge is the Veil, an awareness of what energies flow from and around it, and what it has done for other lore in the past.

By specifying ‘Arcana’ as the energy used here, we also bypass the issue of raw/potentially active mana being drawn through the Affection. This forcibly changes some other descriptions away from ‘active-mana’ and into simple descriptions of bolstering casting. Given an Eminent doesn’t gain an expanded mana pool at any point - it also makes sense that they’re just becoming more proficient with what they already have.

Connection

Spoiler

Connection to Voidal Eminence is wrought from another source of Voidal Mana and The Eminent. Connection is sparked and maintained through an Affection. An Affection is some form of Voidal manifestation which one may physically hold or feel; something close to one’s self, resonating with their identity.

An Eminent is defined by their Affection. Regardless of their own personal prowess, it is the Void-soaked Affection - an object once so imbued with energy as to maintain a minuscule puncture of the Veil - that grants the would-be Eminent the energy source required for self, and local dominance. When properly harnessed the Affection simultaneously allows a means to access untapped droves of arcana, and indeed a quazi-consciousness wrought from, and in-sync with the Eminent’s intent.

Requiring another source of mana greater than one’s self, a to-be Voidal Eminent would prepare to infuse mana within the to-be Affection. Alongside another source (By three additional voidal mages, a mana obelisk, a voidal tear, or a Voidstalker), they would infuse mana unto the Affection- similar but not quite as exhausting as Arcanium Creation, aswell potentially (willingly) afflicting things Arcanium could not such as flesh.

Examples may be as simple as a specific managem one may bind to themselves, or perhaps utilizing Focus Crystals within one’s self, using instruments of Arcanium or Magegold, or as severe as implementing tattoos or using limbs (should they be applicable) of the materials mentioned above.

To create an Affection a mage would require a greater source of mana (three additional Voidal mages, a Mana Obelisk, a Voidal tear, or a Voidstalker), and an object intended to be imbued with such weight on-hand. The process would take hours as the Eminent would exhaust their mana-pool into the object, bolstered by their chosen mana source to condense the Voidal affinity of the thing to such a point as to blur the lines between reality and enigmatic creation.

Upon completion of this freeform ritual, the newly minted Eminent, their selected mana source, and the area about each would show signs of heavy draining, with the shining point of excess existing within the Affection now created; this is now an object that pierces the Veil, and allows the energies of the space-beyond to mesh with mortal-reality.The Affection constantly threatens to overflow with a pregnant source of raw arcana, bolstering the standard maa-reserves of an Eminent with amplified potential. Through this artifice, now may the Eminent begin to poke and prod their way into boundless excess.

Without one’s specific Affection, one may not find the benefits of or progress in Voidal Eminence. Should one’s Affection be lost or destroyed, a new one must be created through the same ritual requiring another mage above; binding one’s self to the Affection. Hence, why more severe solutions physically placed upon one’s body, may be more beneficial in such respects.

If one were to lose their Affection for two year’s (two week IC) time, not only would the knowledge, but the practice of Voidal Eminence would fade rapidly into obscurity.

Redlines:

- The connection ritual for Eminence does not grant information relating to the creation of Arcanium.

- Affections must be visible in the open air, or obvious if embedded within a body-part during use.

- An Affection may be no smaller than 2cm3 (~2in3) , and no larger than 60cm3 (~2ft3).

- An Affection physically does not grant a combat advantage, and may not be used as a weapon.

- Affections are unique to their Eminent, and are useless in the hands of other Voidal magi.

- An Affection may be re-made after 1 week of the Eminent losing control of it.

- An Eminent without an active Affection for 1 month results in this feat being ‘dormant’.

- An Affection can take the form of any object that Arcanium may be made from, in addition to organic matter originating from the Eminent themselves - provided such matter remains attached to their body during the creation process.

- For the purpose of arcane-sensing abilities such as ‘Aura Sensory’ and ‘Arcana Flow’, the Affection is considered a medium-intensity Voidal effect of unknown origin.

- Without possession of their Affection, an Eminent is unable to interact with their features and abilities unless specified in individual redlines.

WHY:

First and foremost we’ve moved from 5 paragraphs of connection information to 3. This is due to the fact I moved many ‘rule’ focused Affection-centered elements out of the main text of this part and others to redlines. This is both to remain consistent across the document and to condense information on the Affection into one place.

Further, the definition of the Affection as ‘a voidal manifestation’ into a properly fleshed out lore-type-item that interacts with the Veil grounds the feat further into existing lore, and relies less on player-fiat to explain how the Affection works. An archmage should know what they’re making and how it operates, which is why we remove the vagueness.

Physical Effects

Spoiler

A mage following the path of Voidal Eminence would notice no discernable changes that a normal magi is not already accustomed to, save their affection.

An Affection may be implanted upon one’s self in the form of a limb, tattoo, or otherwise permanent alteration of one’s body to “Mark” upon themselves- eligible to utilize The Void and Active Mana in a much more fluent and continuous way. As stated before however, this Affection would require being made of Focus Crystals, Arcanium, or Magegold- although Atronach Limbs would aswell suffice.

An Eminent that chooses to embed an Affection within their body would soon find the thrumming potential channeled by the artifact neigh unbearable. In time they will adapt to such, though not without additional stressors imparted onto the mage. For this reason, Eminents that choose to embed their Affections physically are urged to choose at least two mental effects from the following section, instead of the standard suggested one.

WHY:

When thinking about physical effects for the Eminent, this essentially boiled down to ‘you’re better at casting if you embed it in yourself but we won’t tell you how’. Prima facie this is a bad idea, and can lead to powergaming without proper redlines. I’ve removed this section and instead added reasonable, physical downsides (becoming overwhelmed with energy) that may lead to further characterization through inclusion of additional mental effects as noted below. In a way, the feat mimics Voidstalker’s ‘accept the horror’ vs ‘keep it at arms reach’ decision; an Eminent that embeds their Affection will find it easier to maintain control of it, but they may be otherwise affected mentally

References

Seers - Cozeners of Vaasek

Credits

Squak & Co. (Original Lore)

Arzota (Writing)

Esotericas (Inspiration)

ClassyDryad (Inspiration & Consultation)

RockyTheWolf (Review & Consultation)

Blackhand7 (Consultation)

Black_Drag0n (Consultation)

Uhrara (Review)

Keia (Review)

Edited Sunday at 09:28 PM by Shadeleaf
Finalized?

Samler · May 13

Man, this should had been a rewrite with the amount of changes! :)

ClassyDryad · May 13

"This could be an ammendment" final boss (finally flavor for eminent)

PrimnyaQuorum · May 13

mrow.

1 hour ago, Shadeleaf said:

Connection

Hide contents

Connection to Voidal Eminence is wrought from another source of Voidal Mana and The Eminent. Connection is sparked and maintained through an Affection. An Affection is some form of Voidal manifestation which one may physically hold or feel; something close to one’s self, resonating with their identity.

An Eminent is defined by their Affection. Regardless of their own personal prowess, it is the Void-soaked Affection - an object once so imbued with energy as to maintain a minuscule puncture of the Veil - that grants the would-be Eminent the energy source required for self, and local dominance. When properly harnessed the Affection simultaneously allows a means to access untapped droves of arcana, and indeed a quazi-consciousness wrought from, and in-sync with the Eminent’s intent.

Requiring another source of mana greater than one’s self, a to-be Voidal Eminent would prepare to infuse mana within the to-be Affection. Alongside another source (By three additional voidal mages, a mana obelisk, a voidal tear, or a Voidstalker), they would infuse mana unto the Affection- similar but not quite as exhausting as Arcanium Creation, aswell potentially (willingly) afflicting things Arcanium could not such as flesh.

Examples may be as simple as a specific managem one may bind to themselves, or perhaps utilizing Focus Crystals within one’s self, using instruments of Arcanium or Magegold, or as severe as implementing tattoos or using limbs (should they be applicable) of the materials mentioned above.

To create an Affection a mage would require a greater source of mana (three additional Voidal mages, a Mana Obelisk, a Voidal tear, or a Voidstalker), and an object intended to be imbued with such weight on-hand. The process would take hours as the Eminent would exhaust their mana-pool into the object, bolstered by their chosen mana source to condense the Voidal affinity of the thing to such a point as to blur the lines between reality and enigmatic creation.

Upon completion of this freeform ritual, the newly minted Eminent, their selected mana source, and the area about each would show signs of heavy draining, with the shining point of excess existing within the Affection now created; this is now an object that pierces the Veil, and allows the energies of the space-beyond to mesh with mortal-reality.The Affection constantly threatens to overflow with a pregnant source of raw arcana, bolstering the standard maa-reserves of an Eminent with amplified potential. Through this artifice, now may the Eminent begin to poke and prod their way into boundless excess.

Without one’s specific Affection, one may not find the benefits of or progress in Voidal Eminence. Should one’s Affection be lost or destroyed, a new one must be created through the same ritual requiring another mage above; binding one’s self to the Affection. Hence, why more severe solutions physically placed upon one’s body, may be more beneficial in such respects.

If one were to lose their Affection for two year’s (two week IC) time, not only would the knowledge, but the practice of Voidal Eminence would fade rapidly into obscurity.

Redlines:

- The connection ritual for Eminence does not grant information relating to the creation of Arcanium.

- Affections must be visible in the open air, or obvious if embedded within a body-part during use.

- An Affection may be no smaller than 2cm3 (~2in3) , and no larger than 60cm3 (~2ft3).

- An Affection physically does not grant a combat advantage, and may not be used as a weapon.

- Affections are unique to their Eminent, and are useless in the hands of other Voidal magi.

- An Affection may be re-made after 1 week of the Eminent losing control of it.

- An Eminent without an active Affection for 1 month results in this feat being ‘dormant’.

- An Affection can take the form of any object that Arcanium may be made from, in addition to organic matter originating from the Eminent themselves - provided such matter remains attached to their body during the creation process.

- For the purpose of arcane-sensing abilities such as ‘Aura Sensory’ and ‘Arcana Flow’, the Affection is considered a medium-intensity Voidal effect of unknown origin.

- Without possession of their Affection, an Eminent is unable to interact with their features and abilities unless specified in individual redlines.

WHY:

First and foremost we’ve moved from 5 paragraphs of connection information to 3. This is due to the fact I moved many ‘rule’ focused Affection-centered elements out of the main text of this part and others to redlines. This is both to remain consistent across the document and to condense information on the Affection into one place.

Further, the definition of the Affection as ‘a voidal manifestation’ into a properly fleshed out lore-type-item that interacts with the Veil grounds the feat further into existing lore, and relies less on player-fiat to explain how the Affection works. An archmage should know what they’re making and how it operates, which is why we remove the vagueness.

Frankly, this doesn't make any sense. The only thing in voidal lore that self-sustains a connection through the veil is a tear, and the implication that all Eminents are going mini voidal nukes with them feels reductive at best. Affections are just focus points that are personally bonded to a particular mage (the eminent). They don't need to be these hyper specific things. Likewise, Manifestations are already existing lore under Artificery; its odd to see a Voidal Manifestation now refer to two different things. Likewise, I thing its absurd to turn this into some meta-test *casts aura sensory /msg Hey do you have any affections on you? Any Voidal Enchantments? Nothing was really wrong with this section, and these changes feel like they're doing too much in an effort to "simplify".

1 hour ago, Shadeleaf said:

Mental Effects

Hide contents

Those warped by Eminence will undergo a variety of possible mental changes, and may suffer from the following:

The mind of an Eminent is one that inherently seeks perfection of craft - a state that is wholly unattainable. Accordingly, the Eminent will find themselves in one of two categories: convinced of their eventual attainment of perfection, or with an understanding of the futility of their task - forced to maintain a veil of competence for the sake of outward appearances. A non-exhaustive list for traits for these categories may be found below, and such traits may shift as roleplay demands.

Selfishness! It is something all users will develop.

Susceptible to taking advantage, using, and manipulating others for your own advantage. Sometimes others can have use in your pursuit for more.

Constant craving for power. It’s in best interest to seek it through any means necessary. (Political, personal, etc..) Most Eminence users develop Megalomania.

Various “negative” complexes are common. Someone may develop a “hero complex” which makes them tackle harder work that they later brag about in search of recognition. Other complexes may include:

God complex

Superiority complex

Martyr complex

Ignorance, and arrogance. Opinions aren’t swayed easily. Descendants with this feat value their personal views, and take little consideration in hearing the opinions of others.

Disregard for the feelings of others. Indifference!

Impulsive decisions are made at times, often when proven wrong. Users may feel intense urges to perform daring acts out of the blue.

Narcissism, and Nihilism may develop.

Sociopathic tendencies. Descendants affected by Eminence lack the ability to notice/understand the feelings of others.

Urges to show off, or gloat about the “best parts” of one’s self.

The delusion that your top qualities are the best of the best.

Substance abuse for a “greater” feeling.

Perfectionism

An extreme sense of pride.

Different triggers, or events may cause ego trips (an event where you may feel admired, or noticed for something and your only goal is to increase this feeling.)

Various mental disorders may develop as well:

Minor, to extreme cases of Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Binge eating disorders

OCD

archmage__arcane_gladiator_tcg_by_mantho

- Mania & delusions of grandeur

- Narcissism

- Indifference towards others

- General misanthropy

- Pre-disposition to substance abuse

- Impulsive behavior

- Deep, thinly veiled insecurity

- Lone-wolf mentality

- Manipulative interpersonal tendencies

- Martyr/god/hero Complex

- Anti-authoritarian ideological shift

- Increasingly fragile ego

WHY:

Poor formatting, inconsistent punctuation / wording, incoherent effect pairings, and a broken image link for starters. Additionally, the inclusion of actual real-life diseases as ‘Bipolar Disorder’, ‘OCD’, and ‘Binge Eating Disorders’ are in extremely bad taste. Stigmatizing mental illness in this way is not only inconsiderate to those that suffer, but misses several dimensions of these disorders and instead encourages RP of only caricature-like versions (very few people are digging through the DSM to understand the nuances of bulimia in an archmage). This list - loathe as I am to include it - also allows for a more introspective and self-concerned Eminent, something that is arguably missing in current voidal RP. The archmage that ponders their orb is as valid as the flashy freak that the current version suggests.

While I appreciate the un-DSM-5ing of lore, I think this is equally too reductive. This forces all emients to be unsociable, self-absorbed egoists with 0 room to be flexiable. I don't want to play andrew tate, archmage of whatever. A vast majority of these traits sway to the two extemes of "I'm uselss and everyone hates me and knows it" or "I'm the GOAT". The general mental alteration of a Eminent is the belief and desire to feel and be better then everyone else because it's the "archmage" feat; this just feels like its doing too much simplfying again.

Likewise, where the affection is, or what it is, should have no bearing on how many or which mental effects one takes. It's a weird double standard to have.

1 hour ago, Shadeleaf said:

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Aura Sensory Attunement

Hide contents

An affinity for their sect, one may find themselves sensing mana in a more literal form. As once when first connected, mana and voidal presence was a new feeling which faded with time - a magi may find themselves once more, feeling the same way. Unlike the product of amateurism before, the feeling becomes deeper and more profound, enabling the magi to understand the presence and concentration of mana, perhaps even giving insight to its origin.

Awareness and Reaction. These two elements separate a dead mage from the living, and a successful scholar from charlatan. The Eminent - bolstered by their Affection - has these elements more than any other heightened by its presence, able not only to analyze the material world - but the world beyond with ease.

A Voidal Magi possessing this feat may sense voidal energies and it’s concentration, within a given area of item to determine potential information required for further understanding. This may manifest in finding ones Aura Colour, detecting if the area had been recently cast in; and if so, what type of casting, and so on.

Eminents are further evolved in their understanding of arcane and thus perceive its flow with greater clarity, allowing them to become visibly aware of one's own (or another's) exhaustion when it comes to voidal spellcasting. This is to say that an Eminent will be able to distinguish the slightest flicker in their own or another's aura as spells are cast, which implies that they may tell when an arcane mage is more or less drained by the act of mustering a spell.

This effect is wholly aesthetic and cannot provide one any sort of combative advantage (or disadvantage) in any capacity, including but not limited to relaying information about another's spellcasting exhaustion. It is but a harmless, vain tool to allow Eminents another storytelling resource and all that one may see when another (or even oneself) starts becoming exhausted due to over-exertion is a decrease in light arouund the caster's aura.

An Eminent may - with a single emote - activate Aura Attunement by turning their Affection’s ‘awareness’ to the material world. In this state, the Eminent may identify sources of Voidal energy and their concentration out to a 10 meter radius. This ability may be used to identify prior voidal casting in an area within 1 OOC hour, or 1 narrative day with OOC permission from the initial caster. With proper permission, spell-tier (intensity) and discipline (type) may be determined.

At the second tier of Eminence, the Affection may be used over the course of two emotes to affix a low-power Voidal anchor to an object upon touch. This anchor persists for 3 OOC days, or until the Affection is destroyed - whichever is sooner. Any Eminent during this time may identify the presence of this anchor via Aura Attunement; it is additionally visible to any features with ‘spell sight’, such as the 'Aura Sensory' of other Voidal feats or the 'Arcana Flow' potion.

The third tier of Eminence allows the caster to permanently affix aspects of their aura to an object in a free-form enchantment ritual over 5 emotes via their Affection. The details and complexity of such follow guidelines set in ‘Arcanic Manipulation’, but are intended to allow for customization of arcane foci, clothing, or mundane objects such as tomes and scrolls.

Redlines:

- Aura Sensory and all applications of Voidal Eminence do not apply to Kani’s passive mana, or other magics unless they are Voidal in nature.

- Aura Attunement’s detection works only on Voidal casting.

- Aura Sensory may not “Detect” if someone is a mage. It is more of a hook-tell system, in which were a magi recently casting, one would be able to discern the specifics from their in accordance to opponen emotes of the magi being examined. This only applies to Voidal magi unless otherwise specified in lore, and any other type of mage may not be "detectable".

- Aura Attunement may only detect if an individual is actively casting, not if they possess Voidal MAs or CAs.

- Aura Sensory may only detect casting as recent as one OOC, or if agreed upon, narrative hour since the spell was cast.

- Without OOC consent for area inspection, an Eminent may only determine IF Voidal magic was cast.

- Aura Sensory has a range of ten blocks and requires line of sight.

- Aura Sensory examining Aura Colour does not discern who is a magi and who is not. Aswell, one does not have to be a magi to possess a latent aura colour.

- Active spellcasting or Active Enchantment would be much more vibrant and easily visible to The Voidal Eminent. Enchantments and spells unactivated or non-voidal in nature would be observed no differently than normal.

- Aura Attunement may not detect enchanted items, unless actively used.

- T2 ‘tagging’ requires OOC consent if the object is in possession of another character.

- T2 ‘tagging’ must be emoted in at least ‘quiet’ range.

- T2 ‘tagging’ and T3 ‘augmentation’ is additionally visible through Transfiguration’s T2 'Voidal Feeling'.

WHY:

As we get into our first actual ‘rewritten’ - sorry, amended - feature we can see that Sensory has been turned to Attunement. This is because Eminent lacks any form of day-to-day RP potential outside of combat presently, outside of improved spellforging. Accordingly, we’ve introduced a form of aura ‘marking’ with generous emote counts for the party being marked (if unwilling). This may be used to flavorfully find known hidden tomes, track the clothing of someone interacted with in a market, or even as a swindling mechanism in card tricks.

With the Affection now being a fully defined hole in the veil (tiny tiny hole), the marking now occurs via a concentration of that energy with the mage’s own onto a single point, much as a soldering iron may burn the smallest hole in a piece of plastic. The sensory aspect activates the Affection as a sensor given its voidal acuity, and provides most of the base-effects of the original piece.

Finally, redlines have been greatly simplified. Some of these were written in a circuitous and unnecessary manner so cleaning up the big points into easily digestible, readable at-a-glance versions will both help the Eminent looking for their own information while RPing, and also anyone seeking clarification without first-hand knowledge of the lore.

I don't think a "passive" needs an 1-emote activation. It's a passive. Likewise, the affection does nothing; it has no will or sentience of its own, nor is it enchanted or capable of doing anything. It's a super-arcane focus at the end of the day, so mechanics that justify themselves by "the affection does it" will create more issues then they will fix by being simple.

Flatly, the "tagging" doesn't work. It's a meta-test gimmick. If you want to tag things with your aura, cool, but what's stopping john normal mage from doing this? Why is it locked behind T2 of one of the main voidal feats? Likewise, your gutting half the flavour of Aura Sensory in favor of replacing it with this...anchor tagging; why? Again, this just feels like in an effort to simplfy, a majority of what made this thing aura sensory was axed.

1 hour ago, Shadeleaf said:

[Active] [Noncombat/Combat] - Expulsion

Hide contents

Expulsion is the act of temporarily becoming a focus - withdrawing the mana around one’s self and condensing it, before firing it in a metaphorical, metaphysical “ring” outwards. In doing so, no matter the circumstance - a Magi would be significantly hindered, if not outright knocked out from sheer mental strain; let alone killed outright, upon the unlikely case of overexertion.

As water through a river, as light through a prism, as smoke through a flume - so too may an Eminent channel excess arcana from their Affection to ranchorus effect. Equivalent in consequence to some of the most heinous Voidal rituals devised, an Eminent may embrace the full volume of the energies coursing through their Affection in glorious calamity.

Expulsion would require the mage take two emotes, outside of any other casting - one emote for “Condensing” mana, all of which may be around them, and a second emote for “Expulsing”, or pushing out all the mana they had condensed.

Over the course of two emotes independent to prior casting, the Eminent may condense the arcana flowing through their Affection their own mana pool - disabling all visual effects of aura-modifying abilities - before expelling it in a grand, ill-conceived burst of energy-made-manifest.

Expulsion would reach up to ten-metres outward from the mage in every direction, causing a knockback effect of at least three meters upon targets. Extremely heavy (Golem or heavier) targets may only be staggered, while those below such a threshold would be put to the floor - requiring an emote to get up once more. This forceful movement would encourage unnatural body movements and likely dealing damage with the colliding environment.

The force explodes out from the Eminent (or a location within 20 meters if having reached 2-charge Incanter’s Flow) in a 10x10 meter radius with the force of a battering-ram, resulting in a knockback effect of at least 2 meters for any caught within. This expulsion would knock standard combatants prone, and stagger extremely heavy targets such as golems or pale-knights.

Due to “Active” mana being the main focus of the magi, it may be that of a familiar magic- outside of just pure force. This may manifest in the form of different evocation, although ineffective with other forms of voidal magic.

The Eminent may - on account of their own mana being channeled - apply one of three effects to this expulsion dependent on their available casting affinities; the ‘aura’ augmentation is only available at T3 Eminence. Eminents may also choose to leave Expulsion unmodified, for the base effect described above.

Fire Evocation may send out an incinerating plume of flame- alongside the knockback and knockdown effect, may inflict light (first degree) burns along exposed areas of the target. This may aswell manifest to smoke, which may temporarily blind or choke opponents.

Water Evocation may manifest into water or ice, bearing the force of such aswell - enough to knock even the heaviest opponents to the ground, or expulsing objects akin to hail, ranging from mostly harmless or lightly irritating pebbles to larger shapes and sizes to golfballs or rock-like objects with harmful edges which may bruise and give minor cuts.

Earth Evocation may manifest as rocks or sand, the prior bearing the force to knock down the heaviest opponents and even dent armour; the latter, sand, which may temporarily impair an opponent's vision and graze exposed skin.

Air Evocation would be more difficult to utilize, but potentially far more effective - knocking down opponents with much more force, and twice as far. An opponent may be sent flying a direction up to six meters away, and down much harder; enough to knock the wind out of someone, encouraging exhaustion and still requiring one emote to stand once more.

Evocational - Requiring at least one evocational Void magic be known (fire, water, earth, etc), expulsion additionally deals moderate elemental damage to exposed targets (first degree burns, ice shards, rock-spray) caught in the blast while directing a less powerful 1-block knockback at warhammer strength not likely to knock those within range prone.

Other forms of voidal magic would bear an aesthetic affect representative of that magic - Translocation perhaps an intermittently-disappearing-and-reappearing ring, illusion potentially taking on an appearance as a reflection of light or someother, etc.. Each of these effects would be strictly aesthetic however, do not provide any harmful advantage in combat.

Worldly - Requiring knowledge of transfiguration or translocation, an Eminent may charge this ability to instead knock foes back 3 meters, or up to 2 meters into the air. Force would be applied to ensure a ‘rough’ landing for those affected by the second option.

Aura - Active mana rips through those in the radius, resulting in no knockback, but immediate disconnection from the Void (if present), and the ‘short-circuiting’ of Voidal enchantments. Individuals caught in this radius would be unable to re-connect or charge their enchantments for two emotes thereafter as their bodies radiate with the color(s) of the Eminent’s aura in spectacular fashion.

Expulsion would at the least disable a mage from casting further, and put them at a high level of exhaustion - optionally, a mage may be outright knocked out from the amount of force conjured.

Following the completion of this ability, an Eminent and their Affection are rendered utterly drained of energy - both physical and metaphysical. This results in a heightened state of exhaustion or - depending on the prior amount of casting - unconsciousness.

Redlines:

- After Expulsion, a caster may not utilize any spells, and may not provide any meaningful combat; barely able to pick up any form of weapon, and inable to complete any physically-arduous task, despite prior-strength or stamina. Unless magically rejuvenated, the recovery process a full day in narrative time.

- An Eminent may cast no spells after Expulsion is triggered for the remainder of the CRP it is used in and 1 OOC hour thereafter or be subject to Thaumburn unless magically rejuvenated.

- After casting Expulsion, the magi physically acts objectively worse in all forms of movement and combat than a standard, normal descendant of any class, and is easily outperformed and outmaneuvered.

- After triggering Expulsion, an Eminent is no longer able to sprint, wield offensive or defensive weapons in any capacity, and has their mobility greatly reduced to below the baseline of a standard mage. This effect terminates after 1 OOC hour or upon receiving magical rejuvenation.

- Expulsion may not be used to damage (or by side product damage) the environment unless with RO consent.

- Expulsion may not be used to damage the environment without RO consent, or unless part of the environment (i.e. a ballista) is actively being used in associated CRP.

- For the purpose of Thanhium and related effects, Expulsion in all flavors counts as a T5 spell.

WHY:

Of the existing spells that I did choose to modify, expulsion got the most thorough reworking. To begin, we’ve reworked the wording to be in-line with the Eminent’s channeling of arcana through the Affection, with the bolstered expulsion of their own mana (charged with the Affection’s own arcana) being the thing that knocks opponents down at the end of casting. We’ll also touch on the redlines upfront, as the design philosophy here may take a bit.

I’ve made a point of specifying the degrees to how an eminent is hindered physically and magically (along with associated consequence) instead of vague notions of ‘objectively worse in all forms’. I’ve clarified the environmental damage to be potentially damaging to built-structures involved in combat against the eminent without RO consent, and additionally noted the tier at which Expulsion affects Thanhium. I chose tier 5 for the Thanic effect, given this is the rest of a mage’s mana more or less, jettisoned with the force of the veil acting in an omni-directional explosion.

Onto the actual design changes; base knockback has been reduced from 3 meters to 2, and any additional elemental damage has been stripped from the initial effect. Specializing, eminents may choose one of three paths depending on the situation - providing a more interesting ‘kit’ for the feat, as well as leaning into the magical function of this feature instead of just manifested concussive force. Evocational amps the prior ‘light’ elemental damage to ‘moderate’, while reducing the base knockback and eliminating any expectation of knocking targets prone. Worldly amps the knockback without any evocational damage, and additionally gives the eminent the option to knock opponents ‘up’ instead of just back. Finally, Aura is a magical EMP, with the duration tuned to be one emote longer (2 emotes total) than what a mage being knocked down would experience for voidal disruption.

Overall, I attempted to take a formerly simple ‘ultimate’ combat ability and allow an Eminent to choose how they’d exit CRP with a bit more style. I think it’s neat.

You've nerfed what has to be the most useless and unused ability in voidal magic. I'm confused as to why.

What is "magically rejuvenated?" What are you referring to? Why do you need both an encounter duration and an OOC timer duratino atop that? Why did the knockback need nerfing? Why did the range for the Incanter's Flow 2 need a cap when one didn't exist prior? There is a difference between 10m radius and 10x10, and there was nothing wrong w/ a 10m radius. The "force of a battering ram" is a random metric of strength that is generally unused. Likewise, you've once again turned what was a feat of mastery over magic -literally separting the amibent mana from the enviroment and mixing it with the lasts of your internal reserves into a bomb of pure energy - into "I look at my affection and it does something", which again; why am I a master mage if the only reason I'm "good" is because of some cool rock I poured mana into?

Likewise, removing the flavour from the spell and replacing it with three classes fells horrific. I can safely say old explusion had good types and bad types, but this has become a literal glass cannon ability [why does it need connection disruption? Why?] None of these changes here are good, they're just reflavorings hiding nerfs for no reason.

1 hour ago, Shadeleaf said:

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Incanter’s Flow

Hide contents

Incanter’s Flow, or “Spellweaving”, is the practice of understanding a rhythm of casting, and becoming in tune with evoking. With so, one may, following certain feats of spellcasting - perform spells of incredible power or varied versatility.
With unerring concentration, the rhythm of this world and the one beyond become clear to an Eminent. An ebb-and-flow relationship with the Affection develops, the suffusion of arcana becomes less of a hindrance, and more of a boon; The Eminent Approaches Perfection.

Incanter’s flow is a light “rhythm” or progression while casting. As one casts and remains connected, it becomes significantly easier to cast and continue so- manifesting within passive, and more active, effects.

Incanter’s Flow steps-up in effect depending on either the amount of emotes completed out of combat (NC), or the amount of completed spells successfully cast in combat (C). While in Incanter’s Flow, an Eminent’s spells may seem to condense, crystalize, or intensify in visuals; this is a required element of this feature required to provide an additional ‘casting tell’ while in Incanter's Flow. Effects for each tier of Incanter’s flow are as follow:

Passive

After remaining connected for X amount of spellcasts (connect(or charge)-> cast, X counts for it being “completed”), one would have effects based on the dedication to their casting. If using noncombat spells, X counts for every emote spent.

1 Completed Spellcasts (or 1 emotes noncombat) - After the threshold reached, one would have their fatigue reduced- enough to feel as if they had not come under the effects of standard casting-exhaustion - this effect becoming more prevalent should the chain be continued. This is visualized in any strictly aesthetic manner of a magi entering “Their Element”, but a tell must be given that a mage has entered their flow.

1 Spell(s) [C] / 1 Emote(s) [NC] - The physical effects of casting-exhaustion lessen on the Eminent; this reduction in exhaustion increases through each tier, with the mage feeling nearly nothing while close to Thaumburn at full-flow.

2 Completed Spellcasts (or 2 emotes noncombat) - After the threshold reached, one would have their aura manifest more physically - brighter, denser, or far more prevalent in general. Should the caster be unable, they would be able to manifest their aura colour into their spells. Aswell, the Spellcaster may utilize Expulsion through range, allowing the focalpoint of knockback to be focused wherever a spell may land.

2 Spell(s) [C] / 2 Emote(s) [NC] - Expulsion becomes usable at a range of 20 meters-to-center (within line of sight). Additionally, any ongoing aura effects associated with the Eminent intensify in color, luminosity, and general grandiosity.

3 Completed Spellcasts (or 3 emotes noncombat) - After this threshold is reached, it would be incredibly difficult to lose connection or focus unless intentional. Unless magically disrupted, further wounded beyond small cuts or a bruises(requiring a single solid blow or cut upon their person, be it a limb or their main body), or outright knocked to the ground, one would remain connected to the void until the end of combat, or for a narrative hour noncombat. Additionally, their intensive focus allows them to more swiftly cast their spells at the cost of half of their physical might, allowing them to remove [1] emote from the casting time of any voidal magic(or in non-combat, perform rituals twice as fast). In combat, the minimum this may reduce a spell to is [1 connect+2 cast] for its requirements, and may only effect spells up to Tier 4 in nature.

3 Spell(s) [C] / 3 Emote(s) [NC] - The Eminent becomes vulnerable to Voidal disconnection only through ‘moderate’ strikes and above (magical or non-magical), or effects that otherwise grievously displace them physically. Additionally, spells cast by the Eminent benefit from a 1 emote casting-time reduction (to a minimum of 1 connect + 2 casting) for spells of T4-equivalent and below. Additionally, entering this heightened state of connection reduces one’s physical ability by roughly half their usual.

Redlines:

- Moderate strikes are those defined with the strength of a longbow, warhammer, or T3 offensive magic.

- When Transferring noncombat to combat, one may not transfer over their level of Incanting flow. Upon transition, it reverts to 0. This as well applies to if one does 3 noncombat emotes to achieve the “Narrative Hour Noncombat”.

- Charges of Incanter’s Flow do not carry over between non-combat and combat scenarios. Charges accrued during one, are lost upon entering the other.

- Reduced casting time still requires all usual instances of a spell to be emoted, essentially allowing you to mix two of the emotes together as your character performs their magic more swiftly than usual. This can only bring a spell down to 2 emotes of casting after connection, NO less.

- Reduced casting time still requires all elements of a spell to be emoted, simply with two ‘casting steps’ being condensed into one emote.

- Reduced casting time only applies to spells of with an effective Tier of 1-4, and cannot be used to lower the casting time of Tier 5 spells.

- Each emote while in Incanter’s Flow (regardless of stage) requires a tell of some kind to show the mage has entered a heightened state of casting. Examples include a much more vibrant aura alongside an emotionless, concentrated expression. Other things work, so long as there is a change in both the aura and physical demeanor of the caster.

- Each emote of Incanter’s Flow requires an additional magical tell be relayed to demonstrate the activation of this ability.

- When physically acting (movement, dodging, withstanding, so on) or physically fighting (parrying, blocking, swinging, so on) in combat, a magi with unbreaking focus would be objectively worse than any average descendant, and not capable of overpowering, outmaneuvering, or outperforming any other descendant successfully in these fields. Considered to be at half of their usual strength.

- 3-charge physical reduction disables a mage’s ability to sprint, use weapons above ‘light’ weight (1-ingot) offensively, and generally reduces mobility to below the baseline of a standard mage.

- 3 Completed Spellcasts applies the “Narrative Hour” rule, usable in subsequent combat scenarios, but only within an Event.

- “Unbreakable Focus” only applies to effects such as deafening sound, pain, or so on. Things such as casting while armoured or sprinting would still completely disable one from casting. Things that break connection normally on the mages behalf (Ex. armored, sprinting, losing line of sight (by blindness or normally), would still break connection or cease casting).

- 3-charge ‘Unbreakable Focus’ may still be interrupted by non-pain/disruption disconnection triggers as outlined in the ‘Voidal Connection’ document.

- An Eminent can sustain light-injuries without losing their connection at full stacks. Able to be broken by anything more than a light cut/bruise, or alternatively a direct hit - such as a punch square to the torso, head, etc. Being pushed over/tripped would break focus. Common sense applies here. Loud noises also will not break focus.

- Ranged-Expulsion applies all normal effects and designs of normal Expulsion, to both the Caster and Targets.

WHY:

Two big elements of note here. First off, I’ve moved the ‘enhanced aura’ casting off of T2 Incanter’s Flow and into its own sub-ability ‘Affectionate Casting’. I’ve done this as I believe this tier of Incanter’s is super cool, and should act instead as a raw option for Eminents to enhance their abilities instead of relying on Incanter’s specifically. Additionally, I’ve once again clarified physical and voidal connection requirements within the feature itself, and within the redlines. Notably, pay attention to the word ‘effective’ regarding Tier requirements, as this will prevent modified T4 spells technically being legal, even if they have a T5 mana cost (Looking at blue fire specifically). Redundant redlines removed, overly wordy ones condensed.

Again, Incanter's flow was that the mage entered a rhythm of spellcasting, which has been reduced to "the affection does the work". Likewise, the tells being present in the aura being moved to the spell's feels ripe for abuse, as many mages love to minimize their spell tells or just outright lie about them.

Moderate strikes, as described, is insane. T3 offensive magic is way to vague, yet somehow if I get speared through by a sword im ok, because it wasn't a longbow or a warhammer; but also later on you say I need to follow the mechanics of voidal connection, which would have that DC me? Again, this feels like in an effort to simplfy, you have made more problems and rely too much on the affection to carry everything at the cost of all flavor.

I play an Emiment, in a somewhat non-traditional way. I enjoy that, and this would effectively remove the possibility for me to do that. The non-combative stuff is ok, I guess, barring aura-sensory, but I cannot help but think this amendment pack only serves to adjust eminent to how you believe it to be, not how they can be. Everything here seems to fit the single-minded approached of "the affection is everything to me" where the Eminent is just a bystander to the awesome might of this cool rock I enchanted. I cannot recall an Eminent who plays like that in recent memory nor really any eminent who hasn't relied on their narrative being they where the archmage/strongest/whatever, not their affection.

None of this addresses the few and minute issues eminent has. It's just a lot of fluff with a lot of changes that don't seem justified beyond fitting what you think eminent should be, at the cost of what most other people consider eminent to be or can be.

Shadeleaf · May 13

1 hour ago, PrimnyaQuorum said:

-snip-

Thanks for your feedback! I'll address each piece of your concerns here for clarification on intent:

Connection:
Regarding your lore concerns, you'll note first here that Manifestations no longer refer to two different things, they refer to one thing - as I removed any wording about 'manifestations' from Eminent Affection lore. Artificer can keep it, it's relatively ill defined so don't want it. On your note regarding the self-sustaining element of the Affection, quoting myself, the "tiny tiny hole" notably goes away when destroyed or removed from an Eminent's possession. Its the conjunction of the Eminent's mana and the ritual modification of the Affection that causes the hole in the first place causing this glut of arcana. This is regardless better than the old version's suggestion that 'activa mana' pours from the Affection. Since you know the lore so well I'll let you assume why.

On your final point of the 'connection' section, I believe you were referring to 'Aura Attunement', not 'Aura Sensory'. I appreciate your concern if that was the case, but notably Aura Attunement still has similar redlines and no enhanced 'meta-test(?)' abilities as the other two voidal feats. It has instead been amended with additional RP utility that Artificer and Voidstalker (Scion is here too) already have in droves. It demonstrates an ability to harness aura and the excess arcana flowing through the Affection with a sense of mastery.

Aura Attunement

Your opinion that 'The Affection does Nothing' is a neat one, and certainly was the case in the prior lore. Here, in this lore, we're defining new things it can do. One of those things is being so in-touch with the Eminent that's connected to it, that the voidal sensitivity (vis-a-vis the itty bitty little tiny hole in the veil it maintains) of the Affection can be shared by the Eminent. No Affection, no passive - hence the 1 emote activation (which then can remain on passively c:) that requires the Affection to be present. Creating more issues is actually the idea here believe it or not, if an Eminent doesn't have their Affection, now they can't do a lot of things. This is the one of the main points of the ~~rewrite~~ amendment.

Regarding tagging 'Not working' and being more of a 'meta-test gimmick'. I don't think those words mean what you think they mean. What was removed from 'Aura Sensory' was a feature to determine if someone was magically exhausted (that wouldn't actually be usable outside of messaging, as you mentioned a 'meta-test'), and an extension of the still-present magical sensing that would allow an Eminent to determine things like 'aura-color' (that in red-lines could NOT be used for determining if someone was a mage or not). If anything, this ability has become less of a 'meta-test' in it's passive features.

Given the active tagging features, I'm just going to say you're wrong? "What's stopping john normal mage from doing this?" Its not in the lore. That is whats stopping Mr. Normal Mage. I'm putting it in the lore. If you want to amend Voidal Connection to include this in core lore then by all means feel free to do so. I think it's neat and provides potentially interesting RP, and so it's going in Eminent.

Expulsion

Starting off strong - I'd argue I've managed to keep the same strength of this ability as it had previously, just provided it more utility. You're correct however in that I did NOT want to overtune expulsion, as Eminent as it is already exists in a fully CRP-complete state by the mere existence of Incanter's Flow. Regarding your question of magical rejuvenation, please take a look at Voidstalking's 'Arcane Replenishment' for an example of a temporary effect that would fit the bill. We'll go rapid fire on your next points for the sake of brevity:

"Why encounter duration & OOC Time" - Big ability, hurts the Eminent, gotta get your mana back and that's not going to reset after 1 CRP
"Why did knockback need nerfing" - Didn't get nerfed, got moved to 'worldly'. Combo big-knockback and damage got split apart.
"Why did the range for Incanter's Flow 2 need a cap" - 20 meters from center is halfway to shout-range / LoS max. Seems reasonable.
"Is there a difference between 10m radius and 10x10" - Yes! And I need to back to change that from 10x10 to a 10 meter radius, else we would only be operating as a 5 meter radius. This nerf wasn't intended, and was the result of a mis-type.
"Force of a battering ram is a random metric and unused" - Agreed, we'll take that out and just leave the knockback

I'll split off the last point because it actually worth looking into. To summarize "why am I a master mage if the only reason I'm "good" is because of some cool rock I poured mana into?". Not to 'The Master Mage was the friends we made along the way' this point, but in neither the prior nor amended versions of Eminent was one's own mana-pool or any casting prowess (outside of Incanter's - we'll get there) bolstered. At the end of the day an Eminent is a master mage not by consequence of creating an Affection, but by the sheer action of being able to go such lengths to create one. As written, the new mental effects section demonstrates the dichotomy of your exact question - splitting the true believers in their own ability to perfect the arcane (impossible) with those who accept the impossibility, but still try their hardest and suffer for it. It's to me a very interesting chance to explore an archmage type character, while allowing for the standard 'look at me Im so powerful' option as well.

I'll leave your last point on Expulsion on read, and suggest you read it again. Really chew on it, and ask yourself when you'd want: More damage over knockback, more knockback over damage, and the ability to disable someone using enchanted items / voidal casters for longer than a knockback. If you can come up for a utility situation for each of these cases, I've done my job.

Incanter's Flow

I'm getting slightly tired so we're moving back to lower effort bullets.

"Affection does the work" - Yes 🫃
"Ripe for abuse" - Redlines require enhanced tells. Read them or get blacklisted.
"Moderate strikes is insane" - You're being a pedant again. I'll take this into account however and consider clarifying that IF YOU GET STABBED you still disconnect -- just for you, in case people don't want to read 'voidal connection' again.

Overall I thank you for your input, as waiting for two threads to be posted while I've been clearly working on this ~~rewrite~~ amendment to voice your concerns instead of directly reaching out at any point is always a super constructive way to operate if you believe something is being changed in a way you don't like.

I do however, think you're looking at this the wrong way if that isn't clear. The Affection plays a larger role now in eminence, as opposed to no role like it did previously. If this makes you feel uncomfortable - it should. You're still welcome to use the Affection as a super suped-up focus, your character is still a master mage but its the Affection that makes your character different from a Voidstalker, or an Artificer, or John Normal Mage. Addressing that difference gives a feat direction, and provides more opportunities to explore in RP (and future amendments) as I noted in my final two additions which notably you didn't comment on.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Shadeleaf · Sunday at 12:09 PM

Some big changes after a discussion with LT Management.

The introduction paragraphs have been shifted for what this amendment is trying to accomplish. All of my feelings on subjects discussed still hold, and I'd like to revisit a clarification in the future. That said, after being informed that all rewrites to the core of the feat presented were not currently desirable, I've decided I'm more invested in providing the needed tools for RP than presenting a cohesive rewrite.

An archive link of the former submission can be found here for anyone interested in what the document looked like prior to the 'trimming'.

Accordingly, the following sections have been deprecated and ought not be considered in the mag. They're left in this document for posterity.

Background / Origin
Magic Explanation
Connection
Physical Effects

For those not deprecated, changes have been made to the following sections. Their original forms may again be found at the above archive link.

Aura Attunement - Removed redline condensation, changes to Attunement from Sensory persist.
Magister Magnificus - Reduced the entire section to a single redline modification.
Expulsion - Mostly unchanged. Clarified in the worldly modification that knocked up targets are rendered prone.
Incanter's Flow - All rewriting has been removed. Only change present is to T2 connection to retool the wording to allow for Affectionate Casting to exist. Left two elements of redline clarification in since I cant help myself.
Clarity of Mind - Removed all rewriting. Left the more direct redlines because god this one really does need it.

Rationale for the things I left as they are:

Mental Effects - Read the Why section. All of it still applies.
Tier Progression - The tier progression rewording is harmless, and serves to incorporate the new abilities better than shoehorning it into existing. Up to ST on this one if they'd prefer the later.
Both added features remain untouched.

Spoiler

Sign In

[Amendment] Voidal Eminence

Recommended Posts

Shadeleaf 1021

Introduction & Rationale

Standard Amendment Section

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Aura Sensory Attunement

[Passive] [Non-combat] Magister Magnificus

Additions Only Section

[Noncombat / Combat] - Affectionate Casting

[Noncombat / Combat] - Arcanic Manipulation

The flow of arcana available from a newly-formed Affection is overwhelming. Spurts of aura and Voidal ‘hiccups’ are common in the early stages of Eminence, but much as a muscle - with proper training control of this raw energy may be honed - and turned into something beautiful... or terrifying.

Deprecated Section - Do not MAG

References

Credits

Link to post

Share on other sites

Samler 1564

Link to post

Share on other sites

ClassyDryad 2367

Link to post

Share on other sites

PrimnyaQuorum 3999

[Passive] [Noncombat/Combat] - Aura Sensory Attunement

Link to post

Share on other sites

Shadeleaf 1021

Link to post

Share on other sites

Shadeleaf 1021

Link to post

Share on other sites

Recently Browsing 0 members

Popular Topics

Topics

Options