BtS-II: Arcanist; discussion/adaptation (draft Arcanist OCC)

[Hendrik]

EDIT:
Final edited and completed draft ARCANIST OCC adaptation and an arcanist occupation for BtS-II now almost at the bottom of this page 1!


Just alerting y'all to this because I would love feedback. Enjoy!

I have put the other versions in SPOILER brackets, left them up only for historical reasons (END OF EDIT)

***

Hi there,

has someone made an update for the Arcanist of BtS 1st ed fame? And, would be willing to share or point me to it?

Pretty please.

Cheers
Hendrik

[gaby]

I like to see it.

[Hendrik]

I have now researched the board. It seems that so far nobody has posted a 2nd ed update for the arcanist. Would be nice to see one.

I will post my take here as soon as I will be finished with it. Regarding the abilities I will not repeat them but refer to BtS 1st ed.

It would be great, though, if anybody else who already did such labour would post either a complete OCC or partial ideas here. We could then compare the takes.

Cheers
Hendrik

[jaymz]

Go for it Hendrik. Hell I'd say put together a whole 2nd ed BTS article and send it in for the Rifter

[Hibik]

I've generally used the Sorcerer from Through the Glass Darkly, though I don't feel it's quite the perfect fit. I've done a bit of tinkering but haven't quite settled on anything. Wouldn't mind seeing your take on it - you probably have more time for something good than I do.

[Lord Z]

Hmm, I think the first edition version works fine.

If I had to pick a single published class to replace it, I think I would go with one of the modern mages from Mephisto's Heroes Unlimited article in Rifter #46. They are similar to the Cybermage class from Cyberjacking Across the Megeverse but a little more thorough and reigned-in. The concept of trading spells on the internet is just too much fun for me to let go of it. There is also my Dollmistress Class which was recently mentioned in another similar thread.

Here is my review of Mephisto's article...

“Why Magic is Still Alive” by Russ Brin clocks in at fourteen and a half pages. Nick Bradshaw contributes with five small illustrations, and I would believe that two of them were actually made for this article. Can anyone figure out what the heck is happening with that mouse trap in the picture on Page 67?

This is a heck of an article. So this is a Heroes Unlimited article, but I think that this material is actually better suited for original campaign worlds. Perhaps more than any other section of the issue, Russ’ article demonstrates what I wrote earlier about low powered gaming. There is great potential in here for power gaming, but this material is much more suited for a very low key and subtle playing style. That brings me back to observation about the suitability for HU2 -- perhaps no other game in Pallaidum’s Megaverse has such a great and apparent difference between the haves and have-nots in capability and raw power. The main rule book features both mega-hero Experiments with three major super powers each (four counting the mega-power) and Stage Magicians who get itching powder. These new magic class fall on the Stage Magician and Mutant Animal side of the scale. For a spy-oriented game or a campaign based on the Mystery Men movie, these mages would fit very smoothly. I have trouble seeing them working in Justice League-inspired game unless the new matges were started at a high level with a good collection of spells already (more on that soon). There are some obvious ways to increase the pet5ency of each class, but I will address those individually.

The first class is the Modern Mage. Okay, technically this is a power category because HU2 doesn’t use classes so much. The Modern Mage seems to be an attempt to redefine the Mystic Study-Wizard class for a character that is better suited to contemporary settings. If that was the intent, this is a success. This class was built for trading spells on the internet – how cool is that? Compared directly to Wizard, the Modern Mage has slightly less PPE and nearly the same special powers, minus Astral Projection. What the Modern Mage has instead is a generous budget for buying and building equipment as well as access to the limitless information of the intrawebs. The Modern Mage can still learn spells by the standard methods such as finding a spell book, etc., but online searching and data analysis are clearly the preferred methods.

So how does web browsing for spells work? There are detailed rules here, but it’s actually really tough to do. Only the Modern Mage with his special equipment has even a reasonable chance of doing it. At first level, a Modern Mage has only a 2% chance without special hardware and software of finding any useful spell in cyberspace, and even then that percentage increases by a not-worth-mention 2% per level. Certain software and a specialized search engine (yes, they have developed their own search engine) boost this chance to 57%. The rules do not specify much time each dice roll represents.

After the spell is found, it still has to be translated and converted into a format the Modern Mage can use for casting. This is the tough part. Two successful skill checks are required just to start the process. Then the player rolls on a Success or Failure table to find out how well it works. I like this table. There are a variety of possibilities, but the failure possibilities add up to 71%, and there is no way to boost these odds. Here is the brutal part. Each attempt to translate and convert a spell requires “at least six months of study and research.” Yes, six months per spell per attempt, and an overwhelming chance that it won’t work anyway. A Modern Mage who enjoyed success with every attempt would still require five years of work (no breaks) to learn ten spells.

One more thing, the Modern Mage does get a nice skill package.

If a Modern Mage needs boosting to bring a particular character more in-balance, I’ve come up with some options. For one, only apply the rules above to searches for specific spells. If the Modern Mage wants another just any old spell, the GM can provide a group of NPCs who have a web-based or BBS-based community with whom the PC can trade spells of comparable level. Moreso, the Modern Mage could exploit his familiar to greater effect. There are upgradeable familiar rules in a previous Rifter, or the Modern Mage could be given the ability to cast spells through the familiar. Lastly, the online theme could be played up by sharing a link with a virtual familiar; then the Modern Mage could adventure directly in cyber-space (see Wayne Breaux’s “Hacking and Cyberjacking...” article in Rifter #2).

The New Age Oracle is a class who predicts the future. This class involved a lot of good research and offers us ten forms of divination, each with its own pros and cons and sometimes other benefits. The downside to being a New Age Oracle is that all of the class powers are reactionary in nature, stuff like Sense Enchantment. Divination is the main ability of this class, and it is basically all that this mage does – no spell casting. Many psychics can typically choose divination in some form as one of a list of powers to collect, but the New Age Oracle only ever reads the future. Even these readings are pretty vague.

If I were to boost the New Age Oracle, here is how I would do it. Let the character use the Divination power at will instead of requiring the 2D6 minute duration. Like the Diviner PCC in BtS2, the New Age Oracle can see hints and patterns all around oneself. The various trances and seances can be reserved for times when the New Age Oracle is seeking specific information. Also, the GM can give the Oracle more detailed information than “There is danger in the air” but rather “Something is behind you, duck!” Some combat bonuses similar to those in the psychic versions of these powers might be a good idea also, but most of the power comes of squeezing details out of the GM.

The Digital Sorcerer is very similar to the Modern Mage. Both classes research magic and store their spells the same way. The Digital Sorcerer isn’t as good as research as the Modern Mage. The difference between the two is this – the Digital Sorcerer casts magic from his computer. This isn’t as good of a deal as it sounds. The Digital Sorcerer isn’t sending out cursed spam or casting Trance through a blog because the standard ranges of each spell still exist. Keeping a spellbook in a laptop or PDA might seem cool, but it’s actually more restricting than most spellslingers who keep the information in their noggins and cast whenever they like. One advantage that the Digital Sorcerer does have is the ability to energize spells within a specially enchanted computer or a flash drive which would be the Sorcerer’s version of a magic scroll. Also, the Sorcerer is supposedly creating his own spells as he advances, but there are no clear instructions for this.

To Pump Up the Digital Sorcerer, I would first grant the ability to magically enter cyberspace like the Digital Mage class for Nightbane found in “Hacking and Cyberjacking.” Secondly, I would give the character a chance to perform magically enhanced real-time hacking for effects similar to those in the Ghost in the Shell series. This would give the Sorceror a definite edge when opposing high-tech characters like borgs. Let’s put that Computer Hacking skill to work.

The Real Time Caster is just a brilliant little piece of work. The class is very week, but it’s intended to be such. A Real Time Caster will know a collection of very small spells requiring no more than 4 PPE and a high chance of failure. I’ve seen several threads about cantrips and zero-level spells for Palladium mages, but here is something in print and it’s presented in way that makes a lot of sense. The in-game concept is that the wizards of HU created these spells as recruitment tools, spells which anyone can learn in minutes and might be some prospective students interested in magic. It’s like trailware for magicians.

Here is the bad news. There is a Save vs. Magical Mishap involved with each casting, and the default target number is a whopping 18. A failed roll means that the real time spell didn’t work and that a roll must be made on the Side Effects Table. Some of the possible results are nasty. Overall, this is a very nice option for existing characters who want to supplement their bag of tricks.

To improve the Real Time Caster, actually I wouldn’t. Being weak is pretty much the point. It might be a great way to recruit cultists.

[Lord Z]

My review originally appeared that thread. Mephisto's response is there as well. Link!

[tmikesecrist3]

what about the skill set up as bts 1 uses the old skill porgrams, and bts 2 does not

[Hibik]

Personal observations.

A: The BtS1 sorc is supposed to have a 'fixed' set of skills to represent a focused area of study required for magic. They get 2 skill programs on top of that, mind. One could either keep this process and list what is effectively an 'Arcanist occupation' for occupation skills and secondary selections, or simply narrow which occupations are available for an arcanist. Alternatively, both. Use the BtS1 sorc to figure out an occupational/secondary skill set, with the option of using something else, with the Arcanist class itself giving some OCC skills (I'm a big fan of Understand the Principles of Magic from Through the Glass Darkly).

B: The BtS1 Arcanist gets A LOT of skills, with very high percentages, due to having +!5/+20% bonuses on a good number of skills. My BtS1 mockup of my Lazlo character has over 30, easily. This could be easily cut down for BtS2.

C: The magical element is a bit trickier. The spell selection is more randomized for BtS1, with a higher spell count. Starting PPE and gain per level is relatively low. In contrast, the the NB/Through the Glass Darkly Sorcerer has less spells starting at a lower spell level, but consistently have those spells, as well as more PPE (Die roll X10) and PPE per level (Two die). I haven't seen the HU2 stats so I can't really comment on those. There is also the question about whether available PPE should work on a multiplier system akin to the PCCs. However, I would note having a standing pool is neither advantage nor disadvantage per se. The higher PPE count makes one attractive to supernatural things. As well, unlike with the ISP system, if you run low on PPE, you don't get the advantage of waiting for another monster to show up for your pool to potentially spike. On the flip side, you have more pool readily available most of the time, and you can draw from ley lines.

D: How the arcanist class could be divided up from there I'm not sure. I kind of agree ritual specialists should maybe be broken off from incantation casters or generalists. Alternatively, keep a 'base' arcanist class, and then have variants such as ritual or incantation specialist, or 'net-mage', or whatever. I personally am of the belief that magic is a culturally influenced construct, so one could see any number of specialties.

[Beatmeclever]

I also think you should try to keep in mind that the Arcanist is, through the medium of "magick," going to be entreating supernatural intelligences and other mystical beings to grant him boons. This character needs to be haunted by the things he has learned - even if he has never used any of his knowledge just believing this to be true should make him a little crazy (even by paranormal investigator standards).

The character should be highly educated in the paranormal, but not necessarily in the technical and science skills.
As for Spell selection: the class should start with only two simple skills. From there, the spells that are available should build from the basic skills. There should be a hierarchy of spells based on the lower spells building to the most powerful.

Something like:
Basic
Moderate
Hard
Difficult
Very Difficult
Impossible
Legendary

Each level of spell should require two or more spells from the level beneath it to perform. Your character can have the spell in his possession, he can read the words and burn the materials, but nothing will happen if he doesn't have the prerequisite knowledge.

Finding Basic spells should be easy, but they should be very weak (Think cantrips in D&D). Finding Moderate spells should be like finding a two dollar bill, but they would be like stage magic. Finding Hard, Difficult, and Very Difficult spells should be like receiving an inheritance and they should be rare. Impossible and Legendary spells should require an adventure of their own to find.

However, the Arcanist should be able to experiment with his spells to try to develop higher level spells without finding them (like and Arcane Gizmoteer, if you will).

I think that, in order to maintain the feel of the game, magic should be as much of a weakness as it is an advantage.

[Cybermancer]

The educated are no more immune to lust for power than anyone else.

[Hibik]

The educated are no more immune to lust for power, but I would definitely say there's a certain skepticism that would preclude most said 'educateds' from the pursuit of wizardry. Psychic powers 'happen'; some people are prone to them, and either they accept them or not. The arcane, I feel require a lot more active pursuit on the part of the one using them. In short, I'd say it'd be common to have someone who is really open minded, or somewhat/very unhinged.

Top it off with the fact that there are comparatively few people around who are able to show you the way to avoid pitfalls, and i could see a sizable number of 'dupes' who fall prey to pacts and other supernatural perils.

[Lord Z]

Great analysis from all, folks!

[pblackcrow]

I have more or less gave up after getting royally honked off that Kevin has disappointed me yet again and just started using the wizard class out of Heroes Unlimited. True, these past 5-6 years have been hard ones for the company. HOWEVER, he made us all promise. And I would like to see it fulfilled.

Tome Grotesque and Beyond Arcanum...I would love to see them get published.

[tmikesecrist3]

I have to say I finally got a x-mess grab bag it had bts in it (PB and the USPS must have set land speed records because. it was ordered on the 1st and got here on the 5th )

That being seed just seeing the Hints on the magic system KS as well and truly set the hock as skillfully as a expert fly fishermen Hocks a Trout.. I my self and trying to Think of how to house rule some magic that will be fairly easy to convert to the official rules once they come out. I do like the ideas about Ways to bust your power with Artifacts and so forth. as well as Ritual and so forth maybe even components. as well as the boost the supernatural gives. that would mean that the magic user like the psi has to be vary careful and plain ahead. if any one wants to chime in about how to do that, please.

The other thing I would like more info on is how people messing with things they should not be messing with might cause problems. The people that try to work magic with out really knowing what there doing, the people whom play at the Occult. even those whom learn just enough to be danger-is form the new age books. Alaster Crowley wright some really nasty stuff. I don't see some one finding an old tome, Girmwar or book of shadows as necessarily being that danger-is. As such things would be wrightien in some obscure language and often in code

But yes I have to say even though I am not read bts all the way throw I am eager for more beyond Arcaniem I would probly buy before tome Grotesk

but I would love some help with those house rules..... if that ageist the rules.... Are we aloud to post house rules?

Also what pb books are suggested to supplement bts

and what do you use for Equipment and weapons list?

[Hendrik]

Hey there,

ok, this was dormant for a bit, but let me try to revive this interesting discussion. Sorry that this post is a bit long and that I have just picked three of your fine posts to reply, but otherwise it would be longer still.

Spoiler:

OK some general thoughts before we approach this thought so everyone is on the same page.

1. Use the standard Palladium spells, or focus on spells that entirely seek out, capture, neutralize and/or destroy the supernatural?
2. Beef up what is in BTS1. The Arcanist/Mage isn't really that far removed from Mystic Study in HU2 (both have Sense Magic, Sense Enchantment, and Read and Cast Magic) but the Mystic Study character also gets Astral Projection, Sense Supernatural Evil and Familiar Link. Sense Supernatural Evil seems an obvious inclusion in BTS2, as does Familiar Link. I'm torn on Astral Projection.
3. Spells Effects on the Supernatural. Fire Ball and Globe of Daylight seem the most obvious spells that work well on the supernatural, but should they be more vulnerable to spell magic than humans? Spells like Agony, Multiple Image, Havoc etc.
4. The availability of spell casting: How prevalent would spell casters be, and spell casting in general? How difficult are these spells to acquire and learn?
5. Differentiating the Arcanist from the Mage. I do believe splitting them up is more beneficial, where the Arcanist casts a wider variety of spells but at lower effect. The Mage casts fewer spells but with more power and usually a focus (or vice versa, I'd like some input). Also I've already mentioned the Ritualist, that casts nothing but powerful rituals and would also be a rare individual to create magic items.

Thoughts and suggestions on how to proceed?

1: Use the standard Palladium spells, or focus on spells that entirely seek out, capture, neutralize and/or destroy the supernatural?
I would advocate to use standard spells, Mephisto. I would rather not gear the new Arcanist to hunting the supernatural. Handling it, I will come to that infra, would be a different matter. My point, however, is that the special people that hunt the supernatural are extremely rare, what they have in common is an awareness for the supernatural (to different levels and in interesting variations) as well as that many of their abilities, the ghost hunter is a very notable exception, are not particular weapons against the supernatural per se but in their specialness and willingness to use them against the supernatural lies the weaponry. They just can do stuff the usual guy cannot do and these particular abilities (well, several not all) happen to hurt the supernatural more or differently than your basic shotgun-to-the-head of the great old one.

2. Beef up what is in BTS1.
I don't know about that. All good ideas, but I see a different way.

The 1st ed. Arcanist works in the 1st ed. environment, i.e. there is the PCC and the skill programmes as well as the eduction level table. The skill selection process has been changed - to the easier and better, I find - in 2nd edition. 2nd ed. is more "occupation" based. I would very much like to see that for the Arcanist as well.

Let me try to look at the Arcanist differently, or rather: who can be a mage?
I do not think it needs so much beefing up then changing with the 2nd edition changes. The obvious answer to the last question is certainly the scholar / mystic type, but must that be all? I do not think so.

I think that the occupation system is the ideal basis to branch out the types of arcanists without actually making up more than one spell caster OCC. My line of thinking is this: although actual magic know-how will be extremely rare, in principle anyone could be that rare "wiz kid" and could have magical talent and maybe know some spells (I see several very interesting backgrounds there) but only some of those will actually take up or make "the pursuit of magic" there one true calling, their full-time occupation and become an actual magic-scholar.

Examples:

a. A farmer might instinctively know certain spells or maybe certain techniques (actually rituals) have been handed down in his family for generations.
b. A pagan "witch" may actually be able to cast real spells.
c. A stage magician (has an occupation) may be much more than that.
d. A dealer in antique books (has an occupation) has loads of peculiar information available and, maybe without realizing it at first, have really studied magic over the years.
e. A policeman (obviously has an occupation already) has this uncanny knack to "see through walls" or around corners or let his bullet strike true, or for Pete's sake, call lightning down the sky on a fleeing robber (careful what you wish for, when your words are words of power).

3. Spells Effects on the Supernatural. Fire Ball and Globe of Daylight seem the most obvious spells that work well on the supernatural, but should they be more vulnerable to spell magic than humans?
I do not think so, at least not in a general fashion. I think it would have to depend on the creature. A fire demon might be more susceptible to water or cold, a zombie will be immune to mind affecting stuff (charm ... what?). You know, the usual, not a special.

4. The availability of spell casting: How prevalent would spell casters be, and spell casting in general? How difficult are these spells to acquire and learn?
I would think magic is rare and magicians ever rarer. I would also venture to guess that some people may have talent, but far less than that will actually realize why they can do some or that they even have a talent or dare to show, let alone build on it. I would delegate that to roleplaying and think - aside from a fitting fluff test that sets the tone and drives home the rarity - it need not have a place in the actual OCC write-up.

5. Differentiating the Arcanist from the Mage. I do believe splitting them up is more beneficial, where the Arcanist casts a wider variety of spells but at lower effect. The Mage casts fewer spells but with more power and usually a focus (or vice versa, I'd like some input). Also I've already mentioned the Ritualist, that casts nothing but powerful rituals and would also be a rare individual to create magic items.
I have not much opinion about that as I wanted to focus solely on a new Arcanist and find any further OCC not so terribly necessary (although of course entirely possible, but for a start one magician class would be terrific enough).

Spoiler:

Personal observations.

A: The BtS1 sorc is supposed to have a 'fixed' set of skills to represent a focused area of study required for magic. They get 2 skill programs on top of that, mind. One could either keep this process and list what is effectively an 'Arcanist occupation' for occupation skills and secondary selections, or simply narrow which occupations are available for an arcanist. Alternatively, both. Use the BtS1 sorc to figure out an occupational/secondary skill set, with the option of using something else, with the Arcanist class itself giving some OCC skills (I'm a big fan of Understand the Principles of Magic from Through the Glass Darkly).

B: The BtS1 Arcanist gets A LOT of skills, with very high percentages, due to having +!5/+20% bonuses on a good number of skills. My BtS1 mockup of my Lazlo character has over 30, easily. This could be easily cut down for BtS2.

C: The magical element is a bit trickier. The spell selection is more randomized for BtS1, with a higher spell count. Starting PPE and gain per level is relatively low. In contrast, the the NB/Through the Glass Darkly Sorcerer has less spells starting at a lower spell level, but consistently have those spells, as well as more PPE (Die roll X10) and PPE per level (Two die). I haven't seen the HU2 stats so I can't really comment on those. There is also the question about whether available PPE should work on a multiplier system akin to the PCCs. However, I would note having a standing pool is neither advantage nor disadvantage per se. The higher PPE count makes one attractive to supernatural things. As well, unlike with the ISP system, if you run low on PPE, you don't get the advantage of waiting for another monster to show up for your pool to potentially spike. On the flip side, you have more pool readily available most of the time, and you can draw from ley lines.

D: How the arcanist class could be divided up from there I'm not sure. I kind of agree ritual specialists should maybe be broken off from incantation casters or generalists. Alternatively, keep a 'base' arcanist class, and then have variants such as ritual or incantation specialist, or 'net-mage', or whatever. I personally am of the belief that magic is a culturally influenced construct, so one could see any number of specialties.

A & B: Skills
Hibik, I would change the 1st ed relationship to skills completely because it was geared up for, well, BtS 1 and in BtS 2 the skill acquisition upon character generation has changed (cf. for my 2 cents above). In effect: An arcanist should not have particularly many skills, unless he has a fitting occupation. That said, I would still give the arcanist a little extra in terms of skills maybe or rather a special ability that reflects that he has either scientifc or practical or subconscious spell know-how.

An "Understand the Principles of Magic" is good but I need to look it up again before I can make a more concise statement on it, especially in relation to the various lore skills.

I must yet develop a concrete proposal but I am slowly getting there.

C: PPE / ISP
I would give the arcanist a smaller amount of PPE, more or less in keeping with the ISP that the PCCs get, as I agree that PPE should work like ISP in the sense that they multiply in the presence of the supernatural.

That just gave me an interesting idea: if an arcanist is really into casting spells, you know, the kind of bookworm/mystic/scholarly type of magician ... would it not stand to reason that he would actually seek out the supernatural? Mind you, not in terms of necessarily combatting it as that would be (a) dangerous and most scholars are anything but daredevils and (b) not so very productive because spell casting under duress is not really a scientific and calm approach, i.e. combat is not conduitive to most research. However, a magician might have a great interest to for example

- capture supernatural creatures to in their presence gain a PPE boost
- collect magical items, relics or what not that would have the same effect
- seek out ley lines or "special mystical places" for where he lives (property prices between mages will have a completely different background ... I see a mage living and doing his studies in the worst part of town, a ghetto or derelict old village, because his "prime ley piece of real estate" is right on that ancient mystic site)

What I am saying is, I think the all-out full-time wizard will be rare in the later 20th or 21st century and because of his particular relationship to the supernatural (it actually gives him power ... which incidentally is a very medieval thought) will maybe more often found on the evil side of things, i.e. as an antagonist than actually being a "white magician". This idea to me seems to have the added elegance that it takes up (and translates into the rules a logic for) the horror classic "cultist", "secret society" and middle ages "who is a mage?" plot lines.

D: Various magical OCCs
As said above, at the moment I think that is very secondary.

...Keep in mind how the magic rules will be very similar to psychic rules. That is, P.P.E. will be low to start and then "inflated" when near the supernatural.

Spoiler:

Perhaps there will be other things that can add to a magician's P.P.E. base. For example, spell components. However, these don't multiply the magician's P.P.E., but adds to it. I don't know about anyone else, but setting has a big basis in magic (especially in a modern setting where "most" people consider magic as nothing more than bunk). Maybe a nighttime setting will automatically "add" 5 P.P.E. points to the magician's pool. Small Shakespearean components (eye of newt, wing of bat, etc) will add an extra 1 or 2 points. Tremendous effort being put into the setting will bring in an extra 10 to 20 points. Celestial events could add upwards of 30, 50, to even a 100 points.

But of course, belief is everything. That is why some people can be in a "magic rich environment" and simply feel "weirded out" while others are drawn to it: some tastes appeal to people, but not others. But those who have been trained to use it will recognize it and even use it. It's for this reason magicians surround themselves with "goofy" theatrics like robes, candles, crystal balls, and are often found in New Age stores. "Geeks" may dress up and try spells, but since A) they don't have a true belief and B) they haven't had the years of training required, very little comes of it. Or worse, someone in the "Geek" has just enough belief, or a spirit has been wandering, and something does happen.

This is all a VERY rough idea, and has numerous problems. Maybe I'll think on it some more and tweak it into something workable, if it actually seems interesting to people. (Or maybe I'll work on it anyway, just so that there is something more than just "psychic powers wearing different clothes" out there.

P.S. I didn't mean to offend anyone with words like "goofy" or mean to imply anything other than just adding an idea. I'd wear robes out of doors too, if I wasn't so self-conscious. (Although I won't practice the occult, alone or with a group).

I am 150% in agreement with all you said, Petite Elfgirl, although I think that a dependance of magic on "belief" - which is a very cool variant - would not be so terribly good. I think that the restrictions on mages will be harsh enough, such as "where to learn?", "how to get new spells?", "how to practice?", ISP low unless in a certain environment (mystical places, ley lines, the supernatural) ... but I LOVE your idea with components AND as a PPE adder not multipliers, although that needs to be carefully handled to avoid wanton PPE inflation.

NEW SKILLS?
"Lore: Magic" and "Lore: Magic Arcane" are wonderful skills for "professional" arcanists, maybe similar to the various medical skills there should be a, maybe Technical skill, "Holistic Magic" or "Amateurish Practical Magic" or, like the pair "academic medicine"-"naturopathy" there could be a "Arcanopathy" skill, you know handed down or geared to only some stuff and more experimental, not really scientific is what I mean.

Kind regards
Hendrik

[Hibik]

Whooowee. Those are observations I made back in July, and I forgot I made them. I should clarify that I was not necessarily an advocate for the 1st ed arcanist just being shunted over, and most of my points are more of problems with trying to do the obvious - convert BtS1 arcanist to BtS2. Since then, however, I've had more time to mull it over and some things about what to expect have came out.

So, I've had some thoughts since then...

A & B: Skills
Hibik, I would change the 1st ed relationship to skills completely because it was geared up for, well, BtS 1 and in BtS 2 the skill acquisition upon character generation has changed (cf. for my 2 cents above). In effect: An arcanist should not have particularly many skills, unless he has a fitting occupation. That said, I would still give the arcanist a little extra in terms of skills maybe or rather a special ability that reflects that he has either scientifc or practical or subconscious spell know-how.

This is very much dependent upon what you want magic to be - accessible to anyone with enough time or esoteric? BtS1 represented the latter to an extreme degree - it required a very particular academic or research-intensive bent to be a mage. As noted, magic doesn't just 'happen' like psychic powers do - you have to go to at least some length to get them (specialist OCCs aside; we're not including those).

As it stands, the occupation system does not represent this in the common form - ie, all occupations available and you roll or choose. A lot of the occupations would not lend themselves to the time required to focus, research, and study magic if it's especially hard to acquire.

There's three ways I could see this.

1: Go with the BtS2 occupation system. There might be a few defined arcanist skills, but the rest are determined by profession.

2: Same as 1, but limit the arcanist to a strict set of occupations - presumably academic or otherwise research based. Possibly antiquarians.

3: Treat arcanists as too specialized to have the flexibility of the occupation system, and predefine the skill choices and what's available - in other words, an arcanist occupation (though parapsychologists might still be able to do magic to an extent).

Which one do I advocate? None of them since it depends on what people want, though 2 or 3 make the most sense to me.

As a personal note, I would personally consider a restricted set of occupations (or a locked in set of skills) a fair tradeoff for being a mage instead of a PCC. I also think that the mage skillsets (not the number of skills or the percentages, but the general breadth) from either the NB Sorc or the BtS1 arcanist (and maybe some other wizard/arcanist OCCs - I'd have to look) to represent a good mix with an emphasis on lore, science, and technical skills. If one wanted 1 or 2 however, that's moot - just use the occupations.

An "Understand the Principles of Magic" is good but I need to look it up again before I can make a more concise statement on it, especially in relation to the various lore skills.

I must yet develop a concrete proposal but I am slowly getting there.

Lore Arcana or Lore Magic Arcane are similar and could in theory work. The point of Principles of Magic is it represents a 'practitioner's skill' rather than a ley person with a much more comprehensive understanding of magic. The acolyte OCC (also in Through the Glass Darkly) had a Peripheral Magic Knowledge skill that was basically the more common Lore Arcana.

Spoiler:

C: PPE / ISP
I would give the arcanist a smaller amount of PPE, more or less in keeping with the ISP that the PCCs get, as I agree that PPE should work like ISP in the sense that they multiply in the presence of the supernatural.

That just gave me an interesting idea: if an arcanist is really into casting spells, you know, the kind of bookworm/mystic/scholarly type of magician ... would it not stand to reason that he would actually seek out the supernatural? Mind you, not in terms of necessarily combatting it as that would be (a) dangerous and most scholars are anything but daredevils and (b) not so very productive because spell casting under duress is not really a scientific and calm approach, i.e. combat is not conduitive to most research. However, a magician might have a great interest to for example

- capture supernatural creatures to in their presence gain a PPE boost
- collect magical items, relics or what not that would have the same effect
- seek out ley lines or "special mystical places" for where he lives (property prices between mages will have a completely different background ... I see a mage living and doing his studies in the worst part of town, a ghetto or derelict old village, because his "prime ley piece of real estate" is right on that ancient mystic site)

What I am saying is, I think the all-out full-time wizard will be rare in the later 20th or 21st century and because of his particular relationship to the supernatural (it actually gives him power ... which incidentally is a very medieval thought) will maybe more often found on the evil side of things, i.e. as an antagonist than actually being a "white magician". This idea to me seems to have the added elegance that it takes up (and translates into the rules a logic for) the horror classic "cultist", "secret society" and middle ages "who is a mage?" plot lines.

The PPE question could work either way. Since it seems confirmed that KS wants to do it how he did ISP, that one doesn't seem up for debate or speculation anyway.

I consider what makes magic different from psionics was that it was a person manipulating outside forces rather than something strictly from inside of him. As such, it should be more influenced by outside forces, and there should be more things they can do to boost or stack the deck that perhaps psychics don't have available. Conversely, however, there may be places where magic doesn't flow as well or doesn't at all, and they should be fishes out of water.

I also completely agree that a full out and out wizard would be a rare thing in the modern era, which is why I advocated a restricted occupation or specified set of skill choices (see above), since depending on ease of learning magic it would require a lot of effort that might exclude many. That does go back to the question of how available or accessible one wants magic to be, however. Could you have a 'lay wizard' who works as a mechanic for a day job, or would it be more likely a Mesoamerican archaeologist picked up Mayan magic and went from there?

As an aside, while I'm not sure how I would classify arcanists by archetype, I would likely stray away from reclusive bookworm as most would think of it. There's a simple reason for this, that being the pursuit of magic requires going out and putting yourself in danger to test your skills or acquire more lore. To me it is not a science one can sit in a lab and simply do (or maybe it is? It's up to the designer or the GM). Besides that, you have the ones who, as you noted, are after power (or might be crazy). So it's really a difficult answer to pin down one way or another.

To use a 'functional' example, My Lazlo main, Melissa Albrecht, has a fairly substantial academic history (History and Art major, anthropology minor, book junky, fluent in several languages) and comes from a lineage of arcanists. She had a mentor in the arcane and esoteric lore through high school and college, so effectively she had two educations (a formal and a private one) whose focuses overlapped. She makes a living investigating or troubleshooting the supernatural - formerly part time while being a photographer/curator but now a full time gig. She's also an adrenaline junky of sorts, though is otherwise well adjusted and stable (she does realize, however, that many other practitioners are not). While she's not horribly social, she's not reclusive (she actually hates being shut in) and maintains social relationships just fine.

Of course, what character an arcanist is might be generational or a product of their environment - though based on similar skillsets, Mel is certainly not say, Doctor Boggs (except maybe equally alcoholic).

D: Various magical OCCs
As said above, at the moment I think that is very secondary.

Very secondary but something to think about. I do think at the very least a Mystic OCC or something with a more intuitive bent is necessary, since it may simply be too much to include such an archetype within the Arcanist, which most seem to agree is a 'learned' occupation.

Wordier than I was going for, but hopefully something to think about. Hendrik, though I should probably cover some of the other poster's responses, I'm only responding to yours because I figure you covered the majority of good points in your responses.

[Hendrik]

Wordier than I was going for, but hopefully something to think about.

Indeed, and I really appreciate a post, Hibik, such as yours that has substance to it, long or short (although as you may have already guessed, I tend to write much myself, some would say walls of text, but hopefully on spot or at least near it).

Whooowee. Those are observations I made back in July, and I forgot I made them. I should clarify that I was not necessarily an advocate for the 1st ed arcanist just being shunted over, and most of my points are more of problems with trying to do the obvious - convert BtS1 arcanist to BtS2.

Understood. It was high time to go back to this thread, I started it and then due to other matters neglected it.

[It] is very much dependent upon what you want magic to be - accessible to anyone with enough time or esoteric? BtS1 represented the latter to an extreme degree - it required a very particular academic or research-intensive bent to be a mage. As noted, magic doesn't just 'happen' like psychic powers do - you have to go to at least some length to get them (specialist OCCs aside; we're not including those).

As it stands, the occupation system does not represent this in the common form - ie, all occupations available and you roll or choose. A lot of the occupations would not lend themselves to the time required to focus, research, and study magic if it's especially hard to acquire.

I would like the Arcanist to be the basic template for a mage in BtS, essentially the one magic using OCC that is enough. That is not saying I do not want or would appreciate other magic using, usually more specialized, later; I will revert to this issue infra.

I agree it is a matter of taste. What Pally is usually really good at is to make the OCCs so that either they are very specialized and you can either discard them or will love them OR to make basic templates that depending on how you see it that OCC will do the job for you. I would like to attempt to emulate that. Personally, I do not like “esoteric” or a restriction to scholarly magic, but I understand that some people (maybe many) love that. Thusly, a 2nd edition rendition of the arcanist would need to capture these arcanist roads, at least, as well.

There's three ways I could see this.

1: Go with the BtS2 occupation system. There might be a few defined arcanist skills, but the rest are determined by profession.
2: Same as 1, but limit the arcanist to a strict set of occupations - presumably academic or otherwise research based. Possibly antiquarians.
3: Treat arcanists as too specialized to have the flexibility of the occupation system, and predefine the skill choices and what's available - in other words, an arcanist occupation (though parapsychologists might still be able to do magic to an extent).

…

Excellent points, if I may say so!

I do not see a problem to accommodate all that with the occupation system. The only thing it would IMO necessitate are occupations to reflect that, such as perhaps:

OCCUPATION IDEAS
- Arcane Scholar
- Cultist
- etc. (if desired, one can build for that here and I very much appreciate any ideas what kinds of occupations would be seen as necessary)

I would personally consider a restricted set of occupations (or a locked in set of skills) a fair tradeoff for being a mage instead of a PCC.

I agree that such could be a fair trade off and a way to go, but should not want to be for it as I do not like, unless absolutely necessary restrictions of that kind.

I also think that the mage skillsets (not the number of skills or the percentages, but the general breadth) from either the NB Sorc or the BtS1 arcanist (and maybe some other wizard/arcanist OCCs - I'd have to look) to represent a good mix with an emphasis on lore, science, and technical skills. If one wanted 1 or 2 however, that's moot - just use the occupations.

I consent but duly note that I am for an occupational approach as stated above and think that if done “right” could solve the potential contradiction between occupation and wizarding classes.

Lore Arcana or Lore Magic Arcane are similar and could in theory work. The point of Principles of Magic is it represents a 'practitioner's skill' rather than a ley person with a much more comprehensive understanding of magic. The acolyte OCC (also in Through the Glass Darkly) had a Peripheral Magic Knowledge skill that was basically the more common Lore Arcana.

I will come back to this after having studied this issue.

The PPE question could work either way. Since it seems confirmed that KS wants to do it how he did ISP, that one doesn't seem up for debate or speculation anyway.

I agree this is a settled matter (which I do not mind because I like it).

I consider what makes magic different from psionics was that it was a person manipulating outside forces rather than something strictly from inside of him. As such, it should be more influenced by outside forces, and there should be more things they can do to boost or stack the deck that perhaps psychics don't have available. Conversely, however, there may be places where magic doesn't flow as well or doesn't at all, and they should be fishes out of water.

What do you think about my ideas

Spoiler:

That just gave me an interesting idea: if an arcanist is really into casting spells, you know, the kind of bookworm/mystic/scholarly type of magician ... would it not stand to reason that he would actually seek out the supernatural? Mind you, not in terms of necessarily combatting it as that would be (a) dangerous and most scholars are anything but daredevils and (b) not so very productive because spell casting under duress is not really a scientific and calm approach, i.e. combat is not conduitive to most research. However, a magician might have a great interest to for example

- capture supernatural creatures to in their presence gain a PPE boost
- collect magical items, relics or what not that would have the same effect
- seek out ley lines or "special mystical places" for where he lives (property prices between mages will have a completely different background ... I see a mage living and doing his studies in the worst part of town, a ghetto or derelict old village, because his "prime ley piece of real estate" is right on that ancient mystic site)

What I am saying is, I think the all-out full-time wizard will be rare in the later 20th or 21st century and because of his particular relationship to the supernatural (it actually gives him power ... which incidentally is a very medieval thought) will maybe more often found on the evil side of things, i.e. as an antagonist than actually being a "white magician". This idea to me seems to have the added elegance that it takes up (and translates into the rules a logic for) the horror classic "cultist", "secret society" and middle ages "who is a mage?" plot lines.

The thing about mystical places and ley lines has been very nicely (although I hope for expansion in the upcoming Arcanum, fingers crossed for upcoming) covered in BtS 1st edition and I would just apply that mutatis mutandi for 2nd edition.

I also completely agree that a full out and out wizard would be a rare thing in the modern era, which is why I advocated a restricted occupation or specified set of skill choices (see above), since depending on ease of learning magic it would require a lot of effort that might exclude many. That does go back to the question of how available or accessible one wants magic to be, however. Could you have a 'lay wizard' who works as a mechanic for a day job, or would it be more likely a Mesoamerican archaeologist picked up Mayan magic and went from there?

I think that the restriction matter should be left entirely between GM and player and not be built into the system, although, of course, it could be. That said, I very much think that a “lay wizard-mechanic” would be as lovely and magical as a “archaeologist-Mayan magician” and I would make mental cartwheels in a fit of joy if the arcanist would allow and enable both.

As an aside, while I'm not sure how I would classify arcanists by archetype, I would likely stray away from reclusive bookworm as most would think of it. There's a simple reason for this, that being the pursuit of magic requires going out and putting yourself in danger to test your skills or acquire more lore. To me it is not a science one can sit in a lab and simply do (or maybe it is? It's up to the designer or the GM). Besides that, you have the ones who, as you noted, are after power (or might be crazy). So it's really a difficult answer to pin down one way or another. …

I do not think that an archetype classification is really necessary if you can see the arcanist as the wizarding template? For me it is clear that BtS must have the scholar type as well as the hedge wizard etc. etc. Not because I suddenly want my party to turn into a coven of only magical OCCs … but then, why not, the system must be able to accommodate that, too. The only question would be whether a GM wants it and then he needs to have it simple and just cut a or b off.

To use a 'functional' example,

Spoiler:

My Lazlo main, Melissa Albrecht, has a fairly substantial academic history (History and Art major, anthropology minor, book junky, fluent in several languages) and comes from a lineage of arcanists. She had a mentor in the arcane and esoteric lore through high school and college, so effectively she had two educations (a formal and a private one) whose focuses overlapped. She makes a living investigating or troubleshooting the supernatural - formerly part time while being a photographer/curator but now a full time gig. She's also an adrenaline junky of sorts, though is otherwise well adjusted and stable (she does realize, however, that many other practitioners are not). While she's not horribly social, she's not reclusive (she actually hates being shut in) and maintains social relationships just fine.

Very nice example. I would love to see that character sheet!

Of course, what character an arcanist is might be generational or a product of their environment …

100%!

Very secondary but something to think about. I do think at the very least a Mystic OCC or something with a more intuitive bent is necessary, since it may simply be too much to include such an archetype within the Arcanist, which most seem to agree is a 'learned' occupation.

You are absolutely right! I do not disagree. I would love to see various magical OCCs. I just want to avoid that the arcanist discussion does not branch out to 100 wizarding OCCs. I think such branching out would only dilute the content of this discussion (although I am very open to the contrary opinion) which I for one would really prefer to see focussed on the adaption of The One class.

That said, Mephisto, I LOVE your Rifter #46 article, especially the highly original Modern and Digital Mages!

Kind regards
Hendrik

[tmikesecrist3]

If I was going to build a hedge wizered or a kitchen witch I would probably use the ether the Herbalist O.C.C (rifts England) are the mystic as a base.. your craftier of magic items or Mage-smith there is a druid class in rifts England fits as well. I have high hopes for the Arcana book because of some of the ways pb has taken magic in other settings and many of which is adaptable to BTS which is a really good idea to at lest make notes for conversions.

But that's what I want is enough flexibility to build what every kind of mage I wish. like on lazlo is a Hereditary Druid. so his back ground is not unlike Mel's. Now that is not to say that every one in tms order are spell slingers some can only do Ritural or high magic, some are mage smiths some are Psi healers mediams one thing we do not have many of are laytent psi.s

[Hendrik]

Hi there,

ok, boys and girls, I have spent an undue amount of hours yesterday and today to make a 1st draft of the following (kindly see my next two posts) because it may serve this discussion well to have something to rub on. I apologize for any spelling etc. mistakes I had no time yet to correct it.

I may have to correct/edit the respective posts later.

I would very much appreciate feedback.

Kind regards
Hendrik

PS: This may just be the longest post I have ever written. I hope you can still enjoy the "NEO-ARCANIST OCC" (draft!)

[Hendrik]

-PART I-

NEO-ARCANIST OCC
(A 2nd edition BtS adaptation and interpretation of the 1st edition PCC of the same name)

Text put into spoiler because a new version is further down - old version left up for access to development history (should anyone care).

Spoiler:

TERMS USED
BtS-I means the 1st edition Beyond the Supernatural, BtS-II refers to the 2nd edition, HU confers you to the 2nd edition Heroes Unlimited, PFRPG is the Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game and Arcanist is spelt with a capital “A” when referring to the OCC and with a small “a” when referring to wizarding types in general.

IMPORTANT NOTICE
As this is an adapation of a class already existing in an older Palladium product, I neither want to regurgitate what has already been written nor infringe upon copyright. I will therefore refer to especially the arcanist section of BtS-I where what was said there can just be applied as is. Sadly, this makes this post far less usable as a stand-alone. Yet, for the stated reasons it is not the purpose of this post to invent the wheel a second time. Conversely, where I see it demanded by 2nd edition necessities (notably changes due to the occupational system and the arcanist variant ideas I had) I will give my reading of how the rules of today can be applied to make an arcanist work in the framework of 2nd edition. Well, at least that is what I am setting out (fixin' for some) to do. Have fun reading the following and I hope it will be of some use to y’all.

In the following I will try to show a possible adaptation of the 1st edition Arcanist for BtS-II – as a 1st draft if you will –. I invite you to refer to pages 50 ss. BtS-I (BtS-I downloadable here).

PREAMBLE & FURTHER SOURCES OF REFERENCE
The Arcanist was built very much as the generic magician for a horror setting, even if with a clear bent on the studious magician-scholar. My primary target in the following will be quite simply to translate the 1st edition class to BtS-II.

Additionally, I will offer some variants of the Arcanist for BtS-II which are meant to enable BtS-players to use it beyond the bend of the old Arcanist and to play the scholarly wizard (the classical sits-in-his-study-and-ponders-magic guy) as much as a more instinctive or [literally] outgoing spell caster (talent, little or no schooling) or a ritual magician, be that an evil cultist or the white mage warding off demons and other horrors.

Aside from this – entirely unofficial – little forum post I think it wise to refer you to other fine sources of magecraft. There are a couple of alternative sources to draw spell casting OCCs from for BtS-II, be that as a model or for outright use (with a little adaptation probably). The major part of the following has been pointed out by others in the discussion in the “Arcanist” thread (BtS subforum), but I shall summarize it here if only to give precise references for any reader’s convenience.

1. There is the excellent article by our own Mephisto in Rifter 46, pages 53 ss. (download Rifter 46 here), which contains such beautiful nuggets as the Digital Mage.
2. The Nightbane books offer several spell casting OCCs; I should like to point out the veritable “Through a Glass Darkly”, pages 9 ss., which has especially the Sorcerer, Mystic, Acolyte and Channeler OCCs.
3. Heroes Unlimited knows magic as well, of course. In our discussion the Mystic Study (pages 150 ss., HU core rulebook) has justly been mentioned repeatedly.
4. Certainly, the Palladium Fantasy RPG can be an excellent further source. Maybe OCCs like the Summoner (pages 135 ss.) or the Diabolist (pages 117), circles and wards, may serve as a brilliant source of inspiration and adaptation. I find that these two OCCs may possibly represent the classical cultist best, although both classes are fairly powerful and I should like to advise caution using them in BtS-II especially as classes for the use of players. The latter should be well thought out, whether or not to open that particular box of Pandora; as far as I am concerned: I would not as summoning and all that is calling the supernatural and that should not – or in a very limited fashion only – be for the players to do, but that is just my line of thinking. In any case, note that players calling demons and such clearly stands the danger to change the “we fight the supernatural and are the good boys” tenor of BtS-II considerably.
5. I am sure there are many more worthy sources for men of magic in the panoply of OCCs offered throughout the Megaverse. I have, for example, completely ignored any potentially fitting RIFTS OCCs but only because I know Rifts less well and not because it is a MDC system, which in my opinion is for what I want to try to achieve here a minor issue.

Now in medias res.

FLUFF TEXT
The Arcanist OCC is not a psychic character class. Arcanists, to varying degrees dabble in or deeply study magic; their spell use is in no way a psychic exercise. The term arcanist refers to all and sundry men of magic, as diverse a group as that is. You, or they, may refer to themselves as mages, wizards, warlocks, witches, enchanters, illusionists, necromancers, mystics, etc. etc. – and, yes, you will even find “priests” among them, especially those of dark cults. N.B.: Whatever an arcanist may call himself, the Arcanist OCC can be used to represent very varying spell casters, maybe to the point that all arcanists have some abilities in common but especially due to the BtS-II specific combination of class and occupation not two of them may in the end be alike. Notwithstanding, the Arcanist shall not serve to make other BtS-II specialized, or just special, types of mages superfluous – on the contrary. However, in the absence of other wizarding classes for BtS-II, I hope that especially the variants of the Arcanist OCC will help you bridge whatever kind of magic user you want into BtS-II. For further fluff please refer to any of the above sources, especially the Arcanist write-up in BtS-I.

O.C.C. BONUSES (in addition to possible attribute bonuses):
Needs a 14 or higher to save vs. psychic attacks, +2 to save vs. possession, +2 to save vs. magic and curses, +3 to Perception Rolls when looking for magic occurrences/events/creatures/presence, +10% on Lore: Magic and Lore: Magic Arcane

OCC LIMITATIONS AND PENALITIES:
Open to the Supernatural! (as described in BtS-II on page 91, but no minus on saves vs. illusions)

My logic behind the OCC bonuses and the limitation is that someone who has SENSE MAGIC should be more open, and ultimately more suceptible, to the supernatural than someone who is not as passionately and patently interested in all things magic and supernatural as the Arcanist - it is a case of "curiosity killed the cat" possibly - but at the same time the Arcanist, due to his studies, has learnt some tricks and "warding signs", he knows his way around magic and the supernatural better than many others, so he will have an easier time to save versus possessions, magic and curses. Further, even though he is no psychic I suggested the slightly better than for the Ordinary People OCC save versus psychic attacks as I think that fits better.

DETERMINING PPE POINTS
The Arcanist receives 1D6+6 PPE.

PRESENCE OF THE SUPERNATURAL AND OTHER EFFECT ON PPE
The PPE will be multiplied under the same auspices as ISP. Kindly confer to the “Proximity Equals Power” sub chapter on pages 30 ss., BtS-II.

WHY MAY AN ARCANIST BE INTERESTED IN SEEKING OUT THE SUPERNATURAL?
An arcanist is all about reasearching and ultimately casting spells, although the bookworm/mystic/scholarly type may be actually more interested in the theoretical part. Does it then not stand to reason that he would actually seek out the supernatural? Mind you, not in terms of necessarily combating it as that would clearly be (a) dangerous and most scholars are anything but daredevils and (b) not so very productive because spell casting under duress is not really a scientific and calm approach, i.e. combat is not conduitive to most research. However, a magician might have a great interest to for example

- capture supernatural creatures to in their presence gain a PPE boost,
- collect magical items, relics or what not that may have the same or a similar PPE augmentation effect,
- seek out ley lines or "special mystical places" for where he lives.

Incidentally, property prices between mages will have a completely different background, I muse. I see a mage living and doing his studies in the worst part of town, a ghetto or derelict old village, and if he sells it to another arcanist may make out like a bandit because his "prime ley line piece of real estate" is near a ley line or maybe even right on that ancient mystic site. This also seems to suggest that mages may actually get really serious when someone else is occupying such a crème de la crème piece of real estate.

SPELL COMPONENTS
This is an optional rule as it may seriously imbalance spell costs. Now for one way of a spell component rule:
PPE may be augmented by special spell components (which is entirely within GM discretion may or may not add to the temporary PPE value). I thought about giving a list of examples and PPE-yield but decided against it (mainly, I will admit because of the work load). Hence, let me try to cover this in the abstract. Common items (jar of cow's milk, screwdriver, blood of a dog) will not give a PPE bonus, rare and valuable items that fit the spell (an expensive ruby hailed as the "fire of India" however may give a small-medium bonus on FIRE SPELLS) and super-special, best supernatural themselves, items (a phoenix feather, the horn of a unicorn and such grand stuff) will always have exciting stories to them, should be very much sought after in the very smallish magic community of independent and - I guess - jealous minds, and maybe be OTHERS as well, but will give a large PPE bonus. Small bonuses will be up to 10 PPE, medium bonuses will be up to max. 50 PPE but usually less, and large bonuses shall lie entirely within GM discretion [probably around 100-200 PPE for really rare or unique items of special import]. Note that such items will as a rule be consumed in the spell casting process, only your GM will know when that is not the case and a component can be used up piecemeal! Please note also that if your GM allows such components to add to your PPE at all, this will remain at best a “clean add-on”, i.e. they will be, if they can be consumed piecemeal, temporary until used up and will always be used up first. PPE gained through components will never be multiplied by the presence of the supernatural. Lastly, please note that supernatural components will NOT serve as a ISP/PPE multiplier themselves by virtue of their supernaturality (although one may argue that you are technicall in the presence of the supernatural when they are around) - in any case, it is always either-or.

AUGMENTING PPE BY ARTEFACTS
(This is a bit of unchartered territory as well, as far as I am aware from the top of my head, but here goes as another OPTIONAL RULE:)
PPE may further be augmented by the presence of special relics, artefacts, etc. This is or can at least be handled markedly different from components. For example when the arcanist holds THE Holy Grail in his hands, he will feel a surge of raw power – maybe that comes at a price, maybe he will only feel it under certain circumstances (true heart or whatever the GM sees fit for such item – but essentially this will be treated according to the scale given under “Proximity Equals Power”. A GM should feel free to restrict power surges from artefacts as he wills it; for example, a feather of Quetzalcoatl may give a power surge to anyone using magic, questions of faith aside, but only if it wind or air magic.

In any case, if there is more than one multiplier in force at the same time, for example the arcanist holds said Grail in his hands (for example: x8) but is facing an Ancient Evil (x10), only the higher multiplier will effect the PPE (in the example: x10).

N.B.: CAPTURING THE SUPERNATURAL AS A POWER SOURCE:
(unchartered again)
Some arcanists may actually actively seek out the supernatural and instead of killing it try to capture it to serve as a PPE-multiplying battery [if the GM allows this kind of stunt]. This very well explains also why so many or the rare arcanists are not found on the side of good but on the side of evil, it is basically, if dangerous, moving place of power and for some arcanist not only knowledge but also the rush spell casting may provide and the power it conveys may be motivating forces. That said, even the whitest mage may be interested in that. After all, not only can he draw more power if he is in the presence of the supernatural, but these creatures (and artefacts, etc.) may be, to him, extremely exciting study opportunities (don't laugh about that, physicists have also said that they developed the atom bomb and were surprised it is used for war). GMs, arcanists going that route are in for a treat - it is a dangerous study field - only think of all the summoned demon stories!

LEY LINES & PLACES OF MAGIC
Another source of (temporary until used up and always used up first) PPE are ley lines and places of magic. For an excellent treatise on that issue – including wonderful fluff (aka background text) – I should like to refer you to BtS-I, pages 131 ss. BtS-I is still an extremely recommendable book and in my personal opinion can serve as a skeleton Arcanum until the 2nd edition version of that long awaited book will finally see the light of day. Still allow me to summarize, you will find similar rules in other books, RIFTS for one if I recall correctly. The following is simplified from BtS-I (for more variance please look into that still great book):

1. Being with 5 miles (8 km) of a ley line will add 5 PPE per melee (note this does not stack; you get +5 in melee one, you spent 3 PPE, at the beginning of round 2 you are at +[5-3]).
2. Being at a ley line nexus point ups the PPE gain to 10 points, again not cumulative.
3. At special times like planetary alignment, equinox, solstice, and whatever else the GM may designate as special the base PPE are doubled, but only when the arcanist is at a nexus point. He will still receive an additional +10 PPE per melee, not accumulative.

Similarly, places of magic and power, which may or may not be at a nexus or even near a ley line – although I assume they often will be – such as a powerful pyramid, Stonehenge, etc. can also effect PPE. The same goes for so-called "Rips of Magic", "Transitional Places of Power" and "Power Triads" (Bermuda Triangle and such). BtS-I gives a lot of information on that; the corresponding chapter in BtS-I is a good read and extensive (cf. BtS-I, pages 128-153!) In lieu of that use the above as a guideline.

PPE RECOVERY
PPE are recoverd as ISP – BtS-II, page 32.

SPECIAL TRAINING AND SKILLS
This subchapter of the Arcanist OCC has, as its name implies, two aspects to it: one is about skills and the other about special training or abilities. You will find it on pages 51-52 of BtS-I, to which I should like to refer you.

1. SKILLS
The skill part requires some work, or rather: re-thinking, as the skill system in BtS-I with its skill programmes (not unlike in N&S) and just giving the arcanist a complete dedicated skill set on top of an occupation would in my opinion not work in BtS-II. In 2nd edition class and occupation are two separate factors in building a character and only – with some rare exceptions (i.e., abilities that constitute essentially dedicated bonus skills) – the occupation will govern what skills a character will have. The consequence for the Arcanist OCC adaptation to BtS-II, to my mind, is that by far the greatest part of skills must only be governed by the actual occupation. Thus:

Skills are learnt as per occupation. Beyond or rather supplementing that arcanists may receive certain skills as special training (see below).

Making an arcanist occupation as well serves as a work around for the problem of what would constitute a double occupation if the arcanist were to retain (a) his arcanist skill set from BtS-I as well as (b) a BtS-II occupation. Our new Arcanist OCC could therefore very well also have an arcanist occupation [GMs: you are very free to not allow that occupation]. I will supply that in a later post.

2. SPECIAL TRAINING (General Rule: straight adaptation from BtS-I)
The special training part is easy to adapt as “Understanding the Principles of Magic”, “Read Magic”, “The Practiced Use of Magic”, “Sense Magic” and “Recognize Magic Enchantment” (BtS-I, pages 51-52) can be applied in BtS-II just as they are.

Each arcanist starts with the following number of spells:

- 1D6 for each of the spell levels 1-3
- 1D4 for each of the spell level 4-9
- No spells beyond level 9

When you know the total number of spells roll 4D6. The result will determine for which of your incantations you know the ritual as well as the spell variant, for any remainder you will have to decide for each spell whether you know it as a spell or as a ritual.

For the difference between rituals and spells as well as regarding learning spells you can either apply the rules in BtS-I (pages 95 ss.) or the very similar stipulations in the - awesome - Nightbane core book ("pursuit of magic" chapter, pages 124 ss). I tend towards the latter and suggest to apply the rules for the Nightbane Core Book Sorcerer on spells/rituals and spell acquisition per level (NB core, pages 115 ss.). Regarding rituals the sorcerer only has to differentiate between spell and ritual starting with spells at 7th spell level; I think that for BtS it needs to be possible to also have lower level rituals, so the 7th level thing does not apply for BtS.

Learning new spells when advancing in level:
An arcanist can learn as many new spells at a new level or even in between levels, provided he has sufficient funds (money may have to be paid for books, teaching, etc.), time (time is required to study anything!) and learning materials (teacher, books, etc.). This should be treated in a reasonable manner between GM and player. Players: unless there are exceptional circumstances, it will be unlikely that you gain much more than 6 new spells per level. GMs, give the guys at least one or two new spells per level, or more when they work hard at it!

ALTERNATIVE RULE on "Learning new spells when advancing in level":
An arcanist gains 1D4 new spells of random level (1D10; higher level spells only when he finds a teacher or tome of magic). These are spells he either recalls from his basic teachings but only then, as he gains more experience, fully understands or he has finally discovered these spells as a result of his intensive studies that come to fruitition on levelling.

***

SPELLS

I think the spells can be applied as are, basically. Or, one can very simply draw on any of the other spell sources in the megaverse (notably in my opinion PFRPG, Nightbane and Rifts - although: using spells from a SDC system will definitely make things much easier)

[Hendrik]

-PART II-

3. VARIANT (optional) SPECIAL TRAINING: colouring the arcanists


Text put into spoiler because a new version is further down - old version left up for access to development history (should anyone care).

Spoiler:

There have been various wonderful ideas in our discussion what an arcanist could be and should have beyond or in lieu of what was represented in BtS-I. I should therefore like to invite you to take a peek at various conceivable arcanist variants, sub-types if you will. It is a lot of fluff, but maybe it resonates with you. Aside from the fluff I make suggestions for different sets of special abilities per variant.

ARCANIST VARIANTS
What all arcanists share is a penchant, a talent if you will, for magic. Most will already have been able from a young age onwards to

--> SENSE MAGIC
--> RECOGNIZE MAGIC ENCHANTMENT
--> THE PRACTICED USE OF MAGIC (aka spell casting)

What is true for anyone with a pronounced talent is true for arcanists as well: only some will understand their talent, less will bring it to fruitition and advance their knowledge of magic by forging their natural inclination into dedication. Only the latter arcanists will become scholars of magic and only those rare scholars will learn to Read Magic. But this is just one example for what may be special, chiefly also the knowledge to cast spells can be bred from different sources; that said, on to the variants.

And, of course, before I say much about them, here is a Pally-typical table to determine what your variant is randomly [any subject to GM approval]:

01-15: Hereditary Arcanist: it runs in the family (roll on heritage sub-table)
16-20: Hereditary Arcanist: Emotional mage
21-40: Scholarly Arcanist: Professor
41-55: Scholarly Arcanist: Private Scholar / landed gentleman
46-60: Scholarly Arcanist: Blue collar / hobbyist
-------: Cultist: Powermonger / fanatic
-------: Cultist: Grand Pawn
61-65: Cultist: Ex-Cultist [if you roll this, ask you GM if he allows it and with which prerequisites/consequences]
66-75: Fighting Arcanist: Trophy Hunter
76-85: Fighting Arcanist: Champion
86-100: Fighting Arcanist: Seeker of Mysteries

I have not given chances to become an active evil cultist because I do not think to play such is within the beautiful and exciting theme of BtS. As with anything, feel free to put in a chance for these if you want or to change whatever you will.

HEREDITARY ARCANIST
There are two types of the hereditary arcanist, for the first magic runs in the family and it very much defines at least with which kind of spells he starts out, the second one casts magic even more instinctively, his magic is fused by strong emotions.

It runs in the family
Some arcanists have learnt to cast spells by way of heritage. Maybe an old spell book, you could maybe call it a recipe collection, was handed down from mother to daughter, generation to generation. Perhaps a family of farmers have always had uncanny “luck” with the weather and their crops, each storm passed them by, precipitation always was just right, and young Jimmy learnt that it is important, his family’s way, to gather for the great family feast late winter and dance the cold away – and it always would, even if the Jackson’s farm only 20 miles away would still be covered by a blanket of snow for another 2 weeks. Young Jimmy may never realize that it was magic that does that, but he knows the rituals, and recognizes similar “blessings” when he sees them, he might just never call them “magic”.

All hereditary mages receive the following two special abilities:

--> PERIPHERAL MAGIC KNOWLEDGE (Nightbane Through a Glass Darkly, page 13)
--> +2 Spells fitting with heritage (the spell level of each of those two spells is determined by a D10)

Some hereditary mages, notably the one with a family history in witchcraft and the warrior family arcanist, will receive additional special abilities, but wherever a sub type has additional abilities the “+2 Spells” are lost.

Heritage Sub-Table (1D8)

1: Family of farmers. Never call him a redneck mage! Has only knowledge of air, wind, weather and or nature magic, but may learn more later (provided he finds the teachers, etc), but may not want to learn different magic.

2:Witching background. Note: This need not be the evil witch from PFRPG (and I advise strongly against bridging that particular and evil powerhouse into BtS, at least on the player’s side). Can brew 3 basic potions (if GM allows)

--> FAMILIAR LINK
--> BREW 3 POTIONS (roll 1D8 3 times: 1= charm potion, 2= love charm potion, 3=chameleon, 4=change appearance to look youthful, 5=fleet feet, 6=healing, 7=shrinking, 8=truth serum; cf. PFRPG, page 253)

3: Aboriginal heritage: African, American Indian, Australian aborigine, etc. heritage. This hereditary arcanist will have access to shamanistic magic. An originally Haitian family may pass on Voodoo magic.

4: Family of Warriors. This hereditary arcanist can probably name at least one relative / ancestor for every single war his nation undertook in the last several hundred years (family background lore: 1800 -1D6x100 years), not necessarily of higher rank, but always in the thick of the fight and highly decorated. If he is US American, Canadian, Australian et al. and his knowledge goes far enough back – see family background lore roll – he will also know the main family warrior’s history for the nation (territory) his family mainly springs from. Probably the magically talented scion of warriors is a soldier by occupation (may be on reserve status now, but likely saw combat) himself. Instead of the normal hereditary mages boons, the hereditary warrior receives:

--> BOOST OF STRENGTH (P.S. +2D6 for 1 round for 10 PPE)
--> ARROW OUT OF THIN AIR (can create up to 1 per 5 levels bullet, arrow, sling stone, bolt for 5 PPE, does x2 damage to supernatural beings)

5: Artists and Craftsman. This family has always been especially talented in some craft or art. Maybe they are famous even as aritists in their craft, maybe just extremely – if not to say: supernaturally – good plumbers. Whatever the craft or art may be, all the spells the craftsman hereditary arcanist has should fit or at least aid / fit with the theme of that craft or art , if possible. You can, of course, determine the art or craft with this table, which is anything but complete:

01-10%: Plumber
02-20%: Carpenter
03-30%: Car mechanic
31-40%: Painter
41-50%: Sculptor
51-60%: Smith
61-70%: Electrician
71-80%: Fitter
81-90%: Taxidermist
91-100%: Poet

--> Receives one skill (fitting his art of craft) at +20%

6: Extremely religious. This family has been devoutly [insert non per se evil religion of your choice] religious. This hereditary arcanist may actually be a member of the cloth and is 1000% sure that his magic comes from God [whichever, but not evil] and needs to be used to his glory. This arcanist has an excellent motivation to combat the supernatural (evil). His spells should fit with his God [GM discretion]; being able to exorcise demons and such may be open to him.
--> SENSE SUPERNATURAL EVIL (HU 2nd edition, “Mystic Study” chapter, page 153, left column; if that is not available the use the very similar corresponding descripton of this ability in BtS-II, page 90 (Psychic Sensitive PCC's "Sense Supernatural Evil" ability)

7: THIEVES! Uncanny crooks all of ‘em: This family has quite the criminal record. Probably, the arcanist has a criminal occupation himself (but not “hitman”, killers and thugs may use the warrior family backdrop, be an emotional mage or a fighting arcanist). What makes the thief arcanist different is that his family has always been better at stealing, embezzling, etc. than anybody else in the business or so it seemed. They always had an unexplainable edge over the competition, respectively their colleagues. All spells must fit with crime – mental influence (great for scams and such) and subterfuge type (fog, go through walls) spells seem recommendable [GM discretion, as always].

8: Circusmen! This family has never really settled, maybe gypsies, circusmen, entertainers, etc. Likely occupations are acrobat or stage magician. Maybe the character is a distant relative of the great Hoodini or can refer you to the National Portrait Gallery in London for a picture of one of his ancestors as the King’s fool.

--> either STUNNING FEAT OF ACROBATICS (this ability grants a bonus of +20 to any daring or dangerous feat of acrobatics; also: even without an acrobatics skill, the arcanist-circusman with this ability is able to do simple acrobatic stunts, such as make a cartwheel or swing on a candelabra without a chance to fail)
--> or LAST LAUGH (quick of mind, quick of wit, the arcanist has received some clown training and always has a little quib or taunt that shakes another's resolve; use the last laugh once per combat to make humans loose combat initiative and 1 attack (no save) in one given round)
--> or SIMPLE ILUSSION (will be detailed in a later post, I need to re-read illusions, but I am thinking of simple sleight of hand stuff)

The Emotional Mage
The second type of the hereditary arcanist is the emotional mage, he is basically to magic what the hulk is for superheroes, an incalculable quantity, a person using magic without refinement and often without thought. An emotional arcanist is restricted in that he can only summon up his talent and actually cast spells when he is in some state of emotional stress, such as aggression or panic. In a state of calm he may learn new spells but he can only cast them when a situation is stressful or even dire. Technically, this restriction is not that bad because of the PPE-multiplier rule all arcanists will not have a great reservoir of PPE to cast spells anyway when not in a stressful situation, i.e. when prowling or confronting the supernatural, still, this may give the arcanist an interesting twist.

--> CONTROLLING THE (MAGE) RAGE: 20%+5% per level; with this ability the emotional mage can either work himself up even if the situation as such is not stressful or he can calm himself down (see UNCONTROLLED CASTING).
--> UNCONTROLLED CASTING: When the emotional mage is in a state of uncontrolled mage rage he cannot fully control what spell he casts; his tendency will be to cast the most powerful first. When in doubt, or just as a nice random alternative the GM may allow the player to choose 6 spells at levels 1-3, 5 at levels 4-6, 4 at levels 7-9, 3 at levels 10-12 or 2 at levels 13-15 and then determine randomly which one will be cast.

SCHOLARLY ARCANIST
For the hereditary arcanist, magic is not a scientific thing or something that necessarily requires much work, let alone research. It just is part of them, the grew up with it, like learning your native tongue: virtually effortlessly.

This is very different for the scholarly arcanist. For these men of intellect, impassionate reason and hunger for knowledge, magic is their one true calling.

Professor Arcanist
It is very unlikely that this kind of arcanist will take up a non scholarly occupation, being a policeman would just be in the way of his studies and that is just not him. Scholarly arcanists will choose occupations that complement their passion for magic as favourably as possible, for example by becoming an archaeologist, a dealer in antiques or almost any professorial job.

--> READ MAGIC
--> 4 academic skills +10
--> Lore: Arcane +15

Private Scholar / Gentlemen of Means
Only an extreme rare few are better off even than that. They are already made men, people with enough money to pursue any “hobby” they choose, the quintessential private scholar or gentleman of means. They have the funds to buy what they need and, what may be more, the can afford to study and research the whole day without having to deal with distractions like mundane work.

--> GENTLEMAN OF MEANS (The gentlemen of means is rather well to do. He will often have a yearly stipend, for example from an inheritance trust fund or a benefactor/patron or maybe he was successful with a start up company sold it dearly and now enjoys private live. He has an annual income of about USD 1D6 x 100,000, a sizeable house, he may have 1D3 cars and either a “custom bought” chopper or an oldtimer. GM’s are advised to curtail these funds as desired.)
--> READ MAGIC
--> 1 academic skill +10
--> Lore: Arcane +10

“Blue Collar” / Hobbyist Arcanist
Yet, perhaps the arcanist scholar has a (much) harder lot in life and comes from a poor or at most lower middle class background. He did not have the choice what to do for a living. He would not be rich enough to do as he pleases, he may be forced to work from a young age on instead of pursuing a university career. However, as in real life you will find many people who are impassioned with one interest and despite having to work hard in a day job, will use every single second of their spare time, and often long hours in the night, to further their private interest. Some are collectors, some re-enactors of history and some play theatre, etc. I am sure there are millions of people who are passionate about something that is not their job and will spend inordinate hours and maybe even irresponsible amounts of cash on it. An arcanist in this position will use all of his often very hard earned cash to try to get a certain old spell book on ebay, will use up his vacation time to travel to a special second-hand bookshop in a small village in the French part of the Pyrenees, and rather than going out with buddies will sit in his study and happily study his copy of a 16th century German combat spell that he found hidden within a page of one of Hans Talhoffer’s fencing books. These “hobby”-scholars will often be loners, there is just no time for socializing when you must study. Maybe this type of arcanist will be most impassioned for magic and feel a burning need to research and further his knowledge about magic. He will know it is his true calling.

--> READ MAGIC
--> 1 academic skill +20
--> Lore: Arcane +20
--> Streetwise +10

NB: If you think it fits the scholar-arcanist, maybe especially the 1000% dedicated hobbyist-arcanist may suggest himself for also gaining
--> FAMILIAR LINK

CULTIST
The cultist is a very special breed of arcanist. These arcanist fanatics either are power hungry scholars who think that summoning a demon or working in the employ of an ancient evil will further their knowledge and, thus, power. These cultists will think, at least in the apparent secrecy if not necessarily sanity of their mind, that for now they have to toe the party line but you bet they will at the same time try to carefully manipulate the evil being. There plan will be however to – when the stars are right –to subjugate the evil entity.

Other cultists think that magic flows from a divine source and to increase their arcane and sacred knowledge they must faithfully worship this source. The latter are maybe the most willing and easy to manipulate mages in the entire world; they often are the entirely selfless and compliable subject of an ancient evil or old one – a great tool, a wonderful missionary and an ideal martyr (as well as an emergency ration, if you will).

For all cultists:
--> Lore: Religion +20
--> Lore: Mythology +20
--> 1 further Lore or Parapsychology skill
--> READ MAGIC
--> Horror Factor rolls +1
--> Save vs. Insanity checks -3
--> All spells beyond level 3 are all rituals (cf. to BtS-I, pages 95-97 for how rituals work)

A word of caution regarding the ex-cultist: the ex cultist is a reformed worshipper of evil (if a PC: not fake reformed), and most interestingly he will have an automatic enemy group right from the beginning. Worshippers of evil do not like their people to turn away from them and are rather drastic about remedying such situations; letting an ex cultist go around is just not good evil policy, he knows too much and sets a bad example. That alone makes the ex cultist a real challenge to play. Also, GMs may not allow this subtype at all because he requires a special kind of campaign and the GM and the group should be comfortable with this.

As an interesting side note: if you take the word "cultist" in the less horror novel kind of way but literally, every religion is a cult and in that sense, maybe with a couple of little changes, you could also make a "good cultist", e.g. a priest of a non-evil religion. To play that would not endanger a campaign (methinks).

FIGHTING ARCANIST
Some will be nothing more or less than a dedicated trophy (and spell component!) hunter, at best an Allan Quatermain, at worst merely a soldier of fortune type.

Others will see themselves as champions of Man. The latter understand themselves to be blessed / tainted / lucky enough / burdened with a talent and knowledge and see their duty in having to use it to the good. The champion cannot shy away from his responsibility and so he gears up and finds the next supernatural thread.

A third kind of the fighting arcanist is maybe for the magic trade what Indiana Jones is to archaeology. He is drawn to mystery and the supernatural. He wants to understand; as it happens over this he gets to fight a lot of the generally less than cooperative supernatural monsters.

For all fighting arcanists:
--> SENSE SUPERNATURAL EVIL (HU 2nd edition, “Mystic Study” chapter, page 153, left column; if that is not available the use the very similar corresponding descripton of this ability in BtS-II, page 90 (Psychic Sensitive PCC's "Sense Supernatural Evil" ability)
--> Lore: Mythology
--> 1 W.P. of choice

***

[tmikesecrist3]

looks good but the only thing you left out is how much P.P.E does he gain per level... I am guessing 1 or 2 like most classes gain in isp

I would also tend to add read magic to the hereditary witch and the religies but I could work with this ohhh yes I could work with this. and posably since evil

[Hendrik]

looks good

Thank you, tmikesecrist3!

but the only thing you left out is how much P.P.E does he gain per level... I am guessing 1 or 2 like most classes gain in isp

I forgot to be frank because I think it should not be a fixed amount. Psionics are gained, spells are acquired. I want to leave this between GM and player, similar to how the Sorcerer (the one in the core book, page 115 ss. acquires spells). I will add something to that effect with an option for a "fixed amount" - for ease of reference.

GENERAL ADVISE
This goes for any new entries or amendments but spelling corrections - I will show them in blue text. You can also see whether the OCC posts have been amended by the neat "EDITED ON ... FOR THE [nth] TIME IN TOTAL" entry at the bottom of the post.

I would also tend to add read magic to the hereditary witch and the religies but I could work with this ohhh yes I could work with this. and posably since evil

That I thought about for a while. I would not want to give read magic to the witch because to my mind she acquires spells through oral tradition and simple recipies that do not require read magic.

Re evil ... my word of caution on how to handle it would be: "no evil characters". I like the good vs evil tenor of BtS and think it is crucial to BtS and a horror setting. I have already stressed that in the above, although of course anyone must be very free in how to handle that at his table. I will add a word of caution re the ex-cultist above because while I like the option, I think he requires a special campaign and player to really work as well as he might.

Cheers
Hendrik

[tmikesecrist3]

I did not mean that the character him/her self was evil, what I mean is that a priest druid shaman maybe even some new age wiccens should be able to SENSE SUPERNATURAL EVIL

[Hendrik]

I did not mean that the character him/her self was evil, what I mean is that a priest druid shaman maybe even some new age wiccens should be able to SENSE SUPERNATURAL EVIL

O, sorry, misunderstanding on my part. Thank you for the clarification. I guess you are on to something, could definitely be done. My thinking was that "sense supernatual evil" is not formative for e.g. the "aboriginal arcanist", so I did not put it there. I will have to ponder this. As a side note, the aboriginal arcanist and "shamantic" magic are a bit unfinished at the moment. I need to put more content / text there.

Wow Hendrik that is a LOT of work! I'll have to take a more detailed look later on, but I don't see any glaring omissions, and a lot of food for thought.

Thank you, Meph! I am looking forward to your comments.

Kind regards
Hendrik

[tmikesecrist3]

I tend to be careful about allowing evil characters into a campaign well with the exception of the aberrant but then I do not really thing of them as being evil. It fits with many of the Celtic based Characters I run. But if I run my pc's are mature for my main group and most of them do not run magic users if can con some one else into running I am much more likely to run this.. in fact I am thinking about how I would draw him up....

[Hendrik]

Hi tmikesecrist3,

I think you are right with regard to the "devoutly religious" hereditary arcanist and "Sense Supernatural Evil" and I have added that in the write-up.

Cheers
Hendrik

[Hendrik]

- PART III -

Spoiler:

As announced above I have now sat down and present hereinafter a write-up for a new occupation: the arcanist. I do not think we really "need" it. A fine, fine Arcanist can be made with e.g. the scholar occupation, which is while more generic not that dissimilar from the below I find. Anyhow, I though it would still be nice to have that option because I think a certain skill set needs to be made available to represent the 1st edition Arcanist most faithfully and that is the whole point of my labour here. The only thing I think does not work is what would in BtS-II terms essentially result in choosing two occupations (the BtS-I Arcanist had about what is stated below plus he could choose a skill programme)! Enough said on the motif, here goes:

Text put into spoiler because a new version is further down - old version left up for access to development history (should anyone care).

ARCANIST OCCUPATION

Spoiler:

NOT every Arcanist must have the occupation of the same name! At the same time, the arcanist occupation need not only be available for members of the Arcanist OCC, but it should only be available to players with the consent of the GM. Basically the arcanist occupation is a specialised form of the scholar occupation. However, if you choose to use this new occupation, it is worth pondering on a case by case basis whether a given Arcanist OCC character would not actually benefit from having a different occupation; he could then be much more interesting and varied. As you will see - I have, of course, chiefly modelled this occupation after the skill pack the Arcanist OCC got under BtS-I - that I have toned down the bonuses quite considerably. I think this is very necessary so that the arcanist occupation is not waaay beyond what other occupations of BtS-II offer. Further, I have struck "Lore: Religion" from the list, because that for me never made sense but can be learnt as an Elective skill anyhow. I have given the arcanist occupation some other skills, notably "Streetwise: Weird" because especially the latter made tremendious sense to me.

=== NOTE: One does not need to change the random occupation determination table for this. I believe in choosing more than in rolling anyhow. However, if you want to roll, then I suggest you put in the arcanist either simply instead of one other occupation of your choice that does not fit an Arcanist in your mind or just say that if the player rolls "scholar" it is an "arcanist" if he has the Arcanist OCC. ===

Occupational Skills:
Language: Native Tongue (+20%)
Literacy: Native Language (+20%)
Language: one ancient (+5%)
Literacy: two ancient (+5%)
Lore: Demon and Monsters (+ 15%).
Lore: Ghosts and Faeries (+ 15%) .
Lore: Geomancy and Lines ofPower (+ 15%).
Lore: Magic (+20%)
Lore: Magic Arcane (+20%)
Lore: Superstition (+20%)
Mathematics: Basic (+15%)
Research (+25%).
Streetwise: Weird (+20%)

Elective Skills:
Select seven total from the standard available categories, but the character gets a +10 bonus on Paranormal, Science, and Technical skills.

Secondary Skills available:
Select three from the standard available categories at level one, +2 additional skills each at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12

Special Bonus:
+10 on a single skill (stacks with any other bonus) to represent the arcanist's special area of expertise.

***

CHANGE MANAGEMENT
I have added above in the OCC description that the character class is "OPEN TO THE SUPERNATURAL", introduced a reference to BtS-II, page 90 regarding the "Sense Supernatural Evil" ability (for those who do not have HU - buy it - but it gives easier reference and the two abilities are at least similar if not the same) and added "OCC bonuses"! Regarding the "Hereditary Arcanist" sub-type I have added a random table to determine the art or craft may have.

Re OPEN TO THE SUPERNATURAL:
While I think it makes a lot of sense, I am as yet unsure. What is your opinion?

Cheers
Hendrik

[Hendrik]

Hi there,

WHEW! I am done!

Well, my work seems to be done for now, at least - after 3 days of intensely pondering and wildly typing on how to translate the Arcanist OCC "best" from 1st edition into 2nd edition BtS ... I am afraid I have no further ideas. So, the black and blue text in the three posts above represents all what I would do for the Arcanist OCC and how I see a possible arcanist occupation.

I will leave the blue text blue so that those of you who looked at the prior/first version early yesterday (before the blue text went into the text body) have an easier time to see what is new. I thank you very much for your comments so far! Those have become, mostly, part of the blue text or jogged my mind into producing further text, hopefully augmenting the whole.

Advancing the above further will depend on your future comments. I will gladly incorporate any further needed corrections and amendments (in red text) for easier change tracking. Spelling and grammar corrections, as before, will not be shown in colour (not that I want to keep that secret, but would only unnecessarily confuse the reader).

I am now very, very curious what you all say to the above 3 posts (1st post: "Neo"-Arcanist OCC; 2nd post: On sub-types / Arcanist variations; 3rd post: On an arcanist occupation) and looking forward to your comments and insights.

Kind regards
Hendrik

[gaby]

I think using Sorcerous Profiliencies and Limitations from Nightbane can wokr in BtS.
Arcanists will not have access to ther magic all the time,BtS,s earth is a low in PPE.
So some Arcanists can casts ther highest spells only at Night or people touching silver can give protection from a spell.

If you have a Nightbane book tell me what Profilencies and Limitations would be Good for BtS?

[Hendrik]

I think using Sorcerous Profiliencies and Limitations from Nightbane can wokr in BtS.
Arcanists will not have access to ther magic all the time,BtS,s earth is a low in PPE.
So some Arcanists can casts ther highest spells only at Night or people touching silver can give protection from a spell.

If you have a Nightbane book tell me what Profilencies and Limitations would be Good for BtS?

I will look into this.

SPELL COMPONENTS
I am having 2nd thoughts on that "gettin' a couple of PPE through this" option because I think it is a beautiful idea (Petite Elfgirl's) but may seriously imbalance the whole spell cost thing. I have therefore changed it above to an optional rule.

Cheers
Hendrik

[Hibik]

Yeaaah, a lot to look through.

So far though, I like it. it's a lot of uncharted territory since BtS1 is a fair bit different of a game than BtS2.

Regarding some of the ideas I meant to respond to before...

- capture supernatural creatures to in their presence gain a PPE boost
- collect magical items, relics or what not that would have the same effect
- seek out ley lines or "special mystical places" for where he lives (property prices between mages will have a completely different background ... I see a mage living and doing his studies in the worst part of town, a ghetto or derelict old village, because his "prime ley piece of real estate" is right on that ancient mystic site)

These are all good ideas and probably very necessary if an arcanist does not merely want to cast cantrips. Tms3 on Lazlo mentions using bluestones as a 'battery', if memory serves. Melissa herself uses shocked quartz from time to time for a similar purpose. The problem with batteries is scarcity if looking for something natural, and the time and opportunity to charge something for later when it comes to making something - it then becomes a question of whether to use the available PPE for a ritual spell, or just to store it for later.

I had thought of some ways to make the Occupation system compatible with the arcanist by defining a series of generalized arcanist occupations based upon traditions to determine the mage's skills and possible specialties - but I hadn't formulated anything before you posted all of this. I might post what I have later and elsewhere, though it would have not been toooo far off from what you had.

[Hendrik]

I think using Sorcerous Profiliencies and Limitations from Nightbane can wokr in BtS.

I think so, too. Interestingly enough, the respective chapter speaks of "arcanists" a couple of times (I guess it might even have been drafted for BtS Arcanum or a BtS Rifter article originally and then appropriated for Nightbane but that is just a stray thought and really irrelevant. Point is it would work, I think).

If you have a Nightbane book tell me what Profilencies and Limitations would be Good for BtS?

First of all, thank you, Gaby, for bringing these up - I had forgotten about them, which is a shame. [For those who want to look them up: Sorcerous Proficiencies and Limitations are part of the IMO well done optional rules in Nightbane Sourcebook 3 "Through the Glass Darkly, pages 24 ss.]

Now for my 2 cents:

I basically think that all of them can be applied for mages in BtS. Especially with regard to the LIMITATIONS, though, I think caution is well advised as some, "Bloodmage" comes to mind, should maybe only be used by evil arcanists, i.e. IMO NPCs. With respect to the proficiencies it bodes thinking about that all but especially some, SENSITIVE TO MAGIC and SENSITIVE TO THE SUPERNATURAL come to mind, are essentially "special abilities" or "talents" that are normally dished out in only a very restricted fashion, i.e. on character generation and only as per OCC.

What I am saying, I guess, is that a GM would need to think hard whether he really wants to allow a "PROFICIENCY" as an additional boon as a freebie or for example allow taking a proficiency in exchange for an OCC special ability like "Read Magic" or "Sense Magic".

Arcanists will not have access to ther magic all the time,BtS,s earth is a low in PPE.

I agree for the most part. Arcanists normally only have very limited access to their power, BtS-II page 31 in the "Proximity Equals Power" chapter. Interestingly enough I only saw today that this chapter applies to psychics AND ARCANISTS already. Very cool. According to that, psychics and Arcanists are at only base ISP or PPE (whatever applies) when not in the presence of the supernatural with a 50% to work at only "[base ISP or PPE]x0.25".

So some Arcanists can casts ther highest spells only at Night or people touching silver can give protection from a spell.

That I do not understand. Why?

I think I understand the reference to night, you may mean the PPE multiplier at midnight? But the part on silver I do not understand at all - what have I overlooked?

Cheers
Hendrik

[tmikesecrist3]

Yes Tms does use blue stones. and malicat. the malicat is easier to carry but does not use as much of a charge. the blue stone will if left a lone near a lay line, or exposed to moon/sun light will recharge in about 24 hours or so. The Malicat has to be manually charged. but when I ran many things could be charged and hold the charge. tms has a larger peaces of blue stone in his Work areas on in his garden and one in the basement. the larger ones take more time to recharge and the ones in the garden charge faster then the ones inside. As for "blood magic" there are many deffrent forms I do not hold that only an evil mage would practice some forms of it....

Its like I have heard of some sects of druids that still sacrifce the heart of a bull on yule.. of coures then they eat the rest of the bull.

a the blood form the virgin huntress was mixed with mike to bless the feels... (the blood of a woman the first time she was with a man) also that blood, or the monthly blood of a woman has been used to make furtilaty charms... none of these are evil acts

[Hendrik]

Hi there, Mephisto,

1. Love the hereditary tables, they are a good way to flesh out an arcanist, and define what his or her specialty is.
...
3. The skill list looks good, have no complaints there.
...
Overall well done, and something I truly enjoy reading.

Thank you very much - I am glad you like it!

2. I'm leaning towards liking the open to the supernatural aspect of it, but I think the character will also, thanks to the abilities of sense the supernatural and sense evil, be extremely aware of when it happens and not being psychic, can close the door instantly, unless that supernatural being has a magical way of keeping the link open (such as a Goqua or Death Weaver Spider-Demon). That would make it both a blessing and a curse in that his or her magical nature would also be known by beings that can sense it, and also might be part of the reason that powerful beings would seek out arcanists for pacts in the first place.

I am of the same mind, including still being a bit torn about the matter. I like the idea of having the arcanist being aware and a beacon to the supernatural at the same time as long as he opens up. Kindly see below for an idea on this.

4. New Age magic seems to focus a lot on numbers, astrology, runestones, drawings etc. Words in combination with numbers and patterns should have one of those unknown random factors that makes magic "magical". I wonder if part of the reason that magic is so obscure in BTS2 is that these factors are not always taken into consideration?

I am afraid I know next to nothing about the New Age stuff. I tend to think about hippies, John & Yoko, bongs and such when that comes up. That said, "word, number and patters" could be a great way - maybe building on the PFRPG wards and circles to flesh out BtS magic further! But I guess that would be a whole new and really tough project.

Maybe that Globe of Daylight spell won't work under a partial eclipse, or that Tongues spell won't work without six stones present? Something to keep arcanists from just firing off fireball and agony spells all the time would help characters appreciate the spells they do learn, and really focus on studying and practicing them on a daily basis.

That is a train of thought I like very much.

I think the ISP/PPE multiplication rules will go a long way to achieve that.

If one wanted spells to be even less of the "lob 'em like there is no tomorrow"-nature it would perhaps be worth to think about making all of them rituals and only give the option for a very few to be pure spells. Instead of the rule on that above one could say "all are rituals but the arcanist can choose 1D6 (defensive?) incantations to be pure spells". I guess it depends how one wants to see magic in BtS. I like slow magic, because it requires brains and I think that quick magic (magic as a gun) would kill the BtS flair.

Further, I think BtS spell descriptions in a future Arcanum (!) should accomodate exactly your line of thinking. Not too restrictive but with an eye on flair.

That said, I do not see arcanists practicing their spells daily, at least not practically. They do not have (and should not have) enough base power for that. I think what they will do is read up on them often and regularly.

5. With how tedious and time consuming magic is though, it IS powerful, and supernatural beings should rightfully fear it. I think supernatural beings should require a roll to even approach a mage, not even knowing what he or she knows, just based on aura or PPE levels alone (althought I'd raise PPE base to 2D6+10 with the same Proximity is Power rules, just to make it easier to cast more than one spell per minute). I can't see a Grave Ghoul or Hell Hound getting close, prefer to find easier prey. That would be a good incentive to be an arcanist, knowing that lesser beings will give you a wide berth.

Firstly, re PPE: I would not want to see arcanists with too "much" base PPE power. I thought it is better to stress that there is a peculiar relationship between arcanist and the supernatural. As much as the arcanist may fight it he also "needs" it and (at least secretly) wishes for it and the magical rush it brings.

What about this: There could be two main kinds of arcanists.

1. Arcanist Recluse: This one is closed to the supernatural (he still has the abilities like "Sense Magic etc. as stated above) and he has 1D6+6 PPE.
2. Astute Arcanist: The second type (much rarer, say only 1 in 4 arcanists is like that) is open to the supernatural but has 2D6+10 PPE. The latter one is more powerful but more often in trouble, which goes a long way to explain why only every 4th arcanist is of that kind

Secondly, re arcanist "Horror factor": A worthy idea. I can see that for extremely powerful arcanists!

Yet, for all arcanists? Would that not go against the basic premise of BtS? The horror is less if (some of) the creatures actually fear YOU. I would not really want to do that. That is not saying that a hell hound might not flee after the first spell has tanned his hide, but I would not want the arcanist to automatically strike fear into the black heart of horror itself...

Kind regards
Hendrik

PS: I will wait for another couple of days and the "un"-blue the blue text.

[tmikesecrist3]

here is the thing much of the new age Magick. for Gardner to Crowlie is in part based on midevil or Renocons high magic. may of witch is based at least in part on the golden down. a lot of it is watered down. but most new agers if they can come up with a working system of magic from what they can get. and some can will not really be down and durty spell slingers but fair (at least) ritural mages. The would porbly use more syimbles and words

[Hendrik]

Hi there, Mephisto,

I could not answer earlier, my PC broke down and it is a pain in the south to write at the moment ... and a discussion elsewhere in this board was taking up far too much of my time. I apologize.

OK maybe not practice, but they should be reading text, doing research and try and gain a deeper understanding and meaning behind the spell words (invocations), mental link (P.P.E.) and connection to the mystic energy (possible components). An arcanist is an occupation as much, if not more, demanding than most. The idea of an arcanist also being a detective or a police officer isn't bad, but there is no way they should be skilled in both sciences, magic is just too demanding. So a clever arcanist will, as you suggest with the hereditary tables, tailor his or her magic around the occupation, but an arcanists first craft is magic and study, so other skills (at least in my opinion) should not be as strong as someone that isn't burdened by having to learn magic.

I agree (although: I really LOVE the idea of the arcanist-plumber or whatever unusual combination one can find. My favourite from the hereditary tables is the "hobbyist")!

Do you advocate any changes to the skills as stated above?

Well, an Astute Arcanist would probably require higher starting attribute requirements (being a tougher discipline after all, would preclude some from even trying) but overall the idea has merit. It might be just semantics, but I think an Arcanist Recluse would be more interested in spells that affect his or her own body more than the outside world, while an Astute Arcanist has a different mindset, of finding and challenging the unknown. There is room for a third type, the Arcanist Profound, that tries to mold the world to his or her own choosing, attempting to mold reality to fit whatever vision they have.

As for the horror factor, that wasn't really what I was going for. I think a Hell Hound might have a save vs fear (say 12 or so) to attack so it wouldn't automatically run and hide if it senses the arcanist, while a Sowki might have a 10 or so, and a Master Vampire will just laugh at the arcanist as it drinks his blood. Since it's a save it might buy the arcanist some time that either a normal person or a psychic might not enjoy. It might seem like an unnecessary carrot to make someone want to play an arcanist but since it's not an action-oriented individual like a Night Hunter or a Firewalker, it has to offer something to a player. I might be wrong with that way of thinking, but with such a low starting P.P.E., an arcanist needs something to make the supernatural fear him or her.

"Recluse" was meant entirely to reflect that he is closed to the supernatural. I think it surely can, by all means!, but need not mean that he concentrates on self-affecting spells (interesting idea, though, must think a bit more about it). Likewise, I do not think that an Astute would have to be outgoing (literally) but rather that he may have more inbound

Like the name "Profound" very much. Need to think about that, too. I am not sure if it is a good idea to define such a Profound arcanist as "molder of worlds etc." as I would see that too close to a powermonger.

I think that an arcanist offers million of exciting possibilities, but can and should necessitate a different style of play than the psi equivalent of a fighter. I do not even see the number of PPE (powder to burn) as a carrot that is needed. On the contrary, a mage should have to search for power sources, and ... well, if he encounters the supernatural he will have (at least some of) it.

Kindest regards
Hendrik

[Hendrik]

Hi there,
I have un-blued it, revised a bit (mostly language) and here it is - my final draft Arcanist OCC and occupation for BtS-II. Enjoy!
Kind regards, Hendrik

NEO-ARCANIST OCC
(A 2nd edition BtS adaptation and interpretation of the 1st edition PCC of the same name)

TERMS USED
BtS-I means the 1st edition Beyond the Supernatural, BtS-II refers to the 2nd edition, HU confers you to the 2nd edition Heroes Unlimited, PFRPG is the Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game and Arcanist is spelt with a capital “A” when referring to the OCC and with a small “a” when referring to wizarding types in general.

IMPORTANT NOTICE
As this is an adapation of a class already existing in an older Palladium product, I neither want to regurgitate what has already been written nor infringe upon copyright. I will therefore refer to especially the arcanist section of BtS-I where what was said there can be applied as is. Sadly, this makes this post far less usable as a stand-alone. Yet, for the stated reasons it is not the purpose of this post to invent the wheel a second time. Conversely, where I see it demanded by 2nd edition necessities (notably changes due to the occupational system and the arcanist variant ideas I had) I will give my reading of how the rules of today can be applied to make an arcanist work in the framework of 2nd edition. Well, at least that is what I am setting out (fixin' for some) to do. Have fun reading the following and I hope it will be of some use to y’all.

In the following I will show a possible adaptation of the 1st edition Arcanist for BtS-II. Use it as you will! I should like to invite you to refer to pages 50 ss. BtS-I (BtS-I downloadable here). BtS-I is still an extremely recommendable book and in my personal opinion can serve as a skeleton Arcanum until the 2nd edition version of that long awaited book will finally see the light of day.

PREAMBLE & FURTHER SOURCES OF REFERENCE
The Arcanist was built very much as the generic magician for a horror setting, even if with a clear bent on the studious magician-scholar. My primary target in the following will be quite simply to translate the 1st edition class to BtS-II.

Additionally, I will offer some variants of the Arcanist for BtS-II which are meant to enable BtS-players to use it beyond the bent of the old Arcanist and to play the scholarly wizard (the classical sits-in-his-study-and-ponders-magic guy) as much as a more instinctive or [literally] outgoing spell caster (talent, little or no schooling) or a ritual magician, be that an evil cultist or the white mage warding off demons and other horrors.

Aside from this – entirely unofficial, naturally – little forum post I think it wise to refer you to other fine sources of magecraft. There are a couple of alternative sources to draw spell casting OCCs from for BtS-II, be that as a model or for outright use (with a little adaptation probably). The major part of the following has been pointed out by others in the discussion in the “Arcanist” thread (BtS subforum), but I shall summarize it here if only to give precise references for any reader’s convenience:

1. There is the excellent article by our own Mephisto in Rifter 46, pages 53 ss. (download Rifter 46 here), which contains such beautiful nuggets as the Digital Mage. Mephisto really succeeded in giving us some cool new variations of a modern, tech-savy mage. At the same time, obviously, these mages will be of less value when you play a campaign in another age, such as me (I play a 1930s campaign).
2. The Nightbane books offer several spell casting OCCs; I should like to point out the veritable “Through a Glass Darkly”, pages 9 ss., which has especially the Sorcerer, Mystic, Acolyte and Channeler OCCs.
3. Heroes Unlimited knows magic as well, of course. The Mystic Study (pages 150 ss., HU core rulebook) has been mentioned repeatedly, and for very good reasons, in our discussions.
4. Certainly, the Palladium Fantasy RPG can be an excellent further source. OCCs like the Summoner (pages 135 ss.) or the Diabolist (pages 117), circles and wards, may all serve as a brilliant source of inspiration and adaptation. I find that these two OCCs may possibly represent the “classical” cultist best, although both classes are fairly powerful and I should like to advise caution using them in BtS-II especially as classes for the use of players. The latter should be a well considered step as it might open a box of Pandora. As far as I am concerned: I would not allow Summoner or Diabolist as player classes; summoning and all that is calling the supernatural and that should not – or in a very limited fashion only (and, neither of these OCCs is really that limited) – be for the players to do, but that is just my line of thinking. In any case, note that players calling demons and such clearly stand the danger to change the “we fight the supernatural and are the good boys” tenor of BtS-II considerably.
5. I am sure there are many more worthy sources for men of magic in the panoply of OCCs offered throughout the Megaverse. I have, for example, completely ignored any potentially fitting RIFTS OCCs but only because I know Rifts less well and not because it is a MDC system, which in my opinion is for what I want to try to achieve here a minor issue.

Now in medias res:

FLUFF TEXT
The Arcanist OCC is not a psychic character class. Arcanists, to varying degrees dabble in or deeply study magic; their spell use is in no way a psychic exercise. The term arcanist refers to all and sundry men of magic, as diverse a group as that is. You, or they, may refer to themselves as mages, wizards, warlocks, witches, enchanters, illusionists, necromancers, mystics, etc. etc. – and, yes, you will even find “priests” among them, especially those of dark cults. N.B.: Do not let yourself be confused by that broad definition. In game terms an Arcanist is still only one OCC and, for example, not a Witch OCC in the sense of PFRPG.

Whatever an arcanist may call himself, the Arcanist OCC can be used to represent very varying spell casters, maybe to the point that all arcanists have some abilities in common but especially due to the BtS-II specific combination of class and occupation not two of them may in the end be alike. The Arcanist shall not serve to make other future BtS-II specialized, or just special, types of mages superfluous – on the contrary. In the absence of other wizarding classes for BtS-II, I have supplied variants for the Arcanist OCC as well, which I hope will help you bridge whatever kind of magic user you want into BtS-II. For further fluff please refer to any of the above sources, especially the Arcanist write-up in BtS-I.

O.C.C. BONUSES (in addition to possible attribute bonuses):
Needs a 14 or higher to save vs. psychic attacks, +2 to save vs. possession, +2 to save vs. magic and curses, +3 to Perception Rolls when looking for magic occurrences/events/creatures/presence, +10% on Lore: Magic and Lore: Magic Arcane

OCC LIMITATIONS AND PENALITIES:
Open to the Supernatural! (as described in BtS-II on page 91, but no minus on saves vs. illusions)

My logic behind the OCC bonuses and the limitation is that someone who has SENSE MAGIC should be more open, and ultimately more suceptible, to the supernatural than someone who is not as passionately and patently interested in all things magic and supernatural as the Arcanist - it is a case of "curiosity killed the cat" possibly - but at the same time the Arcanist, due to his studies, has learnt some tricks and "warding signs", he knows his way around magic and the supernatural better than many others, so he will have an easier time to save versus possessions, magic and curses. Further, even though he is no psychic I suggested the slightly better than for the Ordinary People OCC save versus psychic attacks as I think that fits better.

DETERMINING PPE POINTS
The Arcanist receives 1D6+6 PPE and is open to the supernatural.

Variant Rule: Recluse or Astute (Optional)
Instead of having only one Arcanist OCC, you could simply make two out of it with a simple twist. You can either let your players roll for it (Astute on a 1 on D4) or let players choose.

1. Arcanist Recluse: This Arcanist is closed to the supernatural (he still has the abilities like "Sense Magic etc. as stated herein) and he has 1D6+6 PPE.
2. Astute Arcanist: The second type (much rarer, say only 1 in 4 arcanists are like that) is open to the supernatural but has 2D6+10 PPE. The latter one is more powerful but more often in trouble, which goes a long way to explain why only every 4th arcanist is of that kind

PRESENCE OF THE SUPERNATURAL AND OTHER EFFECT ON PPE
The PPE will be multiplied under the same auspices as ISP. Kindly confer to the “Proximity Equals Power” sub chapter on pages 30 ss., BtS-II. (N.B.. Despite all discussions on the subject, BtS-II in my opinion clearly stipulates already that PPE are affected by the presence of the supernatural as ISP are!

WHY MAY AN ARCANIST BE INTERESTED IN SEEKING OUT THE SUPERNATURAL?
An arcanist is all about reasearching and ultimately casting spells, although the bookworm/mystic/scholarly type may be actually more interested in the theoretical part. Does it then not stand to reason that he would actually seek out the supernatural? Mind you, most mages would not really want to combat the supernatural as that would clearly be (a) dangerous and most scholars are anything but daredevils and (b) not so very productive because spell casting under duress is neither a scientific nor a calm approach, i.e. combat is not conductive to most research. However, a magician might have a great interest to for example

- capture supernatural creatures to gain a PPE boost in their presence,
- collect magical items, relics or what not that may have the same or a similar PPE augmentation effect,
- seek out ley lines or "special mystical places" for where he lives.

A FURTHER NOTE ON THE PECULIAR PREFERENCES OF MAGES: Real Estate
Incidentally, property prices between mages will have a completely different background. I see a mage living and doing his studies in the worst part of town, a ghetto or derelict old village, and if he sells it to another arcanist may still make out like a bandit because his shabby area home is a "prime ley line piece of real estate". Real estate near a ley line or maybe even right on top of an ancient mystic site will fetch high prices between mages; in any case that may be sites arcanists long for. This also seems to suggest that mages may actually get really serious when someone else is occupying such a crème de la crème piece of real estate.[/list]

SPELL COMPONENTS (optional)
This is an optional rule as it may seriously imbalance spell costs. Now for one way of a spell component rule:
PPE may be augmented by special spell components. It MUST always entirely remain within GM discretion which components add to the temporary PPE value: I also strongly suggest to introduce the rule “magic components set no solid precedents”, i.e. eye of newt may boost a spell today, but not on another day [/i]). I thought about giving a list of examples and PPE-yield but decided against it (mainly, I will admit because of the work load). Hence, let me try to cover this in the abstract:

(1) Common items (jar of cow's milk, screwdriver, blood of a dog) will not give a PPE bonus.
(2) Rare and valuable items that fit the spell (an expensive ruby hailed as the "fire of India" however may give a small-medium bonus on FIRE SPELLS).
(3) Super-special, best supernatural themselves, items (for example: a phoenix feather, the horn of a unicorn and such grand stuff) will give a large PPE bonus. Note: Such magnificent items will always have exciting stories to them and they should be very much sought after in the very smallish magic community of independent and - I guess - jealous minds of mages (as well as several OTHER interested parties).

Small bonuses will be up to 10 PPE, medium bonuses will be up to max. 50 PPE but usually less, and large bonuses shall lie entirely within GM discretion [probably around 100-200 PPE for really rare or unique items of special import]. Note that such items will as a rule be consumed in the spell casting process, only your GM will know when that is not the case and a component can be used up piecemeal! Please note also that if your GM allows such components at all to add to your PPE, this will remain at best a “clean add-on”, i.e. they will be, if they can be consumed piecemeal, temporary until used up and will always be used up first. PPE gained through components will never be multiplied by the presence of the supernatural. Lastly, please note that supernatural components will NOT serve as a ISP/PPE multiplier themselves by virtue of their supernaturalism (although one may argue that you are technically in the presence of the supernatural when they are around) - in any case, it is always either-or.

AUGMENTING PPE BY ARTEFACTS (Optional)
(This is a bit of unchartered territory as well, as far as I am aware from the top of my head, but here goes:)
PPE may further be augmented by the presence of special relics, artefacts, etc. This is or can at least be handled markedly different from components. For example when the arcanist holds THE Holy Grail in his hands, he will feel a surge of raw power – maybe that comes at a price, maybe he will only feel it under certain circumstances (true heart or whatever the GM sees fit for such item – but essentially this will be treated according to the scale given under “Proximity Equals Power”. A GM should feel free to restrict power surges from artefacts as he wills it; for example, a feather of Quetzalcoatl (as in the god of that name) may give a power surge akin to "Presence of the Supernatural", i.e. a multiplier of PPE, to anyone using magic, questions of faith aside, but maybe only if it is wind or air magic, i.e. only what would fit the peculiar background and preferences of such god, creature, etc. Maybe a unicorn horn only gives power to a female wizard, perhaps a deevil's hoof would only give power to an evil mage.

In any case, if there is more than one multiplier in force at the same time, for example the arcanist holds said Grail in his hands (for example: x8) but is facing an Ancient Evil (x10), only the higher multiplier will effect the PPE (in the example: x10).

N.B.: CAPTURING THE SUPERNATURAL AS A POWER SOURCE:
(unchartered again)
Some arcanists may actually actively seek out the supernatural and instead of killing it try to capture it to serve as a PPE-multiplying battery [if the GM allows this kind of stunt]. This very well explains also why so many or the rare arcanists are not found on the side of good but on the side of evil, it is basically, if dangerous, moving place of power and for some arcanist not only knowledge but also the rush spell casting may provide and the power it conveys may be motivating forces. That said, even the whitest mage may be interested in that. After all, not only can he draw more power if he is in the presence of the supernatural, but these creatures (and artefacts, etc.) may be, to him, extremely exciting study opportunities (don't laugh about that, physicists have also said that they developed the atom bomb and were surprised it is used for war). GMs, arcanists going that route are in for a treat - it is a dangerous study field – case in point: there is a reason for all those summoned demon stories!

LEY LINES & PLACES OF MAGIC
Another source of (temporary until used up and always used up first) PPE are ley lines and places of magic. For an excellent treatise on that issue – including wonderful fluff (aka background text) – I should like to refer you to BtS-I, pages 131 ss. BtS-I is your best resource there. Still, you will find similar rules in other books, RIFTS for one if I recall correctly. The following is simplified from BtS-I (for more variance please look into that still great book):

1. Being with 5 miles (8 km) of a ley line will add 5 PPE per melee (note this does not stack; you get +5 in melee one, you spent 3 PPE, at the beginning of round 2 you are at +[5-3]).
2. Being at a ley line nexus point ups the PPE gain to 10 points, again not cumulative.
3. At special times like planetary alignment, equinox, solstice, and whatever else the GM may designate as special the base PPE are doubled, but only when the arcanist is at a nexus point. He will still receive an additional +10 PPE per melee, not accumulative.

Similarly, places of magic and power, which may or may not be at a nexus or even near a ley line – although I assume they often will be – such as a powerful pyramid, Stonehenge, etc. can also effect PPE. The same goes for so-called "Rips of Magic", "Transitional Places of Power" and "Power Triads" (Bermuda Triangle and such). BtS-I gives a lot of information on that; the corresponding chapter in BtS-I is a good read and extensive (cf. BtS-I, pages 128-153!) In lieu of that use the above as a guideline.

PPE RECOVERY
PPE are recoverd as ISP – BtS-II, page 32.

SPECIAL TRAINING AND SKILLS
This subchapter of the Arcanist OCC has, as its name implies, two aspects to it: one is about skills and the other about special training or abilities. You will find it on pages 51-52 of BtS-I, to which I should like to refer you.

1. SKILLS
The skill part of the 1st edition version required some re-thinking. The skill system in BtS-I has skill programmes (not unlike in N&S). Just giving the arcanist a complete dedicated skill set on top of what you find in 2nd edition BtS in an occupation would in my opinion not work in BtS-II. In 2nd edition class and occupation are two separate factors in building a character and only – with some rare exceptions (i.e., abilities that constitute essentially dedicated bonus skills) – the occupation (NOT the same as an “OCC”) will govern what skills a character will have. The consequence for the Arcanist OCC adaptation to BtS-II, to my mind, is that by far the greatest part of skills must only be governed by the actual occupation. Thus:

Skills are learnt as per occupation. Beyond or rather supplementing that arcanists may receive certain skills as special training (see below).

Making an arcanist occupation as well serves as a work around for the problem of what would constitute a double occupation if the arcanist were to retain (a) his arcanist skill set from BtS-I as well as (b) a BtS-II occupation. Our new Arcanist OCC could therefore very well also have an arcanist occupation [GMs: you are very free to not allow that occupation]. You will find the new arcanist occupation further below.

2. SPECIAL TRAINING (General Rule: straight adaptation from BtS-I)
The special training part is easy to adapt as “Understanding the Principles of Magic”, “Read Magic”, “The Practiced Use of Magic”, “Sense Magic” and “Recognize Magic Enchantment” (BtS-I, pages 51-52) can be applied in BtS-II just as they are.

Each arcanist starts with the following number of spells:

- 1D6 for each of the spell levels 1-3
- 1D4 for each of the spell level 4-9
- No spells beyond level 9

When you know the total number of spells roll 4D6. The result will determine for which of your incantations you know the ritual as well as the spell variant, for any remainder you will have to decide for each spell whether you know it as a spell or as a ritual.

For the difference between rituals and spells as well as regarding learning spells you can either apply the rules in BtS-I (pages 95 ss.) or the very similar stipulations in the - awesome - Nightbane core book ("pursuit of magic" chapter, pages 124 ss). I tend towards the latter and suggest applying the rules for the Sorcerer OCC on spells/rituals and spell acquisition per level (NB core, pages 115 ss.). Regarding rituals the sorcerer only has to differentiate between spell and ritual starting with spells at 7th spell level; I think that for BtS it needs to be possible to also have lower level rituals, so the 7th level thing does not apply for BtS.

Learning new spells when advancing in level:
An arcanist can learn as many new spells at a new level or even in between levels, provided he has sufficient funds (money may have to be paid for books, teaching, etc.), time (time is required to study anything!) and learning materials (teacher, books, etc.). This should be treated in a reasonable manner between GM and player. Players: unless there are exceptional circumstances, it will be unlikely that you gain much more than 6 new spells per level. GMs, give the guys at least one or two new spells per level, or more when they work hard at it!

ALTERNATIVE RULE on "Learning new spells when advancing in level":
An arcanist gains 1D4 new spells of random level (1D10; higher level spells only when he finds a teacher or tome of magic). These are spells he either recalls from his basic teachings but only then, as he gains more experience, fully understands or he has finally discovered these spells as a result of his intensive studies that come to fruitition on levelling.

***

A NOTE ON SPELLS

I think the spells can be applied as are, basically. Or, one can very simply draw on any of the other spell sources in the megaverse (notably in my opinion PFRPG, Nightbane and Rifts - although: using spells from a SDC system will definitely make things much easier)

***

VARIANT SPECIAL TRAINING: colouring the arcanists (OPTIONAL RULE)
There have been various wonderful ideas in our discussion what an arcanist could be and should have beyond or in lieu of what was represented in BtS-I. I should therefore like to invite you to take a peek at various conceivable arcanist variants I have developed. They are basically OCC sub-types if you will. It is a lot of fluff, but maybe it resonates with you. Aside from the fluff I make suggestions for different sets of special abilities per variant.

ARCANIST VARIANTS: Common Special Abilities
What all arcanists share is a penchant, a talent if you will, for magic. Most will already have been able from a young age onwards to

--> SENSE MAGIC
--> RECOGNIZE MAGIC ENCHANTMENT
--> THE PRACTICED USE OF MAGIC (aka spell casting)

What is true for anyone with a pronounced talent is true for arcanists as well: only some will understand their talent, less will bring it to fruitition and advance their knowledge of magic by forging their natural inclination into dedication. Only the latter breed of arcanist will become scholars of magic and only those rare scholars will learn to Read Magic. But this is just one example for what may be special, chiefly also the knowledge to cast spells can be bred from different sources; that said, on to the variants.

ARCANIST VARIANTS TABLE
And, of course, before I say much about them, here is a Pally-typical table to determine what your variant is randomly [any subject to GM approval]:

01-15: Hereditary Arcanist: it runs in the family (roll on heritage sub-table)
16-20: Hereditary Arcanist: Emotional mage
21-40: Scholarly Arcanist: Professor
41-55: Scholarly Arcanist: Private Scholar / landed gentleman
46-60: Scholarly Arcanist: Blue collar / hobbyist
-------: Cultist: Powermonger / fanatic
-------: Cultist: Grand Pawn
61-65: Cultist: Ex-Cultist [if you roll this, ask you GM if he allows it and with which prerequisites/consequences]
66-75: Fighting Arcanist: Trophy Hunter
76-85: Fighting Arcanist: Champion
86-100: Fighting Arcanist: Seeker of Mysteries

I have not given chances to become an active evil cultist because I do not think to play such is within the beautiful and exciting theme of BtS. As with anything, feel free to put in a chance for these if you want (or, of course, as always: to change whatever you will).

HEREDITARY ARCANIST
There are two types of the hereditary arcanist, for the first magic runs in the family and it very much defines at least with which kind of spells he starts out, the second one casts magic even more instinctively, his magic is fused by strong emotions.

It runs in the family
Some arcanists have learnt to cast spells by way of heritage. Maybe an old spell book, you could maybe call it a recipe collection, was handed down from mother to daughter, generation to generation. Perhaps a family of farmers have always had uncanny “luck” with the weather and their crops, each storm passed them by, precipitation always was just right, and young Jimmy learnt that it is important, his family’s way, to gather for the great family feast late winter and dance the cold away – and it always would, even if the Jackson’s farm only 20 miles away would still be covered by a blanket of snow for another 2 weeks. Young Jimmy may never realize that it was magic that does that, but he knows the rituals, and recognizes similar “blessings” when he sees them, he might just never call them “magic”.

All hereditary mages receive the following two special abilities:

--> PERIPHERAL MAGIC KNOWLEDGE (Nightbane Through a Glass Darkly, page 13)
--> +2 Spells fitting with heritage (the spell level of each of those two spells is determined by a D10)

Some hereditary mages, notably the one with a family history in witchcraft and the warrior family arcanist, will receive additional special abilities, but wherever a sub type has additional abilities the “+2 Spells” are lost.

Heritage Sub-Table (1D8)

1: Family of farmers. Never call him a redneck mage! Has only knowledge of air, wind, weather and or nature magic, but may learn more later (provided he finds the teachers, etc), but may not want to learn different magic.

2:Witching background. Note: This need not be the evil witch from PFRPG (and I advise strongly against bridging that particular and evil powerhouse into BtS, at least on the player’s side). Can brew 3 basic potions (if GM allows)

--> FAMILIAR LINK
--> BREW 3 POTIONS (roll 1D8 3 times: 1= charm potion, 2= love charm potion, 3=chameleon, 4=change appearance to look youthful, 5=fleet feet, 6=healing, 7=shrinking, 8=truth serum; cf. PFRPG, page 253)

3: Aboriginal heritage: African, American Indian, Australian aborigine, etc. heritage. This hereditary arcanist will have access to shamanistic magic. An originally Haitian family may pass on Voodoo magic.

4: Family of Warriors. This hereditary arcanist can probably name at least one relative / ancestor for every single war his nation undertook in the last several hundred years (family background lore: 1800 -1D6x100 years), not necessarily of higher rank, but always in the thick of the fight and highly decorated. If he is US American, Canadian, Australian et al. and his knowledge goes far enough back – see family background lore roll – he will also know the main family warrior’s history for the nation (territory) his family mainly springs from. Probably the magically talented scion of warriors is a soldier by occupation (may be on reserve status now, but likely saw combat) himself. Instead of the normal hereditary mages boons, the hereditary warrior receives:

--> BOOST OF STRENGTH (P.S. +2D6 for 1 round for 10 PPE)
--> ARROW OUT OF THIN AIR (can create up to 1 per 5 levels bullet, arrow, sling stone, bolt for 5 PPE, does x2 damage to supernatural beings)

5: Artists and Craftsman. This family has always been especially talented in some craft or art. Maybe they are famous even as aritists in their craft, maybe just extremely – if not to say: supernaturally – good plumbers. Whatever the craft or art may be, all the spells the craftsman hereditary arcanist has should fit or at least aid / fit with the theme of that craft or art, if possible. You can, of course, determine the art or craft with this table, which is anything but complete:

01-10%: Plumber
02-20%: Carpenter
03-30%: Car mechanic
31-40%: Painter
41-50%: Sculptor
51-60%: Smith
61-70%: Electrician
71-80%: Fitter
81-90%: Taxidermist
91-100%: Poet

--> Receives one skill (fitting his art of craft) at +20%

6: Extremely religious. This family has been devoutly [insert non per se evil religion of your choice] religious. This hereditary arcanist may actually be a member of the cloth and is 1000% sure that his magic comes from God [whichever, but not evil] and needs to be used to his glory. This arcanist has an excellent motivation to combat the supernatural (evil). His spells should fit with his God [GM discretion]; being able to exorcise demons and such may be open to him.
--> SENSE SUPERNATURAL EVIL (HU 2nd edition, “Mystic Study” chapter, page 153, left column; if that is not available the use the very similar corresponding descripton of this ability in BtS-II, page 90 (Psychic Sensitive PCC's "Sense Supernatural Evil" ability)

7: THIEVES! Uncanny crooks all of ‘em: This family has quite the criminal record. Probably, the arcanist has a criminal occupation himself (but not “hitman”, killers and thugs may use the warrior family backdrop, be an emotional mage or a fighting arcanist). What makes the thief arcanist different is that his family has always been better at stealing, embezzling, etc. than anybody else in the business or so it seemed. They always had an unexplainable edge over the competition, respectively their colleagues. All spells must fit with crime – mental influence (great for scams and such) and subterfuge type (fog, go through walls) spells seem recommendable [GM discretion, as always].

8: Circusmen! This family has never really settled, maybe gypsies, circusmen, entertainers, etc. Likely occupations are acrobat or stage magician. Maybe the character is a distant relative of the great Hoodini or can refer you to the National Portrait Gallery in London for a picture of one of his ancestors as the King’s fool.

--> either STUNNING FEAT OF ACROBATICS (this ability grants a bonus of +20 to any daring or dangerous feat of acrobatics; also: even without an acrobatics skill, the arcanist-circusman with this ability is able to do simple acrobatic stunts, such as make a cartwheel or swing on a candelabra without a chance to fail)
--> or LAST LAUGH (quick of mind, quick of wit, the arcanist has received some clown training and always has a little quib or taunt that shakes another's resolve; use the last laugh once per combat to make humans loose combat initiative and 1 attack (no save) in one given round)
--> or SIMPLE ILUSSION (will be detailed in a later post, I need to re-read illusions, but I am thinking of simple sleight of hand stuff)

The Emotional Mage
The second type of the hereditary arcanist is the emotional mage, he is basically to magic what the hulk is for superheroes, an incalculable quantity, a person using magic without refinement and often without thought. An emotional arcanist is restricted in that he can only summon up his talent and actually cast spells when he is in some state of emotional stress, such as aggression or panic. In a state of calm he may learn new spells but he can only cast them when a situation is stressful or even dire. Technically, this restriction is not that bad because of the PPE-multiplier rule all arcanists will not have a great reservoir of PPE to cast spells anyway when not in a stressful situation, i.e. when prowling or confronting the supernatural, still, this may give the arcanist an interesting twist.

--> CONTROLLING THE (MAGE) RAGE: 20%+5% per level; with this ability the emotional mage can either work himself up even if the situation as such is not stressful or he can calm himself down (see UNCONTROLLED CASTING).
--> UNCONTROLLED CASTING: When the emotional mage is in a state of uncontrolled mage rage he cannot fully control what spell he casts; his tendency will be to cast the most powerful first. When in doubt, or just as a nice random alternative the GM may allow the player to choose 6 spells at levels 1-3, 5 at levels 4-6, 4 at levels 7-9, 3 at levels 10-12 or 2 at levels 13-15 and then determine randomly which one will be cast.

SCHOLARLY ARCANIST
For the hereditary arcanist, magic is not a scientific thing or something that necessarily requires much work, let alone research. Magic is simply part of them, they grew up with it - magic for them is like learning your native tongue: virtually effortlessly.

This is very different for the scholarly arcanist. For these men of intellect, impassionate reason and - often insatible - hunger for knowledge, magic is their one true calling.

Professor Arcanist
It is very unlikely that this kind of arcanist will take up a non scholarly occupation, being a policeman would only be in the way of his studies and that is just not him. Scholarly arcanists will choose occupations that complement their passion for magic as favourably as possible, for example by becoming an archaeologist, a dealer in antiques or almost any professorial job. GM's are encouraged to either allow corresponding choice or restrict the randomly available occupations for a "Professor Arcanist".

--> READ MAGIC
--> 4 academic skills +10
--> Lore: Arcane +15

Private Scholar / Gentlemen of Means
Only an extremely rare few are better off even than that. They are already made men, people with enough money to pursue any “hobby” they choose, the quintessential private scholar, a gentleman of means. They have the funds to buy what they need and, what may be more, they can afford to study and research the whole day without having to deal with trivial distractions like mundane work.

--> GENTLEMAN OF MEANS (The gentlemen of means is rather well to do. He will often have a yearly stipend, for example from an inheritance trust fund or a benefactor/patron or maybe he was successful with a start up company sold it dearly and now enjoys private live. He has an annual income of about USD 1D6 x 100,000, a sizeable house, he may have 1D3 cars and either a “custom bought” chopper or an oldtimer. GM’s are advised to curtail these funds as desired.)
--> READ MAGIC
--> 1 academic skill +10
--> Lore: Arcane +10

“Blue Collar” / Hobbyist Arcanist
Yet, perhaps the arcanist scholar has a (much) harder lot in life and comes from a poor or at most lower middle class background. He did not have the choice what to do for a living. He would not be rich enough to do as he pleases, he may be forced to work from a young age on instead of pursuing a university career. However, as in real life you will find many people who are impassioned with one interest and despite having to work hard in a day job, will use every single second of their spare time, and often long hours in the night, to further their private interest. Some are collectors, some re-enactors of history and some play theatre, etc. I am sure there are millions of people who are passionate about something that is not their job and will spend inordinate hours and maybe even irresponsible amounts of cash on it. An arcanist in this position will use all of his often very hard earned cash to try to get a certain old spell book on ebay, will use up his vacation time to travel to a special second-hand bookshop in a small village in the French part of the Pyrenees, and rather than going out with buddies will sit in his study and happily study his copy of a 16th century German combat spell that he found hidden within a page of one of Hans Talhoffer’s fencing books. These “hobby”-scholars will often be loners, there is just no time for socializing when you work by day and must study by night! Maybe this type of arcanist will be most impassioned for magic and feel a burning need to research and further his knowledge about magic. He will know it is his true calling and worth the sacrifice.

--> READ MAGIC
--> 1 academic skill +20
--> Lore: Arcane +20
--> Streetwise +10

NB: If you think it fits the scholar-arcanist, maybe especially the 1000% dedicated hobbyist-arcanist may suggest himself for also gaining
--> FAMILIAR LINK

CULTIST
The cultist is a very special breed of arcanist. These arcanist fanatics either are power hungry scholars who think that summoning a demon or working in the employ of an ancient evil will further their knowledge and, thus, power. These cultists will think, at least in the apparent secrecy if not necessarily sanity of their mind, that for now they have to toe the party line but you bet they will at the same time try to carefully manipulate the evil being. There plan will be however to – when the stars are right –to subjugate the evil entity.

Other cultists think that magic flows from a divine source and to increase their arcane and sacred knowledge they must faithfully worship this source. The latter are maybe the most willing and easy to manipulate mages in the entire world; they often are the entirely selfless and compliable subject of an ancient evil or old one – a great tool, a wonderful missionary and an ideal martyr (as well as an emergency ration, if you will).

For all cultists:
--> Lore: Religion +20
--> Lore: Mythology +20
--> 1 further Lore or Parapsychology skill
--> READ MAGIC
--> Horror Factor rolls +1
--> Save vs. Insanity checks -3
--> All spells beyond level 3 are all rituals (cf. to BtS-I, pages 95-97 for how rituals work)

A word of caution regarding the ex-cultist: the ex cultist is a reformed worshipper of evil (if a PC: not fake reformed), and most interestingly he will have an automatic enemy group right from the beginning. Worshippers of evil do not like their people to turn away from them and are rather drastic about remedying such situations; letting an ex cultist go around is just not good evil policy, he knows too much and sets a bad example. That alone makes the ex cultist a real challenge to play. Also, GMs may not allow this subtype at all because he requires a special kind of campaign and the GM and the group should be comfortable with this.

As an interesting side note: if you take the word "cultist" in the less horror novel kind of way but literally, every religion is a cult and in that sense, maybe with a couple of little changes, you could also make a "good cultist", e.g. a priest of a non-evil religion. To play that would not endanger a campaign (methinks).

FIGHTING ARCANIST
Some will be nothing more or less than a dedicated trophy (and spell component!) hunter, at best an Allan Quatermain, at worst merely a soldier of fortune type.

Others will see themselves as champions of Man. The latter understand themselves to be blessed / tainted / lucky enough / burdened with a talent and knowledge and see their duty in having to use it to the good. The champion cannot shy away from his responsibility and so he gears up and finds the next supernatural thread.

A third kind of the fighting arcanist is maybe for the magic trade what Indiana Jones is to archaeology. He is drawn to mystery and the supernatural. He wants to understand; as it happens over this he gets to fight a lot of the generally less than cooperative supernatural monsters.

For all fighting arcanists:
--> SENSE SUPERNATURAL EVIL (HU 2nd edition, “Mystic Study” chapter, page 153, left column; if that is not available the use the very similar corresponding descripton of this ability in BtS-II, page 90 (Psychic Sensitive PCC's "Sense Supernatural Evil" ability)
--> Lore: Mythology
--> 1 W.P. of choice

***


ARCANIST OCCUPATION

As announced above I have now sat down and present hereinafter a write-up for a new occupation: the arcanist. I do not think we really "need" it. A fine, fine Arcanist can be made with e.g. the scholar occupation, which is while more generic not that dissimilar from the below I find. Anyhow, I though it would still be nice to have that option because I think a certain skill set needs to be made available to represent the 1st edition Arcanist most faithfully and that is the whole point of my labour here. The only thing I think does not work is what would in BtS-II terms essentially result in choosing two occupations (the BtS-I Arcanist had about what is stated below plus he could choose a skill programme)! Enough said on the motif, here goes:

NOT every Arcanist must have the occupation of the same name! At the same time, the arcanist occupation need not only be available for members of the Arcanist OCC, but it should only be available to players with the consent of the GM. Basically the arcanist occupation is a specialised form of the scholar occupation. However, if you choose to use this new occupation, it is worth pondering on a case by case basis whether a given Arcanist OCC character would not actually benefit from having a different occupation; he could then be much more interesting and varied. As you will see - I have, of course, chiefly modelled this occupation after the skill pack the Arcanist OCC got under BtS-I - that I have toned down the bonuses quite considerably. I think this is very necessary so that the arcanist occupation is not waaay beyond what other occupations of BtS-II offer. Further, I have struck "Lore: Religion" from the list, because that for me never made sense but can be learnt as an Elective skill anyhow. I have given the arcanist occupation some other skills, notably "Streetwise: Weird" because especially the latter made tremendious sense to me.

=== NOTE: One does not need to change the random occupation determination table for this. I believe in choosing more than in rolling anyhow. However, if you want to roll, then I suggest you put in the arcanist either simply instead of one other occupation of your choice that does not fit an Arcanist in your mind or just say that if the player rolls "scholar" it is an "arcanist" if he has the Arcanist OCC. ===

Occupational Skills:
Language: Native Tongue (+20%)
Literacy: Native Language (+20%)
Language: one ancient (+5%)
Literacy: two ancient (+5%)
Lore: Demon and Monsters (+ 15%).
Lore: Ghosts and Faeries (+ 15%) .
Lore: Geomancy and Lines ofPower (+ 15%).
Lore: Magic (+20%)
Lore: Magic Arcane (+20%)
Lore: Superstition (+20%)
Mathematics: Basic (+15%)
Research (+25%).
Streetwise: Weird (+20%)

Elective Skills:
Select seven total from the standard available categories, but the character gets a +10 bonus on Paranormal, Science, and Technical skills.

Secondary Skills available:
Select three from the standard available categories at level one, +2 additional skills each at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12

Special Bonus:
+10 on a single skill (stacks with any other bonus) to represent the arcanist's special area of expertise.

***


ADDING FURTHER FLAIR FOR THE ARCANIST

Sorcerous Proficiencies and Limitations from Nightbane
Sorcerous Proficiencies and Limitations are part of the very well done optional rules in Nightbane Sourcebook 3 "Through the Glass Darkly, pages 24 ss.[/i]] PetiteElfGirl has suggested to use them for BtS-II. I would not mind that. I basically think that all of them can be applied for mages in BtS. Especially with regard to the LIMITATIONS, though, I think caution is well advised. Some limitations, "Bloodmage" in particular comes to mind, should maybe only be used by evil arcanists, i.e. NPCs. With respect to the “proficiencies” it bodes thinking about that all but especially some, SENSITIVE TO MAGIC and SENSITIVE TO THE SUPERNATURAL come to mind, are essentially "special abilities" or "talents" that are normally dished out in only a very restricted fashion, i.e. on character generation and only as per OCC. A GM would need to think hard whether he really wants to allow a "PROFICIENCY" as an additional boon as a freebie or for example allow taking a proficiency in exchange for an OCC special ability like "Read Magic" or "Sense Magic". I would like to suggest (if you use "Proficiencies") allowing players to swap a proficiency with a boon (i.e.,special ability) they have, otherwise you just allow stacking power up and up, which I would think should be avoided.

Arcanist Horror Factor!
(brief discussion with Mephisto above; our ever creative Mephisto has argued for all arcanists to have a horror factor)
When magic bolts shoot through the air and a highly powerful arcanist employs the full panoply of his magical abilities, even some supernatural creatures may see the wisdom in flight or freeze in fear or run in panic. Certainly, this could be handled like in Nightbane, where every Bane has its own horror factor. However, for BtS-II I would prefer to have this, if at all, more restricted. In any case, It should remain within GM discretion if an Arcanist exudes a Horror Factor at all. I would restrict that to extremely powerful arcanists and only under special circumstances! That said, if they got a horror factor it would HAVE TO work against anyone, at least that is how I understand the HF rule, which actually would make sense. As a personal note, however: if players are "fearsome" that is great for Nightbane, but I think it sort of misses the point for BtS-II.

[gaby]

What magic spells do you think would wokr in BtS?

[tmikesecrist3]

you could use the spell list in pf, BTS1 of you have a copy, night bane, HU, even the rifts book of magic but you would have to change it back to sdc from the mdc format for spells that damage or protect ageist damage. the spell list are pretty much universal

[Lord Z]

In interests of keeping magic mysterious and non-flagrant, I would make most spell effects subtle or invisible. So Energy Bolt can still knock someone down, but it's invisible except to certain psychics or specific equipment. A handful of incantations with immediate and flagrantly unreal effects, like Carpet of Adhesion for example, I would leave out. That's just how I roll.

[tmikesecrist3]

I would say with fire bolt or energy bolt, I would make it depend on how well trained and how powerful the spell caster is. and make it up to the player. now heres the thing if the cast a visable spell and some one sees it (cues evil chuckle)

[Jasper]

Thanks for the fantastic write up Hendrick! It looks like you put a lot of work into it.
I finally got around to reading the whole thing. I have trouble staying focused long enough to read giant posts on forums but I cut and pasted your write up in a Word doc on my computer so I could take my time to digest it!

My thoughts on Arcanists follow most others I believe. BTS II needs an Arcanist OCC(s) that follow the spirit of the psychics, ie. greater power in face of the supernatural. While Through the Glass Darkly has a lot of excellent ideas for users of magic their rules aren't a direct fit for BTS II at all.

Anyway, I really, really like the Arcanist Variant table. I've had similar ideas myself for a couple of them but you've really fleshed it out. My only complaint is that most of the types define where or how the arcanist gets their power while the "Fighting Arcanist" explains what they do with it. Are "Fighting Arcanists" scholarly and learned, traditional and shamanistic or bred into lineages? I could see any of those being possible. It is worth exploring the "Fighting Arcanist" type but I don't think it belongs on that table personally; at least not without explaining their power.

Your comments regarding items of power only working at certain times, for certain people or only under certain circumstances is a good point, one I've always thought. For sake of playability magic has to fit into a few pages or chapter(s) or whole book supplement (hint, hint staffers) but no matter how big it is it isn't going to be big enough to cover the amount of detail magic should actually have. Magic is studied by men and women for years until their beards are long and their cats have bred multiple generations to the nth degree. If magic were simple and basic and all the rules well understood and why then it wouldn't require much. It's good to leave a lot of mystery out there; not everything needs to be explained.

Like you I don't agree at all that Arcanists should have a Horror Factor. If anyone should I think Psychics would! After all, they are the planet's "white blood cells", designed to increase in power for the explicit purpose of destroying evil critters! Sure, Arcanists can be scary and have power but so can a pissed off Fire Walker! It is an interesting idea but only one I'd apply through play, ie. "Your character just fried the summoned Blaarg of Nevermore and scattered its' minions across the sea! From now on when you run into its' cultists or minions they make a save vs HF against you." Or having a religious or shamanistic icon or item. The Holy Grail, piece of the True Cross or snippet of the Shroud of Turin might force a save vs HF for evil creatures, even if they are normally immune to such! Weapons could provide one as well but I am getting off thread here.

If there's things I am hoping for in any possible Arcanist expansion it is rules for:
Acolytes (very much like in Through the Glass Darkly, could almost transfer it mutatis mutandi (an expression I learned on this thread ))
Digital Mages (magic through computers). These guys and gals could run programs (spells). Dice save you if they've gotten a virus on your computer and can cast spells at you anytime you're in front of it regardless of range!
More subtlety in spells.
Not so much overlap with psychics, or limit it. In BTS I a single Arcanist could replace a lot of psychics. With the right spell set they could heal, sense evil and magic, throw around fire, use teleknesis, increase their physical stats, use Clairvoyance/Divination and a whole host of other things psychics couldn't do. And that's just off the top of my head. BTS2 psychic OCCs have a lot of unique powers that are restricted to just a single OCC; I think that's great. Maybe Arcanists have to select a magic "type" and are limited to spells and rituals from a list for that type, something to prevent them from doing everything psychics can do and more.

Anyway, great work. Thanks again.

[Hendrik]

Thanks for the fantastic write up Hendrick! It looks like you put a lot of work into it. ... I really, really like the Arcanist Variant table.

Thank you very much, Jasper, I am glad you liked it!

Your comments regarding items of power only working at certain times, for certain people or only under certain circumstances is a good point, one I've always thought. For sake of playability magic has to fit into a few pages or chapter(s) or whole book supplement (hint, hint staffers) but no matter how big it is it isn't going to be big enough to cover the amount of detail magic should actually have. Magic is studied by men and women for years until their beards are long and their cats have bred multiple generations to the nth degree. If magic were simple and basic and all the rules well understood and why then it wouldn't require much. It's good to leave a lot of mystery out there; not everything needs to be explained.

I agree. Magic must be much more fleshed out with a specific view towards the peculiarities of the BtS setting. With magic items I wanted to keep the GM flexibility while saving myself from an undue workload as either, methinks, you would have to write 160 pages or be incomplete beyond hope. To avoid that I would rather be much much briefer (like I did) and give the GM and players only a general outline what is possible and how it basically works with some alternative rules but at the same time, I hope, give inspiration.

"Your character just fried the summoned Blaarg of Nevermore and scattered its' minions across the sea! From now on when you run into its' cultists or minions they make a save vs HF against you." Or having a religious or shamanistic icon or item. The Holy Grail, piece of the True Cross or snippet of the Shroud of Turin might force a save vs HF for evil creatures, even if they are normally immune to such! Weapons could provide one as well but I am getting off thread here.

Exactly my thoughts. A HF for player characters in BtS goes against the basic fabric of the setting IMO and could only be granted (if at all) under extreme circumstances. Love your example.

Not so much overlap with psychics, or limit it. In BTS I a single Arcanist could replace a lot of psychics. With the right spell set they could heal, sense evil and magic, throw around fire, use teleknesis, increase their physical stats, use Clairvoyance/Divination and a whole host of other things psychics couldn't do. And that's just off the top of my head. BTS2 psychic OCCs have a lot of unique powers that are restricted to just a single OCC; I think that's great. Maybe Arcanists have to select a magic "type" and are limited to spells and rituals from a list for that type, something to prevent them from doing everything psychics can do and more.

Totally agree! Overlap with psychic powers MUST be avoided as much as possible else the arcanist becomes a super psychic (like an extreme psi mechanic without an item restriction) and the psychics will be perceived like "poor arcanists".

I think THAT issue - spell design, delineation of magic and psychic powers - should be at the core of Beyond Arcanum. To my mind, magic takes much longer (rituals mostly) and is - with the exception of the Fire Walker - more primordeal. Meaning, magic unleashes terrible forces of nature (storms, raging seas), summons creatures from the yonder (supernatural entities, trying to bind them to the mages will), deals with the dead (necromancy), works subtly almost only by curses and geases, although I love illusion magic which I think should also exist, etc.

My point is that my idea how magic should be in BtS is definitely not some "standard" stuff like lobbing fireballs, but the spells need to convey that magic is

- COSTLY (soul at risk, life at stake),
- TIME CONSUMING (needs preparation, old tomes, secret formulas),
- RITUALISTIC (with only rare and low level exceptions, sacrifices help summoning but of course giving the best ones is evil ..., deals may need to be struck with a supernatural entity, etc),
- PERILIOUS (magic is wild, primordeal, from the beginning of time, it is fraught with danger, can transform the mage, harm him or his surroundings - although I would for playability give a very low chance for failure or, better, one that can be reduced by intelligent/good roleplay ... getting that old tome with the secret security formula for spell X, making a sacrifice to a demon, casting the spell under the protection of the church, etc)
- EERIE / UNCANNY / RAW (more Lovecraftian / E.T.A Hoffmann (Devil's Elixir etc) / witchcraft, demons, elemtalism), the eerie and uncanny more than the straight forward and contained

Cheers
Hendrik

[Jasper]

Flavourwise I see magic as otherworldly. Psychics are the "white blood cells" of the planet. They are natural and belong. I would see magic originally being developed by intelligent men and women who want power of their own (either for its own use or for protection), discover it through curiousity and exploration or are taught it by otherworldly powers for their own purposes. Since then it's been developed over the millenia.
I also see more casters of magic being evil than psychics. As stated before, psychics are natural, they are meant to fight supernatural evil. Casters of magic however are not. They may be very good or very bad or all along the spectrum in between. Their power isn't natural, heck for a lot of them it comes from the very powers psychics fight. Of course, player arcanists should be good but I just think that the very nature of what arcanists are in the context of BTS 2 would mean more of them are power hungry or enslaved to otherwordly beings. Of course I could be making giant assumptions here as there are no rules for BTS 2 arcanists yet lol but that's how I see it. Maybe while psychics are the "white blood cells" and arcanists are the "penicillin"; a intentionally developed force vs evil.

[thorr-kan]

Part of me wonders if BTS2 wouldn't be better served if all magic users were evil and corrupt and pawns of some type, like witches, necromancers, pacted-shifters, channelers. Every single one a tool of some otherworldly evil hellbent on consuming mankind.

No heroic use of magic. And no ISP multiplier in the face of a human mage. You gotta deal with your base abilities.

Welcome to the nightmare, baby.

[Jasper]

Part of me wonders if BTS2 wouldn't be better served if all magic users were evil and corrupt and pawns of some type, like witches, necromancers, pacted-shifters, channelers. Every single one a tool of some otherworldly evil hellbent on consuming mankind.

No heroic use of magic. And no ISP multiplier in the face of a human mage. You gotta deal with your base abilities.

Welcome to the nightmare, baby.

That's certainly one direction you could go, one that I would have no problem with at all except for the fact in my established campaign (despite being years on hold) magic doesn't work like that. Plus it doesn't sound like that's what Kevin is going to do with the Arcanist supplement if it ever comes out. I do like your idea though just wouldn't work for me personally. I do think magic should be more dangerous and less natural than psionics though, being a slippery path to evil for those users that aren't careful with how they acquire or apply it.

[Hendrik]

That is an interesting thought, thorr-kan. Magic, methinks, is certainly a tad darker or at least makes more prone to dark temptations than in the rest of the megaverse. Thus, I guess you could certainly play magic to be NPC only.

However, let me give three counter arguments:

1.
The most simple: it would be a true pity if players could never play a mage (but for the BtS extremely unusual "evil only" party). This would also make Beyond Arcanum much less attracive as a product (mostly only GMs would buy it). That said, I think it would be awesome if BeArc would contain some fluff an rules for a "Truly Dark Magic only" campaign.

2.
You are certainly right that an Arcanist would be at base PPE only when fighting normal humans ... However, that would even be more motivation for the evil arcanist to take care that either the supernatural is present when he goes to war or that he chooses the territory well (fighting on a ley line, in a special place, etc). That makes it also very logical that the homes of arcanists will be chosen especially well for there PPE enhancing properties. You know what, I think that arcanists (with good knowledge how to dominate spirits) may actually be the only ones who really like haunted houses. A ghost butler would also be very stylish.

3.
Also, I really really like the idea of arcanists as heroes. White necromancers, good mages ... too awesome to let go and weird enough. The mystique of magic would IMO mot suffer from this. On the contrary it would be quite the challenge to play a character who has to struggle with not giving in to the many temptations and tribulations of evil

Cheers
Hendrik

[thorr-kan]

Part of me wonders if BTS2 wouldn't be better served if all magic users were evil and corrupt and pawns of some type, like witches, necromancers, pacted-shifters, channelers. Every single one a tool of some otherworldly evil hellbent on consuming mankind.

No heroic use of magic. And no ISP multiplier in the face of a human mage. You gotta deal with your base abilities.

Welcome to the nightmare, baby.

That's certainly one direction you could go, one that I would have no problem with at all except for the fact in my established campaign (despite being years on hold) magic doesn't work like that. Plus it doesn't sound like that's what Kevin is going to do with the Arcanist supplement if it ever comes out. I do like your idea though just wouldn't work for me personally. I do think magic should be more dangerous and less natural than psionics though, being a slippery path to evil for those users that aren't careful with how they acquire or apply it.

Yah, it's more Lovecraft than the splatterpunk BTS usually ends up being. It's a different type of horror.

Though note: human mages not triggering ISP multiplier gives you a built-in campaign reason for Power Man Was Not Meant To Know (TM) using proxies.