If I were capable of astounding feats of magic, I'd probably even out my brain so these little zaps stop happening. If I were capable of astounding feets of magic, I'd...run on water or something, I dunno.
The Game: Sorcerously Advanced
The Publisher: Valent Games
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
I made a character for Sufficiently Advanced, 1st Ed way back here, and then picked up the 2nd Edition and this game (which is the fantasy version, kinda-sorta) in a bundle or two. In this game, we're scholars and explorers for the Archive, but more importantly, all of the PCs are powerful magic-users. The game points out that in a lot of fantasy settings, magic is an elite thing, or it might be commonplace but it's not to the same level of saturation as technology is in our world. Here, everyone is magic, and everyone is fucking magic. That means most people are immortal, and if they want to be dragons or whatever, boom, shapeshifting is kid stuff.
Having now read through much of the book, I...kinda don't get it. The setting just seems really big and broad, and for whatever reason not in a compelling way. Likewise, there's no dice, which means that figuring out conflicts is less about randomness and more about math, and no one likes math.
But on the other hand, I suspect it might allow for the type of play that leans heavily on theory and contemplation. That sounds a little heavy for the gaming table, but I've played games of Mage: The Ascension, among others, that included a great deal of philosophy. You need the right players, and more importantly you need those players to put down their damn cell phones and get into the game, but that's a hard sell some days.
SO ANYWAY. Our first step is a concept. I don't know, I don't really have much of a sense, but there was a line in the book that kinda resonated:
Kinda like Wenjie in Deathloop. I'm fairly sure I've done this "one character, many bodies" thing before; I seem to like swarms of things. But hey, I don't have a better idea. I don't want to be a dig supervisor, but I like the idea of being a kinda of concierge/butler. Everyone has their own attendant. I dig it. (This calls into question why someone would want to be servile if they're super-magically-docious, but there's a difference between being of service and being servile.)
So that's a rough concept, let's continue. Next up, we pick a Civilization. There are a few that appeal; the Diadem embraces duty, the Geometer's Guild is explicitly hierarchical, Heart-Kin is designed around family and community. Hmm. Hearth-Kin appeals, but I picture him as more of a butler and less of a doting family member. I keep coming back to Diadem, so I think I'll go with that.
Cool, now we pick a Society. Societies are kinda like guilds, and there's one that's all about service, and it fits:
Next step: Earthly form! Here's where I can be multiple people. My form is physical (made of matter), balanced (no particular resonance with one kind of mana quintessence flow or other), born (that is, not created), swarm (multiple bodies, one mind), and embodied (that is, not possessing someone else).
Core Values! Now...ugh. Check this out.
So, there's no example of chargen (boo), so I had to read this a bunch of times and look at the sample characters to make sense of it. The first line is wrong. You don't start with four CV, you start with five, just like the last line in this paragraph says. Also, you don't have to use a CV to qualify for a Society, but you have to set it to a certain level if you want to qualify for a Society's benefit. Blarghle.
Anyway, I get Embrace the Eclectic and Embrace Duty from my Civilization, Charity from my Society, and Self-Preservation because everyone has that (though I could rename it). There's then a fifth one that I can choose now or leave blank and choose "in play." I suspect I will choose it now because there ain't gonna be no in-play, but let's rate the ones I already have.
(Side note: The book says you get Self-Preservation 4 "for free" except that you choose the ratings so I'm not sure what "for free" is meant to imply.)
Well, anyway, I'll put Self-Preservation at 4, like it suggests. I'll put Embrace the Eclectic at 1 (not entirely convinced), but Embrace Duty at 4. I'll put Charity at 3 (which gives me access to the Hospitaler benefit), and then for my fifth one...hmm. I'll leave it blank for now and keep going with chargen, but I'll come back to it.
Magical Traditions! I get as many as I want, but there are only two slots on the sheet so I won't take more than that. Traditions are basically a collection of facets of magic, I guess: Fount, Path, Expression. There's a lot of terminology in this frickin' game. The Traditions as written for my Civilization are Transubstantiation and Drudgery. Upperclass do the former, lower does the latter. Since my character is pretty obvious service oriented, let's start with Drudgery. The Path here is Discipline, which can be either mental or physical. As written, it's typically physical in Diadem, but for this character I think mental makes more sense. If I don't practice, my magic atrophies. Easy enough.
I get six Core Expressions (spells, basically) that I'm always down to do. If I take Healing as one, I get another one for free. So I'll definitely do that. I want Conjuration (creating stuff) and Knotwork (putting power in stuff), and Mystic Servitors sounds pretty cool (delegation!). Hypnopraxis lets me do stuff while asleep, which is cool. Lattice Travel is basically teleportation, and that also sounds appropriate. Although, if I'm already in multiple places at once, maybe not. Maybe Warding is better.
Right, now I do Natures and Approaches. Natures are...man, finding vocab to explain vocab is tough. I guess the building blocks upon which Expressions are made? Approaches describe Natures. Again, Natures are rated 1-5, like Core Values, and like Core Values I can just assign them whatever I want.
So! Communion needs to be fairly high, I think. I'll put it at 4. For the Approach, my first thought was Obedient, but that's not what I want, really. I want a more Alfred Pennyworth kind of feel. Useful, maybe? Helpful, I think that's better.
Industry also needs to be high, I'll stick that at 5. That's his forte. I'll put Keyed In as the Approach.
Mystery is a little more spooky and woo than I think this character needs, so I'll just keep it at 1 and say Tight-Lipped as the Approach.
Self is something he should be good at, but not as uber as Industry. I'll put 3 here and Reliable as the Approach.
Trickery! Again, not something I think he specializes in, but he can keep a secret. I'll put 2 here and call it Trustworthy.
Finally, War. Not something he does much; I'll put 2 here and call it Vulgar.
Expertise! This represents the character's "training and experience."
A side note here: Comparing the system paradigm of, say, Fate or Forged in the Dark, where everything collapses down to one single principle, with this bunch of bananas, where there is a shower of terms that all mean very close to the same thing but mean very different things in context, would give me brain zappies even if I weren't already getting them.
All right, so I choose an Expertise option. I can pick Practitioner, Apprentice, or Sage. Practitioner is the default, I'll take that. That means I get three Professions rated 1, 2, and 3, whatever the hell that means. I get Local (Diadem) at 2 for free.
Let's see. Of the ones listed, I think Samaritan makes the most sense for my highest-ranked Profession. Prolocutor is also appropriate, so I'll put that at 2. And I'll put the 1 point Profession in Courtesan, I think. Not for the sex work necessarily, but more for the emotional connection.
And that's basically it for the stuff on the sheet (other than a little math to come up with Power and Import scores, but I did that). So!
The Many Hands, or just "Many" if you're pressed for time, is a collection of nigh-identical bodies serving a wealthy family in Diadem. Probably multiple families at this point, actually, since as the family expands more of the Many emerge. Many wears whatever is useful for the job they're doing, and prides themselves on being able to anticipate someone's needs. A good servant, they feel, doesn't need to be asked.
Many Hands is human, generally presents as male (although there are probably a few of them that present as female, depending on the specific needs of the master), and looks pretty nondescript, especially in a world where people can just be dragons if they want to.
That'll do it! Thank goodness, this wasn't fun.
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