“Overnight, I became a sun worshiper. Well, not overnight, you can’t see the sun at night. The next morning…” -George Carlin

Nicknames: Sunbathers, Stargazers

Most people know that the sun is vital for almost all life on earth (excluding certain sulphur-metabolising creatures at deep ocean depths), but Sunbathers really know it. The sun regulates, directly and indirectly, the activities and biology of every creature on Earth’s surface. To those who understand it, sunlight can be converted into energy. Those who do not respect its power get burned — literally. The sun does not have power; the sun is power.

On the other hand, the moon has just as much impact on the world’s life, with its tidal influence and romantic connections. Not to mention its clear statistical correllation with madness and insanity. It also reflects and reverses the light from the sun, bringing light to darkness, and can eclipse the sun, replacing light with darkness. Stargazers are just as attuned to the power of the moon as Sunbathers are to the sun.

Much like the East/West split between Cryptomancy, the schools of Heliomancy and Lunamancy approach the same focus from different directions. The schools can be hard to teach for reasons similar to Urbanomancy; the would-be adept must already have a strong connection with the moon or sun.

The Paradox of both schools is that an adept must choose an adherent to either the sun or moon, to light or darkness, but neither light nor darkness can exist by itself; both are required to tell where one ends and another begins. Similarly, the world as we know it would not exist without both the sun and moon.

Heliomancy Stats

Generate a Minor Charge: Watch the sun rise or set, from start to finish. You don’t need to stare directly at the sun itself, but you have to be aware of its progress the whole time. This means you can’t bring a book with you and just wait for the charge to come. (Music doesn’t seem to cause a problem.)

Generate a Significant Charge: Sig charges can only be acquired on days when the moon is new, the time when the lunar influence on the solar energy is minimized. You must watch the sun set as normal, then stay awake all night watching the stars, and finally watch the sun rise again the next morning. You don’t get minor charges for the sunset or sunrise, though. Once again, no reading. Music is fine.

Generate a Major Charge: Watch a lunar eclipse from beginning to end. It doesn’t have to be a total eclipse. No reading or music, this time.

Taboo: The sunbather’s connection to the energy of the sun is a careful balance not unlike the mental state of the Infomancer when carrying charges. On the other hand, the sun’s influence is not easily thrown aside. Artificial light sources cause the Heliomancer to lose charges, but not all at once; every minute of exposure to lit candles, electrical lights, flares, et cetera, cause one minor charge to dissipate uselessly (breaking up sig charges if necessary). Light exposure less than a minute long adds up over time, resulting in an eventual loss of a charge. The moon and stars, and the adepts’ own magickal lights, do not count as charge busters. Strangely enough, sunscreen doesn’t taboo the adept, but prevents the gathering of more charges until it has been completely removed from the skin; this can sometimes take a few days, depending on chemistry, physiology, and just how much of the stuff got on the sunbather’s skin.

Random Magick Domain: Light, heat, and energy are the most obvious elements, but the sun also has some symbolic connections to health and knowledge.

Heliomancy Blast Style: Fireballs. Naturally. Small spheroids of concentrated heat and light form near the caster and rocket towards the target. This blast can damage inanimate objects, but cannot harm immaterial beings like demons or entropics.

Charging Tips: Heliomancers can snag two minor charges a day provided they get up early. Sig charges are not as common, namely a once-a-month affair. Be sure to watch the calendar.

Starting Charges: A new Heliomancer starts out with no charges at all, so set your alarm early.

Heliomancy Minor Formula Spells

Good Morning
Cost: 1 Minor Charge
Effect: This spell instantly removes any penalties from sleep deprivation or exhaustion, similar to the Epideromancy Spell “Relentless Will”. The target is not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed, but he or she can work and act without yawning or keeling over.

Sunburn
Cost: 2 Minor Charges
Effect: This is the Heliomancy Minor Blast. Fireballs form around the adept and rocket towards the target, and may even set the target on fire if the situation warrants it (target was soaked in gasoline, had some flammable hair gel, was wearing easily ignited fabrics, GM was bored… you get the idea). When determining fire damage, use the tens place die, then reduce it by one each round until it reaches zero (fire burns itself out) or the target extinguishes the fire (stop drop and roll, fire extinguisher, jump in the river, et cetera).

Clear as Day
Cost: 2 Minor Charges
Effect: The caster can get a single, yes-or-no answer to a question asked. Unless magick, avatars, or the Invisible Clergy are involved, that is. A yes typically takes the form of a feeling of extreme heat, while a no is a brief chill. These are basically “hot spots” and “cold spots” centered around the caster, and can be detected with electronic temperature sensors, not to mention anyone standing right next to the caster.

Daybreak
Cost: 3 Minor Charges
Effect: A small spheroid of light forms above the caster’s head, or in the caster’s hand. It’s bright enough to read by and lasts five minutes or until extinguished.

Blinded by the Light
Cost: 5 Minor Charges
Effect: There is a short but intense flash of light which blinds whoever looks at it. This is not permanent, but is bound to play hell with any attempt to fight effectively or drive. The caster is NOT immune to this blinding flash.

Heliomancy Significant Formula Spells

Sunspots
Cost: 1 Significant Charge
Effect: The caster is ground zero for a communications blackout. Anything using radio waves or microwave transmissions gets nothing but static until sundown or until the caster cancel’s the effect. When cast at night, it requires twice as many charges, and lasts until dawn. The radius of effect is equal to about fifty feet.

Solar Flare
Cost: 1 Significant Charge
Effect: This is the Significant Blast, and it always sets the target on fire unless the target is underwater or dressed up like a firefighter looking for trouble. Use the tens place die for fire damage, as with the minor blast.

Nice Tan
Cost: 2 Significant Charges
Effect: The target recovers wound points equal to the roll of the spell. They also inexplicably develop a good, even tan, but with tan lines equivalent to the outfit they were wearing the day before. There is no known explaination for this.

Apollo’s Vice
Cost 3 Significant Charges
Effect: This applies the greek sun god Apollo’s famous habit of chasing women and nymphs and so on to a single male target. This male ends up with a serious sexual appetite and the compulsion to gratify it immediately. Resisting the urge to mate with the closest female is a Rank-8 Self Challenge, possibly higher if the target prefers men. When used on women, however, it makes them inexplicably attractive to the opposite sex; the woman gains the skill “Sexually Alluring” at the level of her Soul Stat, and does not know it. In both cases, the effects last 12 hours.

Ozone What?
Cost: 5 Significant Charges
Effect: A very malevolent spell, this cause the target to instantly and spontaneously develop skin cancer; malignant melanoma. The tumors will not spread throughout the body, but they will grow until treated with radiation/chemotherapy, removed with surgery, cured with magick, or the death of the target. Whichever comes first.

Heliomancy Major Effects: Teleport to and from any spot on the globe where the sun is shining. Become the Human Torch for a day. Gain the ability to shine light from your eyes at will. Cause stable, sustainable thermonuclear reactions to occur in the privacy of your own home.

Lunamancy Stats

Generate a Minor Charge: Go out on any night where the moon is visible and watch the moon for one hour. One charge per night, no more no less.

Generate a Significant Charge: On a night when the moon is full, go out and watch it rise and/or set. It doesn’t matter where the sun is during the moonrise and moonset, so long as you watch the whole thing.

Generate a Major Charge: Watch a Solar Eclipse from beginning to end. Yes, you can use protective lenses or one of those pinhole boxes, so long as you watch the entire thing.

Taboo: The power of the Lunamancer is based upon the reflection and alteration of the sun’s energy, but the sun itself doesn’t disrupt this connection. Lack of a constant influx of energy causes charges to fade out. In other words, total darkness has the same effect on the stargazer as artificial light does to the sunbather. One minute of total darkness means one minor charge goes poof. Being out under the stars during a new moon can do it too, unless the adept has a flashlight/lantern on hand.

Lunamancy Blast Style: The Black of Night. The target is immediately struck blind for a number of rounds equal to the damage of the blast, and suffers damage in the form of instant, freezing cold. This can cause heart problems for some people, and the significant blast can have an effect similar to exposure to dry ice or liquid nitrogen. At the very least, there’s a chance of frostbite.

Random Magick Domain: Darkness and the night, especially, but also emotions and sanity.

Charging Tips: Lunamancers can get a charge each night that the moon is visible, and two significant charges the night the moon is full. Just don’t nod off.

Starting Charges: Lunamancers start with no charges whatsoever.

Lunamancy Minor Formula Spells:

On the Prowl
Cost: 1 Minor Charge
Effect: For the next five minutes, the caster has superior night vision and could theoretically read a book by starlight alone. This can mean shifts to Notice and possibly combat skills in the dark, but it does make the caster more vulnerable to things like flashes of light — the caster takes one die of damage and cannot see for at least six hours.

Dark Night
Cost: 1 Minor Charge
Effect: This is the minor blast.

Man in the Moon
Cost: 2 Minor Charges
Effect: The next time the target looks at the moon, they see a giant face on its surface… making faces at them. This is worth a Rank-9 Unnatural Check.

Isn’t it Romantic?:
Cost: 3 Minor Charges
Effect: The caster becomes a very attractive and dashing person, the type who says all the right things, until the sun comes up. In other words, he or she gains the skill “Master of Romance” at 50% (or at the level of the Soul Stat if it’s below 50). It doesn’t work at all during the day.

Twig Snap:
Cost: 4 Minor Charges
Effect: The target is struck by crippling paranoia coupled with panic, and must make a Stress Check against Isolation (Rank-7) to keep from freaking out.

Lunamancy Significant Formula Spells

Things That Go Bump:
Cost: 2 Significant Charges
Effect: When this spell is cast in dim light, or at least light with lots of shadow around it, a pack of Tenembrae are summoned and either chow down on the closest corpse or attack the living. The caster cannot control them.

Pitch Black:
Cost: 1 Significant Charge
Effect: This is the significant blast.

Tidal Influence:
Cost: 2 Significant Charges
Effect: The caster can either gain a temporary positive shift in one skill, or force a temporary negative shift in one skill on another person, lasting for six hours. This can affect any skill except magick schools, obssession skills, Avatar skills, or (for reasons unknown) General Education. The shift, be it positive or negative, is equal to the ten’s place of the roll to cast the spell; a success of 45% would mean a 40% shift. No shift can exceed 40%.

Howl of the Wolf:
Cost: 3 Significant Charges
Effect: For ten minutes, the stargazer can communicate with any non-insect animal, much like the Third Avatar Channel of the Savage. This can be used to stop hostilities (sometimes), and get information, but keep in mind that the spell does not allow control, and devoted and loyal pets may not believe you have their master’s best interests at heart.

Some Kind of Lunatic:
Cost: 5 Significant Charges
Effect: The caster puts some serious mental pressure on the target in the form of a stress check on whichever madness meter has the most failed notches. If the target makes the check, he gets no hardened notch. If he fails, then that entire gauge is failed marks, and the target is now officially out of his mind. Therapy can remove such failed notches as normal.

Lunamancy Major Effects:
Cure (or cause) a mental abberation that therapy and/or medical science has been unable to help with. Instantly gain a skill dealing with stealth at the level of the governing stat. Cause a tidal wave or tsunami of epic proportions. Force somebody else to fall madly in love with you.

What You Hear: The Heliomancer and Lunamancer

Somewhere in Mexico City, there’s a pair of adepts, one being a sunbather and one being a stargazer, that are actually brother and sister. They’re waging a mystical family feud that’s gotten so far out of hand that the Sleepers have given up trying to stop them and are just covering the local news outlets. They’re also trying to ice every adept and avatar that tries to get in or out of the city to keep things stable. You may want to change vacation plans accordingly.