Repetition, repetition, repetition
The Cyclomancer AKA Repeaters
You do the same things, the same way. Every day works the same, every week and every month has predictable, always occurring events. Hundreds of people live the same way, with each day following the last, and predictably followed by the next. There is a difference- You are in tune with these events- you can perceive the cyclic nature of reality, history and people themselves. You follow the cycle, make it yours, and then twist it to your will.
Symbolic tension- you keep reality the same through endless repetition, in order to gain the power to change it.
Blast style- Something bad that happened to you recently happens again. If someone landed a punch on you, it comes again. If someone shot you in the leg, another phantom bullet joins it. Cannot be used if the target hasn’t the correct type of damage (i.e. martial arts for minor, firearms for significant) in the last hour.
Generate a minor charge- Do the same thing, at the same time, in the same place every day of a week, or once a week every week of a month.
Generate a significant charge- Do the same thing, at the same time in the same place, every day for a month
Generate a major charge- Do the same thing, at the same time in the same place every day for a year
Taboo- Completely change your lifestyle, breaking down the cycles you’ve been repeating. Minor changes which build up into larger ones are okay, but sudden shifts are not.
Random magic domain- Screw with cycles. Keep them going, stop them in their tracks, and send them off in a new direction.
Minor spells;
An oft walked path
Cost; 1 minor charge
Effect; while you are following an oft repeated cycle, you are automatically aware of any changes that have taken place beyond the usual. A window which is usually open now shut, with blinds closed, a closet which is usually locked tight now slightly ajar etc.
Seen it all before
Cost; 2 minor charges
Effect; negate any madness check in a category which you have passed a madness check of equal or higher level in the last 4 hours. For each additional minor charge, you may use stress checks from an additional two hours ago.
Déjà vu
Cost; 2 minor charges
Effect; Cyclomancy minor blast. Does damage equal to the repeated martial arts attack or equivalent.
Expectations fulfilled
Cost; 3 minor charges
Effect; a target sees what he expects to see, as long as it relates to a cycle. If a cleaner has swept the same corridor for thirty years, he misses the strange stains on the walls. If a security guard knows his relief always comes at six thirty sharp, the man who comes at six thirty is his relief. However, if the security guard always has a short chat with his relief, it’ll be up to you to provide the conversation, and if you do it wrong he’ll get suspicious. Likewise, if the corridor is always empty, and the cleaners broom bashes into something, he’ll notice the stains and the body lying on the floor. Also, this spell doesn’t work on anyone who hasn’t been in that cycle for at least four months.
Lost way
Cost; 5 minor charges
Effect; the target’s cycle breaks down. A door has a new lock, the password has changed. The old broom needs replacing. Functionally, it stalls and misdirects the target, often causing a task to take much longer or be more complex, and can cause stress checks if the cycle which is disrupted has been a constant for a long time. However, most people are resilient, and will adapt to the new conditions within a couple of days.
Significant spells;
Why me?
Cost; 2 significant charges
Effect; the targets circumstances stay constant for a number of days equal to the sum of the dice. If the target had the best day of their life, they’ll continue to do so as long as they follow a normal cycle. Likewise, if they had the worst day of their life, it can be extended as long as they follow a normal cycle. The target will notice minor changes causing coincidences, but will not be aware of magical interference unless informed. The spell is broken if the target breaks their cycle.
Same again
Cost; 2 significant charges
Effect; a Cyclomancy major blast; does damage equal to the repeated firearms attack or equivalent.
What goes around
Cost; 3 significant charges
Effect; a Cyclomancy major blast; does damage equal to the repeated firearms attack or equivalent. However, rather than repeat damage the target has taken, it repeats damage you have taken against the target.
Curse of followed footsteps
Cost; four significant charges
Effect; for a number of hours equal to the sum of the roll, the target is trapped within a section of their cycle. This can manifest in many ways- getting on the subway, only to arrive at the station you just left, only to get back on the train etc, or in the office, working on the computer, having a coffee break, going back to the computer, working, then having another coffee break etc. The target can realise what’s happening to them with a notice roll at -15% shift, and attempt to break the cycle with a soul roll at -20% shift.
A corner turned
Cost; four significant charges
Effect; as long as your actions relate to your cycle, you may rewind it up to a number of minutes equal to the sum of your roll. I.e, you are walking to work, turn a corner and enter a local shop, only to be shot by an armed robber. You use A corner turned, rewinding to the point where you opened the shop door, and don’t avoiding a possibly fatal injury. This effect only works for you- if all your friends walked into the shop with you, you couldn’t stop them being shot, only yourself.
Notes- though cyclomancy is very powerful when concerning people who have a repeated cycle, those without one or with a loose one, such as avatars of the masterless man or the pilgrim, or adepts such as bodybags, are virtually unaffected by it.
This is my first attempt at writing up an adept, so I’m pretty sure its going to need major revision. Comments and constructive criticism much appreciated.
Speaking of major revision, i actually forgot to include major effects;
Major effects; Trap an entire city in a single day, influence the cycle of history for years to come, gain cyclic immortality
This is pretty good, actually. It’s something I see as a school popping up accidentally (possibly something unique) rather than a taught school.
You should probably specify how the Masterless Man or the Pilgrim (and probably the Flying Woman, too) are exempt/resistant to Cyclomancy. Are they immune? Do cyclomancy spells have a penalty to affect them?
Other than that last bit, good job.
It wouldn’t be the simple fact they’re avatars which would make them immune- its the lack of a steady cycle. the average man, even the average adept, will wake up in the morning in about the same place, about the same time. they’ll repeat the same things they do every morning, go to a job which they go to every day. they follow a cycle, though whether its strict or loose depends on the person. both the pilgrim and the masterless man are very chaotic. they have no steady home, they have no daily cycle. each day is different as they wander their own path throughout the world. maybe that’ll eventually form a cycle, albeit larger, but its too much for cyclomancy to deal with. as such, any without such a cycle, no matter what powers they have, would be resistant or immune to cyclomancy.
It wouldn’t be the simple fact they’re avatars which would make them immune- its the lack of a steady cycle. the average man, even the average adept, will wake up in the morning in about the same place, about the same time. they’ll repeat the same things they do every morning, go to a job which they go to every day. they follow a cycle, though whether its strict or loose depends on the person. both the pilgrim and the masterless man are very chaotic. they have no steady home, they have no daily cycle. each day is different as they wander their own path throughout the world. maybe that’ll eventually form a cycle, albeit larger, but its too much for cyclomancy to deal with. as such, any without such a cycle, no matter what powers they have, would be resistant or immune to cyclomancy.
Well, it can also be what type of cycle the cyclomancer is trying to affect. A pilgrim might have the habit of buying cigs every day from a gas station, waking up and preparing himself a breakfast on a campfire. The Masterless Man is likely to have a lot of small ritual habits, particularly concerning fighting.
So it seems like with them, it’d just be that it requires more concentration in targeting and that it might be more vague if using the magick predictively (figuring out where they’re going to go next when all that’s part of their normal cycle is that they’re GOING to go, etc.)
I do like the school, though. I envision some poor office drone who, through years of dedicated repetitious work slowly rises in the workplace, promotions and pay, while the basic work varies little and one day, he looks out from his corner office and realizes that his devotion to habit has brought him power and that his understanding of it has given him the ability to influence it.
This would be good if not for one thing. If you get into any adventure etc you will lose all charges instently.
Depends on a few factors, actually. First, a cyclomancer could be a very by-the-book, habit-bound investigator or policeman, even an old and set-in-his-ways mafia man. For example, the investigator could always follow the same procedure for each crime, pursue leads in the same general order, and expect certain types of disturbances to follow a general plot like Confrontation, Intimidation, Talk-Down, Run, Catch. The mafia man and cop might have very set routines in patrolling around, getting protection money, buying dinner at the deli, etc.
Second, it depends on how strict the cycles are and how deep the adventuring cuts into his overall life-pattern. If he has weekends off and every weekend he wakes up, has a cup of coffee, and walks around talking to people, it might work. Or even if it’s more general, he starts the day with something in a cup, makes some money (somehow), talks to a contact, does something violent (to some degree or another, ranging from a bar-brawl to kicking a dog in his way to punching the wall before he opens the door to his apartment), goes home.
Third, the taboo only regards big pieces of cycle. It might be that as long as he gets to work on time the next day, he’s good. Or that he normally goes out to do something “interesting” (previously just clubbing or going on walks in scenic areas) on Friday nights, so as long as the adventurous scenes happen then, he’s fine. Etc.
But yeah, it makes a better NPC generally. It ALSO makes a good main character in a fiction piece, but the playability is maybe a little less.
Well, if you charge off of something like “eat a McDonald’s breakfast in a certain ritualized fashion in the back seat of my car, at noon,” you could do that every day, the same way, in the same place (the back seat is a place!) for a month during an adventure. A road trip certainly won’t stop you; the golden arches are everywhere, and your car is wherever you need it to be.
Exactamundo, strange_person! Or even just “eat at McDonald’s for breakfast every morning at 9:30 local time”. Thank goodness for corporate homogeneity!
Now that I think about it, Fight Club has strong tones of Cyclomancy.
The thing is, when people are otherwise disconnected (Truckers, hobos, marines, etc.), they often come to rely on their habits as a way of putting order to the world, making it seem manageable and attached. So it wouldn’t be uncommon.
Now there’s a way to shake things up- a Cyclomantic avatar of the Pilgrim who embodies the old axiom “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” A living embodiment of growing homogeny- at lower levels he travels America, looking for the true “Anytown, USA”. Once he’s kicked it here a bit, he branches out, eventually becoming a juggernaut of Globalization.
MessiahDave, that idea turned me on. If ideas had genders and that idea was appropriate for my gender-preference and open to the idea, I would do it. For a week. And then I’d die, drained but pleased.