Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders
Unusual Background is one option.
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I like the UB method. One it nicely explains why the Character can gain mana from sacrifices when most people cannot, and two depending on how useful this is in your campaign, you can easily adjust the cost to the setting required. From a Perk all the way up to as expensive as you think is necessary.
My suggestion:
Blood Mage (UB) 5 points
This advantage lets the mage learn the Blood Magic Technique and alters the following spells for them: Detect Magic, Sense Mana, Aura, Mage Sight, and Seek Magic to be able to also sense Blood Ritual energies (which are normally imperceptible to mages), furthermore the spells Lend Energy, Share Energy, and Steal Energy are altered to also allow the sharing/stealing of Sacrificial Energy. So for example, Detect Magic could sense if an object had Sacrificial Energy in it, Sense mana could sense the lingering residue of of a Blood Ritual in the area, Aura would see an individual who has stolen or lost energy to a sacrificial ritual, Mage Sight would detect someone 'filled' with sacrificial energy, and Seek Mana could be tuned into seeking living beings that have an abundance of energy to steal...
Blood Magic Technique Average
Default: Thaumatology -10.
Prerequisite: Magery 0, Thaumatology, cannot exceed Thaumatology.
You can tap into sacrificial energy to power your spells as a part of Ceremonial Magic. The Ceremonial setup is 'the same' (as in uses the same rules) up till the end, at which point it requires a Thaumatology roll to determine if the ritual was performed properly. A failure on this roll means the energy dissipates into the 'wherever life force goes when something dies'* and is not accessible to the Blood Mage. If successful they harness the energy and may immediately attempt to cast their spell.
* or just back into the victim if the ritual wasn't meant to kill the victim, just drain them some measure.
Further this system should be under an alternate "Corruption" mechanic, if you have
Horror, well, it has the perfect system already, if not, then the
Thaumatology Threshold Limited system can be tweaked to fit. If you do go with
Horror, I recommend letting Corruption slowly 'heal' over time, say a point a day (or week) during which time they do nothing to further increase their Corruption (or faster if they somehow 'atone'). Or you could create a 'ceremonial' spell that would allow the mage to force their corruption into someone else, I'd base it on Steal Energy/Vitality and invert it, for every 3 FP or HP the mage spends they can force 1 point of Corruption into a willing or helpless subject, this takes one minute per Corruption Point, up to the maximum amount of Sacrificial Energy the subject could have yielded (and yes, if the mage is running about Corrupting animals, then the effects on the animal should be magnified, and of course, simply turning around and killing the victim should return the Corruption the mage... possibly two-fold...)
If you do use a Corruption mechanic, the 'Sharing' spells (Lend Energy, Share Energy) should also spread corruption to the recipient, and there should be some way for the Truly Good (or Divinely powered) to sense corruption. Or you could just allow the Aura spell be able to sense Corruption for anyone that can cast it. It depends on how 'easy' you want Blood Mages to be detectable, or if you want them to be detectable by non-Blood mages at all.