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Old 01-11-2011, 12:41 AM   #1
ISNorden
 
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Default [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

I've been tinkering with the Choir attunements for Israfel in my campaign, and came up with this one--

Quote:
Mercurians

A Mercurian of Music can sense individual humans' ties with the Symphony; how much information he gains depends on a Perception roll—

1-2 The angel knows whether someone is already aware of the Symphony, or can become aware (by gaining a sixth Force).
3 The angel knows whether someone gained a Force through the Sorcery attunement, or through recruitment as a Soldier. He also learns whether that person serves Heaven, Hell, or the Marches...but not the name or Word of a specific spirit.
4 The angel knows the relative strength of a human's Forces: weak (less than 5), typical (5-6), strong (7-10), or extremely strong (11+). Exact numbers are never revealed, only a general range.
5 The angel knows the kind (Divine/Infernal/Ethereal) and number of attunements that a human has gained, but not the name or power of any specific ones.
6 The angel knows the human's skill with Songs: how many have been learned, and the average skill level for all Songs.

On a Divine Intervention, the Mercurian gains additional knowledge: he might learn the name of a Soldier's Superior, or the name and realm of the Song that Solder has mastered best. An Infernal Intervention keeps the angel from reading that particular target for 1d6 days; an Ethereal Intervention (in campaigns that allow them) reveals one mystical/supernatural event in the target's past.
Would you change any of the results above--and if you would, how? Constructive comments are welcome!
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Old 01-11-2011, 12:22 PM   #2
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

To me it sounds like their attunements aren't really connected to Music, per say. At least not in the manner I would associate it. I see the Symphony as an entirely different entity that Music.

I don't recall any of the other Choirs having something similar.

If anything I would see that being more Destiny than Music

EDIT:

I was thinking about it and I realized...

If any angel could do that then why wouldn't Dominic, Laurence or Michael recruit them into their Service? Wouldn't that be a major weapon to use against Hell? And if they can do that I would be surprised if Hell hasn't made it a point to kill them off

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Old 01-11-2011, 12:29 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

Off hand, the Choir attunement sounds far too powerful to me -- and I have to agree with LA, it sounds more like a Destiny attunement (or a hypothetical "Symphony" attunement) than anything belonging to Music proper.


At one time, you and I discussed an ability that would have Israfel's Mercurians be able to look at one person in a group and see what other person in the group would "make beautiful music" with them -- i.e., be the best prospect for a lover, fast friend, mentor, or whatever. Did that not make the cut?
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Old 01-11-2011, 05:19 PM   #4
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

Agreed. This is way too powerful. "Oh...a 7 force sorcerer" squints "who has Numinous corpus claws, Corporeal Shields, and Teleport. Brad, warm up your teleport. Jack, we can't shoot him so you focus on the other guys. Bradley, use mind songs on him."

Last edited by JCD; 01-11-2011 at 05:23 PM.
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Old 01-11-2011, 06:23 PM   #5
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocket Man View Post
At one time, you and I discussed an ability that would have Israfel's Mercurians be able to look at one person in a group and see what other person in the group would "make beautiful music" with them -- i.e., be the best prospect for a lover, fast friend, mentor, or whatever. Did that not make the cut?
To tie it in more to Music, what if he can also see what kind of music or what songs would facilitate it best?
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Old 01-11-2011, 07:27 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

Here's a suggestion.

Mercurian of Music has an affinity of how music relates to the person's personal life.

1: He can get a vauge sense of what music the person likes

2: You have a sense of how much exposure the person has had to music

3: You can get a sense of what musical styles he both hates and loves passionately

4: He can sense how much he actually knows about music as well

5: You can sense if the person has a 'musical connection' with anybody in the room. For Example, a Mercurian of Music can see that 'Strangers in the Night' is 'THE SONG' of that old couple over there.

6: You can sense a) either how much musical potential the person has, be it as a performer, singer, or song writer or b) how the musical connections influence that person (Ex: Mercurian sees that the man there has a 'love song' with the woman he is with...and with the woman over there at the next table. Awkward!)
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Old 01-11-2011, 07:46 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

On the plus side, a modified CD 6 response (Can see how many Songs a person or Celestial knows) would be a pretty good 'Master' Distinction.
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Old 01-11-2011, 08:01 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

So far you've made good points--
  1. The huge amount of Symphonic information I suggested is too much for any one attunement; even Dominic's Symphony-related powers are spread across three Choirs if I remember rightly.
  2. Israfel's attunements, as a rule, focus on Music in a literal sense (which is why Rocket Man's suggestion didn't feel right to me). Her Seraphim can read the motivation behind a performer's (mundane) musical choices; her Ofanim are more skilled in dance and choreography; her Malakim can sing a stunningly powerful note; and so on. Making the Friends' attunement involve people's relationship with Music itself seems like the best idea I've heard so far.
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Old 01-11-2011, 10:52 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

OK, here's a more literal amd less munchkinish attunement for Israfel's Mercurians; how does this sound to you (no pun intended)? Thanks to JCD for the bare bones; I added examples and Intervention results.

Quote:
Mercurians (restricted)

In addition to the usual information (see Core Rules, p.104), a Mercurian of Israfel learns about the significance of music in the life of any person he resonates:

  1. A vague sense of which musical styles that the target prefers: "classic rock", "smooth jazz", or another simple description.

  2. How much general exposure to music the target has had, and the most important source of that exposure: "She's grown up hearing only a few styles because of her family's beliefs." If the Mercurian is resonating a fellow celestial, only information that the target's Role/host would know is revealed at this level.

  3. Which styles the target likes and dislikes passionately: "Ruth loves country and western, especially older artists like Johnny Cash; but she also swears that hard rock is the Devil's music."

  4. How much the target personally knows about music: "Ruth's trained her voice informally and has enough theory under her belt to play 'Chopsticks' on a piano."

  5. Whether the target has "musical connections" with anybody else in the room (or 10x CelForces feet away outdoors): "Ruth and her boyfriend—that guy I see in the flannel shirt—think of the Tennessee Waltz as 'their song'. Ruth also sings in the church choir directed by that blue-haired woman at the next table."

  6. How much ordinary musical potential the target possesses ("Ruth's singing voice could get her noticed beyond her hometown"); or how musical connections with other people influence the target's life ("Ruth's choir director has performed 'Love Lifted Me' at revivals so often, that Ruth associates the hymn with tearful cries for forgiveness.") The Mercurian must choose ONE of these answers each time he uses his resonance; he cannot learn both at the same time, unless he rolls a Divine Intervention.

On a Divine Intervention, the angel learns ALL of the data above at the same time. On an Infernal Intervention, he fails completely and cannot resonate that person again for 1d6 days. (In campaigns that allow Ethereal Interventions, the Mercurian picks up one random, music-related memory from his target's life. The lullaby that person first heard as a baby, the details of a long-lost instrument he used to own, and similar thoughts might turn up this way.)
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Last edited by ISNorden; 01-11-2011 at 10:55 PM. Reason: minor format fixes
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Old 01-11-2011, 11:13 PM   #10
Rocket Man
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Default Re: [Attunement/heretical] Mercurians of Music: how do I balance this?

That's a decent chart, but I wouldn't specify what Interventions would bring, except maybe as a suggestion. For the angel attunements, that's always been in the GM's hands (as opposed to sorcerous rituals, which have at times come with suggested DIs and IIs) and I think it's best left there.
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