[RPM] Reimagining Daath

[Varyon]

This is an idea that struck me as I was listening to music last night (not certain where the line of thought spawned from). What if, instead of having Daath/Nonexistence be its own Path (RPM37), we instead had it as a variation of existing Paths. The idea would be that a caster under extreme psychological stress could permanently "taint" their magic, changing it from Sephirotic magic to Daath magic - their magic no longer simply reshapes reality, it twists and warps it in impossible ways. In GURPS terms, their Magery would be renamed Daath Magery (or something similar), and while they would retain their old Path skill levels, the Paths would function differently, being twisted into their Daath equivalents. Ritual Masteries would probably be swapped out for new ones, although the GM should require the new ones essentially be "twisted" versions of those being replaced.

How do others see the various Daath Paths working under such a paradigm? I've got a few ideas, but am having some issues fully wrapping my head around all of them.

Body: The Daath Path of Body would work on non-living materials, bringing them to life. Strengthen Body could be used to enhance a sword, but it would begin to slowly breathe (expanding and contracting slightly) and would bleed if damaged. It might also serve to twist living things into bizarre geometries.

Undead: The Daath Path of Undead would be able to revive things that were never living, but are now considered "dead." A submerged vessel could be raised as a zombie ship, a long-dormant volcano made to erupt, and so forth.

[GodBeastX]

I'm not sure those things fit into what Daath represents.

Daath is non-existence not simple "Wierd".

A game world that might give you an idea of the concept might be the Champions universe which has a negative realm of destruction called Qliphoth.

Qliphoth is where universes and planes go to die, and is like a giant toilet flushing down to the drain Solipsis. So Solipsis is the anti-creator.

Things invoking Solipsis cause it to behave like it never existed, rewriting reality to that effect.

This is more like Daath.

Turning a sword to flesh is not Daath, making a sword that swings and evaporates anything it touches into non-existence is.

At least that's my understanding reading it.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

I'm not sure those things fit into what Daath represents.

Daath is non-existence not simple "Wierd".

"Non-existence" is the closest we can manage to the concept. RPM37 notes Daath as interacting with That Which No Longer Is and That Which Should Not Be. Some of the descriptions note that it serves to make things weird - Strengthen Nonexistence explicitly states this, while Destroy Nonexistence can allow you to create all manner of strangeness.

Still, it was a passing thought, and doesn't look to have gained much traction. It's probably best to leave Daath as its own Path.

[Antumbra]

Originally Posted by Varyon

"Non-existence" is the closest we can manage to the concept. RPM37 notes Daath as interacting with That Which No Longer Is and That Which Should Not Be. Some of the descriptions note that it serves to make things weird - Strengthen Nonexistence explicitly states this, while Destroy Nonexistence can allow you to create all manner of strangeness.

Still, it was a passing thought, and doesn't look to have gained much traction. It's probably best to leave Daath as its own Path.

I like it. I think it's a pretty good idea for Qlippothic-tainted mages without them going full Daath, which I would leave in as the pure form - though I'd probably toy with the particulars on how they access it (if a PC wanted to use it).

You could still do these things with cross-path spells - Matter and Body for a psuedo-living sword - but of course they're far more expensive than required for the end effect, so I think it works as a neat example of secret lore that works better than constantly messing with multiplier values.