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Old 08-27-2022, 04:08 PM   #1
ehrbar
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Default Some ethereal-related house rules

I've been statting up dozens of characters for an ethereal Domain, and in the process I've found need or inspiration for a number of new or expanded rules and rulings. They'll be included with the Domain project if/when I ever post it on the Internet, in the meantime here's the rules in their current form:

Hits from Geases

Geases, when they do hits to non-celestials, do hits appropriate to the Realm the being is currently in - Body on the corporeal, Mind on the ethereal, Soul on the celestial.

Sorcerous Banishing in the Marches

In the Marches, a successful sorcerous banishing of a demon or demonling keeps it from returning to the Ethereal for CD days. (Ethereals can't be banished from the Marches, since they are already on their home plane.)

The Song of Sanctity and Ethereals

When used by an ethereal, the Corporeal Song of Sanctity stabilizes a Corporeal-to-Ethereal Tether on a temporary basis. They can also use the Theme of Consecration to create a temporary Tether targeting a Domain; only ethereals anchored to that Domain may participate.


Corporeal Reproduction for Ethereals

The Ethereal Song of Fruition is usually used by an ethereal to make a child with a human, or sometimes an animal. However, it can also be used by two ethereals to produce a child themselves.

In order to do this, both would-be parents must successfully use the Ethereal Song of Fruition. Further, they must have vessels of the same species and opposite sexes; the Song requires that as an assist when it doesn't have a naturally-corporeal being to serve as a biological template. If these requirements are met, add the CDs for both successful Songs and reference the following table for the result:

2-4: The offspring is a Gorgon.
5-7: The offspring is a normal member of the Vessels' species.
8: As 5-7, and the offspring has the potential for an extra Force.
9: As 8, and it has the Ethereal Connection attunement for free.
10-12: The offspring is a Gorgon, and it has the Ethereal Connection attunement for free.

The offspring of two ethereals created in this way serves as a link to its father for the Ethereal Song of Affinity and to its mother for the Celestial Song of Affinity, with a bonus to the song's target number equal to the offspring's total Forces.

If the vessels are both of the same fictional species, the result is a corporeal creature of that species, a "creature of myth". Uriel purged such creatures during the Purity Crusade. The Host is no longer implacably hostile to them as such, but creatures of myth met by angels do risk either being destroyed on the assumption that they are ethereals in vessels, or being used to track and destroy their ethereal parents.

Ethereal Reproduction of Ethereals

Ethereals can attempt to dream children out of their own being into existence. It's difficult, dangerous, costly, and has poorly-controlled results . . . much like human reproduction.

In order to create a new ethereal, each of the parent ethereals makes a Dreaming roll at -5 to donate a Force; at least one Ethereal and one Celestial Force is necessary. (A single ethereal can donate more than one Force, but must make a separate roll for each.) If a parent knows the Ethereal Song of Life, it adds its level with that song to the target number. On a failure by any parent, no child is created; with a CD of 6 on a failed roll, a parent loses the Force they intended to donate anyway, vanished into the Symphony. If all intended parents succeed, a new ethereal is created.

The new ethereal has Forces equal to the number of Forces donated plus the lowest of the parents' CDs on the dreaming rolls, to a maximum of 9 Forces. (In the case of ten or more donated Forces, the excess are lost to the Symphony, starting with Corporeal Forces, followed by Celestial, and then Ethereal, except the new ethereal always retains at least 1 Celestial Force). Any additional Forces are randomly drawn from the Symphony. If no Corporeal Forces were donated, the first additional Force will be Corporeal; for any remaining, roll a die for each to determine type (1-2 means a Corporeal Force, 3-4 an Ethereal Force, and 5-6 a Celestial Force).

The primary element of the new ethereal is selected randomly from the elements of the parents who donated Ethereal Forces, while the secondary is selected randomly from the elements of the donors of Celestial Forces. The Image of the new ethereal is unpredictable, except that it will be shaped by the collective unconscious of humanity to be vaguely consistent with being descended from its parents' Images and its primary and secondary elements. Additional elements may manifest depending on the Image, particularly in the case of many parents.
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Old 01-08-2023, 02:40 PM   #2
thorr-kan
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Default Re: Some ethereal-related house rules

Sorry I missed this.

Without consulting my books, I think you've got an interesting batch of possibilities here. I don't see anything potentially game-breaking.
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