more about Astrology Question - Cosmic

[JohnPaulB]

I wanted to expand on Stefan Jones' Hexagram 2 article Horoscopy and Cosmic Alignment: Astrology on Cidri, so I'm taking it to House Rules section.

Originally Posted by stefanj

In the context of the article, I don't think horoscopes per se are good for anything but therapy and reassurance, or (with more math and observation, and less psychology) seeing what's in store for wizards linked to the cosmic flux.

When I wrote "...the astrologer's fortune for a notable client proved spot-on", I wasn't suggesting that the stars actually told the client's future. More, a combination of luck (the vague hints and allegory in the horoscope meshed with real events) and the astrologer's ability to read his or her client's mood and relationships.

A pop-psychology horoscope might take half a work day, including an interview (perhaps over a pot of tea and biscuits), consulting books for interesting sounding phrases, and writing a report. Cost would be perhaps $10, $15, and $50 for the three grades. (With 6 - 10 readings a week, this can result in a lot of cash. But an astrologer has a lot of expenses: Tea and other refreshments, books, ink and paper or parchment, impressive robes, and bribes to servants who might provide gossip that can be worked into the fortune.)

The more rigorous "predicting the pattern" requires (as mentioned in the article) observation time plus half a day of computation. More straight forward work, without creative input. Perhaps $30 for a four week forecast. (It would be less, but spending a good part of a night on a roof doesn't come cheap!)

I think that the ultimate achievement for an Astrologer is to become one with the Cosmic Flux!

Therefore I propose that a high level Astrologer Guild member HERO can BIND with the Cosmic Flux. He must be a powerful character (38 points or more) and must be a Mathematician (2 points). He must execute the Binding Ritual.

What this will do to the HERO is turn him into a WIZARD. The cosmic forces will rip apart his psyche as he becomes open to the entire Cosmos: He is no longer dealing primarily with the physical world. Rather, he is dealing with the Cosmic psychic/spiritual realm of the wizard.

This drastic rearrangement of the universe for him causes the binder’s mind to rupture, losing 1d6 IQ permanently and take 2d6 damage. The binder can't use any talents that are now below his IQ; he will have to rebuild his IQ. If he goes below 0 ST, his assistants may try to revive him. The binder will now be an invalid for 1d6 days. He will also take on 3 points of Handicaps from The Fantasy Trip Companion Handicaps article (page 17 or 23) or whatever the GMs creates. These Handicaps can be bought off through gameplay if the GM OKs it.

From now on the Character is a Wizard. The character must learn any new spells the usual way. However, the new Wizard is Cosmically Bound with all benefits and penalties that come with it, including risk of Creatures from Beyond the Beyond. But since he has an astrologers understanding of the universe, there may be some beneficial extra-dimensional beings he can associate with as well.