[Banestorm] The Ministry of Serendipity

[korbeau]

I don't think the Tracker need that much illusion spell. Don't forget that the Tracker didn't need any of them to cast Illusion Disguise for the prerequisite is inside the magical style. (see Magical Style).

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by korbeau

I don't think the Tracker need that much illusion spell. Don't forget that the Tracker didn't need any of them to cast Illusion Disguise for the prerequisite is inside the magical style. (see Magical Style).

I'm not talking about prerequisites, I'm talking about the fact that the Illusion Disguise spell does not create an illusion - you have to do that with a different spell. Read the spell description.

[korbeau]

Oh... I see..

What about that change:

Tracker: Add at First Degree the spell Simple illusion
Cleaner: Add at Third Degree the spell Permanent Forgetfulness

It could be possible to learn a better illusion spell but as I said earlier, I don't think the Tracker should be a great illusionist. It could but the Ministry focus on the basic illusion. The main task is about tracking.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Simple Illusions are dispelled by attacks and the touch of any sapient being, so the things the wizard could do while disguised would be sharply limited, particularly in regions where some form of touching is customary during greetings, but if that fits your vision for how they operate go for it.

[Michael Cule]

Supervising agents will need Hidden Lore: Other Worlds or Hidden Lore: Earth to judge the nature of and threat value of incoming Banestorm refugees. You should probably have some idea of the structure of the Ministry even if it is going to be obscure to the PCs and also the levels of Security Clearance needed to access secret material.

[korbeau]

Originally Posted by Michael Cule

Supervising agents will need Hidden Lore: Other Worlds or Hidden Lore: Earth

I already give them Hidden Lore: Earth, as explain in Banestorm.

Originally Posted by Banestorm p. 205

Most also have Hidden Lore (Earth), although very few have more than one point in this; the Ministry sees little need for agents to possess more than basic background knowledge.

For now, I just post what I think should be the basic for the agents. But you're right about having a global idea of the organisation. Actually, I need the magical style and a good lenses for them. If I have good response with this post, I'll put more worka about the Ministry here :)

[hal]

If you really wanted to have some fun???

What keeps the Ministry from trying to find a gateway to Terra? What if they finally succeeded?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by hal

If you really wanted to have some fun???

What keeps the Ministry from trying to find a gateway to Terra? ?

The -25 to use of all Gate Spells and similar magic due to the "Quantum Sargasso" effects is what. Change that and you can just Banish all Banestormees back to where they came from and your life gets a lot simpler.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by hal

What keeps the Ministry from trying to find a gateway to Terra? What if they finally succeeded?

Ignoring the Sargasso effect for the sake of speculation: They try to seal it? Unless some half-mad mavericks (eg: the PCs) want to personally explore the other side for research (ie: RPG campaign) purposes, of course, but they already know the highpoints from systematically debriefing every newcomer they can for years and years, so why enter that incomprehensible hellscape if they don't have to? Taking over wouldn't do them any good ("Your new overlords command you to stop sending Banestorm victims!"), and even if they found a way and the will to genocide everybody over here, they'd still have Olokun, Gabrook, and Lorendil to deal with. Not to mention the minor inconsistencies the Ministry has noticed in newcomer accounts, leading them to believe that they may be a dumping ground for multiple versions of one or more of the above.

[hal]

I was thinking more in terms of cherry picking people to kidnap, knowledge that HASN'T slipped across the dimensional barrier, etc. More access to forbidden knowledge, etc.

Something as simple as genetically modified crops might or might not be worth stealing - even the ability to steal normal non-modified crops that undergone selection over the years would be superior to normal grains.

As for the Sargasso effect, I hadn't noted that in my reading of the rules, which is my fault. <shrug>