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Old 07-08-2020, 07:15 PM   #21
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

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Where is Leech? The defining trait of a traditional vampire is beneficial vampirism (obsessive vampirism is just another psychological illness found in humans).
There's a reason I put the qualifier 'more' in there, and a reason that I put 'traditional' in quotes. This is closer to (or has more emphasis on) 'vampire as plague metaphor' than 'vampire as powerful being.'

EDIT: Perhaps we're thinking of different traditions?
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Old 07-09-2020, 09:46 AM   #22
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

Hm...
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So Homeline date and crazy Centrum projector schemes?

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Divergence Point
Technically unknown, but historical inertia effectively died on September 11, 2001, when a group of magicians saved the World Trade Center with wind magic and machine control.
Surely inertia collapsed in the 90s when Van Zandt didn't build conveyors, which somehow caused coordinated terror attacks (though they failed).
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Old 07-09-2020, 11:42 AM   #23
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

The 9/11 attacks should not have historical inertia, as there were so many ways to have prevented them (it was only a fatal combination of bad policy and bad luck allowed them to occur). For example, there were serious suggestions during the hijacking era of the 80s to separate the cockpit from the cabin of passenger planes, but they were defeated by the Reagan administration. In any timeline where Reagan did not win the 1980 election, the regulation would have likely been implemented, with such separations becoming the industry standard. In such timelines, 9/11 would have been impossible, as the hijackers would have been unable to access the cockpits.
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Old 07-09-2020, 01:09 PM   #24
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

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Hm...

So Homeline date and crazy Centrum projector schemes?
Pretty much, yes.

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Hm...Surely inertia collapsed in the 90s when Van Zandt didn't build conveyors, which somehow caused coordinated terror attacks (though they failed).
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The 9/11 attacks should not have historical inertia, as there were so many ways to have prevented them (it was only a fatal combination of bad policy and bad luck allowed them to occur). For example, there were serious suggestions during the hijacking era of the 80s to separate the cockpit from the cabin of passenger planes, but they were defeated by the Reagan administration. In any timeline where Reagan did not win the 1980 election, the regulation would have likely been implemented, with such separations becoming the industry standard. In such timelines, 9/11 would have been impossible, as the hijackers would have been unable to access the cockpits.
Regan was definitely president in the 1980s, both on Homeline and on Grimoire-1.

Like a lot of other writers I've seen, I tend to conflate Real Life history with Homeline history even when I shouldn't. I'm really not sure how to express in that kind of post 'the non-secret history of this worldline looked roughly identical to our real life history prior to the point of divergence, even though there was also a secret history going on that I don't think matches things going on in Real Life.' Homeline has most likely encountered a number of close parallels that match the major and most of the minor historical events of our timeline.
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Old 07-09-2020, 02:37 PM   #25
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

Why? The assumption of Homeline is that parallels diverge from Homeline, not from our Earth. In fact, there could be Infinity agents working on our Earth to prevent us from developing parachronic technology (since we are too divergent by now to be an echo). Perhaps the Men in Black are Infinity agents and some of the people who disappear each year are actually sent to Coventry because they got too close to developing parachronic technology.
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Old 07-09-2020, 06:08 PM   #26
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

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Why? The assumption of Homeline is that parallels diverge from Homeline, not from our Earth. In fact, there could be Infinity agents working on our Earth to prevent us from developing parachronic technology (since we are too divergent by now to be an echo). Perhaps the Men in Black are Infinity agents and some of the people who disappear each year are actually sent to Coventry because they got too close to developing parachronic technology.
The fanwork Five Earths All in a Row setting acknowledges this with the divergence of Infopunk Earth being in 1994 rather then December 21, 2012 when it diverged from our Earth.

Of course in most worlds anything like parachronic travel would be a government program on the level of the Manhattan Project - by the time Infinity got wind of it, it would be far too late.

In fact, as outlined in GURPS Time Travel Doctor Paul Van Zandt discovered parachronic travel when working for the Department of Defense. He managed to keep his discovery from them for six months before a convenient fire destroyed the Dartmouth lab he worked in allowing him to go into the private sector. I should mention strangely the DOD didn't start looking into where the money Van Zandt got went to so there are weird things there right off the bat.

As pointed out in the Important Notes for Infinite World campaign section of Five Earths All in a Row the Secret is effectively toast here.

If anything we know more about what is out there then Infinity does as we know of three realities they have no knowledge of: Homeline-2, Centurm-2, and Centrum Beta-2 and that is not counting the 23 Skidoo that predates GURPS Time Travel.

Infinity would be freaking out over our reality especially if the events related in either 23 Skidoo, Time Travel, or Infinite Worlds reasonably match their own. If they find any of the non canonal worlds (especially Paradox-1) they would totally loose it.
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Old 08-01-2020, 01:50 PM   #27
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

OK, I've been working on this for a while, and I think it's ready to post. Feel free to suggest things that I may have missed or not considered, though:

On Vampires in the Grimoire worldlines

The 'vampires' of these worldlines fall into several broad categories and subcategories, and specific vampires may fit into more than one. One aspect that separates them from vampires in other groups of worldlines is that very, very few types of vampire in the Grimoire woldlines have any form of Dominance or Infectious Attack.

The Living
Living vampires have some overlap with werecreatures and other 'human monsters,' as several types of 'vampire' transform into animals, and it can be difficult to know which is which.

* Magicians are the most common type of 'vampire' on these worldlines, consisting of several styles & traditions in which something representative of life is taken from living beings as part of many or all rituals, and consumed, whether symbolically, literally, or both; it may be a material/symbolic component, or the way one accumulates energy (in Energy Accumulating vampirism styles), or both. While blood is the most common representative (in some styles restricted to blood from specific sources, or requiring specific varieties for specific rituals), some styles use breath, emotions, dreams, or various forms of 'energy,' sometimes quite metaphorical, sometimes literal (in many cases, it's like Psychic Vampirism, but with Path/Book Magic instead of Magic As Powers; this may mean that the main ritual causes draining as a necessary side effect, or that you need a separate ritual, charm, or fetish to 'fuel' the main ritual). These magicians are often the source of other types of vampire, such as by using Embody on oneself as a conditional ritual ('triggered by his own death, the ritual captured the necromancer's ghost, and bound it to his mortal remains, to rise and walk the night'), or casting it on another, or by creating various fetishes as some werecreature magicians do, or experiencing an especially bad critical failure (see below).

* Cursed vampires are uncommon, but are among the closest to the standard 'monsters' among the living vampires. The curse may be intentional, such as when Barnabas Collins spurned the affections of the witch Angelique Bouchard (they may or may not exist in any of these worldlines, but it's a good example, albeit Barnabas was undead, rather than living), or it may be accidental, the result of a critical failure or bizarre accident. In some cases, the curse is bound into a fetish that the victim can't or won't get rid of (see below). A small number of cursed vampires can pass on their curse with a simple attack (or through sexual contact, or similar), rather than needing to ritually curse the target; normally, this is a form of Infectious Attack, though a very few cursed vampires appear to have Dominance (which may simply be Charisma or mesmeristic abilities combined with Infectious Attack, rather than true Dominance).

* Fetish-users are somewhat more common than the Cursed, though there is some overlap, as some fetish-bound spirits can be quite possessive of their mortal 'owners,' and in a few cases, even abusive. One known variety is a cane with a bat or other vampire-related motif (concept inspired by the AMV series that starts with this fan animation), that contains a demon which imposes certain personality traits on the victim, along with powers (and often offers greater power, at the price of Corruption). A more common but less powerful and dangerous type uses the bound spirit of a vampire bat, or other such creature, much like the selkie's sealskin or the swanmay's feathered cape. A rare few fetishes are capable of casting Embody on or for the host (the latter to make servants with, generally). In some cases the 'fetish' is not really a fetish at all, but an Embodied familiar, though there is often little difference otherwise.


The Embodied
Corpses and other unliving things animated by spirits bound to them, usually through the Embody ritual, or a variant thereof.

* Free-willed undead are more common on some Grimoire worldlines (particularly Grimoire-2 and 3), and less common on others (being quite rare on Grimoire-7, at least as vampires). As noted above, many of them are magicians who Embodied themselves, perhaps the most well-known being Dracula, historically known as Vlad the Impaler, whose Embodiment was the most powerful such ritual currently known on Grimoire-1, 2, and 4, and who grew in power over the ensuing centuries. Some free-willed undead were Embodied through the efforts of others, as Dracula did to Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker (though the latter did not learn of this for some years, until after she died in childbirth at the age of twenty-nine). While most free-willed vampires are Embodied ghosts, some other types of spirits, including demons, have also been given undead forms, or have intentionally bound themselves to them.

* Beasts and minions are perhaps the most common form of undead, as spirits of low intelligence and low will are often easier to contain and control. In many cases, the spirit Embodied in order to create a minion (often a thoughtform) will have Slave Mentality to start with, but others are bound with various rituals, whether Bind itself or something more long-term. Not all of these creatures truly qualify as vampires, often being more accurately classified as zombies or walking skeletons, or referred to as ghouls. Likewise, some are only intended to be Embodied for a single task or set of tasks.

* Golems overlap with each of the other two, being constructed bodies (robots or mechanical automatons, in some cases) containing spirits that may or may not be free-willed. While the traditional Golem is not a vampire in any sense, the term has become a general one for Embodied entities made from materials that were either never alive in the first place, or have been put into a form very different from what they held in life (such as wooden mannequins). Golems with draining powers are most often energy vampires, rather than blood-drinkers, though there are exceptions.


The Spirits
Disembodied spirits are sometimes known to drain energy from the living for various purposes; they are primarily energy vampires, with very few draining blood or any other bodily fluids, as they usually have no place to put it. A small number have Dominance or Infectious Attack, as the ghosts of those they kill become more of their kind.

* Possessing spirits are fairly rare among the vampire types in these worldlines (though less so in general), and might be mistaken for the Embodied, or for living vampires; the distinction is that they are not bound to a single physical presence (even if they may have one or a few preferred puppets), and are generally not banished or otherwise much harmed by the death or destruction of the form that they inhabit. Likewise, they can leave that form at will, or be exorcised from it.

* Manifesting spirits are the least common type of vampire on most of these worldlines, save for Grimoire-7, where all classes of manifesting spirit are more common than on the other Grimoire worlds. The quickest way to tell a spirit that has fully manifested from a solid being is to look for shadows and reflections, for such a spirit will often have neither, not being physically present, or will only have a faint shadow or a blurry or otherwise strange reflection, if it formed a temporary 'body' out of dust and other available material. Many are demons, including some summoned by critical failures (they attacked their summoners only enough to create a distraction, then fled to cause trouble elsewhere, or fled without immediately attacking, or possibly without materializing), and others intentionally called up, generally for revenge.

* Astral spirits, sometimes called 'dream vampires' for a common vector of attack (entering the victim's dreams), are those which normally attack the living without materializing or possessing anyone (and indeed, may not be able to materialize or perform possession without help). They are often the weakest of vampire spirits, but are also the hardest for mortals to attack. Incubi & succubi are most often dream vampires, though some fall into other categories, primarily manifesting spirits or living magicians; almost none are undead, though there are a few that were used to make 'sex doll' golems (which tends to backfire on the user). Many ghosts and other spirits drain heat from the environment to power themselves, but are not counted as vampires unless they exclusively or preferentially drain it from the living.
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

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Old 08-01-2020, 04:32 PM   #28
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

In the Witchcraft RPG, the undead were simply people who refused to pass on and had the force of will to return to their bodies. Revenants were powered by wrath against injustice while vampires were powered by hunger for life. Vampires did not automatically need blood, that was a disadvantage, and instead fed instead on essence released by fear, pain, or ecstasy, similar to the above take on mages. I would suggest that route if you want mages to be a form of living vampire, purchasing ER and Leech as advantages that allow them to gather and store magical energy.

For example, the priestesses of the hidden Temple of Ishtar use forbidden magical rites to allow them to consume and store the essence of their lovers. When they become priestesses, they would receive training in the Divine Embrace, which is ER 20 (Magical; Special Recharge, Leech, -70%) [18] plus Leech (Accelerated Healing, +25%; Accessibility, Only during sexual activity, -25%; Blood Agent, -40%; Heals ER, +30%; Magical, -10%; No Signature, Mundane, +25%; Steals FP, -25%) [20]. When they engage in any unprotected sexual activity, they may transform their victim's FP into their ER, which they may then use for their rituals.

The advantage of such an ability would be that they have the ability to quickly perform most rituals. While acolytes of the temple would probably be required to have sex with the priestesses in order keep them charged, the priestesses could also engage in sexual activity with nonmenbers for the purpose of recharging. With the Path of Health, they will not even need to worry about pregnancy or STDs, as they can regulate their fertility and increase their resistance to disease.

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Old 08-01-2020, 04:41 PM   #29
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There was a Pyramid article Ghoul Magic - it had a ritual named Dark Rebirth. It turned the subject into a Ghoul. I'd imagine there'd be variant rituals for other kinds of undead - vampires, liches, revenants...
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Old 08-02-2020, 02:15 PM   #30
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Default Re: [Path/Book Magic] 'Grimoire' worldlines

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For example, the priestesses of the hidden Temple of Ishtar use forbidden magical rites to allow them to consume and store the essence of their lovers. When they become priestesses, they would receive training in the Divine Embrace, which is ER 20 (Magical; Special Recharge, Leech, -70%) [18] plus Leech (Accelerated Healing, +25%; Accessibility, Only during sexual activity, -25%; Blood Agent, -40%; Heals ER, +30%; Magical, -10%; No Signature, Mundane, +25%; Steals FP, -25%) [20]. When they engage in any unprotected sexual activity, they may transform their victim's FP into their ER, which they may then use for their rituals.
The majority of 'living magician' vampires just have specialized magical skills and sometimes odd limitations on Magery and/or Path/Book Adept, but some of them might indeed have secret magics to allow them to buy up some form of Leech and ER like that. Note that not all blood mages and such use Energy Accumulating styles, though; the 'energy' or blood or whatever may simly be a ritual component that you can't buy off, or that is very hard to buy off.

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There was a Pyramid article Ghoul Magic - it had a ritual named Dark Rebirth. It turned the subject into a Ghoul. I'd imagine there'd be variant rituals for other kinds of undead - vampires, liches, revenants...
Almost certainly, yes. 'Good' source for the Cursed, and for the various corporeal undead.

Unfortunately, there's currently a gap in my Pyramid collection, and issue #3/43 falls into it. Have to get it later.
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

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