Quick question on geases

[JCD]

I have a question on the Dissonance aspects.

Level Time Level Time
1 ..........An hour 4 .........A month
2 ............A day 5.........6 months
3...........A week 6 ...........A year

These increments seem a little off. I can easily see a Critical Geas/6 which would make a yearly Dissonance affliction irrelevant except for mortals...and even FOR mortals, it can be small beer.

For example, a Lilim pulls out a geas/6 on a Mercurian to slow a charging Calabim so she can get away. It takes a moment but is almost certain vessel loss.

Under the current ruling, he can stand aside and only risk a point of Dissonance a YEAR. Granted, it is almost impossible to cure. But once it gets impossible to fix (She's dead) he can go to a tether and work it off normally.

I must be misreading this.

[alexondria]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

I only just realized...



So...what happens to the geas that got "superceded"?

In the first case (where they both have a geas/4), in a contested Will roll, what happens to the loser's geas?

And if one has a higher geas than the other, (geas/6 vs geas/4) what happens to the lower geas?

I understand that Stanley is going to suffer regardless, but I am unclear what happens to the geas that lost out.

Does the question make sense?

I'd say that once both geasa are called in they are called in- if one makes it impossible to complete the other then you could do a will roll to decide which is done and which you take dissonance for- personaly I would let them make the decision of which Lilim they were going to upset- one gets her favor and the other gets the "pleasure" of inflicting dissonance on the welcher along with what ever other punishments she can muster, but her favor was still called in even if the person can't do it anymore. Basicaly I would put it in the same catagory as the favor to protect X person and they try but they fail and X is killed anyway- the lilim doesn't get to ask for something else they just take damage.

[ladyarcana55]

Ooh!

Loophole for a Bright maybe?

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by JCD

I have a question on the Dissonance aspects.[...]
I must be misreading this.

Well, it does require Soul-death to cancel a Geas, so that part isn't necessarily easy.

A canny Lilim won't say, "Stop him!" but will say "Don't let him hurt me!" -- the GM could decide that's a negative Geas, and will cause dissonance for every hurt the Calabite causes to the Lilim within the time period. (See p. 38 of Superiors: Lilith PDF.)

But yes, there are some hinky things in the Geas mechanics -- in particular, the "the stronger the Geas, the longer the interval between penalties when you're resisting it" -- that I want to fix in the core rules someday.

In the meantime, GMs may wish to make the level of a Geas a penalty to Will rolls, should the angel (or human) try to resist and eat the dissonance (or damage) instead. Alternatively, the GM could rule that the dissonance thus acquired happens at the given duration -- but is equal to the level of the Geas! (Having 6 notes of dissonance, every year, might upset an angel...)