You have already started walking to the door before she can say anything, cracking the knuckles and joints in your fingers, hands, and neck. No way are you going to let some filthy bloodsucking maggots kill your wife.

"Michael, wait!" She runs after you, grabbing you on the shoulder. "We don't even know if this is true or just one huge coincidence!"

"This isn't a coincidence. If I was trying to get rid of any potential threats to my business I'd try to blitzkreig them, take them out before they had a chance to react, fortify, and counter-attack. And every single building those fucking Mages outside have bought up the past few months is right next to a vampiric building!" You go to turn the doorknob and head out, but she grabs your hand, stopping you from turning it.

"And you're telling me that someone in my Library... My sanctum, my building and second home, with the few caretakers I have working it, is a traitor!?" She pulls your hand off, turning you to face her. Her face is a mixture of fear, anger, and sadness, eyes struggling to not water up and cry. "These are people I've had working for me for at LEAST 10 years! I've personally vetted them before, and they know the risks of betraying me!"

> Well we're gonna vet their credentials again
> So if it isn't a mole, then it's a spy or agent who snuck in here, past your wards
> Well, what about a bug of some kind then? Maybe the phones are tapped or a camera?
> Other

File: mage quest resource document.pdf (4.31 MB, PDF)

4.31 MB PDF

Meta Post:

> Previous Quest: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/37089941/
> Quest Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=MtA%20Quest
> QM Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MageQM
> Previous Q&A Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/36531585/
> ask.fm link: http://ask.fm/MageQM

We are currently sitting on 19 exp. No real consensus from last quest on how to spend it, though most wanted to use it on a dot in Occult. There was also discussion about possibly making some spirit-infused items during the time skip and acquiring a familiar.

Otherwise the reference sheet is still up to date.

>>37203511

>And every single building those fucking Mages outside have bought up the past few months is right next to a vampiric building!

Isn't it the other way round, vamps buying buildings near mages?

>>37203775
After the Acamoth incident, all of the major Mage political organizations are making a move into the city as well, but their land/building purchases are not connected in any way, shape or form.

The vampire group's purchases are new, fast, and (apparently) aimed at setting up striking/vantage points on all the Mage political organizations' places. Building's they've just bought and not had time to get wards and countermeasures up.

>>37203867
I know. I'm saying I think you swapped the words you meant to use in that sentence.

>>37203511
>Other
Simple people could be suspectible to vampire domination, we should check their auras or something. Also, we should call other mages and tell them that it's time to stomp some bloodsuckers.

I'm gonna wait a little bit longer, mainly to see if anyone else shows up. I know the first couple posts take a while before this gets going, but usually it's not this long...

>>37204187
Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on. There's usually like 5 or 6 people in here by now.

>>37204223
Well, it is the start of a new year, people might be caught up with work or finishing up a game they got over the holidays.

There is also the fact that not a lot of votes were made for quest 14, so people might be reading through that quickly to get caught up and make a more informed decision.

In fact, the Christmas Quest and 14 are the lowest scored, most of the others are in the 6-10 range.

>>37204305
>In fact, the Christmas Quest and 14 are the lowest scored
And that's a fucking shame, because Christmas special was awesome.

>>37204335
Yeah, I really liked it.


> Well, what about a bug of some kind then? Maybe the phones are tapped or a camera?

At the top of the hour I'll either start writing or roll between the 'other' option and the bug option, assuming no other options are picked.

> So if it isn't a mole, then it's a spy or agent who snuck in here, past your wards

Sorry for the late reply. Today's been weird.

>>37203511
> Well, what about a bug of some kind then? Maybe the phones are tapped or a camera?

Can we do all three? cause I'd like to do all three.

also FUCK YEAH! MAGE QUEST!

>>37203511
>Other

"So we don't know how theyre getting their intelligence. That means we can't rule anything or anyone out. Maybe they turned someone. Maybe they planted an electronic bug. Maybe it's something else but until we know we have to assume the worst and take whatever precautions we can." (go for reasonable panic mode)

>>37204549
If you want to do all 3, that's fine, just pick an option to start with.

And depending upon your level of paranoia, you can go for 'reasonable panic,' all the way to tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist.

>>37204604
You know what? Changing my vote to this.

Also, writing, as bug option got two votes, 'other' suggestion had one, and spy got one.

File: 43797d1328542935-weird-qu(...).jpg (68 KB, 800x600)

68 KB JPG

>>37204655
Pffff using tinfoil in this day and age.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Well... shit. Vote got in on time, so I'm rolling it.

1 for bug, 2 for 'reasonable panic' mode.

>>37204672
this please>>37204604

Writing still, sorry.

>>37205029
take your time mang, Can't rush art and all that.

Your mind is racing with the thoughts of all the things they might do to harm Elizabeth. The simplest option is just killing her, but after Chrom mind-ficking her and seeing the Acamoth mind, body, and God knows what else rape Sarah (based upon what you've had Jemma hint at from discussions on Sarah's recovery), you see just how evil some people can be with their actions.

All 'for the Greater Good,' they end up saying. Pretty sure Hitler thought he was doing it 'for the Greater Good' when he started up the cleansing camps to get rid of the Jews. And you're pretty sure Hitler would've done a whole lot worse if he was a supernatural being of some kind.

You shiver at the thought of Hitler being a Mage. That's something you'll have to ask Liz about another time.

"So we don't know how they're getting their intelligence. That means we can't rule anything or anyone out. Maybe they turned someone. Maybe they planted an electronic bug. Maybe it's something else but until we know we have to assume the worst and take whatever precautions we can." You walk past her and to her stack of papers and notes, picking them up. "This is everything on the new Mages in town, yes?"

She nods, picking up her pens, pencils, erasers and tablet, pocketting the small, writing devices and gripping the tablet. "And there's no other copies, at least not to my knowledge."

"Good." You grab the nearest waste bin, thankful that she uses solid metal ones. You take the bag of trash out of it, making sure the insides are clean. After that, you stuff them all in the bin, motioning for everything else in her hands to join it. It takes her a moment to squeeze it all in, but eventually it all fits. "Now, physically go and see Diana, tell her we need anything and everything she has for electronic bug detection. After that, we have to find the strongest Prime, Space, and Forces Mages in town, and have them magically sweep the Library for anything out of place."

> [1/2]

> [2/2]

"What're you gonna do with the papers?"

"Take them to the one place I know where there isn't any chance of us getting spied on. It'll be a bit of a walk, but it's the best way under the circumstances." You lean in and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you on the other side."

"Be careful," she replies, returning the kiss with one of her own. She leaves, and a moment later you follow, only this time you are leaving from the Shadow World side. It'll be a bit of a walk, especially considering just how difficult navigating the Shadow World can be, but you know (at least, you're pretty sure) that none of the vampires can enter, and you know that electronics can't work unless it's magically protected and powered to do so.

> Read the paperwork while you walk
> Focus on the walk itself, get there in one piece
> Run/jog/sprint to the place
> Other

>>37205258
>> Other
ask the spirits to watch out for vampires that get near as we walk to work.

>>37205258
> Focus on the walk itself, get there in one piece
>>37205320
I also like this

Giving it a couple more minutes before closing voting.

Ok, writing.

You focus on the walk itself, as even with all your expertise and power, it's still a treacherous journey, as the Material World remnants try and force their way into the spiritual memories of the Shadow World. As you walk, you release your magical will to the local spirits around you, asking them to see if any vampires might be spying on your walk to your destination. They are willing to do so, especially after you give up a bit of Mana to do so. And just as you suspected, none of them are following you from the Material side. You finally reach your destination after some time has passed, but in this ageless land you can't be certain of how much time has actually gone by. You will the barriers between the Worlds to become paper-thin, and step forth into the Material World.

You grin at the sight before you: Elizabeth, Diana, Jemma, Sarah, and two other Mages are waiting for you, huddled around a campfire as the night sky above you twinkles brightly.

"About damn time," Diana yawns out, stretching in her collapsable camp chair. "What'd you do, get lost along the way?"

"The paths are tangled and overgrown, many twists and turns between you starting point and end goal," Sarah says, as Jemma hugs her sister. Admittedly, you are surprised she strung together such a long sentence. The last few times you saw her she barely was able to get more than 4 words out.

You set the trash bin down as Elizabeth slings a coat over you, the chilled air only now stinging your skin. "They'll start going through the electronics and papers now."

Jemma, Diana, and the other two begin sifting through it all, murmuring to themselves as they begin to check it all out.

> Chat with them while they work
> Check in with Elizabeth
> Check in with Sarah
> Other

>>37206194
> Check in with Sarah
Hi! Remember that time I saved you from cosmic horror? Those were the days...

>>37206194
> Chat with them while they work

Also, slightly meta, but not really, as this is something Michael is aware of but not you as players:

Sarah has a Gnosis of 7, and is an Archmaster of Spirit.

>>37206194
>Chat with them while they work

>>37206194
>> Check in with Sarah

>>37206276
Then we should definitely check out what she has to say. She probably have 0 wisdom though.

>>37206194
> Check in with Sarah

>>37206409
we were told she has 1 wisdom.

Writing.

You glance at the four sifting through all the papers and consider talking with them, but decide to stay quiet and let them work. Instead, you look at Sarah, whose eyes are still locked onto the fire. "So, how's the recovery going from your perspective, Sarah?"

"They talk and try helping, but their words roll off my back." Well... That certainly doesn't sound helpful. "Zz'kula still whispers to me, even in her prison."

"Do they know that," Elizabeth asks.

"Yes, but I'll never talk to her again. If I see her again, she'll be unmade." Wait, that horror was a girl? Thinking back you don't remember seeing any genitalia of any kind. "Your soul is white," she says, still looking at the fire.

"I know," you reply to her, remembering how most Magic seems to have a particular aura to it, and said aura usually is linked to the color of your soul.

"May I... touch it?" Her eyes still stare into the fire, her body not moving an inch.

> Wait... what? You can do that?
> Look at Elizabeth oddly
> Uhh... No thanks
> Sure
> Other

>>37206917
>> Wait... what? You can do that?

>>37206917
> Wait... what? You can do that?

>>37206917
> Wait... what? You can do that?

>>37206917
>> Sure
i want to know what it will do.

>>37206917
>> Sure
What could possibly go wrong? Besides, maybe we can help her with our chivalry powers.

>>37206917
> Sure
Gotta press the red button

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Rolling then writing.

1 for the 'Wait... what?' option, 2 for 'Sure.'

"Wait... What? You can do that?" You know you can't do that, even if you know that creating a spirit is theoretically possible for you. But touching a person's soul sounds rather high and mighty, and would probably invoke a Hubris of some kind. Then again, maybe it'll help her out somehow? Maybe have a "healthy" soul to compare hers to, see if she can heal herself with it?

Or she could destroy it, or put you back to Sleep. You aren't sure, and the scowl Elizabeth is giving you certainly makes her opinion of the soul touching a bad idea.

> Not right now, maybe later, after you've gotten your head on right
> No
> Sure
> Other

Also, off to dinner, back in 20-30 minutes.

>>37207386
>Sure!
Press the button!

>>37207386
> Other
"Some other time maybe. I don't fee like setting off Liz at the moment."

>>37207386
> No

This seems like one of those obvious bad ideas that will probably get pushed through anyway because mystery box.

>>37207386
>> Not right now, maybe later, after you've gotten your head on right
it just seems a poor time and place for that sort of thing honestly

>>37207386
>Or she could destroy it
Not with our willpower and other mages around
>or put you back to Sleep
Highly improbable.

>Sure
Sarah, do the thing that we will probably regret later.

>>37207386
>> Other
maybe after this crisis is over.

>>37207386
>> Sure

Back, and by my tally, we have 3 for 'sure' and 4 for 'no/later,' so I'm writing based upon the no/other choice.

"Uhh... Not right now, maybe later after this crisis is done." Honestly you're still unsure about this, but maybe after the vampires are dealt with you can help her out.

She continues to stare at the fire, nodding ever so slightly in approval. "I wonder what Zz'kula would smell like, burning in this fire..."

... Maybe it'll be a long while. The other four stand up and hand the paperwork back to Elizabeth, as they all frown or shake their heads in disapproval. "Sorry, but there's no electronical or magical bugs on anything here or at the Library."

Elizabeth sighs in disapproval, handing each a small envelope of cash. "Thanks anyway, you guys are free to go." The other two leave, but Diana and Jemma stay behind.

"I'm not leaving you while you've got vampires after you," Jemma says, returning to her chair next to Sarah. "And Sarah will help, won't she?"

The sister nods in approval, eyes still locked onto the fire. Diana seems rather quiet, hands and eyes looking at the cash in her hands. Reluctantly, she hands it back to Elizabeth, who looks at her oddly.

"Yeah, I can't take this. Now that there's vampires in town, you're gonna need my help, and after taking advantage of the past few times, you guys have kinda earned a bit of free help."

You whistle at that. "Diana turning down payment AND offering to help without expecting repayment of some kind? I think that's a sign of the apocalypse," you joke.

"It'll arrive not with a bang, but a whisper," Sarah says, head bobbing back and forth slightly. An uneasy air hangs over the crowd, the fire still crackling with burning wood.

"Anyway..." Jemma's hands glow a bit, and instantly the flames die down, the heat emanating from it disappearing instantly, only smouldering embers remaining. "Lets go back to the Library, we need to start interviewing your aids Mystic."

> Confront them all at once
> Confront them one at a time
> Be helpful/understanding with them
> Be angry/accusatory
> Other

>>37208429
>> Confront them one at a time
im following the rules of Gibbs here never but you suspect together.

>>37208429
>> Confront them one at a time
>> Be helpful/understanding with them
good cop bad cop, we're the understanding one that wants to help, Elizabeth is the magic boss that will incinerate them on the spot

>>37208489
Seconding.

>>37208429
>>37208489
Works for me.

>>37208489
I can get behind this.

>>37208429
> Confront them one at a time
> Be helpful/understanding with them

>>37208429
>Confront them one at a time
> Be helpful/understanding with them
they're all mages, too? Does that make them immune to being ghouled?

>>37208793
I think you can still get ghouled or are at least vulnerable to the vinculum (can't remember how it's spelled), but you can never be vampirized. The awakened soul rejects the blood, at least, when it's trying to make you undead.

They're Sleepwalkers, so they are still possible to become vampire'd. Also, writing.

>>37208880
okay. I knew the rule was "can't mix splats in WoD" but I didn't know if ghouls counted as a splat themselves.

"Well, there's a total of four people who work in the Library, all of them Sleepwalkers; they're aware that Magic is real and won't cause Paradox if we use Magic, but they can't figure out how it works." Elizabeth motions for you to follow her, and you do so, as the others trail behind slightly, but still within range of hearing her. "So you can be a bit lenient with them, but don't push too hard."

"I was thinking we'd interview them one at a time," you reply. "You play bad cop and I try to be good cop. Jemma, you try to read their emotions from an observational standpoint. Diana, go digging through their personal belongings, see if they brought something in with them. Sarah, you can..." You mull it over for a moment, thinking about how she could be helpful.

"I can be very persuasive," she replies, raising her hand, which is glowing violet, as a very small, swirling black object hovers inside it. "One wrong move and... Poof," she says, releasing the spell. You feel the telltale sign of gravity pulling against you, as the pocket black hole she just made collapses upon itself.

"Hey, no throwing our supects into a quantum singularity," Jemma says, poking her sister's arm. "Save that for the vampires."

Great, the strongest person here by far, and she's the most unstable person by far. This is gonna blow up in our face sooner or later. You hope your luck holds out enough so that it's later.

> Interview Tiny
> Interview Shawna
> Interview Maher
> Interview Lucas

>>37209100
>Lucas

>>37209100
> Interview Lucas
let's take the last one on the list first, Imaybe MageQM arranged them so the guilty one's last

>>37209100
>> Interview Lucas

>>37208934
Ghouls, sleepwalkers, wolf blooded, ect. are minor splats. Minor splats can still become any "major" splat, not just the one they're tied to. It does, however, make them more likely to become that one (A good ghoul may be sired by their master, sleepwalkers are one good or bad day from awakening, being wolf blooded is basically a prerequisite for undergoing the first change, ect...)

>>37209100
>Interview Shawna
that's a girl, right? We can flirt with her.

>>37209100
> Interview Tiny

> Interview Tiny

And with my vote, I've gotta make a store run. I'll probably be back in time for the story post after next.

>>37209100
>Interview Lucas

Do you folks want more description of each person, see if that helps/influences your decision at all?

>>37209344
I figure we're going to talk to most/all of them anyways

>>37209344
yes.

>>37209344
No. We'll get to them all soon enough.

>>37209344
yes, is Tiny her actual name? and is really tiny as well?

>>37209512
For you

>>37209526
for me what?

>>37209512
Tiny is her nickname, because she is barely 5 feet tall. Her real name is Ashleigh.

I'll describe them more if/when we interview them all, but for simplicities sake, I'll give a brief rundown here:

Tiny: Female, 5', 28
Shawna: Male undergoing sexual reassignment therapy to transition to female, 5' 5", 31
Maher: Male, 5' 10", 46
Lucas: Male, 5' 8", 27

>>37209616
>Lucas
>Tiny
>Shawna
>Maher
in that order

Writing now, starting with Lucas.

>>37209616
>Shawna: Male undergoing sexual reassignment therapy to transition to female
to flirt, or not to flirt, that is the question

>>37209701
>Is she in a relationship? if yes, don't flirt. if no, flirt.

>>37209732
>>37209701
ya i dont mess with trannys and we are in the middle of some deep shit right now.

File: Laughing12.gif (762 KB, 300x170)

762 KB GIF

>>37209616
Ha! He's a sleepwalker yet can't even think about how life magic (or magic in general really) could truly alter his gender to the preferred one. To the point where he could get pregnant, which is more than surgery could ever do. The stupidity of some people...

>>37209701
Wherever we are, we must also flirt.

>>37209848
>Ha! He's a sleepwalker yet can't even think about how life magic (or magic in general really) could truly alter his gender to the preferred one. To the point where he could get pregnant, which is more than surgery could ever do. The stupidity of some people...
Can we make it permanent? I thought mostly everything we can do with life magic is temporary at the moment.

After a couple seconds of waiting as Elizabeth and Jemma look at Sarah, you realize she's glowing violet. Instantly you feel your body lurch slightly, as everything around you distorts and twists. Barely two seconds later everything starts clearing up, as the Library study room fills your vision.

"Wait... What..." Instantly you feel the need to hurl, and struggle to keep what little food left in your body inside it.

Jemma sighs, as she waves a green hand over your body, and the wave of nausea passes. "Sarah can teleport us around, which is nice for going to places."

You look at her, then Sarah, who shrugs and plops herself in one of the chairs, sinking deeply into the soft, comfortable cushions. Just what else does she know...? You shake your head, sticking that question in the back of your mind. "Let's start with Lucas," you say. Elizabeth nods, leaving the room. A couple minutes later she returns with Lucas in tow. The 'newest' member of her staff, Lucas has been working with Elizabeth for just over 10 years.

"Sit down," Liz growls out, nearly throwing him into a chair pulled aside. He sits himself into it, remaining on the edge of the seat. "You nervous?"

"Uhh... yeah," he replies, pressing his hands on his pants. "Your boss just pulled you out of shelving books and throws you into her office. How would you react?"

> Let her talk
> jump in
> Other

>>37209939
>jump in
be nice
maybe flirt

>>37209939
> jump in

>>37209939
>> jump in
no flirting

>>37209939
>Jump in Michael!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp6o5I99Idw

>>37209939
>> jump in
"Look, Lucas was it? I'm gonna level with you here, there's been a lot of things going bad around the place lately. Things and information gone missing, people trying to uses said missing things to try and do things that's only gonna cause trouble for a bunch of people no one wants to cause trouble with. So I'm gonna ask you some questions and then your boss is gonna ask you some questions. If everything matches up between what she thinks is happening and what I KNOW is happening then you're clear and free to go? Sound good?"

>>37209916
You can make any spell "permanent" (i.e. relinquish it) by sacrificing a willpower dot. You can buy it back, but it is an effort of will above and beyond the typical spending of it. It takes a bit out of ya.

This is, BTW, how you get enchanted weapons or items of any kind. Make it, put spells on it, relinquish the spells. We really owe that powersmith a big debt for the stuff she made us because of this as well. You can buy it back cheap, but XP is XP, we're gonna be working that one off hard one day.

Real life popped up, will update in a little bit.

>>37210043
Probably the best way to start it off right here.

You walk up and place a hand on her shoulder, and she backs off. You kneel down to look him better in the eyes, which are a terrified emerald green. "Look, you're Lucas, right?"

He nods.

"To be perfectly frank, there's a lot of shit going down lately. Certain things like bits and pieces of information have gone missing, and we're trying to figure out where the leak is. So I'm gonna ask you some questions, then the Mystic is gonna ask you some stuff. If everything matches up you're free to go."

He looks past you, towards Elizabeth, then Jemma, then Sarah.

"... And if it doesn't?"

"Have you ever seen the devil dance, Lucas?" Sarah looks over, eyes and face completely emotionless. "It's a rather intriguing dance... One you will have much time to admire..."

Well, that's rather intimidating, even if you aren't sure it isn't a bluff. Lucas certainly thinks it isn't a bluff, and quickly spills the beans upon anything and everything you all ask him. After a good 30 minutes of interrogating you let him go.

"Yeah, its not him," she says to you. And to be honest you agree; he's young and knows the world's a much darker place than most people know, but he's not dumb enough or desperate enough to work with the vampires.

it also helps that Jemma was monitoring his reactions with Life magic, and nothing seemed off about his body reactions.

> Interrogate Shawna
> Interrogate Maher
> Interrogate Tiny

>>37211829
>Interrogate Tiny

>>37211829
>> Interrogate Tiny

>>37211829
>Tiny

>>37211829
>> Interrogate Tiny

>>37211829
Since it looks like we're talking with Tiny next, regardless of what I vote, I say we do Tiny, then afterwards talk to Shawna.

>>37212111
Or you could just wait for the next vote to declare your third interrogation candidate...

>>37209848
>>37209916
>>37210053
You can't induce permanent changes on living beings until archmastery and even then it's a 7dot+ Imperial mystery.

It's substantially easier to get reassignment surgery than convince an archmage to do them a favor and temporary spells would just be cruel.

>>37211829
I vote for this >>37209634 order.

You suggest Tiny next, as the nickname is rather fitting, she barely towers over 5 feet, and sometimes has to use a stepping stool to get to the more out of reach shelves. But she LOVES books with a fierce passion, and studied to be a librarian even before coming to work for Elizabeth. She comes in and you go through a similar song and dance as with Lucas. And while she doesn't reply with fear (more disappointment and lack of trust in her) everything seems to match up.

> Interrogate Shawna
> Interrogate Maher
> This is pointless
> Other

>>37212394
>> Interrogate Shawna
is there something we can try to roll to figure this out?

>>37212394
>> Interrogate Maher

>>37212394
> Interrogate Maher

>>37212394
>Maher

>>37212408
Not really. You are welcome to suggest a new tactic though.

>>37212394
>And while she doesn't reply with fear (more disappointment and lack of trust in her)
oh boo hoo. there's vampires having shadow runs outside, get over it

>>37212454
can vampires see spirits or enter the shadow world?

>>37210053
>how you get enchanted weapons or items of any kind
Ish. There are two types of modified items Imbued and Enhanced.

>Imbued
Abilities, powers & defenses for the user. Bundled together with Imbue Item (Prime 3). These items have a number of spells that let you relinquish the effect for things other than Willpower. Things like 20 mana, suffering, donated willpower from a volunteer, etc.

>Enhancements
Alterations and upgrades to the device itself. Usually done through matter spells to make it stronger or fate spells to keep it safe. Some are Lasting and don't need relinquishing while others have to be relinquished individually, unlike Imbue Item, which counts all the abilities as a single bundle.

You can Enhance an Imbued item and vice versa, but you can just as easily enhance your keys so they never get lost or imbue a disposeable item for short term benefit.

There was also a clarification/errata on how the relinquishing works. You can spend a Point of Willpower to relinquish the spell and it will keep going but is vulnerable to being dispelled. You can also spend a Dot of Willpower and then the Imbued item cannot be disenchanted, but instead has to be broken in order to get rid of it.

None of the things we got from the powersmith were Imbued. Enhanced maybe, but most of the benefit we're getting from it is from using them as foci for spellcasting.

>>37212394
>>37212454
I say we power through the interrogation and have a big apology for them after this is all over. After all, whether one of them turned or not (my money's on Shawna, in case they were promised a new body or something similar, which Elizabeth can't grant), they were all vetted and trusted.

>>37212541
Not by default, but there might be blood powers or coils of the dragon that let them (I'm not familiar with nWoD vampires)

>>37212454
Random Question, this is definitely a fantasy genre story yes? Just confirming as I have decided to randomly add it to the 1d4chan quest list

>>37212636
Modern fantasy, we're using nWoD.

>>37212658
Okay so modern fantasy, got it, any other genres it falls into or is that it, I assume this isn't going to be the last one in the series so I'll put it as active

>>37212609
I've got the same feeling. I don't know what the nWoD equivalent is to the Tzimisce Vicissitude powerline, but that shit was freakishly powerful.

>>37212636
Modern fantasy using the nWoD ruleset, specifically the Mage - the Awakening sourcebook. I've used a couple other books (Werewolf - the Forsaken and Vampire - the Requiem) for references and ideas, but that's about it.

Other things I've considered tagging it are adult (foul language and mature content) and modern-day (by in large you can assume that any technology in the real world exists in the game).

Also, writing.

You suggest Maher third, and a couple minutes later he enters. Immediately Jemma tenses ever so slightly before sinking back into your seat, and you focus more on him.

He's starting to show his age, as his black hair is beginning to get overrun buy the progression of time, white hairs crowding out the black. And he certainly is trying everything he can to keep in shape, as you recognize the callouses on his hands and knuckles as things you get from boxing. What you find most unsettling though is that unlike Tiny or Lucas, he's completely calm, as though he expected this to happen sooner or later. He sits in the chair and Elizabeth begins to do her speech, but before she's even uttered two words he smirks, raising his hand for her to stop.

"This is pointless," he says, waving for her to back off. "I'm not your leak, Hell I've been here for almost 15 years. It's a rather plush job, the benefits are good, and I get to see things no other normal human being can even begin to comprehend. For fuck's sake, you fought a goddamn spirit in here just last Christmas!"

> Still, we need to ask you some questions
> Cycle through your various Sights to see how he looks
> Ok, you're free to go
> Other

>>37212982
> Still, we need to ask you some questions
> Cycle through your various Sights to see how he looks

> Cycle through your various Sights to see how he looks

>>37212982
this>>37213018

>>37212982
> Cycle through your various Sights to see how he looks

>>37212982
>> Still, we need to ask you some questions
>> Cycle through your various Sights to see how he looks
>> Other
"I'm afraid you've gotten two things wrong, first Mystic called me in so I call the shots. Second, if you're not the leak then you'll have 0 reasons to be opposed to questing"

>>37212982
>Cycle through your various Sights to see how he looks
>Ok, you're free to go
Tail him

>>37213130
second

>>37213141
Vote nesting is a terrible habit to get into. When you vote, be sure to link the QM's post so they don't miss it.

>>37212982
>> Other
Ya know getting older must be terrifying not to mention that you see thing not many other humans have like what life magic can do or you.

(try to make him confess by tricking him or antagonizing him.)

"Still, we need to ask you some questions," you say as you begin to cycle through your various visions. Your first try (Spirit Sight) reveals his soul to be the normal gray of a Sleeper, but with brief flickers of color trying to break through. The second one is your Life Sight, and you see why Jemma tensed ever so slightly.

You aren't 100% certain, but you're pretty sure he's in the late stages of prostate cancer, or some similar, very serious illness. Whether he knows about it or not you can't be sure, but there's no signs of someone taking chemotherapy or treatment of some kind.

Prime Sight reveals little, and Forces Sight gives you absolutely nothing, other than the fact that he has a phone in his pocket.

> You mind if we look at your recent call history?
> You know you're dying, right?
> So what do you think of all the new Mages in town?
> Other

>>37213226
calling it, he's dying and vampires offered to change him so he can live in exchange for info

>>37213226
>> You know you're dying, right?
>> So what do you think of all the new Mages in town?

>>37213226
>> You mind if we look at your recent call history?
>> You know you're dying, right?

>>37213226
> So what do you think of all the new Mages in town?

>>37213226
Voting this >>37213274 (tactfully phrased)

Please not >>37213297

>>37213226
>>37213437
Me too.

>>37213226
> You know you're dying, right?

Writing.

You mull it over for a moment before going with the less startling question first. "So what do you think of all the new Mages in town?"

He shrugs, looking at you square on. "They're annoying, don't know how to take care of the books, and don't bother returning books to the carts or designated drop-off points. It does bring in more business, and more gossip, so it's not all bad news."

Jemma motions for you to come over to her, and you do so. Meanwhile, Elizabeth begins asking some more pointed, aggressive questions. "He's got stage 4 prostate cancer," she whispers to you. "3 months at best."

You nod, placing a thankful hand on her knee for barely a quarter of a second before turning around and interrupting Elizabeth's line of questioning.

"So you know you're dying, right?"

At that, Elizabeth clicks her Sight on, and gasps slightly. "Jesus Maher, why didn't you tell me?"

Once again, he shrugs. "Everyone's gotta die some time, why try and prolong the inevitable?"

"How long have you-"

"Almost a year."

What... He's been like that for a year? With his body literally dying on the inside... Hell, any sort of bowel movement must send intense waves of pain through his body.

"Why not ask me for help? You know I can fix this in like, 10 seconds!" She goes to heal him but he pushes her back, standing up and away from her.

"Because it's not right! I'm not one of you, I don't deserve to have my life extended when there's millions of people out there whom you can cure of all these diseases by you Mages!" He steps towards the door, where Jemma moves to block it. "You Mages are literally standing on a pedestal, picking who lives and who dies! Well I choose to go out how I want to, not when you say it's ok for me to die!"

> Let him go
> Call him out for being a traitor to Elizabeth
> Knock him out, let Elizabeth heal him
> Other

>>37213757
> Other
just stop we still need answers.

>>37213757
You're both right. We don't deserve to play god and you deserve to die how you want. You just need to ask yourself if you are really ready to die. There's so much to do and learn, but if you're done..then I guess you're done.

>>37213757

>>37213797
>>37213820

Can we combine these two?

>>37213757
>>37213820
I'll back this

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>>37213757
Does he not understand paradox? Healing a serious disease like that is vulgar as all fuck if done to a sleeper. Miracles don't happen every day and everyone knows that, pulling that shit would trigger disbelief at best and NOBODY wants to risk a manifestation. One of those damn near ended the world, we know that better than most. Does he not get that? One life is seldom worth risking the whole fucking world over.

>>37213956
Hey, throw that in there too

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>>37213956
Forgot to clarify, if miracles like that started to happen very often then people would start to ask very uncomfortable questions. Oh, damn near every case of late stage cancer or terminal illness starts getting suddenly cured out of the blue? Any doctor worth his degree will start investigating. He'll logically conclude that something ain't right and that'll lead him right to a mage's front door if he's smart (and he would be, he's a fucking MD). As a sleeper most likely, he'll end up being at the wrong place at the wrong time and either get killed by a supernatural or help trigger a manifestation. Both, if the two parties happen to be particularly unlucky.

Point remains, doing that would result in far too many potential complications and/or throws the whole cost/benefit analysis firmly into the "not worth the risk" side. Can't this fucker into critical thinking?

"Will you just shut up for a second!" At that, everyone's eyes turn to you. "You're right, Maher. We Mages do play God a lot, and I don't mean the forgiving one. You deserve to go out how you want to, you've more than earned that right after your fairly long life. You just need to ask yourself one thing."

At that, he turns fully towards you, getting up in your face. "Yeah, and what's that?"

You return his deaths tare with one of your own, as both a boast and a threat. "Are you ready to die? Have you made peace with yourself for all the good and bad you've done in this world? Can you walk up to those Pearly Gates, stand in front of God and tell him, 'I did the best I could with what I was dealt, you gonna let me in or not?'" You grab him by the collar of his shirt and pull him in closer. "Or are you gonna stop being a bitch, let your boss heal you, and finally answer our questions!"

Silence descends over the room, when a clapping noise breaks it. All eyes turn to Sarah, who is clapping like a little, giddy school girl. "Now kiss and make up," she says, eyes clearly wanting you to kiss him.

> [1/2]

>>37213757
2nding/thirding all this>>37213856 >>37213956

I get that it's his decision, and we don't get to play god (last time that happened, mages broke the universe), but willful ignorance irks me.

> [2/2]
He breaks the grip you have on his shirt and steps back a bit, Sarah frowning once she realizes that you two aren't going to kiss. "... Ask your questions, and then the Mystic can heal me."

He answers everything to the best of your ability, and as promised, when you finish asking him everything Elizabeth heals him, the cancer in his body being healed in mere minutes. He takes several deep breaths through his nose before launching himself out of the chair. "I'll be back stocking the shelves if you need me."

"Ok... and Maher?"

He turns to look at Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry you didn't trust me enough with this sooner."

"It's nothing personal, boss." He cracks the door open and steps out of it. "I just can't understand why you guys don't help out more people." And with a soft click, he closes it behind him.

> Quest End

6 exp. gained

Everything from here-on out is meta discussion. Not sure when I'll run the quest next, but I hope to run it before the end of the week.

It's not willful ignorance, Elizabeth has tried explaining Paradox before to all the Sleepwalkers working for her. And from a logical standpoint they get it, but there's a big difference between knowing and understanding.

They literally cannot understand how Magic works, and by proxy understand how Paradox works, and how basically every spell a Mage casts is risking a Paradox upon the world.

You can know that a broken bone is supposed to hurt, but until you understand that pain (usually be experiencing it yourself) you cannot truly sympathize with a person who suffers a broken bone of some kind.

>>37214190
Thanks for running.

>>37214251
dose Liz know that Micheal awoke when he was fighting off a vampire.

I'm beginning to wonder if there's another way we can look at this problem. There's no mechanical surveillance going on, and I'm finding it less likely that we have a mole, or at least, one working directly here.

What if there were a mage working with these guys? It's a fucking frightening thought, but we can't rule out anything yet.

>>37214251
Good thread mate, wished I could of participated more. See you next time.

>>37214251
Tell him that thing we fought was the result of a manifestation paradox, and that it was literally moments from ENDING ALL OF EXISTENCE AS ANY JOE BLOW COULD EVER UNDERSTAND IT!

That's the scale, and if he can't understand after that revelation then he's a lost cause. Damn people thinking everyone with power ought be a "hero of justice" and such.

>>37214321
You sir, know how to shadowrun. That is indeed a possibility we can't rule out. Even if you can into magic, having a few vampires on your side never hurts if you have the right goal.

That's the scale we're talking here, hard to hate mages not helping given that.

>>37214190
>>37214251
Neat. Thanks for running.

We've got 25 exp. Enough to bump anything by one.
My vote is for Fate 1 and bank the other 5 for Occult 1 after next session.
We've been getting lucky a lot because of how we do rolls and I think it's time for Michael's abilities to reflect that.

>>37214321
Now that is a scary thought. There are rogue mages and Seers after all. Any of which might have reason to clear out the city of magical influence.

>>37214251
did we get a familiar yet or do we still have to buy it.

>>37214321
watch it be a fucking bat in the rafters

>>37214441
i would lose it if that is true.

>>37214441
>>37214502
Probably spirits, seeing how the blood drive was warded against them somehow.

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>>37214441
pls no

>>37214534
didn't we ask all the spirits?

>>37214561
We asked *some* spirits. This is a big city and there are spirits in a lot of things. It wouldn't be surprising if some of them could spy without being detected by other spirits.

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>>37214502
Vampires can do that. He'd be risking a hell of alot if one of that cotiere is trying it though. A Mekhet could use his higher level disciplines to pull it off somewhat covertly (one allows you to send your soul out of your body for damn near risk-free recon), but if he knew what he ought (mekhet specialize in "knowing" things) then he wouldn't be so brazen. Spirit sight would see his sorry ass clear as day, and if he was any form of competent he'd know that and do the rational cost/benefit analysis and know that it just ain't worth it.

Well, unless the endgame is big enough. City's "rack" is unclaimed ATM. A single coteire's rack unclaimed... For a single group of vampires, that's a HELL of a lot of easy vitae, might be worth it to gamble if you can essentially stay "topped off" with few problems if ya win the game.

>>37214647
thats fucking crazy.

To get a grasp on what we need to do, we need ro collate what we do know.

1.Trimonti is a shell corporation for leeches, who are
2.Buying up lands/buildings next to Mage and Werewolf hangouts and
3.hosting weird blood drives that seem to compel donators to come back.
4.Said blood drive location, that we found, was off limits to spirits. They do NOT want us seeing what's happening there.
5.They are somehow aware of nearly all places mages and werewolves hang out en masse, leading back to point 2.

Another possible idea:
What if that barrier at the blood drive wasn't to keep spirits out, but to keep something IN?

>>37214698
>>37214789
Another thing: the Trimonti are buying up land in preparation for a blitz, but what's left over if you subtract those properties?

If they're smart, they'd keep anything not related to this op in as holdings of a separate corp, but it's hard to achieve perfect isolation of services and finances.

Instead of risking Mages (and possibly tipping our hand to the Vamps, unless our data leak is still active, in which case they already know and are likely accelerating their plans) we should arrange for a Werewolf to inspect the blood drive. Their connection to the spirits is as strong as ours (if not stronger), but also innate as opposed to active.

>>37214251
Did we forget Shawna or is that interrogation for next time?

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>>37214691
Once you get the supernal involved, ain't much that is truly crazy. Imagine, if your "crazy" theories were grounded in facts that others couldn't really deny if they knew what you knew.

Could you really blame them? They knew far more than you ever imagined. Who was the real "madman" in that case? If the fate of the world really hinged on you being in a given spot and uttering a few words in a language you saw as pure gibberish? If you could purchase your own personal utopia if only you did X at the cost of everyone hating you forevermore? Were you not be rational in going "all in" on that bet? We're asking deep questions here. If you could have all you ever wanted by doing a seemingly trivial action, would you? In "mage", you really are doing this. An "Imperial rite" hinges on a "quintessence", an item or act by someone that symbolizes your ideal world. Win, you get it. Lose, you don't hard. Can you risk it all? Can you risk everything for that ideal? That's the realm the archmasters live in. It's high risk, high reward. Failures are condemned to the abyss, successes are condemned to the reality of truth. For all "imperial" rites are and always have been. That's the point of them.

For example, if you succeed in saying "magical girls" exist, then they have always existed from the dawn of time. If you fail, then you've triggered Armageddon in the worst case. An archmaster is essentially a "god" in one form or another. Can you bear that weight?

>>37214396
You would still have to buy it. Right now the main ideas in mind are:

> 1 point into Occult
> Gnosis 4
> Buying Fate 1
> Getting a Familiar (I outlined which ones in quest 14)

>>37204305
>In fact, the Christmas Quest and 14 are the lowest scored, most of the others are in the 6-10 range.
Voting on suptg is super tedious due to bad UI and some design choices and quests generally tend to have voting taper off for later episodes

Given enough time, energy, and power, Mages can do just about anything. Most people don't really grasp that concept, and even Mages struggle with it. It's really only the Archmasters that can 'see' all the threads of exercising their Will upon Reality, and even they tread lightly, as the last time they pissed Reality off, the Abyss was formed.

As a reference point, I mentioned that Sarah's an Archmaster of Spirit. That means she has at least 7 dots in the Spirit Arcanum, Three guesses as to how she got it. You should only need one.

>>37204690
fan fact, a tinfoil acts as an antennae, amplifying the mind control beams
you need to wear a Faraday cage

>>37205217
>Jews
It was actually a huge list of "undesirables" not just jews

>>37216448
>6 million jews
>20 million russians

>>37216462
20 million russians were actually from the war rather then the death camps. Not that it is any less tragic to die because your town got shelled. But they weren't on hitler's hitlist.
The deathcamps did get about equal number of jews and other undesirables, including gays, disabled, assorted races (poles, gypsies, etc), certain religions, etc etc

>>37209616
>Shawna: Male undergoing sexual reassignment therapy to transition to female
Is there a reason liz didn't use magic to do it for her? I mean, she is a sleepwalker

>>37212280
>You can't induce permanent changes on living beings until archmastery and even then it's a 7dot+ Imperial mystery.
From what i have been reading, that is the requirement for permanently transforming yourself into a mythical being like a dragon or a werewolf or a vampire, and actually get their powers.
Also, mages make permanent changes all the time, if you burn someone with magical fire, he doesn't get unburned afterwards when the spell "runs out".

>>37216546
Russians were persecuted as communists and got the same treatment as all undesirables. Most of the death toll was from the eastern front rather than POWs. They were on the hit list, they were just rare in areas where you'd be sent to a concentration camp rather than shot on sight.

>>37216568
Something as large as that can only be made a lasting or permanent effect by an archmaster. You can change your sex as a fairly simple spell, but the duration cannot be made indefinite on living targets (the living pattern shifts around too much), nor can it be extended. The only options would be to Imbue an item to maintain the effect (which Elizabeth doesn't have the requisite Prime for and it would be complicated) or to recast it regularly (which would be psychologically unsatisfying and would likely reinforce a negative self image).

Maher's cancer was an illness, which is gone once removed.

>>37216656
A sex change is outside the scope of Life Mastery as a Lasting effect and Indefinite duration spells cannot be cast on living creatures.
Lasting effects are possible, like creating fire and having it burn someone or healing the damage done, but some effects simply have to be maintained by magic to keep going. A stone levitated a foot off the ground still falls when the spell ends.

>>37216448
>>37216462
Michael (and I) know that it wasn't just the Jewish that were sent to the death camps, but that was the most apt description I had at the time for trying to get my point across.

>>37216699
>A sex change is outside the scope of Life Mastery as a Lasting effect and Indefinite duration spells cannot be cast on living creatures.
>Lasting effects are possible, like creating fire and having it burn someone or healing the damage done, but some effects simply have to be maintained by magic to keep going. A stone levitated a foot off the ground still falls when the spell ends.
And what is the difference between healing a broken thumb, and growing an extra thumb?
Although, in restrospect its kinda obvious. the difference is in knowledge, actual knowledge not the magic kind. You probably need to know obscene amounts of biology to manually sculpt a permanent change to a body. And archmastery just lets you brute force it with magic instead... or maybe it does grant you such ridiculous amounts of knowledge. It does seem a bit contrived to have such a limitation on biology and not on other things

>>37216795
>healing a broken thumb
I meant to say amputated. obviously there is a difference between broken and growing.
I meant difference between regrowing an amputated one and growing an extra one.

>>37216795
>>37216879
Magic affects Patterns rather than atoms and cells. Damage to patterns is easy enough to fix, but changing a single aspect of them while leaving the rest untouched is substantially more difficult.

If it worked by DNA it would be easy because you could just rewrite the cells to lack a y chromosome (apparently only one x chromosome is actually used and the other is suppressed, so women have stripes) and then command the body to assert whatever configuration it now read as its base state. But then most of the other spheres wouldn't make sense.

2e tries to streamline it by calling everything symbols and people are literally a quilt of different symbols stitched together.
>Everything in the universe is loaded with meaning, abstract properties, and magical symbolism, which modern metaphysics calls Universals and Plato called Forms, but which Mage just calls ‘symbols’. Two cats share the symbol of “cat”, the symbol of “animal”, the symbol of “furred” and so on. One might be “black” and another “white”. Both might be “male”. That’s a physical, real creature with just a few of its’ symbols. In the World of Darkness, some symbols are less well recognized – cats “see the unseen”.
From this perspective, not all symbols are made equal and some might be easier to affect than others. It might be fairly easy to change a cat from "black" to "white" but substantially more difficult to change "male" to "female" or "animal" to "brick".

Within the books of 1e, what would be possible (and far easier to do) without archmastery is to mess with their mind until they identify as male. Even then, their soul would likely weep.

>>37217106
>If it worked by DNA it would be easy because you could just rewrite the cells to lack a y chromosome
That would do nothing to change someone's gender. You need to change their tissues not their DNA. (although

And that was literally the point whole point in that post. If a mage "conjures" a car, it will disappear when the spell expires, if a mage conjures fire and telekinetic forces to build a car from raw materials it will stay forever (until physically broken), that latter requires massively more knowledge about exactly how cars work and why, as well as more time and effort.

Same for biology, you can just "magic" someone into the opposite gender, that will be temporary, or you can rearrange their tissues with magic providing the manipulating forces

mmm, interestingly, I bet if you DID perform plastic surgery with magic, then healing magic would probably undo it. Since their pattern remains as it was before

>>37217321
Just a terminology point gender =/= sex. Shawna is female gendered, but of male sex.
Changing someone's DNA would not change their gender (unless you fucked with the neurochemicals somehow - and there are genetic conditions which result in people perceiving themselves as trans, but that feeling vanishing once the condition is identified and treatments begin).

>car
Pretty much that. Manufacturing a car from raw materials but magic foces would effectively take the symbols of the raw materials and arrange them to form the symbols of "car" and whatever else would be required.
I wonder if a design can get so inspired that it becomes a supernatural brand.

You can't do that with sex reassignment because you don't know all the steps that need to be taken in order to edit their pattern correctly. Despite knowing how to override the "male" symbol for a short time.

>plastic surgery
Definitely. Although if you waited long enough, their pattern would adjust to the changes, although perhaps not the implants.
Changes performed with magic would slide off the pattern with time instead of being integrated.

>>37217429
>Just a terminology point gender =/= sex.
False, the two are synonyms. Some pretentious assholes are going around trying to redefine them into mental gender and born gender respectively. And they can fuck right off with their "corrections".

>>37217506
>born gender
body gender not born. sorry

>>37217429
>Changes performed with magic would slide off the pattern with time instead of being integrated.
See, now we are back to not making any goddamn sense.
if I use magic to slice off your finger, will it regrow over time?

>>37217514
>body gender
Anatomical! that is the word I was looking for. Anatomical gender vs mental gender.
Fuck, its 4am, I am going to sleep.

>>37217522
No, because you used magic to create a force. That force sliced off my finger. From there it goes just as if my finger was sliced off by a knife. It can be healed by magic, or the pattern can adapt to the new state. The more my pattern forgets the finger the more difficult, complicated and powerful the magic would have to be to return it to me. But it could be doable if the pattern remembers it as "5 fingered missing 1" instead of changing the symbol to "4 fingered".

If you were to use magic to make me lose a finger, or a hand or my face, you'd be changing my pattern from "5 fingered" to "4 fingered on the left hand" or "two handed" to "one handed" and once the spell goes goes away, the pattern would go back to normal.

Damaging a pattern directly is also doable, but then you lose precision on how that damage manifests. It would be something like "move x steps towards death" rather than "lose an arm and a quart of blood".

>>37217506
>>37217514
>>37217557
Strictly speaking, the entire field of psychology is a joke and a poor interpretation of the complexities of neuroscience.
Gender is a social/psychological construct influenced by neurochemistry like everything else to do with the brain.
Sex is anatomy.

That said, "gender" is being used to mean something that does not equal "sex", which is how words and languages evolve. Whatever Shawna's justifications, they're undergoing reassignment surgery from male to female (presumably because they'd prefer a female body or as close to one as they can get, but it hasn't been explicitly stated that it's a gender issue). Shawna's getting surgery instead of asking Elizabeth for help, because Elizabeth is neither a surgeon nor an archmage of life and thus cannot help.

>tldr
>people will do what they want and justify it how they can
>go back to /pol/
>none of this applies in a game where metaphysical concepts are manipulated directly and you can bribe Santa Claus to calm down a child

>>37217669
>No, because you used magic to create a force. That force sliced off my finger
Which is completely identical to magic surgery.

>>37217669
>people will do what they want and justify it how they can
>go back to /pol/
you are making a strawman you retard.

I explicitly called her a she. I am disagreeing with your retarded and false statement that the term gender and the term sex are not synonyms. This does not mean that "hurr durr people can't have a mental gender that differs from their anatomical gender". It means that I am disagreeing with your false assertions about the english language.

>Shawna was born in an anatomically male body, but her mind is female (she probably believes this was a born state too) and she is undergoing sex/gender reassignment surgery to fix this mismatch.
The statement is identical whether you use the term sex or gender there.

>>37217788
Magic surgery would yield the same result as those of a competent surgeon with excellent tools, not a perfect transition between sexes. Also, that would be using Forces to affect the body in line with what sleeper medicine had learned, rather than Life to manipulate the pattern directly. No one knows how to manipulate a body to make it transition between sexes using worldly laws. Meanwhile using Supernal laws is temporary rather than lasting. Unless you're an archmaster and brute force it.

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>>37217830
>male body
>female mind
>dualism
>2015

>>37217889
>Magic surgery would yield the same result as those of a competent surgeon with excellent tools, not a perfect transition between sexes
Its hilariously cute that you think that technology today is the epitome of technology ever.
So, what happens in 50 years when nanobot surgery can create a perfect transition from male to female to the point where the result is indistinguishable from someone who did not underwent said surgery?

>>37218102
By then magic will have surely caught on and such things would be equally trivial. But then it would be in a different genre, different system and a different setting.
Or you know, someone ends/restarts the universe.

>inb4 every game must be a simulation

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>>37217889
Couldn't you, y'know, make some magic sex change pills and instruct the dude to simply keep taking them every so often? He'd have to shell out a hell of a ton of dosh to make it worthwhile for the mage making it all but perhaps there's a loophole for the non archmaster.

>>37220351
In theory yes, that could work. You could probably engineer a spell to have a 24-36 hour duration where for that time you are female. But the time involved in making such a pill would make it cost prohibitive and time consuming for the Life Mage unless they were an Archmaster, and by that point they'd just brute force it with raw magic.

I somehow knew you guys would be angrily jerking eachother off about Shawna's gender issues once I woke up today.

>>37220351
It's doable, but each time it would be a new spell and the parameters might shift. It also requires Matter 3 and relinquishing that spell each time, which is basically a part-time job all on it's own and frankly Shawna doesn't have anything useful (that we know of) to justify the expense. Even endentured servitude only goes so far when youre practically mundane.

>>37223535
Technically the circlejerk is around Shawna's issues. Specifically how magic can affect life and how it can't and the grammar of sex/gender. Ironically no one gives a shut that she's trans, just that she might be a bitter liability.

>in b4 Shawna is a spy because some Tzimisce promised him/her a new body

>>37226016
Tzimisce are oWoD, aren't they?
But it's really quite sad that vampires can trivially do something you'd need an archmage to pay xp for.

>>37226929
I wouldn't consider it trivial. Mastering a discipline takes a ton of exp in itself and they aren't as versatile as arcana are. Each splat has a niche, little "things" it can do better or for cheaper than other splats. It sets them apart and gives them a unique feel gameplay wise.

Besides, with enough arcana dots and the attainment of archmastery a mage pretty much becomes a god. Hard to bitch about vampires having an easy way to do something when you could, with enough effort and some luck, write their entire species out of existence from the supernal realm.

>>37227643
>Besides, with enough arcana dots and the attainment of archmastery a mage pretty much becomes a god. Hard to bitch about vampires having an easy way to do something when you could, with enough effort and some luck, write their entire species out of existence from the supernal realm.
While rewriting reality is theoretically possible, it's about as likely to succeed as a vampire diablerizing his way to 3rd generation or something like that. It's really not relevant to general power levels

>>37227643
Vicissitude was capable of some intense shit even by the second dot. By dot three, you could reshape someone's bone structure at will, even your own, and dot four let you turn someone into a fucking war beast from hell.

Tzimisce were good enemies for some really goddamn creepy combat scenarios.

>>37228940
Every supernatural being has it's own strengths and weaknesses. The vampire strength happens to deal with biology. Mages are more versatile over all, but they all have things that no one else can do/must be epic level to try.

So a mage has no way of playing mad scientist that breeds horrible monsters? Disappointing, especially since other arcana can do much crazier shit.

>>37230500
At life 5 you could probably do it, as then you could just "make" any lifeform ya want from the ground up.

>>37230714
you can create a lifeform from scratch but you can't change an existing one? wtf

>>37230500
>>37230714
>>37230749
You can do it by life 5, but it still causes disbelief, so your fantastic creatures would sort of fall apart in public.

You could still mad science genetweaks like a mundane, but they wouldn't benefit from your Life Mastery.

There is actually a Banisher rote (Hubris 5) that let's you imbue animals like items. I suppose you could give them Hulk/Hyde like life spells to cast on themselves. They'd still have to deal with Paradox and Disbelief though.