Servant/Project Idea Thread, "The Womb"

[WhiteFrenzy]

Frederick Russell Burnham (Rider)- Founder of the boyscouts, hero of the Boer War, all-around adventuring badass and most unusually the man who nearly brought hippo-farming to America. I imagine he'd have some composite Skill from being father of the scouting movement, a failed version of Pioneer Of The Stars and hippo mount as an NP. There's a great article on the guy (which is where I first found out about him) here.

I SWEAR I have this man in my archives somewhere and he had this stupid hippo mount as a NP too because when your story has a hippo on it you just CAN'T ignore it. It's against the law. I'll definitely add this article in my list of research for him tho.

[Serra]

Random Servant ideas anyone is free to pick up:

William Dampier (Rider)- 17th-18th century figure most notable for being a pirate-scientist (set sail to the New World to be a naturalist only to end up basically roped into piracy by a series of unfortunate circumstances). A pretty fascinating guy but I had trouble coming up with fitting Skills and NPs for him (best I got was Calm & Collected to represent how he maintained his composure as a naturalist even on piratical excursions and some ability to record the things he sees).

Might be too much of an easy out but from this summary the first idea that comes to mind is possibly making him an ex-Clock Tower magus since there'd be appropriate departments. Between Voyager of the Storm (or a variation on it), Magecraft (or a variation on it) and Calm & Collected, you'd have three Skills, at which point the only burden left on the kit side would be to come up with an appropriate NP.

[Random]

Pied Piper Of Hamelin (Caster/Assassin/Avenger/Faker?)- A pretty famous figure I've seen sheets on before but there's a certain idea that hasn't been explored to my knowledge. Since "his" true identity is unknown I thought of making the Servant a personification of the mystery surrounding the 130 missing children itself, a "living phenomenon" like TATARI rather than any particular individual. They could take a childish form upon summoning and their wish would be for the mystery of their disappearance to be resolved, allowing them to rest in peace. Alternatively because of the connection between the Pied Piper and the Children's Crusade you could have him be a Faker with its leader Etienne of Cloyes playing the role of the Pied Piper, or the other way around (Etienne of Cloyes that's revealed to be a mask for the Pied Piper archetype).

I feel sniped. I was actually doing a Pretender Hamelin with all these things and more, using a Noble Phantasm that acts as the composite of all the theories about what happened to the 130. The idea behind Pretender is that the Rat-Catcher was real, but the 130 vanished for unrelated reasons that were blamed on the ordinary human, thus transforming the compounded ghosts into a Heroic Spirit named the Pied Piper similar to Apo Jack.

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For the record, the second NP was the window that projected the story of the Pied Piper into existence.

[DelRey]

sounds like a cool sheet. we await pretender within 69 hours. good luck.

[Random]

I-I'm busy on my other project right now.

But she's basically done in terms of build, so I guess I might as well polish her personality and legend sections...

Eventually. No promises.

[Random]

and i suddenly remember that the fundamental principles of reality in Taoism can be represented as binary strings

Probably the last update until I actually post all this, but in writing a character who tries to do both of these things at the same time, she is rapidly becoming an absolute lunatic evocative of this bullshit. Compendium coming soon, you'll see what I mean in a few days hopefully.

[DelRey]

hello there~
after my first draft of my upcoming Euler was torn to shreds, I am currently reworking it.
For that, I wanted to ask if you remember any Imaginary Numbers-related sheets that are not boss/grand/beast level?

[Random]

Nemo? Kinda? Sorta.

[Ismail2002]

Like I said, I already posted one based on the Banu Musa Brothers. There is a lot of Islamic Polymaths that I always interested and happen to discovered one by the name of Abu Kamil.

[Cursed by Fortuna]

0

[Random]

The first was a theory about Masamune, if Muramasa was deemed "lesser than Masamune" then what on earth was Masamune's masterpiece. My theory was maybe if Muramasa wanted to craft a sword capable of reaching the gods, what if Masamune wanted something even more outrageous, a sword which would defy or bend the concept of what a sword or a weapon is? That is to say a living breathing weapon, a living thing that much like a human is incubated in a person, given life through the union of a man and a woman, shaped in the womb, and then birthed into the world, what if he wished to the same with a sword? By taking metal incubated or held in the "flesh" of the planet (which is to some extent alive acording to LB 6 and other info), giving life to it through his toil, shaping it in the fire of his forge, than birthing/bringing his funished product into the world, what if he wished to make a sword which was itself alive? a living creature with a body of steel, yet a mind and soul, in essence by using his soul as a "seed" that would take rot in the nascent "body" of the sword, causing it to develop and grow into it's own living being? I know some people may take umbrage with this idea, because bascially what I'm descibing as a hybrid of the idea of a tsukumogami and a limited execution of the 3rd true magic, but I still think it is somewhat probable (I mean what's more impressive a sword capable of rivaling a divine construct, or a truly lviing weapon) as Sasaki Kojirou bascially did somethign similar with getting a limited version of the 2nd true magic with his secret technique.

For what it's worth, I do remember the details of the story that decided that Masamune was superior to Muramasa. They had a sword-making contest and hung their swords over a river. Muramasa's cut everything; the leaves, the fish, the water, the air, everything. Masamune's only cut the leaves; the air, the water, and even the fish were unaffected.

Muramasa thought this was a mistake and laughed at him, but a nearby monk explained that Masamune's sword was better. Muramasa's was great, since it seemed to cut the world itself, but Masamune's was superior because it only cut what it was supposed to cut and didn't cut anything that didn't deserve it.

There are two morals to this story, the first is that leaves are bastards. The second is... probably more relevant to your idea.

[Ismail2002]

I make some a bit similar with Mpu Gandring Sheet except the blades that she made is more of foreign nature using the core of fallen stars for her blades. In which that I think about it is basically the equivalent antithesis towards your Masamune Idea. In Which she often just projects and traps demonic sprits into her weapons and let them wreak havoc. It's s bit of a spin that I took for the Legend of The Kris that She made. In which it set of a chain of catastrophic events that lead to the downfall of the Singhasari Kingdom.

[DelRey]

based on the anecdote random provided I imagine Masamunes sword as a sword that can phase through the things the wielder does not intent to cut.
Therefore a terrifying weapon that can not be parried or blocked except the wielder wants to spar. Literally double-edged because the moment you cut your can not block either.

[Ismail2002]

Actual what the things, I need to plan out in order to create my own magus

[Kamera]

Random magus ideas that I just want to lay out (inspired by Random):

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Ethiopian royal magus family who are the remnants of the Solomonic Dynasty. Their magecraft involves the reproduction of the Ark of Covenant and the Seal of Solomon.

Eastern Orthodox Church equivalent/rival of the Eight Sacrament based in Georgia. They specialize in LARPing as St. George, slaying "Dragons" instead of Dead Apostles.

Iraqi Mandaean magus group whose goal is to rebuild Eden and resurrect Adam. In this purpose they employ advanced Baptismal magecraft and Age of Gods Sumerian artifacts.

Indonesian magus family that has access to extremely powerful puppetry and necromancy magecraft. it is based on the cultural philosophy of death and funerary practices of the Torajan people.

Malaysian magus-blacksmith family who claimed descent from Hang Tuah. They are custodian of the Kris Taming Sari, and their goal is to reach the Root through perfecting the Kris and fusing their soul with it.

The Chivalric Order of Malta, successor of the Hospitaller Knights. Operating under the authorization of the Holy Church, they consists of holy knight-doctors that specializes in handling natural disasters and pandemics of magical nature.

Nizari Ismaili Religious Order that is the spiritual successor of the Assassins of Alamut. In the modern era, they are far less extreme in their methods, but they still are capable of using magecraft that reproduces the divine miracles of the 18 Zabaniya.

A magus group of Astromancy and Imaginary Number magecraft practitioners employed by the US government and working at NASA. They manufacture techno-magical devices and vehicles that applies the new theories obtained from Space Exploration. They also summon Outer Gods.

A committee of Confucian-Communist magus employed by the North Korean government. They combine Confucian theories with the State Ideology of Juche, resulting in an unusual magecraft system that produces a nation-wide Bounded Field to transform the country into a giant magus Workshop.

An underground cabal of ultra-rich magus based on the Amsterstam Stock Exchange. They inherit a treasury of magical mystic codes and artifacts plundered by the VOC megacorporation throughout the world and developed a peculiar numeral magecraft ritual based on the financial concept of Bonds and Shares.

Zoology and Archeology magus organization based in North Africa whose goal is research the mystery laden Rock Paintings and Fossils scatted throughout the Sahara Desert. In this endeavor they have successfully been able to recreate a Chimeric Species that exhibit the characteristic of the mythological Gigantes of Greek Mythology.

A magus spy organization formed by Sir Francis Walsingham, working directly under the Crown of Britain. In modern day they are integrated into the Five Eyes intelligence network and has partial access to the data of the NSA and CIA. They employ devious magecraft that specializes in mass-telepathy, memory partitioning and interfering with the brain.

[Ismail2002]

Man, these are really interesting ideas. I might grab one or two of these. Though, I don't were to start

[Kamera]

Man, these are really interesting ideas. I might grab one or two of these. Though, I don't were to start

for you i'd recommend the modern Nizari Ismaili assassin

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funnily enough the Nizari Ismaili's Imam headquarters is currently in Portugal

[DelRey]

im interested in the Amsterdam SE and NASA stuff for obvious reasons.

[Random]

Man, these are really interesting ideas. I might grab one or two of these. Though, I don't were to start

I might put together a blog post on How To Magus at some point or something, but a quick skeleton that might help:

Are they part of a family? Those who are tend to typically be more orthodox, following the traditions of their clan in order to use their arts. That said - and I may be wrong on this - the importance of families is mostly a western Magecraft thing, since Philosophy Keys are compared to library cards rather than a Magic Crest's bookshelf. Philosophy Magi would probably only care about bloodlines insofar as having a default heir and cultivating Magic Circuits.

If they are from an established lineage, how old are they? A Magus generation is about 30-50 years, which is the point where you are generally expected to stop working on your craft and focus on raising an heir. According to Avicebron, it's possible to reach his level in around ten generations, and the Wodime are on their eleventh uninterrupted generation by the time Wodime shows up. Note that rather than pure age, it's actually more important how high you can combo before having to shift gears from tragedy, failure of Foundation, or something like that.

What your Foundation is attached to is also important. The Servant attributes of Heaven, Earth, and Man apply here, and Magi also have the option of Flora. If your Foundation is based in the Earth, you're going to care a lot about the land and won't be moving around much, but it'll survive a lot longer than the comparatively freer Man that's based in faith and culture.

Thaumaturgical attribute (or Sorcery Trait if you're so inclined) is generally based in the family's craft, and is best thought of as a unique spin on how their spells function. An attribute of "Waiting", to pick a purely random example, might cause the spell to not immediately activate even after being cast and only do so when certain conditions are met, all the while accumulating more power... or something. Basically, it's what makes your execution unique. It's always important to note your Foundation's elemental system too since it interacts with the attribute to decide exactly what it means - and remember, your element is essentially a broad expression of your more specific Origin.

Oh, and a rule of thumb, Mystery is just a property of information that increases over time and is lost when its shape changes. It doesn't strictly have anything to do with faith or how widespread something is - those are qualities that a Foundation cares about. A diamond cut 2000 years ago has a lot of Mystery that would be largely lost if it were to shatter. Concepts can be broken down in the same way if people understand them enough to break them down. It's a Mystery in the sense that ancient cults used the term, not as in the sense of a whydunnit in a locked room.

Hopefully these are enough to provide at least a couple of springboards for your creativity to get going.

[NINE-lives]

Do any of you have any concept for enlightenment philosophers like Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried wilhelm leibniz.

I suggested to kamera that he make leibniz an incredibly optimistic caster who’s entranced with modern day computing and who fights by manipulating monads and possible worlds to his will. Descartes someone who constantly doubts his reality and fights by manipulating the spirit separate to the body and Spinoza as someone who basically created an improvised marble phantasm through the foundation of “god or nature”. Marble this will help with brainstorming ideas for them.