CC Magical Predisposition

## Magical Predisposition

Among Humans, the potential ability to manipulate and utilize **Essence** is extremely rare. Likewise, it is a very rare Human who has the boon of such a strong faith in the **Living God** as to be able to manifest His will in the world. But these are not normal times, and the **Fatherland** has need of exceptional individuals as it never has before.

Human soldiers selected for special service are either ones with sufficient control over magical energy to be trained as a War Mage, or ones with enough spiritual fortitude to become a Battle Chaplain. As such, during this stage of character creation you will determine which direction you will take.

War Mages are trained in Imperial Mage Academies after being tested and confirmed to possess the innate inclination to control Essence in some way. In the distant past, these were thought to be sorcery or else the works of conmen and scam artists. Today these are understood to be signs that a Human child has the aptitude for magic use, and it is believed that the source of it is at least in part heritable. There tends to be a greater concentration of magical ability in the upper classes, though potential for magic use amongst Humans can be found at every social strata.

Meanwhile, Battle Chaplains are selected from those who feel called to volunteer for such a duty. They come from all walks of life and social classes, with many never having served as a clergyman before. Accordingly, they have to go through spiritual instruction and ordainment in a Chaplaincy training program on top of normal military drill. During this training, potential Battle Chaplains are tested not only on the traditional religious rituals and ministerial duties they can master, but also for the sincerity of their faith and the veracity of their feeling of having been chosen to serve the Living God in this manner.

### Selection Methods

There are three methods to determine your Magical Predisposition:

* **Intentional**: Choose your Magical Predisposition
* **Comprehensive**: If you are a male, see Random below. If you are a female, roll a d4. On a 1, 2, or 3, select a Paranatural Ability by rolling a d20. On a 4, select a Heavenly Gift by rolling a d20.
* **Random**: Roll a d2. On a 1, select a Paranatural Ability by rolling a d20. On a 2, select a Heavenly Gift by rolling a d20.

### Effects

Increase two Attributes by 1, increase three Skills by 1.

## Paranatural Ability

### Magical Attribute

War Mages also gain their own Magical Attribute known as **"Flux"** which determines your capacity to convert your personal Vitalities into magical power so as to activate mage equipment. This Flux Attribute will be calculated later in the character creation process, depending on which Imperial Academy of Combat Magic you attend.

### Additional Details

On top of the Attribute and Skill increases, each Paranatural Ability confers two powers that can be utilized by spending Vitalities to utilize them even without additional training or equipment.

* **Telepathy**: Distance determines cost: 1 Breath for someone close enough to see eye-to-eye, or 1 Fire on top of costing 1 Breath per 2 miles of distance.
	+ **Mental Communication**: Silently communicate a single sentence across distances with a known acquaintance on good terms.
	+ **Read Mind**: Scrutinize the emotions and view the surface thoughts by staring into the eyes or placing a hand on the head of another person and succeeding an opposed Willpower (Investigation) vs. Willpower (Resolve) [+2 Difficulty] Test. Alternatively, when searching for a known person, or a lone person in an otherwise empty region, succeed on a Willpower (Awareness) vs. Willpower (Stealth) Test to reveal the direction and approximate location of the intended target.
* **Telekinesis**: Weight of object being moved determines cost: a handheld item at rest costs 1 Breath, heavier things or items in motion already cost 1 Fire on top of costing 1 Breath per 150 lbs/one person.
	+ **Attractive Force**: Retrieve a stationary object by passing an Intellect (Dexterity) Test to guide it directly into your grasp.
	+ **Repulsive Force**: Push objects or people within Close Range (maximum of 3 Zones or 45 yards) away from you with a wave of pressure, causing items to tumble away or people to be momentary thrown off balance. Against a moving object, make an Intellect (Dexterity) [+2 Difficulty] Test to bat the object directly away from you. Against people, requires a Willpower (Assault) or Intellect (Dexterity) vs. Coordination (Gymnastics) Test to inflict a Moderate Penalty of 'Unbalanced' to their next action.
* **Psychometry**: The subject being analyzed determines cost: an object or item costs 1 Breath, while speaking to a corpse costs 1 Fire on top of costing 1 Breath per conversational exchange.
	+ **Read Object Imprint**: View the last few moments of an object's history before it was left where it was found, or swiftly determine the condition of an object, with an Intuition (Investigation) Test.
	+ **Commune with Remains**: Speak to the mental imprint of a deceased body, absent its departed soul but still resonant with the mind that once inhabited it. Social Tests may be required to get information from the lingering personality.
* **Precognition**: Unique for each application, see below:
	+ **Harrowing Premonition**: See a vision of a horrific fate that must be avoided. Lose 1 Nerve to completely redo a single Reaction Test from the start, refunding any other Vitalities spent on it previously.
	+ **Advantageous Prediction**: Meditate on the future to catch a glimpse of a critical moment. After an hour of mental wandering, spend 1 Fire and up to 3 points of Breath to make a number of Intuition (Awareness) Tests, one per point of Breath spent. The highest result may be set aside to be used in place of any future Test for any character, even after the Test has been rolled. Only one reserved Test result may be stored like this at a time.
* **Psychometabolism**: Unique for each application, see below:
	+ **Mind Over Matter**: Isolate and ignore internal distractions to focus on the tasks at hand. Spend 1 Fire to ignore all penalties from Pain, Starvation, Exhaustion, and Blood Loss for the next fifteen minutes.
	+ **Psychic Healing**: Speed up the metabolism to promote faster healing of injuries. Spend 2 Breath and succeed at a Willpower (Resilience) [-2 Difficulty] Test for personal injuries or spend 1 Fire and 2 Breath and succeed at a Willpower (Medicine) Test [-2 Difficulty] to treat others' injuries. For both, Victory Points can be used in the following ways, each of which are repeatable with sufficient excess Hits:
		- 1 Victory Point to add 1 bonus Advance on the next Recovery Prolonged Test.
		- 1 Victory Point can allow the injured person (self or other) to spend 2 Breath to instantly regenerate 1 Blood.

## Heavenly Gift

### Magical Attribute

Battle Chaplains have the additional Magical Attribute of **"Faith"** to help them manifest the will of the Living God on the battlefield. The Faith stat will be calculated later in character creation, depending on which denomination of Ortueism your character belongs to.

### Additional Details

On top of the Attribute and Skill increases, each Heavenly Gift confers two additional benefits: one that mixes narrative benefits with potential mechanical implementation, and one additional means of replenishing spent points of **Fire**. Write these down for now, and they can be elaborated on more by your Game Master.

* **Prophecy**:
	+ Receive dreams of things to come or messages to deliver to others, as well as warnings ahead of time for impending danger.
	+ Replenish Fire by speaking prophecies you to those who are meant to hear them.
* **Discernment**:
	+ Determine a person or spirit's morality or intentions, and have an easier time telling the truth from a falsehood.
	+ Replenish Fire by judging a person in need of correction.
* **Serving**:
	+ Increase the value of assistance you can provide during Prolonged Tests and sometimes allows otherwise implausible means of assistance.
	+ Replenish Fire by spending **Breath** to help someone with labor intensive work.
* **Wisdom**:
	+ Receive quiet, subtle warnings when doing something that would fall outside of common sense cautiousness, and ignore one Minor or Moderate **Hindrance** once per day.
	+ Replenish Fire by giving wise advice to others.
* **Leadership**:
	+ Grants the Leadership Talent **Lead By Example** for free, and reduces hesitance of allies to recognize your authority.
	+ Replenish Fire after leading others to safety or victory.
* **Mercy**:
	+ Can counsel those in mental or spiritual turmoil to restore **Nerve** when broken or to calm a state of frenzied emotion.
	+ Replenish Fire when helping others through ministry.
* **Healing**:
	+ Can pray one Petition instantly and without any Vitality cost or Faith decrease when medically treating a Wound Complication.
	+ Replenish Fire when treating the sick or seriously wounded.

## Next Step

If your Magical Predisposition is a Paranatural Ability, move on to your Social Class by clicking **here**.

If your Magical Predisposition is a Heavenly Gift, move on to your Social Class by clicking **here**.