On the table are presented 52 playing cards, face-down in a random order.
A mystic is asked to pick out the Ace of Spades among them.
They pull out a one...
-- And their power allowed a being outside the table to hand them the card they desired --
While magic is an ability that is only available to those who have inhuman blood flowing through their veins, it does not mean that others don't covet it. When those we call 'normal' humans learn of the supernatural, either through an accident or deliberately, they often have only two choices: reject it as something threatening and become vanguards of the Holy Church in battle against the turnside of the world... or become enamored with the idea, hoarding that power for much more selfish reasons. These people became scholars of the occult and learned men and women who desire power, often no matter what the cost. They lost sight of one's humanity thanks to the promises of power and transformed into something else.
These days they are known sages of the unknown – seekers that are collectively known as mystics.
Unlike many other organizations that operate within and around the turnside of the world, the Rosicrucian Order can hardly be called an unified front, even more so than the Holy Church. Initially it was established by a legendary mystic and a sage known as Christian Rosenkreuz, from whom the faction gets its name. While there may have been many men and women in the past whom exchanged their soul with that of a magical beast to gain power, Christian Rosenkreuz was the first one to do so for purposes that were not immediate or simply a 'devil's bargain'. Instead he was a philosopher, a scientist and someone who tried to use that deal he made to better the mankind. It is in this thought that the unification of numerous mystics around the globe has spread. Be their motives and morals whatever they might be, they all share one vision: Reformation of Mankind. Their views how to achieve can and do differ as well... but they all search for this evolution that they so desperately crave.
Throughout history and on every continent, people who yearned for magic gathered and shared what little esoteric lore they could find. No normal peasant could come across such occult knowledge, which led to these 'circles' being often comprised of famous theologians, scientists, philosophers and learned men and women. Unlike mages who often trust in their traditions and age-old ways, mystics always seek new path and an evolution of their craft. They are moving forwards while mages are moving backwards as some might say. Alchemists and sages, they applied human thought into a power that was as decidedly 'anti-human' as magic.
Naturally such a wide spread of ideologies, religions, schools of thought and personalities from across the world has resulted in the collective known as Rosicrucian Order to becoming fragmented from the very start.
In modern times, these fragmented parts have solidified quite a bit, but the faction is still divided. It has no clear areas it controls, it has no distinct political power as an organization on the turnside of the world and its members come and go as they either die off, lose that fire within them or simply disappear. Many major members of the organization have called for unification in recent years, but so far these pleas have fallen to deaf ears. Every mystic has their own idea of how they should act, and such a chaotic faction cannot function properly, even in the face of danger. This is not helped by the fact that many powerful mystics loan their abilities to other organizations, such as the Pentagrammon or the Holy Church, to receive help in their quest. Some even influence or start some groups, like how they loaned some of their texts for the creation of AMADEUS or how it has been long rumored that the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, now a proper mage organization, was started by mystics. However, while things might seem dire, they are still one of the factions with highest membership counts... if not the highest.
You are one of these seekers of magical knowledge; You are trespasser on the turnside of the world.
You are a mystic.
As a mystic, you possess no power of innate magic, nor do you utilize psionic abilities or divine relics. Instead you scrounge up what you can, learn of ceremonial magic that you can perform and make bargains with other forces in order to harness some of their power. To you magic is not simply a 'power' like it is with most mages, but something to be researched, something to be understood, something to be feared and harnessed. As someone with no magic of your own, you are well aware of its dangers and how it can change the world. Your perspective is still that of a human even though you dabble in the forbidden arts. But at the same time you are willing to risk that danger, and pay a price of any sort, because you have your own idea of what it means for the mankind to reform and what to make it a reality.
As a mystic, there are many schools of thought you can belong. You can be one of many schools of thought: Spiritual Heirs of Christian Rosenkreuz and other sages see these occult arts as path to enlightenment and view magic as a part of a religion (whichever one it is they belong to). These arts may be esoteric, but they are just as spiritual as worship and faith. Then there are those often derided as The Miracle Club, or The Cynics; mystics who have lost, or never found either the spiritual aspect of their craft or dared to delve too deep into it. They often use whatever ritual magic they have learned for more selfish purposes or 'reform' the humanity around them in more simple ways, such as becoming detectives or monster hunters. Lastly are those who have forgotten that while a serious matter, mysticism has also been described as – ludibrium: a trivial game in the grand scheme of the universe. They have ventured too far, into realms beyond even the turnside, and came back changed, having found horrors and madness that no mortal mind could comprehend without fracturing. They are often referred to as the Eldritch Seekers.
But whatever your school of thought, at the end of the day your actions are your own.
Mystic Origin
As a member of the Rosicrucian Order, you are an mystic who relies on ceremonial magic that makes use of natural 'glitches' in the world and gathering of mana through means other than natural. You bolster these powers via magical artifacts and pacts with greater beings.
Upon choosing the Mystic Origin, you gain:
Spiritual Heir:
In earlier times, occultism, religion and science tended to mix in strange an unique ways. Those who could be seen as most traditional of mystics have not forgotten this, which gives large spiritual influence to their art as an user of magic. While most prolific users of the last 300 years have been mostly of European descent, such as Emanuel Swedenborg, this is not an absolute rule. Places all around the world have adapted a similar way of thought, China and Haiti being just a few examples. Mystics that are counted as Spiritual Heirs are often a part of a bigger collective, a circle of learned people or a cabal, sometimes even a coven or a cult. They learn from each other and what knowledge the collective has left behind for new members, and work together for a common goal in their own ways. Heirs and their religious tint of mysticism sometimes alienates people, but often brings them together with like-minded people from other organizations, such as the Holy Church and Pentagrammon. This gives them the influence and authority many mystics lack. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the term 'sage' is often used to describe Heirs and their eternal hunt for knowledge.
Skill Increase: Religion [_] +2 SP.
Granted: Perk [Friends in High Places].
The Miracle Club:
There aren't many people walking the turnside of the world more despised than those who identify as being part of the elusive, almost non-existent Miracle Club. It is a name that comes from a place created by one of the most prolific mystics of all time, Helena Blavatsky. As her attitude to all things esoteric was much more modern than her peers she was seen as a sort of heretic even among heretics, and her attempts to combine old rituals with more modern sensibility were met with hostility. This has led to those who feel the same way adopting the collective name of Miracle Club as more of a joke than anything. It is also used as an insult by other groups of turnside of the world. After all, those who are part of the Miracle Club are rarely more than amateurs, people who have gotten their hands at magical secrets and use them to personal purposes and needs. Detectives solving supernatural crimes, hunters roaming the country to seek out dangerous beasts, the reasons why Miracle Club members use ceremonial magic differ greatly, though most of them use it for smaller problems than many feel necessary; petty problems, even. Especially older families and groups feel this is an insult towards the art itself, they are hated greatly for their lack of respect. The Miracle Club members, however, just see it as doing what's necessary.
Skill Increase: Deception +2 SP.
Granted: Perk [Hellblazer].
Eldritch Seeker:
In their thirst to power, some mystics may venture in paths that should have been left untouched, gazed into abysses that should not have been looked upon. Even on the turnside of the world there are corners of darkness and distant places that nobody should wander into. Many are consumed by what they find there, ripped apart and driven insane. However, some manage to survive... and come back with scarred psyche and eldritch knowledge. Understanding what sort of forces work outside our universe is a harrowing experience yet at the same time the sweetest of all poisons. Anyone who manages to escape such place is left changed, yet considerably more powerful than his or her peers. This may drive them back, seeking more fruits of this forbidden knowledge for them to utilize. After all, the road to hell is always paved with good intentions. Eldritch Seekers walk that thin line between nightmare and a reality, utilizing rituals even many mystics consider unnatural and tainted. They do it because of their own, mysterious desires, willing to go further than many and strike Faustian bargains to enslave demons just to get slightly more powerful than before. All for the Reformation of Mankind.
Skill Increase: Occult 2 + SP.
Granted: Perk [The Abyss Gazed Back].
Your Ability is: Ceremonial Magic.
While most of mana is created within beings capable of it, that is not always the case. Even the world itself has an ambient field of mana flowing through it, and it is precisely this field that mystics use to their advantage to cast magic spells even though they are not mages themselves and lack the bloodline for it. By compensating with rare ingredients, complex incantations, trinkets and specific gestures, they are able to call forth highly specialized forms of spells to do their bidding.
Ceremonial magic is not creative and evolving like the magic of mages. It is time-honored traditions that have been passed down for generations that are always being tinkered upon, expanded upon and worked on meticulously in a manner which scientific research is done. A logical outlook is used when working on these spells, making them more like scientific formulas than spells on their own right. However, if it works it works, and so far it's been one of the few way normal humans have been able to access supernatural abilities.
As ceremonial magic is based upon knowledge, it ties with your Rank of Occult Skill. For every Rank in Occult, you gain +3 ceremonial spells. Only the first Rank, F Rank, grants you only one, as it means you really are not proficient with your trade. You can take any Rank of a ceremonial spell you want, provided you pay the amount of AP needed to learn a spell of that Rank. Even someone with only cursory knowledge of ceremonial magic may have stumbled upon a grand spell or two, just by pure accident.
Ceremonial magic is not magic that is very useful when it comes to battles, however, as it requires long and taxing rituals to perform... not something you want to do when you are fighting for your life. There are some ways to circumvent this, however. A mystic can 'prepare' the spells they know they will need soon. They spend the Night Phase casting these spells in preparation so that when the time comes, they can simply perform needed gestures, incantations and whatever else is needed to immediately cast the spell necessary. A mystic has slots for his or her spells, +2 slots for every Rank in INT. These slots can be filled with prepared spells to be utilized later. In order to prepare a spell, you must spend Occult Material Points (OMP) depending on the Rank of the ceremonial spell. Of course, one spell can be prepared multiple times. This preparation happens during the Night Phase, and takes up the whole Phase along with rest. If you want to do something else during that time, you must be prepared to gain Fatigue Levels.
As they are spells 'cast in reserve', once spell has been prepared it does not go away until it has been cast. This allows a mystic to gather a veritable arsenal at their beck and call if they have enough time and materials. However, once those spells have been cast and if the job is not finished, the mystic better hope he or she has an alternative plan to fall on, as a mystic without spells is an easy prey to the dangers of the turnside. In addition, a mystic can discard any number of unused spells before preparing new ones during a Night Phase.
As a side-note, much like spells used by real mages, each ceremonial spell should also have an element as its focus, which determines much about how the spell acts and behaves.
The quick list of how much each Rank of ceremonial spells costs in AP and in OMP is as follows:
The overall power of your ability comes not only from what Rank it is, but how strong is your governing attribute and how much AP was paid for it. This means that though two different abilities may appear similar in scale, one might actually be stronger in contest of raw power if more AP was spent on it. However, only fools trust raw power, as that is the easiest thing in the world to turn against yourself...
The contents of the various ceremonial spells may be decided freely by you. Just remember that they should reflect the spell's type and Rank it is used at. If your character is chosen as one of the player characters, the GM will then go over the in-game mechanics with you, making it so that it can be used in the actual game. The best way to ensure this is to make sure your ceremonial spells are imaginative, unique and creative.