Hones Thoughts

“We are not our thoughts. They are tools. They are weapons. They are a means to an end. Focus your thoughts and you focus your actions. Hone your thoughts like a fine steel blade.”

—The Mantra of Honed Thought

Honing thoughts is a technique that can be taught, but clearly some of us have more aptitude than others. A typical person might gain some amount of self-improvement by learning about honed thoughts, but a few of us can take the teachings to the next level and metaphorically wield thoughts like a blade that can slice through whatever challenges life puts in our way.

We can hone our thoughts to sharpen our focus and aid in any action we attempt, but we can also try to hone the thoughts of others to get them to do or believe what we wish. We can even affect the world beyond our thoughts, through creation or destruction.

The Order of Honed Thought is an organization that meets in the Hall of Honed Thought, located in the Strangeglass District of Satyrine. Our current leader is Natanal Vig, although our most famous leader was General Kol. The great general developed many of the principles of honed thought that we still observe today. When he tragically disappeared during the War, many members of the group left and formed a rival organization called the Spearhead of the Unknowable.

Technically, members of the Spearhead also hone thoughts, but their martial focus and belief in the power of the “unknowable truth” puts them in a different place, at least philosophically.

Background: Since the Hall of Honed Thought is in Satyrine, I very likely live in the city and have lived there for a considerable time. How I came to join the order and why my talents made me a great candidate are aspects of my background that I should know.

Appearance: The Order of Honed Thought has no uniform or even a symbol. The founders believed that such things were a distraction to pure thought.

Character Arcs: The following character arc ideas are particularly appropriate for those who hone thoughts.

✦ Members of the order often work to better the lives of their fellow members or the order as a whole. (Assist an Organization.)

✦ Many members of the order seek to become close to Natanal or other influential members. (Develop a Bond.)

✦ Some members of the order seek to restore it to its former glory, in the days before the War. (Restoration.)

Path to Joy: The following events bring me Joy.

✦ Discover a brand-new use for honed thoughts.

✦ Discover new teachings of General Kol recorded in a book or elsewhere.

✦ Use honed thoughts to deal with a challenge that couldn’t be overcome without them.

Path to Despair: The following events bring me Despair.

✦ Reflecting too much on the order’s past glories, which have long since ended.

✦ Learning something awful about General Kol.

Forte Abilities: I have access to the following abilities, as long as I start with the first one and then select more, following the path indicated and spending Crux to do so.

THOUGHT INTO ACTION

Level: 1

I hone my thoughts about the next action I take so that it is also honed. I gain +1 to my next action.

Color: Blue

THOUGHT INTO WORDS

Level: 3

I hone my thoughts while I speak so that I gain +2 to an attempt at persuading or convincing a single person, once. I must do nothing but speak with them for at least five minutes to attempt this.

Color: Blue

THE ESSENCE OF THOUGHT

Level: 4

I expand my well-trained mind. I add 3 bene to my Intellect pool.

Color: Blue

THOUGHT DEFENSE

Level: 5

My own thoughts are honed so that they are difficult to tamper with or harm in any way. I gain +2 to my venture when making Resist defense actions.

Depletion: 0 (check each Resist defense roll)

Color: Invisible

SHAPE THOUGHTS

Level: 6 (+1 die)

I use my own finely honed thoughts to shape the thoughts of others. With a few words, gestures, and facial expressions, I can make someone believe something that I want them to believe, and perhaps because of that take an action I want them to take. They must be able to perceive and understand me in some way. Although I cannot force someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do, I can trick them into doing it. For example, I can’t make someone harm themselves willingly, but I could shape their thoughts to make them believe that their arm is diseased and the only way to cure it is to burn their arm with fire. (The GM can modify the challenge of this up or down by 1 or 2 based on how believable the thoughts are and how receptive the target would be to those thoughts.)

Depletion: 0 (check each round)

Color: Blue

CONSTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS

Level: 6

My thoughts become physical reality. I can create a non-living, non-magical structure or item that can fill a small area. The creation is exactly as I imagine it, as detailed and intricate as I wish it to be. The creation can have moving parts (like a pistol), but it must be a single object or structure (so I can create a pistol, but not a pistol and ammunition). If I raise the level of this ability to level 8, I can also include supplemental objects that might go with my creation: furniture for the small house, arrows for the bow, plates and silverware for the table, and so on.

Color: Silver

MENTAL MANOR

Level: 7

I retreat inward into a place where my thoughts are hardened into nigh-impenetrable barriers. I am unaware of anything that is happening to my physical body or around my body, and thus it is quite vulnerable. However, my mind cannot be affected or located by any spell or effect lower than level 13. This lasts as long as I wish it.

Color: Blue

THE MIND IS EVERYTHING

Level: 8 (no cost)

Honing every thought I have, I can now spend bene from my Intellect pool as if they were from any other pool. Thus, I can use Intellect to cast spells rather than Sorcery, to assist in movement-related actions, or in lieu of Physicality bene to ignore Wounds.

Color: Blue

DESTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS

Level: 9 (+2 dice)

My thoughts become weapons. My thoughts become pure force. Focusing my will, I can inflict 10 points of damage with a single attack on a target up to a very long distance away. Alternatively, I can, once per round as an action, inflict 6 points of damage with a single attack on a target up to a long distance away. This latter option has a depletion of 0 (check each round).

Color: Red

MAGNIFY THOUGHT

Level: 10

I can use any other lower-level ability of the Hones Thoughts forte, but the magnitude is much greater. If I pay the cost for the other ability as well as this one at the same time, as a single action, I can use the ability at a level equal to the original ability’s level +10 (to a maximum of 17), regardless of normal level limits.

Color: Blue

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