Grounding

“The hardest part isn’t the pain or sacrifice — it’s realizing how weak you used to be.”

— Grounded Warrior

Grounding is the state achieved when an individual severs their connection to the forces of magic, forsaking all ability to use Divinity and Spellcasting permanently. This transformation marks a profound shift from reliance on supernatural powers to a mastery of physical or artisanal skills. While Grounded individuals lose access to magical abilities, they gain unique advantages that set them apart from ordinary warriors.

Attunement

Severance is the process by which a person disconnects from the worldly flow of magical energy known as mana once they've reached their age of maturity (i.e., 18 for Humans). It is a deliberate, often painful renunciation of mystical power, viewed by mages and the divine as a sacrilegious and savage act. This process is initiated by consuming a rare potion called the Grounding Elixir. This elixir can only be made by the council of the Adventurer’s Guild, giving them a monopoly on the creation of new Grounded users. Still, it is not an uncommon find in associated shops or through underground dealings.

The effects of the elixir vary depending on the individual’s mental acceptance and willpower: rejection results in violent convulsions and vomiting, while acceptance leads to a gruelling six-hour period of intense chills and sickness. Successful Severance permanently cuts the individual's ability to summon through Divinity or perform Spellcasting, as their body dedicates what energy it once held for mana into more tangible physical manifestations.

Overview

Grounded Warriors

Individuals who forsake magic to develop their physical and martial abilities. They relinquish all forms of spellcasting, rune use, and alchemy, becoming formidable combatants relying solely on their enhanced bodies and training. It remains a subject of debate whether Grounded Warriors unknowingly continue to use mana despite their severed connection.

After their mental acceptance and willpower have chosen the path of the Warrior, they will notice some serious side effects to this: the potion will draw from their life essence, affecting them in one way or the other: they will age twice as fast, or half their lifespan. For example, a Human Grounded will only live into their late thirties if it halves their lifespan, or an Elf having the body of an old, hundred-and-twenty-year-old elf when in their late sixties if it makes the user age twice as fast—their bodies withering away sooner as a consequence of their choice.

Along with this, their Severance makes them unable to use any Rune or Potion for their advantage. However, they are still capable of being damaged by them, such as drinking a magical potion that’s a poison, or being hit by a rune that causes burns.

Finally, they are unable to be healed by anything inherently magical, such as spells or items. Their mortal bodies are bound not to use the help of mana to heal them, as it is unable to be affected by it, as if their bodies reject this help, the same way they reject using runes or potions in a similar way, driven by mind and body.

Grounding Progress

After Severance, the individual is considered Grounded. The exact nature of this state differs based on their original discipline and chosen path:

Grounded Warriors

Grounded Warriors experience enhanced physical capabilities beyond the limits of typical humans. Their strength, endurance, and combat skills may improve exponentially through the expenditure of earned Vitality Points. This potential enables the greatest of Grounded Warriors to carry a store’s worth of supplies in a trip, allowing them to wield heavier weapons, wear more substantial armour, and perform feats of endurance that would be impossible for ordinary fighters, and wield the hardest weapons known in the realm with remarkable poise.

Apprentice
An emergent Warrior who has freshly attuned to Grounding. The baseline for all Grounded Warriors, they are nonetheless inexperienced and prone to bouts of pain in the aftermath of Severance. At this level, the individual can surpass standard human performance—lifting heavier weapons, running longer distances, and taking harder hits.

Free-to-Play
They have 1 Vitality Point to invest.

Adept

A developed Warrior who has turned their body into a reliable instrument of battle. At this rank, most Grounded Warriors can match up against multiple opponents through their physical feats, often deployed at the fore of any self-respecting nation’s battle formation. Still, they are not without flaw, and far from their true potential.

Single vote sent to a Moderator
They have 3 Vitality Points to invest.

Expert

A proficient Warrior considered a combative commodity in most holdings, capable of dealing deadly wounds and wielding increasingly rare material equipment through their vitality. Only a few rise to this level in any one province or region, and those that do are highly sought after by armies and militant groups.

Staff Vote
They have 6 Vitality Points to invest.

Master

An ascendant Warrior that is revered—or feared—for their nearly unstoppable prowess. At this tier, raw might rivals magic, and many believe they are still subconsciously using Mana despite their Severance. Most of these men are objects of legend, myth, and many go their whole lives without ever witnessing their storied power.

Staff Vote
They have 9 Vitality Points to invest.

Grounded Warrior Paths

Grounded, as they progress, may channel this tangible energy into different aspects of their newfound ability. It is rare for two warriors to share all the same scales of strength, finesse, and endurance, and individual progression post-Severance is a far more unique process. A Grounded Warrior may invest certain Vitality Points into these different paths as they master their energy. Each progressive tier costs one of these points; for instance, an Expert Warrior (6) could invest in two tiers of Arms, one tier of Stone, and three tiers of Finesse (2+1+3 = 6). This would be specified by the player in the Grounded Warrior's approval sheet.

Note: Physical speed does not apply to or increase in any path. You won't run faster.

Path of Arms

Tier One: Mighty strength in a single emergent Warrior. This tier enables the Grounded to perform feats of strength comparable to those of an above-average human. Their hits strike hard, their arms carry plenty. E.g., can wield heavy two-handed weapons (like a longsword or battle axe) with speed and control.

Tier Two: The strength of two in a single developed Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform great feats of strength, comparable to the sum of two human men. E.g., can kick open standard wooden doors or tear iron hinges off with effort.

Tier Three: The strength of three in a single proficient Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform grand feats of strength, comparable to the sum of three human men. E.g, throwing an armoured opponent several feet with a grapple or shoulder charge.

Tier Four: The strength of four in a single ascendant Warrior. This tier enables the Grounded to perform epic feats of strength, comparable to the sum of four human men. E.g., tearing apart siege equipment or weaponised constructs with a kick or punch.

Tier Five: The strength of five in a single mythical Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform legendary feats of strength, comparable to the sum of five human men. E.g., can lift a warhorse off the ground by its front legs or flip it entirely. Regardless of Finesse, a Warrior of this tier may only use fist weapons (brass knuckles, gauntlets, etc).

Path of Stone

Tier One: Great bones for an emergent Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform feats of resistance comparable to beasts of nature. Their bones gain slightly more mass, allowing them to suffer twice as many blunted blows as it would take to break a bone. This does not make them immune to the pain or damage, albeit.
Tier Two: Great bones for a developed Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded’s bones to shape themselves in new, practical ways, allowing them to shrug off a single blunted attack, non-magical, per combat encounter. Though they will still feel the pain from this blow, their bones will keep the body from any injury that stems from it.
Tier Three: Great bones for a proficient Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded’s bones to become heavier, anchored to stance. Any attack or effect that would knock the warrior back is halved in effective distance and damage (exclusively damage that stems from the push/knockback in particular, such as striking a wall at the end).
Tier Four: Great bones for an ascendant Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to resist thrice as many blunted blows as it would take to break bone. Though it does not make them immune to the pain or further damage, their increasingly thick skeletal core will remain a great beacon of Severance.
Tier Five: Great bones for a mythical Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to resist a single attack of any puissance or origin, per combat encounter, without being injured by it. It replaces the Tier Two ability and instead allows for the bone to temporarily reinforce the rest of the warrior’s body to grant them a saving mortal grace against a single blunted, sharp, or magical strike of their choice in this period.

Path of Finesse

Tier One: Finesse in the hands of an emergent Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform great feats of dexterity and skill. In combat, their strikes and projectiles are twice as accurate. Where it would’ve taken two arrows or throws to strike a distant object, for them, it takes a single one. (DTB combat can include this.)
Tier Two: Finesse in the hands of a proficient Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform grand feats of dexterity and skill. Their balance and acrobatic ability become notably superior to those of others, having twice the ease in performing actions that could be considered physically acrobatic. Great masters of evasion.
Tier Three: Finesse in the hands of a developed Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform great feats of dexterity and skill. Shifting their body in unnatural ways, they may dodge a single attack per combat encounter that would’ve otherwise struck them (including a single lost D20 roll).
Tier Four: Finesse in the hands of an ascendant Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform epic feats of dexterity and skill. Their attacks become entirely silent; if so, they decide, as their hands adapt to the motion of momentum and striking. Their steps, movements, and basic actions, similarly, produce no sound.
Tier Five: Finesse in the hands of a mythical Warrior. This tier allows the Grounded to perform legendary feats of dexterity and skill. When standing or sitting still, they can choose to blend in with their environment to become invisible, disguising their presence from any keen mortal eye. Perception bends to their bodily prowess.

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