Okay so... first things first. I know I committed to only doing one content update per week, but some of the stuff in this update was way, way too important to wait.

I realized the entire player safety section from one of my drafts was missing, so that became a Priority 1 kinda problem I needed to fix. Not an optional kinda thing, that. 

This update is also a MAJOR overhaul for supernatural powers. Check the changelog below to see all the deets.

PROJECT ANIMUS ver 1.11 update notes

• Added the missing “Safety + Consent” section to Chapter 0, just under “Acknowledgements, Etc.”. 

• Fixed a few spelling and grammar mistakes here and there.

• Added some updates to language here and there in chapter 11 (Mastering the Game), particularly with a focus on highlighting areas which demand discussions of player consent and safety (mostly amongst the setting elements listed starting on pg. 171).

• Added a 1-handed Khaotic Focus weapon to the Ranged Weapons table called a “virga” (pg. 92). Also changed spellcaster classes’ starting equipment to reference Radicals and Virga weapons by name, rather than the ambiguous “spell focus” description.

• Added the “Odds + Esoteries” section to the Equipment chapter (Chapter 6, pg. 89) after “Gear + Equipment” but before “Services”. This section includes some items which previously didn’t have specific game rules present in the book.

Magick Updates

• Changed River Rank progression such that General Spells are earned on the first 3 ranks of a given River of Magick, rather than every even-numbered rank. This way, characters with more breadth of knowledge will have more “generalist” magick, as well. While characters who hyper-specialize in one or two Rivers will have less “generalist” magick as a consequence of having more specific magick.

• Increased KP cost of the 1+ KP spend on the General Magick spell “Amanumancy” (pgs. 118-119) to 5+ KP.

• Increased KP cost of the 10+ KP spend affecting duration on the General Magick spell “Blade Turning” (pg. 119) to 30+ KP to reflect the exceptional power of this particular spend. Also clarified the language on the spend to make sure it affects all targets of the spell.

• Changed the General Magick spell “Blessing-Boon” (pg. 119) from 1 to 3 actions in order to reinforce its position as a mostly “out of combat” spell.

• Changed the 5+ KP spend on the General Magick spell “Flight” (pgs. 119-120) to +20 feet of movement speed per 5 KP spent (with a maximum of +100).

• Increased the KP cost of both of the 10 KP spends on the General Magick spell “Hateful Hex” (pg. 120) from 10 to 20 KP to better balance its cost vs. effectiveness as compared to other debuffs.

• Added the sentence “You can douse it prematurely as a non-action, if you need to.” to the 5 KP spend on the General Magick spell “Illuminance” (pg. 120).

• Increased base Spell Damage of the General Magick spell “Magick Bolts” (pg. 120) from 35 to 40. Also increased the reduced range in the 10 KP spend to affect a second target from 150 to 200 feet.

• Added the following 10 KP spend to the General Magick spell “Reproductive Magicks” (pg. 121): 10 Khaos: Increase the duration of the spell to 30 days.

• Added additional text further explaining the limits and uses of the General Magick spell “Unseen Hands” (pg. 121), and increased its range from 30 feet to 100 feet.

• Major Change Alert!: All HP-restoring spells (mostly in the Spring River, but also Cauterize, Bounty of the Earth) now have a base Khaos Cost. This was an oversight on my part in terms of balancing the healing economy outside of combat, but also has major implications for the needs of those playing healing magicians vis-a-vis taking Gather Energy actions or otherwise activating Khaos as quickly as possible. This change to LP-regaining supernatural abilities doesn’t extend in any way to the Psychic Power “Regeneration”, because that power has its own limitations (it can only affect the user and is primarily useful as a supplement to LP regained through Rest).

• Improved the 10 KP spend on the Spring River spell “Overgrowth” (pg. 122) from base Spell Damage of 45 to 50.

• Improved the base Spell Damage of the Summer River spell “Abacinate” (pgs. 123-124) from 10 to 20. Also improved the 10 KP spend from 20 to 30 base Spell Damage.

• Reduced base LP healing of the Summer River spell “Cauterize” (pg. 124) from 25 to 20, also added a base KP cost.

• Improved the base Spell Damage of the Summer River spell “Conflagration” (pg. 124) from 30 to 35. Also improved the 10 KP spend from 40 base Spell Damage to 50. Also changed the other 10 KP spend from improving the ongoing damage to 20 to instead being a 10+ KP spend that increases the ongoing damage by +5 per 10 KP spent (max +15 ongoing damage).

• Changed the 20+ KP spend on the Summer River spell “Fireblast” (pg. 124) from increasing base Spell Damage by +15 per 20 KP spent (max +30) to the following: 15+ Khaos: Increase Spell Damage by +15 per 15 Khaos spent (maximum +45). 

• Changed the base LP healing of the Autumn River spell “Bounty of the Earth” (pgs. 125-126) from 25 to 20 LP. Also added a base KP cost and reduced its 20 KP spend to a 10 KP spend.

• Added “... or an area with exposed rock and boulders” to both KP spends on the Autumn River spell “Raging Waters, Striking Stones” (pg. 127).

• Reduced the base KP cost of Autumn River High Magick spell “Festivalis” (pg. 127-128) from 80 to 50. Also added a 30 LP healing component and increased its base duration from 3 hours to 6 hours. Also increased it from 2 to 3 actions.

• Changed the Winter River spell “Shadow Servitor” (pg. 129) from 2 to 3 actions and changed its duration from “1 day or until Favors are spent” to “Until next sunrise, or until Favors are spent”.

• Added the following spend to the River of Time spell “Warp Call” (pg. 131): 60 Khaos: You may make a Deceive vs. Empathize test to convince the person you’re summoning that you’re in fact someone else.

• Changed the Dreaming River spell “Many Hands, Light Work” (pg. 133) from 2 to 3 actions.

• Changed the Dreaming River spell “Phantasm” (pg. 133) from 2 to 3 actions. Also increased Phantasm’s base duration to 5 minutes.

• Changed the Rainbow River spell “Steelskin” (pg. 135) from 2 to 1 action. Also reduced its innate effect from Barrier 50 to Barrier 40, but increased its 10+ Khaos spend from a max of +30 Barrier to a max of +40 Barrier.

• Changed the Blood River spell “Live by the Sword” (pg. 137) from 2 to 1 action.

• Changed the Blood River spell “Rally” (pg. 138) such that the default TN for the Resist test if an effect didn’t have an original TN to overcome is 80, down from 100. Also increased AoE of the effect from 30 feet to 40 feet.

• Changed the Blood River spell “Warrior Form” (pg. 138) to affect Attack, Block, and Dodge, instead of just Attack and either Block or Dodge.

• Changed the Night River spell “From Beyond” (pg. 139) to clarify the language surrounding the Dark Passenger effect, as well as remove redundant, easier Resist tests each turn which made the spell less than effective. Also reduced the TN of the initial Resist test, altered the d10 table to include a 1-3 effect of the victim behaving normally, and changed the 30 Khaos spend to reflect the updated d10 table.

• Changed the Night River spell “Shadow Blast” (pg. 140) from 2 to 1 action.

• Changed the Night River spell “Wraith” (pg. ) from 2 to 1 action. Also reduced its innate range to 100 feet and increased its 5+ Khaos spend from a maximum of +50 feet to a maximum of +100 feet.

• Reduced the base KP cost of the Night River High Magick spell “Walpurgisnacht” (pg. 141) from 200 to 100.

Psychic Updates

• Added the sentence “This use of psychic power should not incur Psychic Fatigue (see below).” to the end of the last paragraph of the “Psychic Power Visibility” section (pg. 144).

• Changed the “Nosebleeder” trait (pg. 86) to only grant +1 bonus Psychic Fatigue limit per rank of the trait. This reduction increases the value of meditative bracelets, and increases the likelihood of needing to purge fatigue mid-combat. Giving psychics too high a Fatigue limit too easily negates a large part of their powers’ intended limitations.

• Changed the wording on the Empathy TN scale’s Example Effects column to normalize it with the tense of other powers’ Example Effects columns.

• Added the sentence: “Each use of Psychokinesis as an attack inflicts its own mark of Psychic Fatigue.” to the end of the Psychokinesis description to clarify the mechanical difference between it versus Energy Control as a form of psychic attack.

• Improved every TN level of Psychokinesis- damage and number of targets now scales better to make it a more viable alternative to Energy Control despite its greater cost. Range is now static at 300 feet to make it a more reliable option in combat.

• Changed Energy Control to have a static range of 150 feet to make it a more reliable option in combat. Also reduced its damage scaling to cap at 50 for TNs 90 & 110. This prevents it from being too much better than Psychokinesis due to its superior Area of Effect and nearly identical damage despite only incurring one Persistent Fatigue versus Psychokinesis’ 1 Fatigue per use.

• Clarified language in Physical Enhancement’s higher TN effects to specify the bonus is to tests relating to the attributes in question.

• Added the sentences: “Using Shields to protect yourself as a stand-in for Block or Dodge, or to resist maneuvers, does not incur Psychic Fatigue. Only using Shields to grant someone a Barrier incurs Psychic Fatigue.” to the end of the Shields power description. Shields incurring Psychic Fatigue makes this use of the power nearly pointless for a combat-focused mentalist, and I wanted to make the Shield build more viable. Also changed Shields’ Barrier effect to have a static range of 60 feet.

• Changed the effect of Telepathy when used as a Mind Blast attack to the following: “Telepathy vs. Resist. Target suffers 5 Void damage per DoF (max 30) and the Dazed condition for 1 round per DoF (max 3 rounds). Range: 100 feet.” Normalizing its range to 100 feet and adding an inherent Void damage component based on target’s DoF on their Resist test. Also altered the Void damage scaling on the Mind Blast based on TN.

Summoning Changes

• Changed the last sentence in the second paragraph of the “The Arcana” section (pgs. 157-158) to read “The only restrictions are that the cards of the Arcana must be on your person in order to be used, and you may only call upon their services a limited number of times each day.” This clarifies that there is in fact more than one limit on the powers of the Arcana.

• Changed the description of the Battle favor (pg. 158): “A Battle Favor allows you to summon a Force to fight for you for the duration of 1 round per rank of the Blood Pact trait. The effectiveness of the Force's fighting during this period is determined by how successful your colloquy with them was. Calling in this favor only costs 1 action, and they continue to attack any one target you designate once per turn until the duration is up. You may change the designated target to any target you can see or otherwise pinpoint with your primary senses once on each of your turns. Their damage is affected by your Bonus Special Damage.

They aren’t bound by the rules of normal action economy or movement speed, they are simply able to attack their designated target once on each of your turns until their duration is up. They’ll fly, teleport, or phase through solid objects as necessary to reach their intended targets.” This language better clarifies the intended parameters of the Battle favor.

• Increased the damage of the Seek & Destroy favor (pg. 160) and clarified that it is intended to count as Void damage, bypassing all Armor.

• Increased the Stealth bonus of the Spy favor (pg. 160) at every level.

• Altered the number of targets affected and increased the distance teleported at all levels of the Transport favor (pg. 161).

• Tweaked several Forces’ Favor Bonuses:
• Archons’ Battle bonus lowered from +15 to +10 to Attack rolls.
• Devils’ Seek & Destroy bonus lowered from +15 to +10 total damage.
• Radica’s Explain bonus improved from -10 Khaos to -20 Khaos.
• Radica’s Transport bonus lowered from +50% distance to +25%.

• Improved the Magician Arcana’s (pg. 165) base Spell Damage from 75 to 80.

• Improved the Emperor Arcana’s (pg. 166) base Spell Damage from 60 to 90.

• The Hermit Arcana’s (pgs. 166-167) bonus to defensive tests was reduced from +40 to +30.