Mechanics ​

The Path Unending will be running on a slightly more crunchy set of mechanics than I’m used to. I typically run my quests on a strictly narrative basis but I think this setting and type of quest lends itself very nicely to something with a little more meat on it. So this quest is going to have a whole bunch of dice in it; it should be fun! However, as I am not used to this style quest, expect some growing pains. I will likely revise these mechanics as needed if something proves too weak, too broken, or just unnecessary.

This quest will run on a heavily modified version of the Storyteller system. If you don’t know the storyteller system, it’s pretty straight forward. You roll a d10. If you get above a certain number, you get a success. If you get a 10, you get a success and you get to reroll. If you roll a 1, you lose a success. After you’re done rolling, you total up all the successes and 1s and see what the final result is.

**Your Character

Attributes

** Attributes are the basic parts of any character. They are their mental, physical, and social abilities quantified and dictate a vast number of things that your Artist can do. Attributes govern what techniques you can learn, what elixirs you can handle, and how much damage you can take amongst other things. They are:

***Physical Attributes: **Strength, Constitution, Dexterity **Mental Attributes: **Intelligence, Resolve, Wits **Social Attributes: *Appearance, Charisma, Empathy

Skills Skills are things that the Artist has put effort into learning or has been tutored in. There is no set number of skills; there are as many skills are there are stars in the sky. Skills dictate how many dice you roll on any set task. Someone with a skill of 1 in pottery making will roll one die when attempting to make a flower pot for example, while someone with a skill of 8 in stealth will have a substantial advantage when they try to sneak in the hidden treasure grove of the Departed King.

If an Artist attempts something that they have no skill in, they still get to roll one die. However, only a ten succeeds.

Every skill falls under the umbrella of one of the earlier attributes, and that attribute determines its cap. A skill is capped at a level equal to a skill’s governing attribute times five.

Talents No matter how hard someone practices or how much someone trains, someone with Talent will always be at an advantage. Talent dictates what the success threshold is for any die rolled, and are divided up into four categories (Mental, Physical, Social, and Spiritual) with scores from 1-8. Someone with Social Talent 1 will only succeed in a social situation on a roll of 9 or 10 while someone with Physical Talent 4 will only have to roll 6 or higher on any task involving physical might.

Talent is determined by averaging out the relevant attributes. Averaging together Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity reveals your physical talent. The average of Intelligence, Resolve, and Wits shows your mental talent. The average of Appearance, Charisma, and Empathy reveals your social talent. As for spiritual talent, it takes the average of one attribute from each section: Strength, Resolve, and Empathy.

Traits Your artist is more than just numbers. What isn’t covered by any of the above is exemplified by traits. Traits are details about your character that can impact any situation if they are prompted, and can take any form. Someone with the traits ‘Pasta’s Mortal Enemy’ can gain additional dice when in combat against Spaghetti themed enemies, or someone with the ‘Like a Led Zepplin’ will gain a bonus to talent during concerts. But they can also negatively affect your situation. Someone who has a ‘Fear of the Deep’ trait had best keep away from the ocean, while someone who is ‘Lost without a Bow’ had best always walk around prepared for archery.

Traits occur over the course of the quest and can be grown or reduced with consistent action. Experiment with your Artist and see what pops out!

Drive The last building block of your character is their drive. Drive is your character’s raw willpower and their ability to keep motivation through any circumstances. Drive is represented by a simple number, usually one digit and a decimal place. An average person with no flaws and no great motivations has a drive of 1.0. A privileged noble who never has to work for anything might have a drive of 0.8 or lower, and a young upstart desperate to succeed may have a drive of 1.5 or even 2.0. For the record, the higher your drive is, the better.

Changing one’s drive is not an easy task- you can’t just tell yourself you’ll work harder and then do so after all- but it can be done. Great events in a character’s life can either grow or reduce their drive accordingly.

Relationships No man is an island, especially in the Delving Heart. Your connections to those around you are measured through your relationships. When a new relationship is formed, it tends to start at 0, signifying a perfectly neutral stance between you and your new acquaintance. As you interact with them more and more, your relationship changes on a sliding scale, ranging from 5 to -5. The ranks are:

5: Kin. This person’s feeling for you has gone beyond like, beyond love, beyond the normal standard of friendship. They will start a war if they hear someone speak poorly of you and if it kills ten thousand people, as long as they remove the enemies head from their shoulders they will consider it a cheap price. (NOTE: This rank is very difficult to obtain.) 4: Ally. This person has your back. It doesn’t matter the situation or the opposition. If you’re in trouble they’ll be there to bail you out in a flash. It doesn’t matter if helping you harms them- they’ll do it anyway. That’s how much they value your relationship. 3: Good Friend. This person thinks you’re just great. They’ll keep you in mind in most situations and put a good word in for you if they think you’ll benefit. After all, you’ll do the same for them! 2: Friend. This person enjoys spending time with you. They will seek you out when they lack other things to do and will make space for you to sit by them if you’re so inclined. 1: Acquaintance. This person is favorably inclined towards you. They will greet you in passing and wish you well if you are injured. At the very least they remember your name. 0: Neutral. You and this person are vaguely aware that the other exists. Perhaps you have exchanged a word or two. Nothing further. -1: Annoyance. This person is not a fan of yours and the feeling is likely mutual. Perhaps they sat in your typical spot during a lecture or you forgot to give them a message from a friend. -2: Rival. This person does not like you at all and is determined to make certain you know it. They will go out of their way to make certain you’re aware when they beat you and laugh about you to their friends. -3: Foe. This person has gone from disliking you and hoping you fail to actively harming you. They will sabotage you if given half a chance and laugh as you suffer. -4: Enemy. This person hates you plain and simple. If you were dying of thirst, they would pretend to give you water only to pour it out over the desert sands. -5: Nemesis. What this person feels for you is beyond hate, beyond reason, beyond any kind of good sense. There is one thing that matters to them and it is your complete and utter destruction. If any in this world still know your name by the time they’re done with you, they will consider it a failure. (NOTE: This rank is very difficult to attain. Thankfully.)

Stress The life of an Artist is not a safe one; indeed, it is one of the most dangerous in existence. As such they can receive injury in a variety of ways. These injuries and the ability to absorb them is represented by stress. Stress comes in a variety of forms.

Physical Stress is damage taken from direct confrontations, overtraining, or attempting to hold more anam than your body can take. Taking too much stress can lead to physical ailments, crippled limbs, or even death. Mental Stress is damage absorbed directly by your psyche, which can come from losing a taxing mental struggle, psychic attacks, or improper attempts at ascension. Consequences for taking too much mental stress are loss of motor functions, crippling headaches, or perhaps braindeath. *Social Stress *is damage absorbed by your reputation, which can come from malicious rumors, smear campaigns, or familial disapproval. Consequences for taking too much social stress can be a loss of face, relationship damage, shunning, or even exile.

An Artist begins with two stress boxes for each type of stress and adds more depending on the relevant attributes. They gain a number of physical stress boxes equal to Constitution/2, a number of mental stress boxes equal to Wits/2, and a number of social stress boxes equal to Charisma/2. If all of the stress boxes on any track are filled at the same time, then the Artist has lost their conflict. They must fall unconscious/into a stupor/flee in shame.

Filled stress boxes can be emptied once again via a variety of methods. Physical stress boxes are the easiest to remedy. They can be emptied via cycling (each point of anam spent healing restores two points to the damage threshold), through actions, or simply by waiting. Each week spent without gaining more physical stress restores points to your damage threshold equal to your CON score.

Mental and Social stress are far less simple to deal with. They can only be cleared via player actions designed to refresh your mind or rehabilitate your reputation.

The Trappings of the Path

Pills, Elixirs, and other medicines Pills and Elixirs (as well as other medicines) are drugs and training aids created from anam rich materials and ingested by the Artist to gain extra power or some other benefit. Each medicine is given a grade and an element. When ingested, the medicine grants anam of that element to the artist equal to the grade times five.If the Artist is attuned to an aspect opposed by that of the pill, they only gain half of it’s stated effect.

When taking pills or elixirs during the weekly plan, your CON dictates how many you can take and what strength they will be. You may take up to your CON score number of pills per action, and each pill you take must be equal to or lower than your CON score times 2. You cannot safely cycle more than that and still gain their full effects. If you attempt to take a pill stronger than CONx2, you may receive it’s full benefits, but stress will be assigned based on how strong the pill is and other factors surrounding the pill-cycling.

Zi Chen is preparing to cycle for a new technique that requires Steel Anam, but she knows of no Natural Wonder strong in metal. Luckily, she is boon companions with Wei Fang, who is skilled in the art of refining pills. Wei Fang is able to get her a pill he calls the Scouring Jewel of the Earth. Despite it’s grandiose name, it is a very simple Grade 2 Steel pill. Zi Chen takes it without question. Her body is soon flooded by 10 points of steel anam- more than enough to cycle towards her new technique.

Charms

Charms are items made from materials rich in anam and assembled with skill and care by talented craftsmen to grant a variety of effects. A Charm can be anything. It could be a weapon, it could be a bracelet, it could be part of a shirt. There are no limits to the number of forms a charm can take.

There is also no limit for the number of different effects a charm can have. Some charms give an Artist additional skill when it comes to specific elements. Others can function as storage compartments, opening up to allow their Artist to hide treasures within. Still others can make an Artist stronger, or allow them to store additional Anam. Each charm is it’s own animal; no two are alike.

For more information, please check the ‘Charmcrafting’ section, below.

Natural Wonders

A Natural Wonder is a site that is rich in anam. It can be a roaring waterfall that oozes with water-aspected anam or perhaps a cave filled to the brim with jade stalagmites that teems with the power of earth. They are essential for cycling and finding ones that speak to an Artist’s nature is one of the most important tasks they will undertake.

However, not all Natural Wonders are created equal. Each Natural Wonder is, mechanically, made up of two parts. The first is it’s aspects. These are keywords that define the kinds of anam that can be cycled at this location. The second is it’s rating, which is a number that ranges from 1 to… anything, honestly. There is no limit to how powerful a Natural Wonder can be. An Artist can only cultivate anam at a Natural Wonder equal to it’s rating every week. If they try to draw any more, the Wonder simply won’t have any more to give. Repeated attempts will prove fruitless and could even damage this blessed place.

Zi Chen has stumbled across a new Natural Wonder, a seam in a cave that glows with uncut gemstones that she has dubbed The Ruby Scar. After study, it is revealed that the Ruby Scar emanates Earth and Fire anam, as well as just a touch of Beast from the nearby colony of bats. It has a rating of 300. Zi Chen is overjoyed. Clearly with this new resource to draw from- and with no one else to compete with- Zi Chen will be able to harvest a great deal of anam.

Teachers

Natural Wonders are not the only things that can be cycled from, though. An Artist can also cycle from another Artist who is a Teacher or above, taking the generously donated anam of a senior as their own. This can only be done from a willing Artist who is assisting the process, allowing their own anam to act freely.

Cycling from Teachers is not without risk. A Teacher’s anam is far more concentrated than that of a Natural Wonder, and so cycling from it can damage the lesser Artist if they are not careful. Each action spent cycling from a teacher also fills one box of stress. The type of stress taken is dependent on the aspect of anam cycled (Fire anam would give physical stress, Royalty anam would give social stress, Joy anam would give mental stress, etc.)

Techniques

Any drunk can flail around like a deranged ape, and any Artist who’s broken into the realm of the Servant can throw anam around like brightly colored streamers. To truly utilize the power that courses through an Artist’s body, they need techniques. Techniques are physical and spiritual skills that harness and focus an Artist’s anam and use it for great effect. They can be taught by tutors, studied in archives, or discovered deep in the depths of a decrepit ruin. Below is an example technique:

The Sun’s Regard (Appearance 2) Archer Technique 1 (Fire 20, Heavens 5) Cost: 1 Anam Phases: 3 Description: The Artist draws some small portion of the sun’s uncaring gaze into their own features, allowing its heat to to emanate from every pore. Anything they look at risks being lit aflame.

Now let’s explore the anatomy of the Sun’s Regard.

First, we have it’s name. That’s straight forward: this technique is named the Sun’s Regard.

After that, we have an attribute and a number in parentheses. This is the requirement to learn this technique. In this case, to even begin mastery of the Sun’s Regard, the Artist must have an Appearance of 2.

Then we have the type of technique. The Sun’s Regard is an Archer technique, which means it is used to directly harm an opponent from range and is extremely effective against Defender Techniques. Other types of technique include Defender (Physical resistance, effective against Warrior Techniques), Warrior (Melee combat, effective against Archer Techniques), Monk (Mental and Spiritual fortitude, effective against Scholar Techniques), Scholar (Ephemeral psychic attacks that focus on the mind, effective against Sage Techniques), and Sage(Spiritual attacks and transformations, effective against Monk). There are also Traveller Techniques, which are not affected or especially effective against any other type of technique, and can encompass a variety of effects not embodied by the other techniques.

Next to the technique type, we have a number that ranges from 1 to 9. This is the technique’s grade. This tells you what the success point is for any dice you roll involving this technique is. You subtract the grade from 10, and the result is what you must roll. The Sun’s Embrace is grade 1, meaning that when you utilize it, you must roll a 9 or higher to gain a success.

Beside the grade is the technique’s aspects in parentheses. To learn the Sun’s Regard, an Artist must cycle 20 fire anam and 5 heavens anam into it. This does not all have to be done at once. The Artist can cycle 10 fire anam into it at one time and then come back to it later, for example.

The aspects are also important in another way: once it’s mastered, the aspects dictate the number of dice that are rolled when the technique is used. So if an Artist masters the Sun’s Regard and then uses it on someone, they can roll 20 fire dice and 5 heavens dice! This is no small feat!

After that comes the cost. The cost is the amount of anam an Artist has to pay to activate the technique. So in order to use the Sun’s Regard, an Artist must have 1 Anam within their body and be able to pay it.

Below that is the phases.This is the number of times that the technique can be cycled upon, and the number of times that an Artist can send it anam to unlock new stages and effects. So in this case, the Sun’s Regard has 3 phases. After learning it by meeting its aspects (20 fire anam and 5 heavens anam), an Artist can continue to cycle and meet it’s aspects once again. Once it receives a further 20 fire anam and 5 heavens anam, it’s aspects will improve, giving it more power when it is utilized. Other effects can include a reduction in cost, new aspects being unlocked, or even passive effects that don’t require the technique to be active to effect the world. When a technique’s final phase as achieved, the technique is ‘mastered’ for the time being, and integrated with the Artist’s body and soul, providing a bonus effect and unlocking the technique’s initial insight.

Finally, there is the description. This tells you what the technique actually does and includes any information or passive effects you might need to know.

Now let’s walk through someone learning a new technique.

Zi Chen has recently triumphed over her most hated enemy, Teng Huan, in a competition of skill and bravery. As a reward, Elder Guo has decreed that Zi Chen has earned the right to pick one technique from the lesser archives. Zi Chen knows that this rare opportunity is nothing to turn her nose up at. She wastes no time in rushing to the archives to select her new technique.

Upon entering the archives she begins to search for a new Defender technique. After all, Teng Huan will not take his humiliation lying down, and he is feared for his Warrior techniques. Zi Chen had best be prepared. After hours of searching she uncovers one that seems promising: the Monsoon’s Skin. This technique allows Zi Chen to pull water from a nearby source and surround herself with it like the strongest armor. It should be more than a match for whatever Teng Huan brings to bear.

After checking the requirements, Zi Chen is further enthused. The Monsoon’s Skin requires Constiution 3, which Zi Chen has. It’s aspects are even more heartening; it needs 30 Water Anam and 10 Steel Anam. Zi Chen has recently discovered Creation’s Footstep, a lake that is a Natural Wonder that gives off more than enough water anam to fuel this new technique. The steel anam will be more difficult to obtain, but she can draw drips and drabs of it from the various forges and smiths that fill the sect.

Zi Chen heads to Creation’s Footstep immediately and begins cycling. After several days she has drawn enough water anam. Soon after she makes her way to the forge of her friend, Xiong Jie, and cycles the anam that comes from his weapon crafting. Before long she has the steel anam she so badly needs.

Zi Chen has mastered the first phase of the Monsoon’s Skin. Now, when Teng Huan next comes for his revenge- no doubt from behind without warning like the honorless cur that he is- Zi Chen will be able to summon 40d10 worth of defense for just 10 anam. But she doubts that will be enough. Monsoon’s Skin has 6 phases after all. She’ll strive to cultivate another 30 water and 10 steel anam before the month is out so that she can master the next phase; you can never be too careful when it comes to scum like Teng Huan.

Insights Of course, integrating a technique is not the same thing as fully mastering it. You cannot master a technique any more than you can master yourself: there is always more to do. But once a technique is integrated, it has progressed as far as it can with your current understanding of it. To go any further, you need something additional. You need Insights.

What is an insight? An insight is a lesson taken from growing and experiencing new things. Once a technique is integrated, it is possible to gain an insight into it’s nature from pretty much anything. A particularly delicious meal could inspire you as to the true nature of water, a vicious battle can impress upon you the importance of peace, swimming for a thousand leagues can teach you the ways of ice, and more besides.

Each technique requires a different number of insights to evolve. Techniques you have invented yourself are easiest to improve, as they are raw and unrefined. Techniques learned from others have already evolved before, and are thus harder to improve further. A technique you learned by contemplating a waterfall might require only a pair of insights to get better, while one handed down through the generations could take half a dozen.

Evolving a technique is an important step in every Artist’s path. It allows them to push it to greater heights, and importantly, allows them to integrate it once again, providing further boons. And once it reaches full integration again? Well, then it is eligible for further insights, and the path continues on.

One further note: this is not called the Path That Sometimes Ends. This is the Path Unending. As such, no technique is ever fully perfect. There will always be another Insight that can further your understanding of a technique. To rest on one’s laurels is to know defeat, and no Artist worth their elaborate kung fu stance will ever be satisfied with something being partially complete. So always keep an eye out for Insights and think about how different actions may affect your various techniques.

After losing a duel to the dastardly Teng Huan, Zi Chen finds herself in dire need of a new technique. As she lacks the sect points needed to purchase one from the Archives, she decides to hunt through the wilderness and see what inspires her. A quick battle with a family of High Horn Toads is just the thing she needs, and she is inspired by their motion to create Toad Upon The Lillipad, a Water/Life Defender technique. As Zi Chen is a genius beyond peer, she is quickly able to cycle from a natural wonder to fuel it, integrating it when it reaches phase 4.

But that is not enough for Zi Chen. A normal Artist may be satisfied with yet another tool in their arsenal, but not one such as she. She is one who will shake the heavens themselves, and as such she cannot allow any creation of hers to be average. So she begins to seek out insights to better understand the nature of the Toad Upon The Lillipad. One insight was already revealed to her upon integration (To lift a peaceful toad is to invite despair), but she needs another pair to push it to new heights.

After a month of revelry, another insight is revealed when Zi Chen drains the Scheming Stoat gambling den of every last drop of it’s liquor (The true importance of water is only revealed when there is none). The next quickly follows when she strikes down a family of Warbound Shrikes when they attempt to assault a caravan of traders (The truest expression of power is height). Upon receiving these insights, her technique evolves, becoming The Toad Devours, an 8 phase Water/Life/Beast Defender Technique! Zi Chen can hardly wait to evolve it even further. Teng Huan will never know what hit him!

**Actions on the Path

Cycling

** Cycling is the process by which an Artist absorbs anam from the environment into their body so they can use it for their own purposes. Everything within the Path Unending begins with cycling. Without anam, you can’t perform the simplest techniques, and without cycling, you can’t absorb Anam.

The formula for Cycling is as follows: (Xd10sY)D+O, where X is your cycling skill, Y is your spiritual talent, D is your drive, and O is any other factors that may be involved such as charms and medicines.

An Artist can only hold so much Anam within them at any given point before it begins to damage them. This threshold is dictated by their attributes and talents. An Anam Threshold is equal to (Resolve+Constitution)*Physical Talent. If they attempt to absorb more than their threshold, they succeed, but take one box of physical and mental stress. If they continue to cycle, once they reach 1.5 times their threshold, they receive another box on both tracks. For every 50% above their threshold they attempt to cycle, they gain another point on both tracks. The penalties continue to escalate as more and more is drawn.

Zi Chen, an Artist on the Farmer’s Step, has discovered the House of the Ape, a natural wonder deep in the forest of Widow’s Tears. She isn’t one to let a natural wonder go untapped, so she sits down to cycle.

Zi Chen is a very talented cultivator to whom most things come easily (Spiritual Talent 4), so she hasn’t bothered refining her breathing technique in years (Cycling Skill 6). What’s more, she has begun to coast on her natural skills and she is not working as hard as she could (Drive 0.7). She also currently lacks any aid in the form of charms, allies, or pills.

Zi Chen’s cultivation formula looks like this: 6d10s6*0.7

We roll. Luck is with Zi Chen on this day! Furthermore, two of those successes are 10s! She rerolls them and gets one further success. Zi Chen has rolled seven successes, and so harvests seven points of Anam from the House of the Ape that she can do with as she pleases! Thankfully her Anam Threshold is 36, more than enough to comfortably hold all that Anam.

Combat Even the most peaceful Artist knows that at some point, they will be called upon to show their skills in the theatre of combat. In battle an Artist unleashes their powers against an enemy Artist, a ravenous beast, or an opposing Army with all the skill they can muster.

Combat begins with the two parties comparing Dexterity Attributes. Whoever has the highest Dexterity seizes the Tempo, and chooses what technique to use first. The Tempo holder chooses their first technique, factors in any bonuses from skills, charms, passive techniques, technique effectiveness bonuses, and other factors, and rolls their die pool. The other combatant then does the same with their technique and rolls their die pool.

The two combatants then compare their success totals. Whoever has the most successes wins this round of combat. The loser’s successes are subtracted from the winners, and the resulting number is added to a tally. The battle then continues with whoever won the previous round of combat seizing Tempo and rolling first.

Damage is dealt when a combatant’s tallied successes equal the opponent’s damage threshold (which is determined by averaging Constitution, Wits, and Charisma then multiplying it by 4). When this happens, the opponent is dealt one box of stress of a type consistent with the technique they were most recently hit with. If the threshold is exceeded by a certain amount (the default is by half again of the base threshold), then the combatant is dealt an Injury- a negative type of trait which lingers on past this combat. The type of injury is determined by the technique that deals the blow.

If the opponent still has a stress box remaining unfilled, combat continues. If the opponent has filled in their last stress box, they lose the combat. They are defeated, and the victor can grant them a consequence of their choice.

Zi Chen cannot take another word of Teng Huan’s prideful boasting. For too long she has had to hear him talk about how good a cook his mother is- clearly better than Zi Chen’s- how large his estate is- his own, he’s sure to mention, unlike Zi Chen who lives with her family- and how much more adorable his dog is than Zi Chen’s pampered Shadow Cat. Clearly Zi Chen has no recourse besides confronting Teng Huan in honorable combat.

Zi Chen has a Dex Attribute of 3. That is more than enough to claim Tempo from Teng Huan with his pitiful Dex of 2. She decides she wants to end this as quickly as it has begun. She pays 5 Anam from her core to unleash her Archer Technique, the **Hummingbird’s Spear **(Grade 2, Wood 15). Teng Huan counters with his Soul Technique, Sandalwood Cloak (Grade 3, Wood 10). Neither have any passive techniques or other modifiers affecting their rolls, and Archer and Soul techniques have no special interaction, so they begin to roll. Zi Chen rolls 8 successes, while Teng Huan rolls a measly 3. Zi Chen tallies the resulting 5 successes and retains Tempo.

Zi Chen sees no reason why she should not continue with what is working. She attacks once more with the Hummingbird’s Spear. But Teng Huan decides to alter his tactics. He sees no reason to remain on the defensive when it does him no good. He darts in with the Warrior Technique **Viper’s Thrashing Dance **(Grade 2, Poison 20). This time, because Warrior techniques are effective against Archer techniques, Teng Huan’s successes are multiplied by 1.5. This results in Teng Huan obtaining 11 successes to Zi Chen’s paltry 7. Teng Huan tallies 4 successes and seizes Tempo.

This battle rages on for several more rounds, but Teng Huan is the first to reach Zi Chen’s damage threshold (16). He deals her one box of physical stress, laying her flat on the ground with a mighty kick. Zi Chen still has a physical stress box unfilled. She could choose to continue the fight if she so desired. But in the brief moment it takes her to scramble to her feet, Elder Wu interrupts. He decrees this duel over, and Teng Huan the victor. Zi Chen is left to stew.

Teng Huan has escaped her… for now.

Combat Qualities Not all combatants are created equal. Some have special qualities that can further effect the flow of combat. Listed below are all of the Qualities that Kong Zhi has encountered, and what effects each of them have.

Hardness: A creature with hardness is far more difficult to damage. When a creature has Hardness, it is given a Hardness rating (Example: Hardness 2). To damage a creature with Hardness, the successes differential in a round of combat must be greater than the losing creature’s Hardness Rating. If it is not, no damage is dealt. If it is, damage is dealt as normal, with no further reductions.

Ascension There is but one goal when you walk the path: taking the next step. This process is called Ascension. To ascend, to take a step, one transforms themself into something greater than what they once were. Through Ascension an Artist can gain great power, leave behind human concerns like food or sleep, become a conduit for powers greater than themselves, and one day scratch and claw to the heights of the world- if they have the talent, the skill, and the will.

Every Step on the Path of Ascension is different. Some will function very similarly to techniques, while others will require something more. That something more will be revealed as you discover it.

**Kong Zhi’s Guide to Tasks

Charmcrafting

** Crafting a charm is imposing one’s will on anam, the very heartbeat of the world. As such, it is no easy feat, and requires a complex language of runes and glyphs that can take generations to truly master. Or, alternatively, one can be a Kong, and things become much simpler. But even for Kong Zhi, Charmcrafting is not an easy process. It is an involved act that requires planning, forethought, and careful consideration.

There are three phases in crafting a charm. Each will be delved into below.

The first phase of Charmcrafting is research and design (R&D). In this phase, you decide what kind of charm you want to make. As a Kong, you only really have two decisions to make. First, you must decide what you actually want the charm to do. Second, you must decide what charm crafting materials you wish to use to bring these effects to life.

Once those things are decided, Kong Zhi must acquire these materials. Materials can be bought, they can be won, they can be found, and they can be taken off the bodies of your foes. Poor quality materials harm the design of the charm and good ones can provide a bonus. Further bonuses can be gained for different tools, an environment rich in the proper anam aspect, and many other ways that will be discovered.

Once those things are set, we must establish this charm’s ’Build Target (BT). A charm’s BT is a measure of it’s power and utility, and it will be key in the next two phases of charmcrafting. To establish the BT, Kong Zhi rolls his Craft (Charm) skill twice, factors in all bonuses from suitable environments, tools, drive, and anything else, and then adds the scores provided by materials used.

The second phase of crafting a charm is the Construction phase. In this phase, you shape and prepare the materials to your liking and get them ready to be part of a charm. To do this, you roll the Craft skill that applies to the charm you are working on. For every success you gain, you are one step closer to completing the construction.

When your construction successes equal your Build Target, you have completed the charm. You may proceed with the next phase. However, if you would like to continue working on it, you can do so albeit with diminishing returns. Doubling your Build Target increases it by 50% in the next phase, and tripling it gives you another 25%. After that, you gain another 5% for every time you fulfil the original Build Target, which is not normally recommended. There are far better ways for you to be spending your time.

The third and final phase of crafting a charm is the Infusion phase. In this phase, you cycle anam into the unfinished charm, taking a simple item and turning it into an object of power.

To do this, the crafter must cycle anam into the object, paying a total anam cost equal to the charm’s build target. If this anam comes from a Natural Wonder, it requires a cycling check, as normal. If it comes from medicinal items or other sources, no additional roll is required, though it still will take actions. The aspect of the anam does not matter, as it will be flattened and re-aspected by the materials the charm is crafted from.

Once the build target is met, the charm is completed, and can be used as desired. *

After a time spent testing techniques, the brave and noble Zi Chen has been ordered to cease her crusade against the various dastards of the Delving Heart. As she begins to find a way around this unexpected and unjust decision by the Elders, she is approached by her boon companion SiSi, who is leaving the sect on a grand quest. SiSi knows that Zi Chen is a dab hand at charmcrafting, and so asks if there’s anything she can make that will aid him in his upcoming mission. Further inquiries reveal that SiSi will be headed in the direction of Jade Springs and that his mission requires a great deal of swimming.

Zi Chen’s genius mind instantly conjures a charm that will aid SiSi in his quest: a single ankle guard that will allow him to transform into a shark. Surely nothing will threaten him should he be a great predator of the deep! Furthermore, she already has the perfect materials prepared for such an undertaking- the teeth of a spirit shark and the skin of several tenacious eels. She assures SiSi that he will have his charm before he departs and secludes herself, ready to put her skills into action.

A quick perusal of her materials reveals them to provide bonuses of +23 and +14 respectively, giving her a material bonus of +37. After sketching a quick diagram and preparing herself, Zi Chen finalizes her design, rolling 26 successes. That gives her a build target of 63! Excellent! SiSi will surely make the most wondrous shark with this powerful charm.

From there, it is a simple matter to craft the actual charm. Zi Chen rolls with her Craft (Armor) skill and focuses on this work to the exclusion of all else. Before long, she has reached the build target, but finds it insufficient. SiSi deserves more than a mere 63 BT charm. Zi Chen decides to double down, continuing the crafting process until she reaches the BT again. Though she considers going even further, SiSi’s strict timeframe limits her options, and she decides to leave it there. This additional crafting time gives the ankle guard a 50% bonus to it’s BT for the next phase, meaning that the ankle guard has a final BT of 94.

Finally, Zi Chen takes the ankle guard to Silence Over All, a Natural Wonder which exudes an enormous amount of Sound anam by blanketing out all exterior noise. It’s aspect does not match the ankle guards, but she does not need a complimentary aspect. She only needs a great deal of anam, which Silence Over All has in abundance. She then begins to Cycle into the ankle guard, baptizing it in raw power.

With her labors done, Zi Chen dubs the ankle guard the ‘Lord’s Floatation’, as it will protect SiSi as surely as any floating device will protect any other lord, and goes to give her work to her boon companion! Surely he will revel in it’s power!

Mundane Crafting Supplies

When Kong Zhi arrived at the Delving Heart, he brought with him several pouches of gemstones to serve as his raw materials. That stockpile has now been exhausted. For future projects, all charms will require 1-5 units of Mundane Crafting Supplies be expended in the Construction Phase, what that number being determined in the design phase. For larger, more intricate products, even more units can be required. Make sure to keep a healthy stockpile of Mundane Crafting Supplies on hand or risk an abrupt halt to your workflow!

Refining Charmcrafting Materials Some materials that are gathered for charms are not perfectly suited for their intended purpose. Those materials must be molded and shaped before the design can truly begin. This process of molding and crafting is called ‘refining’. Refining a material comes down to a simple Craft (Charm) check. It is rolled, and the number of successes gives you your result.

If a number of successes equal to or less than the material’s grade is rolled, some anam is lost in the process. The excess anam is leached into the empty air and lost for all time. The material takes the aspect that the charmcrafter desires, and has a new grade equal to the number of successes rolled minus one.

If a number of successes greater than the material’s grade is rolled, some of the anam is able to be salvaged. The charmcrafter gains two materials: one that with the aspect they desired and a grade equal to it’s previous grade minus one, and the second with the undesired aspect and a grade equal to any remaining successes minus one. (Example: If 9 successes were rolled on a Craft (Charm) check when attempting to refine a material that was Wood/Earth 6 and the crafter wanted to prioritize wood, the resulting materials would be Wood 5 and Earth 2.)

If a number of successes double the material’s grade is rolled, then the refining went as well as could physically be possible. The charmcrafter gains two new materials, each with their own aspect, and each with a grade equal to the previous material’s grade minus one.

Selling Charms with Ma Heng Kong Zhi does not need to keep every charm he makes. Should he make charms just for the fun of it or outgrow any of his current charms, he can sell them at the inner Market through Senior Disciple Ma Heng.

When deciding to sell a charm, you will set the price yourself. However, if there are no buyers within a reasonable timeframe, Ma Heng will begin to lower the price until it eventually finds a home. For this service, they take a 20% commission of whatever the final sale price, which is non-negotiable.

Caretaker Requisitions

When Kong Zhi embarks on a mission for the Caretakers, he does not do so alone. He does so with the organizational might of the Eighth Court at his back- and as such, he is entitled to specialized weapons, tools, and charms that the Caretakers keep locked in their vaults.

Before every Caretaker Mission, Kong Zhi will be given the opportunity to spend a certain number of points on his requisitions. The number of points he is given will depend on how crucial this assignment is, how much he has contributed to the Caretakers in the past, and his reputation within the organization.

These Caretaker Requisitions that he can spend these points on can be be divided into five categories:

Infiltration: points spent on Infiltration requisitions become disguises to allow Kong Zhi to walk undetected through hostile areas, keys and talismans to open any locks, and traps to punish the unwary. **Combat: **points spent on Combat requisitions allow Kong Zhi to better withstand a frontal assault. They become powerful weapons, protective armor, and useful charms to assist in the fine art of facepunching. Survival: points spent on Survival requisitions allow Kong Zhi to function better outside of civilization. Travel rations, charms that create potable water, guides to local flora and fauna, and various items to assist in tracking creatures through the wilderness all fall under Survival. Cultivation: points spent on Cultivation requisitions give Kong Zhi access to all sorts of pills and elixirs to assist in his missions. Be it healing medicines, emergency anam restoratives, local Natural Wonders when you are beyond the sect’s borders, or tokens that grant temporary knowledge of powerful techniques, it is all at Kong Zhi’s fingertips. (NOTE: Cultivation Requisitions are highly monitored for obvious reasons. Abuse of said requisitions is subject to harsh oversight, and any caught abusing them will be appropriately punished.) Contact: points spent on Contact requisitions do not give Kong Zhi any physical items- no, they give access to something possibly more valuable. The Caretakers know many useful people the width and breadth of the Radiant Empire, some of whom assist them for favors, some of whom assist them for favors owed. Contact Requisitions give Kong ZHi access to those people, granting him their names, locations, and the authority to make debts or call them in.