Dreamscarred Press Introduces: Akashic Mysteries

[Milo v3]

Can we get a few suggestions along these lines? Even if it doesn't make it into this book, it would be a nice thing to include either in an "Ultimate Akasha" consolidation product, as a blog post or something else.

I've seen a few people reflavour them as tattoos, though I personally like them being your own blood animated outside of your body with ki manipulation (since ki was meant to be in the air, and oxygen get's carried by blood) though that probably wouldn't work with all veils.....

EDIT: Also, what would people think of akashic prosthetics that grant a veils benefits based on the Cybertech rules of the Technology guide?

[Ssalarn]

Get well soon Ssalarn!

So I'm a huge, huge fan of refluffing - I loved the "Rune Magic Variant" that was included in Ultimate Psionics. I was wondering if we could get a similar suggestion for Akasha, either to make it more palatable to DMs or to make it fit with a wider variety of settings and themes. In particular, Phelix-Mu had a great So over in a refluff suggestion for Incarnum that I think could apply well here - turning incarnum/akasha into nanites. It doesn't have to be exactly that one of course, but I think that fluff could work extremely well for this system and be a great contrast to its default fluff as being primal/primitive magic.

Can we get a few suggestions along these lines? Even if it doesn't make it into this book, it would be a nice thing to include either in an "Ultimate Akasha" consolidation product, as a blog post or something else.



I learn something every day

What I may do is try to start working sidebars in to other projects introducing ways to utilize the akashic subsystem that match that flavor, as well as looking at some suggestions for alternate fluff in the main release.

Some possible suggestions:

For a more Gamma World / super hero feel, veils are actually mutations. When someone sunders your Gorget of the Wyrm and shuts off your breath weapon, they've literally just severed whatever biological mechanism in your throat allows you to breathe flames and you have to wait for it heal before you can use it again. In this world, veilweavers would all basically be Darwin from the X-Men.

The nanites suggestion is a really good one too, and something I'd kind of arrived at through other means when working on our upcoming psitech project and home games. My fiancee' had a character called Gremlin in our Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game adventures that she converted to our Pathfinder game by basically saying that veils were the creations of nanites she'd been infected with in Numeria which allowed her to adapt and integrate different technical and biological functions. So Gorget of the Wyrm was actually a combo flamethrower/jetpack and Hands of the Bard was a laser projection device.

If steampunk is more your style, consider refluffing veils as "contraptions" and essence is "juice", "steam", or "electricity".

[Vhaidara]

Yeah, an Incarnum refluff I've wanted to use on a warforged is actually little mechanisms.
Melds become inventions, but only so many can be powered at once and it takes time to bring them online (melds at a time)
They can be supercharged when attached to the right locations, but get in the way of magic items (chakra binds)
They can be further enhanced with the addition of widgets (essentia)

[PsyBomb]

Those are all good ways to fluff for tech-based campaigns, but you may want to include a way to fluff as divine gifts, persistant arcane constucts, or other more standard-setting fare

[Gemini476]

Considering how Incarnum generally just gives you somewhat temporary magic items, refluffing it as a watered-down Artificer seems perfectly possible. You make magic items that only function while attuned to a person, each person has a limit for attuning, you need special training (opened chakras/class levels/whatever the Akashic equivalent is) to be able to attune to the items in the first place, they're powered by your own innate magic/essentia... You could do a lot with that. Maybe make a prestige class that lets you lend some of your veils to other people, I dunno.

Or, alternatively, just refluff it as shapeshifting or something like what the Binder does, depending on the class.

[stack]

That particular refluff would be a small step for the vizier, especially crafters.

[Ssalarn]

That particular refluff would be a small step for the vizier, especially crafters.

I might look at doing a small entry in the final product discussing both an "Artificer" and a "Technician" refluff for the Vizier (or maybe for the system in general using the Vizier as an example). Thanks for the discussionn guys, this is some good stuff!

[Taveena]

Personally, rather'n Widgets, I just tend to think of it as DIRECTING ALL POWER TO GUNS.

Or somethin' like that. You have something generating that power, but it's a limited amount. (Maybe you have four teravolts per second' going to your blasters. I dunno.)

[Ssalarn]

Also, what would people think of akashic prosthetics that grant a veils benefits based on the Cybertech rules of the Technology guide?

I saw your post over in the Submissions thread and just wanted to let you know that Andreas and I are ruminating on it, both on what we think about it, and where we might want to put it dependent on that, as there's a couple upcoming products it might be appropriate in.

UPDATE: We are about 25% of the way through updating the completed Vizier .pdf with the correct formatting. My apologies again on that, I know everyone has been patient and is ready to start seeing some results. For anyone who's interested, the cover is up for you to take a gander at over on the Dreamscarred Press Facebook page.

[Milo v3]

I saw your post over in the Submissions thread and just wanted to let you know that Andreas and I are ruminating on it, both on what we think about it, and where we might want to put it dependent on that, as there's a couple upcoming products it might be appropriate in.

I was hesitant to post it since it nearly grants Shape Veil feat for money.

UPDATE: We are about 25% of the way through updating the completed Vizier .pdf with the correct formatting. My apologies again on that, I know everyone has been patient and is ready to start seeing some results. For anyone who's interested, the cover is up for you to take a gander at over on the Dreamscarred Press Facebook page.

Cool, looks like that undead ring veil. *Like*

[stack]

It's a good look for a 'dark' vizier. Not the style I prefer to play, but it will certainly be a common one. Fits with the style of other releases as well.

[Ssalarn]

It's a good look for a 'dark' vizier. Not the style I prefer to play, but it will certainly be a common one. Fits with the style of other releases as well.

So, in one of my personal home campaign settings for the bulk of the akashic materials, it's a little Dark Sun-esque. Good guys who live long enough to see any degree of success tend to look a lot like bad guys, because the bad guys are in charge and they get a bit grumpy when do-gooders go around stirring the pot and foiling their plans.
Our iconic vizier is (in my head and home game and not really anywhere else) a minor half-elven functionary in the court of a very powerful and very cruel elven sultan. During the day he goes around evicting human, dwarf, and gnome merchants who fail to pay brutal taxes that basically equate to legal extortion while his pet zombie lugs around the collection box and serves as added muscle for dealing with recalcitrant citizens. At night, he throws on the ol' hood and mask and helps unjustly imprisoned non-elves sneak out of the city and occasionally orchestrates daring robberies of particularly cruel members of the elven aristocracy, using his veils and his powers as a Seer to coordinate these risky heists.

[stack]

Cool. Don't suppose we will get bios of the iconically in the complete book?

[Ssalarn]

Cool. Don't suppose we will get bios of the iconically in the complete book?

To be perfectly honest, I hadn't planned on it, but if that's something people want I could totally do it.

[Mean Eyed Cat]

UPDATE: We are about 25% of the way through updating the completed Vizier .pdf with the correct formatting. My apologies again on that, I know everyone has been patient and is ready to start seeing some results. For anyone who's interested, the cover is up for you to take a gander at over on the Dreamscarred Press Facebook page.

Wow, that must have been a major update! Good luck and I hope everything goes well from here on out. Looking forward to this product

[stack]

So, it occurs to me that it would be a good idea to compile a list of 'necassary' effects that veils cannot currently cover so that the system does not have gaping holes in the end. Things like gate and creating planes can probably be ommited, but I suspect there are still things that would make themselves felt by there absence. Lack of cantrips for one thing, I don't like my vizier not having detect magic, prestidigitation, dancing lights, etc.

ed - petrification, curses, level drain, ability damage, poison, all the things that the system assumes you have a way to deal with because it assumes you have a wizard and cleric in the party.

[Novawurmson]

IT'S HAPPENING!

[Ssalarn]

IT'S HAPPENING!

I see that Novawurmson beat me to it.

[Novawurmson]

I see that Novawurmson beat me to it.

Oop. I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to steal your thunder. Come on, take a bow!

[Ssalarn]

Oop. I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to steal your thunder. Come on, take a bow!

Lol, no worries! I was actually excited to see that fans of the material were spreading the word even faster than I was.

Also fairly exciting, even though we didn't get top billing we did get honorable mention on the Paizo homepage, so hopefully that'll help spread the word to anyone who's missed the project so far.

Coming up next... the Guru!

[Psyren]

I'm loving the fluff so far. Akasha being a popular form of magic underwater just makes sense.

- Are Akashic feats supernatural the way Incarnum feats and Psionic feats are? i.e. would a feat like Weaver's Reflexes continue to function in an AMF?

- The Cairn Wight from Dark Lord's ring bind can still create unlimited spawn as written - is this intended?

[Ssalarn]

- Are Akashic feats supernatural the way Incarnum feats and Psionic feats are? i.e. would a feat like Weaver's Reflexes continue to function in an AMF?

- The Cairn Wight from Dark Lord's ring bind can still create unlimited spawn as written - is this intended?

Damnitty damn damn hell.

Consider this an "official" answer to both your questions that will be reflected in all source materials no later than the compiled release:

Yes, all feats with the [Akashic] descriptor are supernatural. If an antimagic field or similar effect is suppressing magical energies, it will also suppress these benefits.

Cairn Wights created by the Dark Lord's Ring cannot reproduce. The energies used to create them are artificially provided by the veilweaver and cannot spread beyond his servant.

I'm loving the fluff so far. Akasha being a popular form of magic underwater just makes sense.

I'm sure I've said this in like a dozen other places, but yeah, totally agreed. In our aquatic setting veilweaving was pretty ubiquitous, and was the most common form of arcane magic. Sorcerers were rare, and wizards were practically unheard of due to the difficulties and cost inherent in writing and preserving spells in those environments. Some of the veils, like Whirlpool Lash, originally used the mechanics from the Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting and actually had somewhat different effects that were modified to be more generic. If I ever get the chance, I'd love to do a whole supplement in conjunction with Alluria Publishing featuring materials specific to an aquatic setting.

[Psyren]

Damnitty damn damn hell.

Consider this an "official" answer to both your questions that will be reflected in all source materials no later than the compiled release:

Yes, all feats with the [Akashic] descriptor are supernatural. If an antimagic field or similar effect is suppressing magical energies, it will also suppress these benefits.

Cairn Wights created by the Dark Lord's Ring cannot reproduce. The energies used to create them are artificially provided by the veilweaver and cannot spread beyond his servant.

Brilliant! I'll bring up my old notes and keep digging.

[PsyBomb]

Excellent! As soon as I am able I will grab a copy and proof my guide for posting. Glad this happened.

[stack]

Truly a joyous day for all of us that contributed minor editing feedback.

And for Ssalarn too, I guess. I suppose he deserves SOME of the credit.

[Ssalarn]

Truly a joyous day for all of us that contributed minor editing feedback.

And for Ssalarn too, I guess. I suppose he deserves SOME of the credit.

It's cool, I'm pretty sure they stuck my name on there somewhere.

[PsyBomb]

Picked up the PDF, proofing both it and the guide now. I'll be putting it up in its own thread soon.

I don't see any major errors yet, still reading

EDIT: Akashic Augmentation still contains the ambiguity problem from before. It needs to specify that it discounts from the total cost of augmenting the power, or else it can be interpreted to take off of each augmentation (for example, a 1-Essence investment could reduce the cost of a fully-augmented Astral Construct to 9, rather than the 16 it is probably intended to).

Life Bond is still a very odd case. At upper levels, we are looking at a potential 200+ points of healing to an ally as a full-round action. On the flip side, for 99% of Veilweavers out there, it is actively INCREDIBLY dangerous to be taking the kinds of damage needed to make the feat worthwhile, and it requires 17 CON (which will always be pulling away from your primary stat to fuel).

Dreamcatcher is listed as being available only to Viziers in its summary, this is not true. It is available to all three classes.

Coward's Boots, in the main description, have Class of "Guru" and Slot of "Vizier". I'm fairly sure this is a typo

[malonkey1]

Are you guys taking any submissions for additional content? I came up with an Incarnum-based outsider inspired by the Apsara of Hindu and Buddhist stories, and wanted to know if you were interested. If not, I can just go put it on the homebrew forums.

[Milo v3]

There's a submission forum thingie place for Dreamscarred Press over here.

[Anlashok]

Is there a reason it's not up on DSP's own store? There isn't even an announcement that it exists.