See Legacies – The Sublime for all the fluff.
Doctrine
Parent Path: Obrimos, Mysterium or Seers of the Throne
Prerequisites: Life 2, 2 dots in Occult, 2 dots between Athletics, Expression, and Socialize, and a superiority complex that would put Lex Luthor to shame
Initiation: Undertake a strict vegan diet, take vows of chastity and poverty (frequently enforced by the Fate Arcanum) and follow the Legacy’s meditative exercises for hours each day. Then once the Legacy’s teachings have been internalized shave your head and retreat to a cell where you meditate for 3 days straight without food or water, crafting your Soul with your tutor and the guidelines in the Stanzas of Dzyan.
Magic:
Ruling: Life
Yantras: Succeed on an Expression or Persuasion test relevant to the spell (+2), enter a meditative state before casting a spell (+2), the spell will perfect your already superhuman body (+1), explain to a colleague how your spell with, indulge in harsh discipline while casting the spell (+1, +2 if this causes a Negative Condition).
Oblations: Meditate for a day on the Stanzas of Dzyan, fast for a week, spend a night lying on a bed of nails, suspend your body from hooks in your skin (fucking what?), performing a firewalk, perform a Tantric sex rite with another member of the Legacy
Attainments:
First Attainment: Teisara Akh
Pre-Requisite: Initiation
A Daksha who masters the first principles of Daksha-Yoga find the pineal gland of her brain grows into a literal fully functional third eye that sprouts from the back of their head. Through the rigors of training her body becomes more defined, her skin suppler and body hair (bar that one the head) begins to fade away. In addition, the Daksha’s senses are permanently heightened as per the spell Heightened Senses, granting a +1 bonus to Perception rolls, increasing to +2 at Life 2, and +3 at Life 4.
They can also see out of the back of their head. Which is neat I guess. It also works with Mage Sight. So, cool.
Optional Arcanum: Time 1
The Daksha learn to use their newly developed third eye to ask questions about likely futures, and with a
scene’s worth of meditation and preparation may ask a number of questions equal to their dots in Time.
These may be more specific questions than a simple Divination spell, and may ask questions about the most
likely distant future, such as “Will Terrance marry Lydia, and father a child with her”?
Second Attainment: A Superior Body
Pre-Requisite: Life 2
The Daksha’s body grows stronger and their internalization of the Daksha-Yoga more complete, their studies
and training are rewarded as the, the mage’s body is affected by a permanent version of the Body Control
spell, with a Potency equal to 2, increasing to 3 at Life 4. This affects breathing, heartbeat, metabolism,
reflexes, scent and bashing healing times as per normal (however this will still not aid in healing Resistant
damage).
Persistent Body Control as per the 1e Legacy. Fluff it as “got to continue meditations if you like”, with Reach allocated to Advanced duration.
Optional Arcanum: Time 2
To the Daksha, a moment spent considering the future is never a moment wasted. As an Instant Action, the
mage may consider whether an action they are planning to take, an individual approaching her, or a couple’s
discussion on the other side of the road will prove to be beneficial or detrimental to her.
This emulates the Momentary Flux spell, with reach allocated to Instant casting and Sensory Range
Third Attainment: The Androgyne Condition
Pre-Requisite: Life 3
The Daksha’s second true initiatory trance ends with their emergence as a hermaphrodite, endowed with
primary sexual characteristics of both genders. With a scene’s worth of meditation on the principle of
Daksha-Yoga they can shift their sex to become one of the two they embody completely, this lasts until the
Daksha choses to end it, or a period equal to their Life dots on the Advanced Duration table. None of these
forms are distinctly similar, however a casual observer might notice a potential familial relation between
them. They can also... Breed true. Jesus fuck man, really? You’re making me write this out? They’re fucking
mystical hermaphrodites, and they have hermaphrodite babies, even with them-fucking-selves! What do you
want from me?
There's no fucking spell here I care to explain. They can shift between genders and knock themselves up, end of story. You want that as your attainment rather than a Magic power? Sure. Go ahead. Jesus H Christ. Even weirder, their appearance no longer causes Quiescence given 2e rules. So, odds are they can’t operate as easily in society.
Optional Arcanum: Time 3
A Daksha having completed their second initiatory trance can now attune their third eye, previously only
able to glimpse possible futures, to the Akashic Record, the astral library of human history. By meditating for
a scene and gazing upon a subject with their third eye, the Daksha may draw forth information about its past
as per the Postcognition spell, the information appearing to the Daksha as if written in the air in High
Speech. This Attainment only functions if the Daksha is sufficiently proficient in the Time Arcanum to dig
back to the information they wish to learn, which in game play terms is represented by their Time dots
having to exceed Temporal Sympathy.
Postcognition, with reach for Sensory Range, and Temporal Sympathy. Pretty simple, also the only sympathy based spell I’ve done so far that actually fits within its reach allocation. Neat.
Fourth Attainment: The Touch of Daksha
Pre-Requisite: Life 4
With but a touch a sufficiently enlightened Daksha can heal even the most grievous of wounds in an instant.
With an Instant Action, the Daksha can heal 2 bashing or lethal damage in a subject they are touching.
I got nothing. All of their attainments are about bodily integrity, and given I’m holding off on Honing the Form for the 5th Attainment, there’s nothing left other than healing. So yeah, the Nazi Hermaphrodite Wizards can heal you, if they feel like it.
Optional Arcanum: Time 4
As the Daksha learn to enhance their bodies, their third eye also grows in power to such an extent that it can
draw the Daksha into an accelerated flow of time. As an Instant Action, the Daksha may spend a point of
Mana and open their third eye wide, in doing so they multiply their Speed by their dots in Time, may
automatically go first in a turn unless they choose to delay their action, in which case they may interrupt
other character as a reflexive action. Defense is unchanged however it is increased by the Daksha’s dots in
Time before doubling when they Dodge, and they may apply their Defense against Firearms, in addition
Dodge actions taken have the rote quality. This Attainment lasts for 3 rounds.
This emulates Acceleration, with Reach for Instant Casting and the Rote-Dodge ability. Given that it’s still usable when faced by sleepers, this is a pretty fucking potent Attainment.
Fifth Attainment: Homo Superior
Pre-Requisite: Life 5
Through breathing exercises and meditation the Daksha gains complete control over their body, enabling
them to be as strong, nimble or tough as they desire. At this stage in the Daksha’s advancement, they
become quite beautiful — eerily so. The character’s features look too regular, their skin too perfectly
unmarred to be human. This takes the form of a modified version of the Shapechange spell, whereby the
Mage can remake their own physical form within any constraints of physical human life. Meditating upon the
nature of the physical for a scene, the Mage calls upon their full understanding of life and may redefine any
aspect of his physical person as he so desires. This includes redefining physical appearance (but not age),
biological sex, and increasing physical attributes to any level, including their Gnosis-derived Maximum. This
is however incapable of removing the Daksha’s inherent attainment-granted physical features including their
third eye, their hairlessness, and their hermaphroditic features.
Okay, look. Some people might complain this doesn’t follow the rules of Honing the Form. You’re completely right. Which is why instead I’m using Shapechanging, motherfucker. Humans are creatures, even Mages. So logically when you take the form of a “perfected Gnosis 8+ mage” you get Strength, Dexterity, Stamina 8.
This is the Perfected Adept’s last fucking Attainment, requiring Gnosis 8. Gnosis fucking 8. At that stage you could easily do this with a spell and not give a singular fucking shit, not even worrying about Paradox. You only need three reach (advanced duration, and splitting potency) as well as a buttload of Potency, but at that level your dice pool is 18 with a few minute ritual, before you even get into the matter of Yantas, of which you can have 5. Yes, 5 fucking Yantras. So let them have this and be the world’s most fucking turbo-charged muscleman.
Optional Arcanum: Time 5
The Daksha’s readings of the future at this point are so profound and insightful that should they act on them
the future may well unfold exactly as their will demands it. With an Instant Action, the Daksha may ask a
number of highly complicated questions about the future equal to their Dots in time, these can involve
questions about possibility and what might come to pass should certain actions are taken, and they receive
detailed information about their questions.
In addition, by constructing one of these futures around a Social interaction with a subject the Daksha may reduce the subject’s Doors to any feasible interaction by the mage’s dots in Time, knowing exactly what to say when and how the individual will react, leading inevitably to the Daksha’s desire.
Prophecy, with Reach for Instant Casting and the “it’s totally not rape” effect.