See the Guardians of the Veil Order book for all fluff.
Doctrine
Parentage: Guardians of the Veil, Mastigos
Prerequisites: Matter 2, Life 2, Crafts 2
Initiation: Construct and implant, with the assistance of your tutor, your Mainspring, enter into a trance-like state, and implant it into your chest or abdominal cavity while shaping your Soul around it.
Magic:
Ruling: Matter/Life (Choose one)
Yantras: Succeed on a Academics check relevant to the spell (+2), acting ‘logically’ (+1), investigating the functionality of the target (requiring either disassembly and reassembly, or vivisection) (+2), putting aside distractions and focusing on the matter at hand (+1, +2 if this removes a Positive Condition).
Oblations: Observing the function of a large, mechanical structure such as a Ferris wheel, watching the movement of the stars and planets in the night sky, disassembling and reassembling (without using magic) an object with complex moving parts (such as a pocket watch), committing an act of minor but dispassionate cruelty against a stranger, receiving a permanent or semi-permanent body modification (such as tattooing, piercing or scarification), performing the former on another according to that person’s specifications, vivisecting a living creature.
Note about Attainments:
Use of an Attainment is never an Act of Hubris. So, get to Gnosis 4, Life 3, Matter 3 ASAP, and then
temporarily fuse gun into your body whenever you think shit might go down. You’ll thank me later.
Attainments:
First Attainment Mainspring
Pre-Requisite: Initiation
Implantation and attunement to a Mainspring is the first and only step in becoming Austere. This first step
down the path towards purity from the tyranny of biology and emotion grants immediate awareness of and
the ability to sense both the purity of the inanimate and the corruption and failing nature of the animate
within the Mage’s immediate surroundings. As an Instant Action, the Austere can detect the presence of
lifeforms, and specified kinds of matter around them. Initially, the Austere can only detect such
phenomenon within a small room, however at Life and Matter 4 this extends to a large room. This
knowledge is sustained for a number of rounds equal to the higher of the Mage’s dots in Life or Matter.
Detect Life/Matter, Reach into Instant Casting, secondary factors into scale, primary into mostly-irrelevant duration.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 1
People do not necessarily wear their flaws openly, but such failings are easily read by a member of the
Austere. As an Instant Action, the Mage can determine the Virtue, Vice and Mental/Social Attribute dots of
an observed subject.
Reach into Instant Casting, and perhaps (unaccounted) Sensory Range? Really the spell talks about “observed”, so I’m happy to give it free sensory range. As that info is easily found anyway.
Second Attainment: Activation
Pre-Requisite: Life 2, Matter 2
The implantation of the Mainspring into the Austere’s body is only the first step, with additional training, the
Mage can draw directly upon its power to charge their own bodies. With an Instant Action, the Austere can
draw upon the Mainspring to control the actions on their body for a scene. This replicates the effects of the
Body Control spell with Potency equal to the Mage’s dots in Life.
In addition, the Mainspring’s integration into the body of the Mage grants additional benefits. Firstly, the Mainspring is invisible to magical detection, and contests any detection with a Clash of Wills, using the lower of the Mage’s Life or Matter, this is counted as having an Indefinite duration. Additionally, as an Instant Action, the Mage can shield themselves from technological detection, provoking a Clash of Wills in any Magical attempt to detect them through technology.
It’s pretty much 2-3 abilities in one, however the first element only works for a scene, and must be continually re-activated which can eat into action economy. So assume most Austere don’t re-activate it every scene, and shame ones who do.
Second ability is mostly just to hide that they are Austere, and also to add in a little invisibility-from-cameras ability.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 2
If the Mage is versed in the Principles of Mind, he may use the Mainspring to shift the perception of
witnesses away from himself. As an Instant Action, and by spending a point of Mana, the Austere may
render himself “invisible” to the perceptions of others, as per the spell “Incognito Presence” for a single
Scene.
Incognito Presence, Instant Action, “unaccounted for” Advanced Duration. But only works on self, no secondary factors to help others, so balanced.
Third Attainment: Cog in the Machine
Pre-Requisite: Life 3, Matter 3
As the Austere advance, they learn how to integrate mechanical devices into their own body, becoming closer to the Eternal Movement. As an Instant Action, the Mage may integrate a number of elements from one mechanical device into another for a scene, as per the spell “Wondrous Mechanism”. Alternatively, the Mage can integrate these elements, or technologies into their own body. These are fully integrated and the Mage will suffer no harm from these item’s operation for the duration of the implantation, for example implanting a heater into the Mage’s body will not cause burning.
Wondrous Machine, Reach into Instant Casting, and “unaccounted for” reach for Advanced Duration. Secondary factors are however removed, and the Attainment can only be used on the Mage themselves, so it’s balanced.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 3
The Austere seek to purify themselves of the disgusting pity, sentiment and other mental flaws which
prevent Mages from truly comprehending the Eternal Movement. Application of the principles of the Mind
Arcanum are thus much cherished in purging these hated failings from the Mage’s mind. As an Instant
Action, the Mage can suppress one mental condition or tilt per dot of Mind for the remainder of the scene.
Clear Thoughts, same as above. No secondary factors, only on self, justifies scene duration.
Fourth Attainment: Major Enhancement
Pre-Requisite: Life 4, Matter 4
With this Attainment, the Austere learns how to implant technological devices permanently into his own
body, replacing his failing, weak flesh with the rigid certainty of inert matter. The Mage must fully construct
such devices before they are implanted, and may seek assistance in this matter from trusted allies. The exact
method by which they are constructed is left to be determined by the ST.
Once the item is constructed, a scene-long ritual of implantation is performed by the Mage, at the end of which his fleshy organ has been replaced by his construct. Each specific construct becomes a part of the Mage’s body, and has abilities based on its construction, which should additionally be determined by the player and the ST. Some examples include:
- Independent Hand, a mechanical hand which may detach itself and move at Speed 3 on pre-assigned tasks, or be reflexively directed by the Mage, relying on its sensory information.
- Prehensile Eyes, eyes which may extend on up to 4-foot long stalks, seeing into small spaces, around corners, or merely looking behind them.
- Implanted Weapon, weapons hidden within the Mage’s own body which can be extended or hidden with an Instant Action.
Such implanted enhancements can be further enhanced with Cog in the Machine.
Life 4, Matter 4 spell to graft inanimate objects into a subject’s body. Primary Factor is duration so it’s essentially indefinite, secondary factor is mostly irrelevant, as the effects are not really based on Potency.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 4
If the Austere is sufficiently trained in the Mind Arcanum, their attunement to the Eternal Movement
through their Mainspring can be channeled to enhance their Mind such that they may operate with greater
efficiency. With an Instant Action, the Mage can enhance one Mental or Social attribute by an amount equal
to their dots in Mind for up to a single day.
Augment Mind, Reach into Advanced Duration, and Instant Casting. No need for the “week” duration part, most Austere will likely just enhance all their mental attributes at the beginning of the day, and then walk around all day as the smartest, most charismatic, most resolved, and well composed cyborg cat you will ever meet.
Fifth Attainment: Perfection
Pre-Requisite: Life 5, Matter 5
At this stage, the Austere becomes one with the Eternal Movement. He is at this point fully capable of
transferring his entire mind, soul and consciousness into a bio-mechanical construct of his own
conceptualization, constructed with his mind and magic. This new assumed form is persistent, unless the Austere performs a scene-long ritual to craft a new form for themselves.
The form may be crafted of any material of which the Austere can theorize, and may even require magic to operate, due to a violation of physical laws. In practical terms, the Austere replaces Stamina with Durability, which may be increased as per normal with Matter spells (requiring Life Conjunctive). In addition, neither Matter nor Life is sufficient to affect him alone, and requires the other of the pair conjunctive in order to operate (but not detect, a la Knowing/Unveiling). In addition, when constructing his new form, the Austere may include any number of “enhancements”, and may indeed reuse previous standbys. At the core of this, and every body he must assume is however the Mainspring, which the Austere must either re-use or construct a new version. It is this item to which his existence is now bound, and is greatly protected as a result. If it is removed, the Austere must construct a new one taking a scene, and until that time is counted as being Soulless.
Patterning your body into a new one. Reach for complexity of the new form, and including “mods”. Reach into Advanced Duration, and Complexity.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 5
Purity of form does not necessarily come with purity of mind. That takes something more. With Mastery of
Mind comes protection from all manner of malady, as the Austere reworks his entire consciousness to fit
better within his new existence is a heartless machine of mechanical flesh. The Mage is now immune to all
manner of mental condition, and gains the Rote quality on all mental tests. In addition, the Mage is
impossible to influence by mundane means, and all Supernatural Means of doing so causes a Clash of Wills...
Good luck winning that one though.
Patterning your mind into a “cleaner” form. Can’t be influenced, and supremely logical. Reach into Advanced Duration, and “Rote-Quality”.