See Legacies – The Ancient for all the fluff.
Doctrine
Parent Path: Obrimos, Silver Ladder or Seers of the Throne
Prerequisites: Spirit 2, Prime 1, Occult 2, and 2 dots between Academics, Investigation and Persuasion
Initiation: Display one’s knowledge of Platonist and Neoplatonist Philosophy, naked-eye astronomy, and classical astrology before a board of three Philosophus and the lodge’s Teletarch. Upon approval, the initiate is escorted through a Verge populated by Synocheis of the 7 planets, to which it is Resonant, where the student and their teacher will jointly craft their soul in a complex astrological ritual. The initiate must also provide at least one point of Essence resonant to each 7 planets, to pay part of the price of the Synocheis for their service.
Magic:
Ruling: Spirit
Yantras: Perform a spell in keeping with a specific celestial phenomenon (+2), Planets and Stars are visible while casting (+1), calculate the position the planets will be at the culmination of the spell (+2), incorporate appropriate Planetary Affinities into your spellcasting (+1 for at least three, +2 for at least 5, +3 for the full 7 this should be almost impossible).
Oblations: Performing a Hermetic ceremony during a planetary conjunction, performing an hour-long invocation of a planet and its current zodiacal sign, performing a ceremony whenever a planet first appears visible to the naked eye in the night sky, charting an individual’s horoscope based on Classical principle (not this fake New Age bullshit).
Attainments:
First Attainment: The Eye of Aion
Pre-Requisite: Initiation
Pre-Requisite:
The first gift of Aion is that of sight and tongue, to see the Spiritual essence of the world, and know it is yours
to command. As an Instant Action the Hermetic may perceive and speak freely with the Spirits dwelling in
the physical world and understand their tongue, whether roaming in twilight, slumbering or discorporate
within an object, or possessing a living being. Furthermore they can sense any Spiritual Manifestations in
their immediate presence, and conduits of the Reaching Manifestation.
Exorcist’s Eye, useful stuff. Reach for Instant Cast, keep using if you run out of duration.
Optional Arcanum: Prime 1
Initiation into the Thrice Great grants the Hermetic an understanding of the Legacy’s ancient, ornate and
elaborate rituals. When a Thrice Great performs a ritual spell aided by (and only by) other members of her Legacy, while performing full Hermetic rights, all participants in the ritual gain a Persona Yantra of +1. If they
already have a Persona Yantra, then its bonus is increased by 1. This does not stack with the Cabal Theme
merit.
No suitable or equivalent spell. Grants a 1-dot merit which provides at base a +1 Yantra, when ritual casting, with your Legacy. Pretty shitty unless you invest in a Shadow Name, which I would imagine many Thrice Great are very likely to do. I think it’s suitable for a 1-dot Attainment.
Second Attainment: Heavenly Bastion
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 2
Despite their power, the realm of Spirits is a dangerous place to the Thrice Great, and to go unprotected is
the greatest folly. So long as the Hermetic continues his studies of the heavens and seeks the wisdom
therein, she will be protected from the predation of the Spirit. With a scene’s worth of studying the heavens,
the Hermetic may cloak themselves in a protective shield of Planetary energies. Any Spiritual source which
would seek to directly influence the mage, bar physical attacks, must succeed in a Clash of Wills. This effect
lasts for a period equal to the mage’s dots in Spirit on the Advanced Duration table.
Simple Ephemeral Shield, makes sense for them to have it as an attainment as they’ll likely need it almost constantly, and they won’t want it clogging up their Spell Control.
Optional Arcanum: Prime 2
Drawing upon the power of the Planetary Courts, the Thrice Great may enhance the power of their Planetary
Affinities to new and greater heights. By spending a scene preparing, the Hermetic may temporarily call
down just a fraction of Aion’s grace to make their tools sing a celestial harmony. This grants the Legacy
Yantra “Planetary Affinities” an 8-again, however this Attainment lasts only an exceedingly short time, just a
few seconds, enough perhaps for a Mage to draw upon their Yantras and cast an Instant Spell. This
Attainment is also very important in extended multi-individual Rituals performed amongst the Legacy, with a
Practicus frequently allocated the incredibly important role of calling down the might of the Heavens at
precisely the right moment. Much practice is done to ensure this perfect harmony, however to Hermetics
this soon becomes second nature.
This is basically As Above, So Below, with the Reach allocated not to instant casting or extended duration, but the +1 Reach option. For yourself, this is basically a nice way to hunt for an Exceptional Success given a scene’s preparation and a good Yantra. As a part of a Ritual, this is an exceptional way to push that ritual to the absolute edge of possibility, granting an 8-Again to what is quite likely a frankly ludicrous dice pool.
Third Attainment: Celestial Beacon
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 3
The first tool of the Thrice Great in communing with the Planetary Courts is their command over the
Gauntlet. By directing the flow of Supernatural energies through a secret ritual, a Hermetic may weaken or
strengthen the Gauntlet in an area. This attainment takes a scene’s worth of ritual preparation to perform,
end may increase or decrease the strength of the Gauntlet by the Mage’s Spirit dots, minus the Gauntlet
Strength. This effect lasts for a Day, however at Spirit 4 this will increase to a Week.
When they first learn this power, many Hermetics decry its use. The difficulties in lowering the Gauntlet where many live, in the cities and suburbs, is made little easier by the fixed nature of this Attainment, forged when the population of the world was much smaller, and the Gauntlet not quite so obtrusive. However other Practicus frequently advise their new brethren on how to make most use out of their Attainment. Even amidst populous areas such as the suburbs, or the city, there are areas more devoid of people, and as such the Gauntlet in those areas is weaker. In fact, many mages will already gravitate to those areas to avoid accidental Sleeper contact with their Magic.
Furthermore, it is a small effort to pack up one’s ritual gear into a car, and travel outside of the city a way to work one’s Spiritual Magic, in a place where the Gauntlet is thin, the stars are visible, and their Magic can flow more freely.
This is “Place of Power”, with Reach allocated to Extended Duration. Normally this would be a sucky attainment, people see the Withstand of 5 in the city and flip their shit about how they can’t use this attainment there. Grow the fuck up, don’t give up when you see a wall. If you care that much about summoning a Spirit from your high-rise apartment, use a spell and suck it up. Instead spend some time finding a place without as many people with a lower Withstand, or just travel a couple of hours to somewhere the Gauntlet is weaker. Mages are best with prep-time, don’t make life harder on yourself than it needs to be.
Optional Arcanum: Prime 3
The Hermetic’s increased initiation into the Legacy reaps additional benefits as they learn how to further
empower their rituals performed in keeping with the Legacy’s principles. When performing a ritual spell
utilizing the Planetary Affinities merit with at least 5 affinities, the Hermetic may cast a combined spell and
decrease the penalty for doing so by 2.
This one doesn’t really fit within Attainment rules, however it’s a key aspect of the Thrice Great’s ritual practices, and it’s pretty fucking great. You were already casting a major ritual spell, but with this you can cast that turbo-charged ritual with another turbo-charged ritual stapled on the end.
Fourth Attainment: Planetary Portal
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 4
Drawing in the tides of power from the planetary courts, a Philosophus can open a swirling portal between
the Material realm and the Shadow Realm through which either mortals or spirits can pass. To mortal eyes a
Planetary Portal looks like a momentary shimmer in the air when it manifests, however from the Shadow
Realm or Twilight the ingathering spiritual vortex shines with coruscating hues, the specific appearance and
colors of portal set by position of the planets at the time of the individual’s initiation into the Legacy. A fact
any Thrice Great can determine with a single success on a Wits + Occult check, or use of the Eyes of Aion.
To use this Attainment takes a scene’s worth of rituals placating and calling upon the power of the Planetary Courts, at which point the Mage can establish a Portal of Size 5 at a location with a Gauntlet Strength of 2 or less. For every point which the Gauntlet Strength is below 2, the size of the Portal increases by 1. The Portal itself will last for a significant period unless the mage decides to close it prematurely, a Month, rising to a Year at Spirit 5.
This is a simple Reaching spell with +1s devoted to Advanced Duration and creating a Portal out of the “Reaching”. This is less than perfect to my eyes. You will doubtless want to decrease Gauntlet strength before attempting the use of this Attainment, otherwise it will fail to work outside of a location completely almost completely devoid of people. However through combination with Celestial Beacon, it will be possible to use this Attainment in a small tower or village, (or a less populous location in a City Suburb or Town).
Optional Arcanum: Prime 4
Reaching within, the Hermetic pulls Mana from his Soul and drawing combining it with the power of the
Celestial Ladder patterns it into a physical form in the same manner as she patterns a Celestial Portal. As an
Instant Action, by spending a point of Mana the Mage may form a construct in a manner like that of the spell Platonic Form, it is Size 5 or less, with a Durability of 1, and holding one Mana. For each dot she has in Prime,
the mage may:
- Increase its Durability by +1
- Increase its capacity by +1 (this automatically fills with Celestial Energy, which may be used to fuel
the third option, but may not be drawn from the object and does not function in any other Manner as Mana).
- Add a +1 equipment bonus or weapon damage if the object is used as a tool or weapon. Each action using the object in this manner using up one Mana or Celestial Energy from the Mage’s supply.
This Attainment automatically lasts for one scene, however the Mage may increase either this duration or the potential object’s size by 2 points (or 1 point each) on their respective Advanced Duration and normal Scale tables. The object created is obviously Supernatural, however forged from Celestial Energy and only maintained by a small amount of Mana at its core, it does not provoke Quiescence in Sleepers nor is it damaged by Dissonance. Furthermore any use of such a Form for its designed purpose is never an Act of Hubris for the Mage, in addition to the lack of an Act of Hubris for its formation.
It’s Platonic Form, I know. Not the most suitable Prime spell, but it’s pretty fair given that its an optional for a spell about weaving the Gauntlet, and this one is about Weaving Celestial Energy with a little Mana added in. Ah yes, about that. So honestly if you look at the RAW then Platonic Form as an Attainment can generate free mana if you spend it while “casting” the Attainment. But I though that’s shit, so I just decided to grant “free” not-Mana that feeds it effects, and which can’t be used for anything else.
On the downside, so long as you keep pulling that single point of Mana back out of the form before it’s used up, you can just use the Attainment again, without having to worry about having actually spent any Mana. I think this is fair, as Platonic Form is a stupidly Mana Hungry spell for comparatively simple effect. Plus you have to have Gnosis 6 before you can access this Attainment, and at that stage you could be an Archmaster.
Fifth Attainment: Orb of the Firmament
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 5
Sometimes used as a reward, but more frequently used as a punishment, the Orb of the Firmament can do
something that terrifies many denizens of the Shadow, trap Spirits in the hostile physical world. With an
Instant Action, and by succeeding on an Attack Roll, the Mage may grant Manifestation Conditions to a
target Spirit equal to 3 minus the Spirit’s Rank. This effects lasts for a Year, however the mage must also
forge (or the Spirit must already be by under) the requisite Conditions to use more advanced Conditions
such as Anchor (which would require Open, which requires Resonant), and as such the Attainment will in
most cases require planning in its application.
Alternatively with the Spirit’s cooperation, this Attainment can be used to grant them persistent Manifestations which the Spirit would otherwise be unable to maintain, such as a persistent Materialization condition which cannot be removed with Supernal Magic, but can be stripped from them at any time by the Hermetic. A potent gift indeed.
This is normally a fairly shitty 5th dot Attainment, you can kinda detain shitty Spirits by locking them in items as their new Fetters. Bleurgh. However that’s what Reach and fixed factors get you. THE REAL FUCKING DEAL however, is where you use this Spell on a willing Spirit, which means it doesn’t have Withstand. Oh hey Rank 5 Spirit of Mars, I send you to WAR! And just to make it easier, here, now you’re fucking Materialized until I don’t want you to be any more.
I probably wouldn’t have gone with this one, but I’m trying to keep the Canon Attainments from 1e as much as possible in as close to their original forms as possible. I mean, you wouldn’t have been likely able to succeed at the 1e opposed test against a Spirit of any actual power anyway.
Optional Arcanum: Prime 5
Wrapping the Orb of the Firmament around a physical tool, the Hermetic ensure that tool bridges all layers
of reality. The item is as solid to all entities in Twilight as it is to physical entities, including Spirits, Ghosts,
Goetia, and even stranger creatures. Furthermore, should this item take the form of a weapon then with its
enchantment the Hermetic may specify a certain ephemeral entity he knows of as he activates the
Attainment. The item counts as that entity’s Bane. Most Hermetics use this Attainment in combination with
the 4th Attainment’s Platonic Form for instantly accessible weapons, specifically designed and formed to
combat ephemeral entities of all kinds.
People keep telling me to use lower-dot spells for higher-dot Attainments. And in the case of Prime I generally listen to them. The high dot stuff is just too weird to use as an Attainment, especially due to issues with reach and how most of them needs some pretty heft Potency with a Duration Primary.
Planetary Correspondences
I’ve added this here, because a lot of people won’t want to go searching back through Legacies the Ancient to find these things. Which is fair. You just try and come up with a spell that uses all 7 Planets for that +3 Yantra, I mean it might be possible, but I can’t be fucked.
The Sun is associated with magic of light (of course), energy, life-force, willpower, healing and augmentation of power. No surprise, the Sun is the favorite “planet” for Obrimos mages.
The Moon is the planet of transformation, illusion and everything changeable, from the element of water to emotions and magic itself.
Mercury is associated with thought and motion: investigation and analysis as well as literal travel and exploration. Commerce, theft and divination also fall in this planet’s purview. Mercury’s element is Air.
Venus governs living creatures, fertility, pleasure, love, friendship and all the softer emotions that bring people together. Venus’ element is Earth, but as the abode of life rather than solidity or stability.
Mars is the planet of raw force, sometimes creative but often destructive, the element of fire, war, violent emotions and other disruptions. Mars also governs fever and blood. Venus seduces; Mars overwhelms.
Jupiter is associated with the element of air and weather as well as politics, laws, morals, rulership and justice. Jupiter also governs money, religion and social power in general.
Saturn is the planet of time, age, death and restriction. Saturn’s element is Earth, offering stability and defense as well as limitation or destruction.
Even Sleeper occultists know that gold and yellow correspond to the Sun, silver and white to the Moon, quicksilver and gray (or mottled colors) to Mercury, copper and green to Venus, iron and red to Mars, tin and blue to Jupiter and lead and black to Saturn. The jewels, animals, plants and other associations of each planet are too diverse to list. Pop-occult books give detailed (and contradictory) lists of planetary correspondences . . . but none should be trusted.