Davkas

It may help to think of it less as super specific "everybody knows your game mechanics" and more as "they can get a good idea what you're doing and whether you might have some weaknesses" - for instance, if your tradition also has Verbal Casting, they can probably figure "if we stop them from saying the incantation they can't cast". Sphere talents are usually not completely discrete effects or actual in-game categorizations to start with, since talents can frequently modify each other, so people don't need to be able to explicitly in-character identify that you're casting Alter Movement modified by Deep Enhancement, but they'll know you're casting something that makes somebody faster or slower and that it will last a long time. ... Yeah it's not a perfect distinction but honestly most of the time it's the less important half of Magical Signs compared to breaking stealth anyway (and Verbal Casting also does that). The tradition part, in particular, probably makes a lot more sense if you're in a game where there's a number of predefined traditions everybody has to take that have lore implications or common limitations, like the traditions that mimic various vancian casters.

Well, you lose all your class skills, but get Perception and a good chunk of background skills (Craft, Perform, and Profession) as class skills regardless of your tradition, much like how martial traditions give you simple weapons/light armor/bucklers.

Reserved post #2

Reserved post #1

🚧 WIP Basic Concept: an Elemontalist, since the Steppelanders have all that citrus theming. (Xinos is Greek for "sour".) Probably going to swing one or another way of picking up some Survivalism sphere, but my familiarity with SoG so far is mostly in Performance and Body Control so I may well be playing that part by ear. Whatever I do with that, combat is probably mostly gonna be blasting, area-control, and debuffing because that's what Elementalists excel at.

In general terms that sort of thing is usually gonna be a talent within a sphere if it exists, or there are going to be feats that improve action economy by letting you use one ability at the same time as another. For pathing specifically I'm not finding one that's just that, but there is the feat that lets you combine Athletics and Navigation spheres to lay down pathing when you use a movement mode you have an Athletics package for. (Side note: the spheres wiki is usually very helpful, but wikidot's inbuilt search is awful. You're better off using regular google with site:spheresofpower.wikidot.com included in your search terms, if you don't know what pages to be checking for something on. This is not Rednal's fault - the spheres dev who maintains the wiki, and yes, it's only one guy - he works super hard, it's a limitation of working with wikidot I'm pretty sure.)

This is a reasonable point, since we've got twice as many feats as usual anyway. (Mostly I'm figuring "hey if this campaign is heavy on the problem-solving and survival there are some skill spheres that would be Real Helpful there".)

Okay actual question this time: Is the rule available? (Short version: if you've got a SoP or SoM talent progression, you have the option to pick up a guile talent when you'd get one.) Mostly because I'm poking at the idea of a Steppelander Elemontalist (since they've already got weird citrus theming) and Elementalist doesn't have a Guile archetype.

I like how the sample cat names in the player's guide are like two Warrior Cats names bookending a bunch of cutesy pet names, that's very good. Gotta figure out what I want to play for this, I had an idea about somebody driven by a psychic gestalt link with dead warriors but there's already like three people applying as necromancers so I might go a different way :P Might be time to actually figure out wraiths and play a Matagot.

HP: 108/108 || AC: 29 || SP: 9/14 || Fort: +7 Ref: +12 Will: +9 || Perception: +13 Delayed Damage Pool: 0/27 || Dodge Pool: 170/170% With Biara: AC: 36 || Fort: +10 Ref: +15 Will: +12 Olympia stretches out her hand, feeling the metal plates articulate. That feeling of protectiveness is... disturbingly familiar - she wasn't just joking when she compared Biara to an old friend of hers. Her eyes close, and the gears in her arm whir to life as the power flows into the magic that already runs through her frame - far more power than even in her primary personal weapon, and completely overpowering the little capelet she wears for protection from magical assaults. I see... Freedom, hm? The word sets off a brief tangent in Olympia's mind that she shares with Biara, apparently deliberately - the image of a massive, curved plane of glass shattering, and a feeling of movement - running, twirling, jumping - falling? Then the sensation is gone again. Ground rules: no taking over my legs, I need those. More importantly, don't start a fight. You can react if we're under attack, but don't strike first unless I give the okay or they're clearly with someone we're already fighting. If you're not sure, ask. Olympia didn't want to harm innocents if she could help it, and that included letting Biara use her arm to do it. Mistakes could happen, but she didn't want to cause more. Maybe it was naive of her, but she still wanted to do her best to make the multiverse a better place. I'll never be mad at you for asking for clarification. Beyond that... How does the saying go? 'Everything which is not forbidden is permitted.' At least for now.

HP: 108/108 || AC: 29 || SP: 9/14 || Fort: +7 Ref: +12 Will: +9 || Perception: +13 Delayed Damage Pool: 0/27 || Dodge Pool: 170/170% Olympia's lips twist in an ironic expression. "I'm not one for fancy titles. I apologize if that offends your sense of ceremony. Just calling me 'Olympia' will be fine." Because if Biara starts calling her "owner" or "master" she's not going to be able to go through with this. "One last thing." Olympia twirls gracefully, and that musical chime starts up again, turning into a little tune as she moves to touch Eosi's shoulder, then Danika's. Apparently Olympia really is a music box. Curves of glass grow in baroque curlicues through the lattices of Eosi's icy magic as she adds her own protections; some of them shift subtly as their recipients move, and they'll find they gather together when someone strikes at them to ward off the blow. Then she holds out her hand to Biara again. "Now, will you show me what you can do? If you want to help us out, now's the best time." She'll be ready to go in at any time. Mechanics Using the armor bonus version of the Armored Magic aegis (grants a +4 armor bonus) on Eosi, the shield version (grants a +2 shield bonus) on him, Danika, and herself, and the basic Deflection aegis (also a +2) on herself. CL 6, 5 sp to last for 6 hours.

HP: 108/108 || AC: 29 || SP: 14/14 || Fort: +7 Ref: +12 Will: +9 || Perception: +13 Delayed Damage Pool: 0/27 || Dodge Pool: 170/170% That... is the sort of speech that is almost guaranteed to give Olympia second thoughts about this. She manages to turn an expression that was going to be horrified into a skeptical one instead, but she still shoots a meaningful glance at Eosi. You could have warned me about this. Good grief, does she actually think of herself like that? Olympia is not exactly on board with "owning" people. She spent far too long being a possession herself to be comfortable with it, even if she thinks of it as something like a curse Biara is under rather than actually being a slave. But arguing it out here is another thing they don't really have time for. Bringing Eosi to the front lines for the sake of wielding Biara is clearly a bad idea, and while she's been doing her level best not to acknowledge it, she has noticed that Danika is edgy about Biara for what she suspects are different reasons. So unless Hotel Echo wants to try - since all the other Bitter Titans seem to have guns - there aren't a lot of other options for Biara to participate. "Well, I'm not quite as sure as you are that it would be a foregone conclusion, but it would be a waste of time and trouble." She curtsies to Eosi. "Eosi, if you would...?" She can't quite bring herself to actually ask for a transfer of ownership out loud. Until she can unwind whatever's going on with Biara, this relationship may involve a fair amount of lying to herself, or at least refusing to let herself think about certain things.

HP: 108/108 || AC: 29 || SP: 14/14 || Fort: +7 Ref: +12 Will: +9 || Perception: +13 Delayed Damage Pool: 0/27 || Dodge Pool: 170/170% Olympia looks a little amused as Danika draws her equipment out of her shadow. "Well, there goes my plan to look impressive pulling my weapon out of my bag. Although..." She turns back to Biara, now that she's returned.. "Eosi tells me you can turn into a weapon? If you'd like a chance to show off that trick, I do tend to actually strike things a bit more often than he does." She chuckles quietly. "I tend to prefer fighting with two weapons, if you don't turn into anything too large for me to use in one hand." She sets her glass down on a nearby table that's waiting to be cleared, then pulls the long fan out from where it's tucked between the wires around her dress, and snaps it open with a telltale flash of blades. Then she holds her right hand out to Biara. "Fortunately, I do have something for the other hand. Though I do hope you don't get seasick in that form." As much as Olympia spins around in combat, motion sickness would be a bit of a handicap. She ducks her head to accept a touch from Danika; a quiet chime that seems to emanate from somewhere in Olympia's torso. "Thank you, Danika." She can see in normal darkness, but of course the advantage of being able to see through Danika's magic is still a big help.

HP: 108/108 || AC: 29 || SP: 14/14 || Fort: +7 Ref: +12 Will: +9 || Perception: +13 Delayed Damage Pool: 0/27 || Dodge Pool: 170/170% "Automatic weapons aren't... quite what I meant." Olympia bites her lip for a moment before deciding that getting into what "resource and personnel attrition" actually covers is too much for a conversation where they've already gotten more words out of any Bitter Titan than she usually hears in a month. They have places to be, anyway, and even if Olympia wanted to play psychiatrist, ten minutes isn't enough for her to psychoanalyze an entire squad. "I don't talk about missions like dancing just as a metaphor - I have a knack for controlling the rhythm of a fight. You don't necessarily have to literally dance, but it's a matter of timing, following it like a piece of music. Listen for when the actual music starts playing, and if you can keep time you might find it makes everyone who participates a little more effective." She turns to look at Eosi with wide eyes when he mentions Biara turning into a weapon. Which puts kind of a different cast on what Danika was saying earlier. "Really. That's very interesting. Well, I can fight with two blades as well as a double-ended one... If she doesn't mind the sharp edges and metal parts -" Yes, she may be teasing Eosi and Biara about that for a while. "- I wouldn't mind the help. I can get by just fine without breathing, though. But if anyone would like a bit more protection, I can also help with that - a bit like having armor or a shield that won't hinder you at all." She'll just continue sipping from her wineglass while they wait for Biara and the additional member of Bitter Titan who's apparently on the way. It takes a lot more than one slowly-consumed glass of wine to impair Olympia's capabilities, generally, since consuming anything is also pretty much optional for her. "Well, you'll get to see for yourself soon enough, Magos. Though I'm sure I don't need to question your sense of rhythm." At least not if it's as good as his dramatic timing.

HP: 108/108 || AC: 29 || SP: 13/13 || Fort: +7 Ref: +12 Will: +9 || Perception: +13 Delayed Damage Pool: 0/27 || Dodge Pool: 170/170% Olympia's eyes widen a little at what happens when someone stumbles up against Biara. "You probably want to be careful with that. Not everyone is as resilient as we are." She smiles to try and take some of the sting out of the remark. "Like you were saying earlier - I try not to lean on people who can't support my weight or catch people's fingers in my gears." Well, between Eosi's and Danika's urging, she can hardly say no - she beckons to Biara to come along as well before following Eosi back over. "So, did you settle on a - oh, I see!" She recognizes the contract from her earlier perusal halfway through the sentence. Olympia's still a little shaky on the general mechanics of things like "starships" and "outer space" - Onyx City is just about up to automobiles, radio, and neon - but that contract still caught her eye earlier... and of course, regardless of how much sense it makes to her, the actual objective is obvious enough. "That one! It looks like it could be quite a job. If you're looking for an extra hand or two, I'm happy to help!" After all, presumably if they didn't want her to join, Danika wouldn't have been waving her over. Although she raises her eyebrows a little when she sees two out of the three other Bitter Titan members have joined them as well. Hopefully this spaceship place isn't too cramped, or things might get crowded. She looks up at Foxtrot-Lima thoughtfully. "I'm sure your team can coordinate - how is your rhythm?" They don't need to be literally able to dance to keep up with Olympia, after all, but it helps to be able to keep time.