Skeptomancy 2.0

[Gregory Paul Stolze]

At 10:43 PM 2/22/99 -0500, Paul C Duggan wrote:
>Major charge: fake a supernatural event so that a large audience (1000+)
>is convinced something unnatural occurred. Alternatively, convince an
>adept of the rational explanation for his powers. Prove the Naked
>Goddess tape is a fake. Convince a clergyman that God doesn't exist.

I'd make it more than a thousand.  Even that's not so VERY hard with TV and
CGI and such.  "Alien Autopsy," anyone?
>Cold Reading
>Charges: 3 minor charges
>
>Effect: Learn any 5 things you want to know about a person that you are
>engaged in oral conversation with. Age, health, politics, sexual
>history, religious persuasion. Doesn't work on people you know well or
>who know you well.

MUNCHKIN: Okay, I want to know his PIN number, the secret he most wants to
conceal...

Let's make this "five things the person would admit to a friendly
acquaintence" such as age, health, etc.  
	
>Interference
>Charges: 1-10 minor charges
>
>Effect: Minor charges spent within Soul stat feet have no effect 20% of
>the time per charge spent. No unnatural phenomenon will occur if the
>minor charges do work. Additional charges may be spent by the interferee
>to increase their chances of it working by 20%.

Does this simply make spells fail, or do they fail and lose the charge too?

>Peer Review
>Charges: 1 minor or significant charge 
>
>Effect: A Skeptomancer can use this spell to share resources with other
>skeptomancers. After casting this spell, other skeptomancers within soul
>stat feet of the adept may add their charges to whatever effect is being
>attempted. Significant spells may only be cast if a significant charge
>is used for Peer Review. It may be better to think of this as a special
>ability of skeptomancers rather than a spell, since using this is not
>considered breaking the skeptomancer taboo. 

Why not just say the spell costs X+1 and transfers X charges to a nearby
skeptomancer?  Hm, you'd get some fun Penn & Teller action - one
Skeptomancer who's spent his Soul points on persuasive skills (and can
consequently reap charges) and another who spent his Soul points on a high
magick skill (can can therefore USE the charges).  

>Significant Formula Spells
>
>Cry Wolf
>Charges: 2 significant charges
>
>Effect: Makes the claims of an authority figure to be demonstrably
>false. If a scientist claims oat bran will prevent cancer, the next
>study will really find that it causes it. A mayor claims the economy
>will improve, it will actually worsen. This only applies to questions
>about tendencies or future predictions. If someone claims the Eiffel
>tower exists, it won't cease to. If they claim it is structurally sound,
>it will start falling apart.

If you only want it for 2 sigs, I'd say it makes the claims APPEAR false.
If you want it to actually change something as big as the economy or the
results of an election, you're going to need some fairly serious leverage.

>Counterspell
>Charges: 1 significant charge
>
>Effect: nullify a significant blast, formula spell, or artifact. It has
>no effect

Again, does the charge get spent, or not?  (I'd say not.)  

>Monster from the Id
>Charges: 3 significant charges
>
>Effect: Causes the target to experience his most frightening beliefs
>coming true. This should be something related to their most failed
>madness meter, and only effecting them personally. If they fear AIDS,
>they get it. If they fear nuclear war it doesn't happen.

Again, you might want to bump up the charge cost on this OR have it be an
entropic-like effect where they BELIEVE it happened.

-G.
1899 Phrenologist: Your son has the sloping forehead of a sexual deviant:
better put him in an asylum.
1999 Gene Therapist: Your fetus has the "date rape" gene.  Better abort.