[UA] Pharmomancy

[Chris Milne]

Interesting stuff.

Since there has been some discussion about this school and 
LSD, I thought I'd drag out my aborted write-up of 
Oneiromancy, which I started about a year ago and never 
finished. The chief stumbling blocks I had were formulae, 
so I'd appreciate any suggestions people have (on any 
aspect of it for that matter). As you can see, I didn't get 
very far before more important things consigned it to the 
dustier parts of my hard-drive. I do have further ideas for 
spells, but I'd like to see other people's (no doubt 
better) ideas before I go any further...

Anyway, I've quickly updated it in view of the 
now-canon-Oneiromancy. A new name would probably be welcome 
as well   :-)


Aleetheiamancy

No one's entirely sure where this school of magick 
originated, but most people can give you a theory, if you 
ask. Some say that they've been around since the dawn of 
history, and probably before; others that they appeared in 
the 20th century following the writings of Huxley, Leary 
and their like. Whichever line they sell you, they're 
probably half right, though of course there's no way to say 
for sure. Like Oneiromancy, Aleetheiamancy probably existed 
in ancient times, dying out and then experiencing rebirth 
in the modern era.
Whatever the truth of the matter, it's safe to say that 
Aleetheiamancy has never been the most popular path to 
power. Every school requires sacrifices, but few ask you to 
sacrifice your mind on the altar of power.
In return, aleetheiamancers gain some control over reality. 
They can make you see things that aren't there, or maybe 
just the things that other people don't see. The powerful 
ones can change aspects of the cosmos that you've always 
taken for granted, things like gravity and friction. If you 
talk to them, they might tell you that all these Laws of 
Nature have as many loopholes as the Laws of Society. Then 
again, they may decide that you're not really there, and 
ignore you. What if they're right and everyone else is 
wrong?

Aleetheiamancy Stats
Aleetheiamancers generate their power by escaping the bonds 
of consensual reality. The further they go, the more power 
they get. It's just difficult to control how far you go, 
and what you leave behind when you get there.
Generate a Minor Charge: Look at the universe from a 
different point of view. Just pop out of the Room of 
Reality for a while and go look at the exterior decoration. 
Drop some acid, drink recycled reindeer piss, starve 
yourself to a frenzy - all you got to do is remember that 
your experience is just as real as the other person's.
Generate a Significant Charge: Experience the flip-side of 
reality. Confront your inner convictions about the way 
things should be, and turn them inside out. Some people 
call it a bad trip; others accept it and take the power it 
brings.
Generate a Major Charge: Adjust your view on a permanent 
basis. In short, to those that don't see the big picture 
the way you do, go mad. Since most adepts wouldn't be 
regarded as sane by the majority of people, this means a 
significant mental illness, probably incurable. 
Schizophrenia, MPD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are the 
obvious ones. (Note: Their mention deserves a quick point 
in the direction of the sections of the rulebook that deal 
with this areas.)

There are no restrictions on how the adept achieves the 
state of mind required to generate charges. Use whichever 
method fits with the character. Unintentional experiences, 
such as flashbacks, are valid for charge building. It 
should be clear that the adept has little or no control 
over what type of charge will be generated, though you may 
allow the adept to try to influence themselves into a "bad 
trip". It's entirely possible that the adept may gain a 
major charge on their first attempt, but unlikely.

Taboo: The aleetheiamancer cannot allow anyone else to 
impose their view of reality upon his or herself. This 
includes taking anti-psychotic or anti-depressant drugs. 
Furthermore, aleetheiamantic charges lose their power with 
time as they are drained by the deadening effects of 
consensual reality (though as ever, this probably does not 
apply to Major charges). In short, like cliomancers, use 
them within a month of gaining them.

Random Magick Domain: Aleetheiamancers affect people's 
views of reality. Unlike cliomancers, they cannot affect 
people's remembrance of the past - only their current 
experiences. They can cause hallucinations of varying 
strength, or they can convince you that if a woman offers 
you a cup of tea, then you'll be the next King of England.

Blast Style: The aleetheiamantic blast does not, per se, do 
damage to the target. Rather, it causes the victim to 
experience instant (and therefore disorienting) 
hallucinations. These are usually sufficient to distract 
the victim from whatever they were doing at the time.

Aleetheiamancy Minor Formula Spells

Harry Houdini (2 minor)
The Aleetheiamancer can temporarily escape the natural laws 
of reality, or alter them to his needs. Thus, gravity can 
cease to affect the adept, or it can be made to act in a 
different direction. The effect lasts for as long as the 
adept concentrates. If this is done in view of other 
non-aleetheiamancers, then the GM has the option to 
increase the number of charges required.

Revelation (2 minor)
With this, the aleetheiamancer can cause the victim to have 
a sudden "revelation" of truth. They can't be made to 
forget anything or remember something that never happened, 
but they do gain a temporary delusion of the 
aleetheiamancer's choice (e.g. plastic gives off poisonous 
fumes that cause cancer). The aleetheiamancer cannot 
specify the reaction to the delusion, just the nature of 
the delusion itself; neither can the target be deluded into 
directly damaging themselves (e.g. You're only safe from 
the aliens if you set fire to yourself). The 
aleetheiamancer does not need to communicate with the ta  
rget to cast this. The delusion lasts for 24 hours, unless 
the aleetheiamancer cancels it beforehand.


On Sunday, March 26, 2000 6:26 AM, Eric Brennan 
[SMTP:thebrennans at starpower.net] wrote:
> Hello all,
>     I just started running a full-fledged Unknown Armies
>     campaign (my Feng
> Shui game got handed over to another GM) and one of my
> characters insisted
> on running a Pharmomancer.  I wrote these rules up and
> they worked well for
> our first game, but since I'm relatively new at this I
> thought I'd let you
> all comment...
> Don't worry about being gentle...(and I know it shouldn't
> be pharmomancy,
> but it sounded cool...)
> --Eric
> _________________________________
> "I'm looking for a new kind of satisfaction"
> --Wilson, "The Limey"
> 
__________________________________________________________
> _______________

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