[UA] Re:New School: the Neomancer

Fri May 11 11:39:19 PDT 2007

Thanks.

Here it is again, with some revisions based on suggestions here and on
RPG.net.

Edits and additions appear under: Irony, Generate Significant Charge,
Generate Major Charge, Taboo, Shopping Spree, Divide and Conquer, Spending
Binge, Survival of the Meanest, and Die with the Most Toys.

The Neomancer

AKA Joneses, Brats.

It's all about the Next Big Thing. Ever since you were a kid and your mom
gave you that brand new Super Nintendo for Christmas and the kid next door
threw his NES out the window because he didn't get one, you've remembered
that pull. It's the power of envy, the unstoppable beast of progress. It's
not about the products. There was a time when you cared whether you'd ever
actually go off-road in your new Hummer 3, but you've grown out of that.
It's about the thrill of always being the first one on your block. It's
about the knowledge that you will never become trapped in the tar pits of
contentment. It's your right, your destiny. It's the American Dream.

Irony: Progress without Purpose.

Blast Style: Neomancy hits like Plutomancy, only in reverse. Piss off a
Jones, and whoever is standing closest to you starts hurting you in whatever
way he or she can. In group situations, this can become especially ugly,
devolving into an all-out brawl as confused people try to defend themselves
and each other.

Stats

Generate Minor Charge: Acquire a product that was released in the last six
months. The product can be bought or received as a gift, as long as it
wasn't bought second-hand or at a discount (see below). For these purposes,
the product must have some sort of perceptible, here-to-for unseen practical
innovation or significant aesthetic difference.

Generate Significant Charge: Acquire a product that was bought on or before
the day when it was released, within one month of its release. Once again,
such a product must be a new model, not a new installment or issue. Don't
try to cheat with newspapers.

Generate Major Charge: Be the very first person to buy a highly-anticipated
new product.

Taboo: Buy or otherwise acquire something that was released more than a year
ago, or was bought second-hand or at a discount. The innovation that
occurred within the last year can be completely superficial or cosmetic; if
you really need a new hairbrush, just find a hairbrush whose handle is
shaped slightly differently than those of the hairbrushes made by the same
company last year, and you're fine. Additionally, Neomancers lose all
charges if they enter any store or go to any website that sells things
primarily second-hand or at a discount. A Neomancer also may never own a
business, or invent something new.

Random Magick Domain: Neomancers are masters of greed, envy, innovation,
competition and obsolescence. They can make brothers kill each other over a
paperclip, or turn your desert eagle into a flintlock pistol that you don't
even know how to use. They can make the tide of a fight turn simply because
one side is better dressed.

Starting Charges: Newly-created Neomancers start with 3 minor charges.

Charging Tips: For obvious reasons, Neomancers need a lot of disposable
income. Alternately, many instead have patrons of some kind who fulfill
their needs, whether parents or organizations that require their services
(Alex Abel has more Joneses on his payroll than adepts of any other school).
Partly for this reason, they're perhaps better than other adepts at
appearing sane and normal. Their madness, although taken to an extreme, is
of a variety quite common among mundanes, and this allows them to blend in
perhaps even better than Plutomancers.

Minor Formula Spells

Paper Trail (1 minor charge)
For the next hour, the Neomancer can see the entire history of any object in
terms of who's owned it, who's bought it, who's sold it, and who made it, as
well as its current market value.

Got a Receipt? (2 minor charges)
Touch an object the size of a large mini van or smaller. Choose a person
(this person may be you). From now on, all magickal, forensic, or
bureaucratic investigation determines that the object you chose belongs to
the person you chose. Note that this spell does not alter anyone's memories,
only physical and magickal evidence, electronic records, and paper trails.
When a disagreement resulting from this spell winds up in court, the
conflict between evidence and witnesses can get bizarre indeed.

Face Lift (2+ minor charges)
A person under the effects of this spell appears to be up to ten years older
or younger for about a week. This does not change the target's physical or
mental capabilities; the effects are purely cosmetic. Multiple castings on
the same individual are cumulative, but Face Lift cannot raise or lower
someone past the age of six.

Shopping Spree (2+ minor charges)

Cast this spell on someone as they enter a store (a mall, whether indoor or
outdoor, counts as one "store" for these purposes). For each two charges
spent, that individual will buy at least one hundred dollars worth of
merchandise, whether or not she can afford it. This spell ends when either
the store closes or the individual can no longer access any money without
begging, stealing, or leaving the store.

Big New Thing!/Old News! (3 minor charges)

Cast this spell when someone (including yourself) states an opinion or tries
to convince someone to do something. You may flip-flop that person's Soul
roll, for better or for worse.

Divide and Conquer (4 minor charges)

This is Neomancy's minor blast. Whoever is nearest to the target (other than
the caster) hurts the him as much as he can with his bare hands for one
combat round. This has a great tendency to escalate and cause general chaos
as bewildered comrades try to help each other, and often causes a fair
number of Self and Isolation checks on the victims. Damage cannot be
increased normally, but additional castings within a minute of the first
only cost 1 minor charge each, no matter who the targets are.

Significant Formula Spells

Planned Obsolescence (1 significant charge)

This spell reduces a piece of technology or fashion to a roughly equivalent
stage of development up to ten years earlier for each charge spent. It can
only change equipment into something that is at least conceptually similar
and made by the same company. With enough charges, it can turn an IBM
computer into an IBM typewriter, but it can't turn a Macintosh a typewriter
because Apple never made typewriters. The effects last for one day. This
spell cannot affect anything larger than a mini van.

Spending Binge (2+ significant charges)

This spell works like Shopping Spree, only this time the victim can't leave
the store until she spends $1,000 for each two charges spent. This is, of
course, murder on Plutomancers.

Survival of the Meanest (1 significant charge)

This is Neomancy's significant blast. It works like minor round, only this
time people will attack the victim with weapons, or do more creative things
like shoving him into traffic. This has a great tendency to escalate and
cause general chaos as bewildered comrades try to help each other, and often
causes a fair number of Self and Isolation checks on the victims. Once
again, damage can't be increased normally, but significant charges spent
within a minute of of the first casting count for two castings each.

But Mine is Shinier! (2 significant charges)

Cast this spell whenever you lose a contested roll. As long as you are using
equipment that is newer, better-looking, or more expensive than your
opponent's gear, you may retroactively flip-flop your roll, your opponent's
roll, or both.

Die With the Most Toys (5 significant charges)

When a Jones casts this spell, she cannot be harmed by any weapon that isn't
as new as the weapon with which she is armed. For ten minutes, attacks by
people with older weapons simply glance off the Neomancer's skin or miss
miraculously. Hand-to-hand attacks are not affected by this spell.

Major Formula Spells

Make everyone in the world desire a certain product enough to spend
everything they have on it, or make a nation completely forget about a
certain technology.

What You Hear: the Neomancer

There's this really posh planned community in Nevada, "Frugal Hills" or
something, all rich executives, mostly marketing types, you get the idea.
The kids there are really spoiled: all the latest toys, video games, cars
and clothes for the teens. You know people like that, don't you? Thing is, I
visited some friends there last week after I hadn't gone near the place for
ten years, and I swear to god, it was all the same kids I knew when I went
there ten years back. Haven't aged a day. And the parents, they've got it
all: good jobs, good marriages, good money, but when you go inside one of
their houses, you notice they don't spend it on anything: old clothes, old
cars, no decorations, leaky roofs—just the most expensive plastic crap in
the world for their kids. Those parents look like the saddest people on
Earth. I got out of there fast, man.

On 5/11/07, Eslington ~ <eslington at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Suggestions:
>
> Make Sigs more difficult. As it stands they come pretty cheaply. Also
> declare whether new newspapers and the like count.
> Expand the Taboo. I'd suggest a cannot own anything more than, say, ten
> years old. (This would also mean Neomancers can't a house for long, so
> adjust or refine as need be.)
>
> I'd suggest expanding Planned Obsolescence to allow for things generally
> used for the same purpose, since keeping track of all those companies will
> be a pain in the ass.
>
> The plutomancer spell "Devaluation" would be ideal for the school, and
> Planned Obsolescence would probably be a better name for it. Maybe you could
> rename Planned Obsolescence to "Downgrade".
>
> Explain Survival of the meanest. How long does it last? One attack or one
> minute?
> I'd suggest making it a minor blast spell, costing minor charges, since it
> requires having other people around, but this makes it good for long
> distance blasts and traps. (What will the burglar think when he picks up
> your iPod and his buddy cracks him in the arm with a crowbar?)
>
> On 5/11/07, Courtney Payton <lynxa at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I was wondering about that myself.  I think it would be a bit more
> > ironic if
> > they could ONLY buy the newest, shiniest thing at a discount or
> > secondhand.
> > More like Plutomancy.
> >
> >
> >
> > <html><DIV>
> > <P><EM>"English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows
> > other
> > languages down dark alleys, knocks them over and goes through their
> > pockets
> > for loose grammar." </EM><STRONG><EM>- - -James
> > Nicoll</EM><BR></P></STRONG></DIV></html>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----Original Message Follows----
> > From: Mattias Östklint < mattias.ostklint at husqvarna.se>
> > Reply-To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List <
> > ua at lists.unknown-armies.com>
> > To: ua at lists.unknown-armies.com
> > Subject: [UA] Re:New School: the Neomancer
> > Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 09:42:32 +0200
> >
> > Ok, about this neomancer thingy. What, is the central irony? I get a
> > vague
> > glimpse of it, but nothing solid.
> >
> > Mattias Östklint
> >
> >
> >
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