[UA] New School: the Neomancer

[George Guy]

[size=4]The Neomancer[/size]

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.

[size=3]Blast Style:[/size]

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.

[size=3][b]Stats[/b][/size]

[b]Generate Minor Charge:[/b] 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.

[b]Generate Significant Charge:[/b] Acquire a product that was bought on or
before the day when it was released, within one month of its release.

[b]Generate Major Charge:[/b] Invent something that obsolesces a wide range
of products.

[b]Taboo:[/b] 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.

[b]Random Magick Domain:[/b] 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.

[b]Starting Charges:[/b] Newly-created Neomancers start with 3 minor
charges.

[b]Charging Tips:[/b] 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.

[size=3]Minor Formula Spells[/size]

[b]Paper Trail[/b] (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.

[b]Got a Receipt?[/b] (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.

[b]Face Lift[/b] (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.

[b]Big New Thing!/Old News![/b] (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.

[size=3]Significant Formula Spells[/size]

[b]Planned Obsolescence[/b] (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.

[b]Shopping Spree[/b] (1+ significant 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 charge 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.

[b]Survival of the Meanest[/b] (2 significant charges)

This is Neomancy's blast. Mechanically, it works like Plutomancy's blast,
only it tends to cause more stress checks due to the sense of betrayal. It
also has a greater tendency to escalate and cause general chaos as
bewildered comrades try to help each other. Damage cannot be increased
normally, but additional castings within a minute of the first only cost 1
significant charge each, no matter who the targets are.

[b]But Mine is Shinier![/b] (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.

[b]Die With the Most Toys[/b] (5 significant charges)

When a Jones casts this spell, she cannot be harmed by anyone who has
possessions on his person costing less in total than the possessions on the
Jones' person. For ten minutes, attacks by people with fewer simply glance
off the Neomancer's skin or miss miraculously.

[size=3]Major Formula Spells[/size]

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.

[size=3]What You Hear: the Neomancer[/size]

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.
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