Hi, gang. Last week, we talked a little about the magical paradigm of the Arisen. This week, we delve even deeper to provide a look at the most powerful magic the Arisen can wield: the Utterance.
The dark miracles that are the realm of Utterances could scarcely be considered “natural” by any right-thinking person. It’s said that the power of Utterances flows from sources older than mankind, reaching back to the beginning of the universe and perhaps beyond. And yet they are also deeply personal expressions of Arisen Sekhem, a focused channeling of the powerful energies instilled by the Rite of Return.
While not intrinsically malevolent, Utterances almost always convey a “great and terrible” seeming. Their magic can only be called miracles, acts of God, or terms more profane. Even at their weakest, Utterances accomplish the impossible or reveal secrets that could not otherwise be gleaned. Where they help others, they do so gloriously and often with some price attached. Fate is beautiful, but not kind.
Each Utterance comprises three tiers of power, each of which is effectively a separate spell. Each tier has a minimum requirement attached to it, each of which comes from a different [redacted]. If a mummy doesn’t meet a given tier’s prerequisites, he cannot use that tier’s effect.
Dust Beneath Feet
Tier 1: [redacted] •; Tier 2: [redacted] (Curse); Tier 3: [redacted] (Curse, Epic)
Tier 1: The mummy is ultimately a creature of dust given form and life by the Rite of Return, infinitely more permanent than the matter that clothes his soul. As this tier unleashes, the mummy’s Sekhem bonds with the surrounding earth for an hour. He can extend the duration to indefinite within his tomb, but using this benefit makes the unleashing terminate as soon as he leaves his tomb. This earthen attunement grants the following powers and benefits:
• Whenever he suffers falling damage from landing on an earthen surface (glass, sand, dust, mud, clay, dirt, stone, gravel, concrete, asphalt, etc.), he can spend the next turn doing nothing but regenerating. If he does, he heals all damage from the fall, plus all bashing and lethal damage suffered on the turn spent healing. Even aggravated damage or fatal damage from falling regenerates, causing his crushed body to physically reassemble in the span of heartbeats.
• He can choose to swim through any inanimate objects made of earthen materials as though they were water, aided greatly by not needing to breathe. He can swim in soil beneath foes or down into the walls of a concrete bunker. His carried and worn possessions come with him, though he cannot take animate passengers. The material closes behind him as it was before, leaving no trace of his passage. This power also lets him do things like jump through a metal bank vault door like splashing through a light waterfall or swan dive through a parking deck’s concrete floor to land on the level below. While displacing matter, he can see that material as though it were well-illuminated and transparent out to ([redacted] + Sekhem) yards.
• If caught in a landslide, earthquake (like that conjured by the third tier of this Utterance), or other earth-based natural disaster, he instinctively swims through earth and regenerates from falls in such a manner that he finds his way safely to the surface without injury. He can manage this feat automatically, even while unconscious.
Powerful stuff. Rather curious how scientifically minded Arisen think of the ideas behind this, “It’s said that the power of Utterances flows from sources older than mankind, reaching back to the beginning of the universe and perhaps beyond.”
I assume those effects are all the Tier 1 effect? Also, given the name. Do these utterances involve ritualized trapping?
Hi, Cameron. Yup, that’s just the Tier 1 effect of that Utterance (although you’ll note there’s a spoiler in there about the nature of the Tier 3 effect). 🙂
Unlike some powers in prior WoD games (Discipline dot descriptions in Vampire, or Mage rotes, or what have you), each Utterance is a sizable thing unto itself, with large-scale flavor and the wordcount to match. Sure, that means fewer total Utterances in the core set, but it’s all about quality over quantity here, and you can bet we’ll be introducing new Utterances in the supplements, anyway.
Wow, just great stuff!
I’m sitting here laughing at how awesome it is, and i mean that in the archaic way. These Utterances are really inspired. I can see the utility, personalization, and still the nod to the older games and their Ren-Hekau.
Plus.. all this art that i’m seeing is not only making my jaw drop, but i think really hits the head on the nail when it comes to illustrating the magic and grandeur of these crazy Mummy folk.
Man alive… you can’t start this kickstarter soon enough!
And to think that this game is going to be in color too! Yum. Yum.
Cheers all. As i said before, your gonna win big with this one!
While I adore just about everything I’ve seen about the game thusfar, I have to disagree about this particular piece of art. It’s just a little bit too nile-barbie for me.
Hi, Belial. “Nile Barbie.” Heh, that’s pretty funny. 🙂 But no, the above image is just placeholder art for this blog, and won’t appear in the final core set, nor in any of the supplements. Most of the art for the game is darker and edgier than what you’ve seen here.
Hah. Well, in that case, I doubt I could find better-fitting filler on short notice. I look forward to seeing the real stuff.
supplements? I like the sound of that.
I really do like the look of this new Mummy, I have to say.
I highly appreciate these spoilers, but I wish we’d spent less time on powers and magic and more on what sort of game Mummy: the Curse is, what sort of stories can be told with it, etc. An exploration of the setting.
Let it not be said, however, that I’m not grateful for the spoiler 🙂
Also, supplements = good!
Okay, first of all, obviously, the spell is great. If this is the feel of new mummy’s magic, I am incredibly thrilled.
Second, I really really like the hint in the power that there will be some structure that a mummy can designate (or that is designated for them?) as their “tomb”, and where they’ll be even more powerful. If most powers function in a tomb the way this one does, any mummy that is reasonably formidable outside their tomb will be absolutely terrifying inside it, and that is as it should be.
Seconded. Taking on a Mummy in his tomb should a stupidity along the lines of jumping in the water to fist-fight a shark.
That said, it also makes me wonder if there are powers, rituals, or other processes that might let a Mummy count another location as a “temporary tomb,” especially if it has the appropriate trappings. For example, a museum, or just the museum’s Egyptology wing. Or an outdoor re-enactment of an ancient Egyptian battle.
I love the art. Utterence retain an ancient vibe. I agree that some background on the subsetting would be good. And what does the curse refer too beyond a catogory of Utternce.
very very cool.
dust to dust.
Super curious about what “(Curse)” and “(Curse, Epic)” refer to. Perhaps that’s the “great and terrible” … “price attached.” Just awesome.
More! 🙂
Your wish is my command. New post up. 🙂
Appreciated, thanks! 🙂
Absolutely amazing. I love the Three Tier system!!! As mentioned in the last blog topic, my players biggest gripe with Mummy Second Edition was how few sub choices there were (with some) of the Hekau path dots. With the Three Tier system you get a solid grouping of powers with each Tier. The magic feels utterly ancient and Egyptian too.
Supplements you say??? Yes, PLEASE!!!!! This system is just begging for historical setting supplements (like Roman). Everything I have read thus far makes me think that this is going to be my favorite oWOD game to date. Keep up the amazing work!
Why would Mummy: the Curse be an oWoD game?
Oh my, I think I just got something. Earlier you wrote about magic in this system not being “glowy” and I get that now. They don’t use energy to manipulate the earth with this utterance, they ARE the earth with this utterance. They make their own beings one with it. They don’t use energy to move a rock, they move the rock because it is a part of them. For them it would be similar to moving their arm; it’s a part of them, why shouldn’t they be able to move it? Do you question your ability to move your arm? By joining with their targets, Mummies have a similar amount of controll.
Of course I could be wrong, but that’s what I’ve gotten out of this so far.