Mutations
General Summary
It is important when creating or approving mutations that the player establishes the Spark’s goal along with its desires. Mutations are the result of the Spark transforming the mage into a more suitable host. As the Spark awakens, it transforms the mage into more of the metaphysical being it is. Mutations are a side effect of magic, like overstepping they are unavoidable and not written to be upgrades or totally positive or negative . They are limitations on magic or unique manifestations within theme. They are rarely subtle and even rarer controlled by the mage as they are manifestations of the Spark within them.
Contents
Types of "Mutations
Witchmarks (Witchbrand): Witchmarks are gained upon first being initiated in the magic. They tend to be quite consistent across the magic domain itself, meaning that all mages of that type have the same Witchmark. You can normally find information on the Witchmark for your magic in the appropriate lore article.
Normal Mutations: Mutations are signs of the growing Spark within the mage. As the mage ascends in levels they accrue more mutations. You must acquire one mutation per level through Expertise; with the power of Mastery comes two mutations. (Please post all mutation approvals in the Prophet Support Forum)
Overstepping Mutations (Spark Corruptions): It is possible to gain additional mutations due to Overstepping in a magic. The excess strain on the Spark and the mage forces what's known as a Spark Corruption and can result in mutations that are directly related to how the mage overstepped and the sort of overstepping consequences they experienced. These must be moderator approved or gained as consequences from a moderated thread.
What are Mutations Themselves?:
Mutations are the natural progression of magic as the Spark continues to grow in power and influence. Not all mutations imbue extra abilities into the Mage and, in fact, new abilities are actually quite rare. Those that do end up granting them are abilities that fit within the theme of the magic (without breaking the rules), have drawbacks as well as benefit, and are rarely (if ever) controlled by the mage. Consider mutation 'abilities' to be things the Spark triggers. These examples aren't always beneficial to the mage as the Spark rarely differentiates between social attack or physical attack, only responds to danger as it understands it.
When you design a mutation, ask yourself how the Spark is forcing both the mage and the rest of the world to acknowledge its presence, its eminent completion. If your mutation is easily hidden, it's hardly worth being mutated over.
Behaviorally, arcanely, and physically are the ways the Spark transforms the self.
Always consider ether cost as well. Abilities that are 'always on' are always drawing ether if they're magical effects. A player must keep this in mind when designing a mutation as a constant magical aura or ability will hamper their own casting prowess before overstepping.
Remember also that Sparks change the body in small ways (witchmarks) to larger ways (Awakenings and Revelation) but always with purpose. Mutations rarely, if ever, cancel each other out and instead build toward the kind of being the Spark wants to awaken as. Keep this in mind as you design.
Guidelines For Mutation Creation
Theme Has a theme been chosen for the Spark in question? Sparks are entities unto themselves and will exert their will over their mage. The mutation is a result of the Spark striving to satisfy it’s goals. The following a general examples for themes. Remember that each Spark is unique and has motivations associated with the sort of domain magic it is associated with.
Theme Examples
Themes comes in all shapes in sizes, so this list should not be considered comprehensive.
Aberration: Ambition - The Aberration Spark which prizes ambition seeks to push a mage to pursue their loftiest goals and drives. For this Spark the ends always justify the means, especially when it comes to the pursuit of power. Mutations could include an overwhelming and ceaseless thirst to flay in order to gain strength, more so than a typical aberrant.
Abrogation: Protection - The Abrogation Spark which seeks to protect, nurture and shape the mage. Almost an overprotective parent, this Spark can lead to a paranoid mage, as it wishes to keep the mage to itself. This Spark might push the mage to not trust others, to see threats where there are none, etc. Mutations might include such things as spontaneous casting of shields, nervous tics etc.
Attunement: Curiosity - The Attunement Spark that is driven by curiosity will drive the mage to investigate every trait and attribute they can about an object. Mutations might involve an uncanny attraction to new and alien things or the ability to taste or smell attributes in a manner similar to synesthesia.
Becoming: Predator - The Becoming Spark that thrives on predation will always entice the mage to take the form of predators and to embody their traits. This can include mutations where the mage develops the talons of a bird of prey or a ceaseless drive to hunt. It can also lock the mage into certain kinds of predators or animals as its only appropriate totems.
Defiance: Hunger - The Defiance Spark that hungers, wishes for the elements themselves to consume and destroy the world surrounding the mage. This can mean that the Spark is quick to push the mage to set fire to homes or flood buildings. It yearns for destruction and to consume all things. It is the destructive nature of the elements honed into a ceaseless desire to dominate and consume. Mutations could possibly include the propensity of objects to catch fire when the mage passes by, regardless of their intentions.
Empathy: Control- The Empathy Spark that desires control will often reach out to dive into the tangles of others in order to exert control over their emotions. It is a difficult and contrary Spark to deal with, but potent when turned to the art of manipulating others. This can include mutations where the Spark will pre-empt an emotional tying in the tangle of people the mage subconsciously perceives as a threat, or a mutation wherein the mage is prohibited from using their magic on someone who has command over them. Another example along this theme might be manifesting an appetite for confidence, driving the Empath to strike confidence from the tangles they encounter in order to better facilitate their control.
Graft: Discovery - The Spark of Graft can often take a scientific approach to those that it's magic touches. It wishes to seek and understand the bodies of others and how they can be melded into something more. This can mean that the Spark will sometimes incline the mage toward controversial acts in the pursuit of understanding.
Hone: Enhancement - A Hone Spark can become enthralled with improving the body of its mage. It seeks enhancement and will manifest mutations that may cause the body of the mage to shift in strange and alien ways that the Spark sees as beneficial.
Necromancy: Command - An example of a theme around a Necromancy Spark might be its propensity to command. Mutations would involve the inability to take orders from others, a specific unifying mark on all the thralls raised (Much like a battle standard), or the compulsion to kill and Thrall anyone who does not heed your orders.
Rupturing: Freedom- The Rupturing Spark that desires freedom will do everything in its power to keep the mage moving from place to place. It detests stagnation and will make sedentary life difficult for the Rupturer. This can include mutations of the mind where the mage is motivated to travel and constantly move. Likewise the Spark might automatically try to Rupture them out of any area that might be confining, including a narrow hallway or small room. Additionally the Spark might create a mutation to activate whenever the Rupturer might be in a social circumstance where they feel trapped.
Transmutation: Metamorphosis- The Transmutation Spark can sometimes become fascinated with change and shifting one substance into another. This theme might lead the Spark to constantly reaching out to spontaneously transmute objects near to the mage or that the mage touches.
Story Impact:
How will these mutations fuel the story for the character? Mutations are telling the story of the Spark itself and how it is manifesting itself within the mage. Often mutations feed off of the character’s existing behavior. So consider how they use their magic along with their personal goals. These will impact how the mutations manifest. Also consider the narrative impact of the mutation. Minor mutations, small things that only show up in extremely specific circumstances don’t necessarily fit the bill of a mutation. A mutation, in some way, changes how you play the character. The Spark becomes more obvious, harder to ignore. It forces the mage to reflect on what they are becoming.
Although it should be noted that a Mutation should also be considered from the writing standpoint. Mutations are generally permanent and a player should be comfortable with writing the change that comes to their character with these mutations. Before implementing a mutation, consider what writing with it will be like before deciding on it entirely. Mods in the PSF will also help if they feel your mutation may be too restrictive or might grant too great a challenge in writing.
Should a mutation become too difficult to write with, you may appeal for an adjustment in the PSF by explaining the difficulties. This process should not be used extensively as Players are encouraged to weigh the consequences of each change they intend to make to their characters and their story.
Skill Balance:
Be aware of the advantages and disadvantages to every mutation and ensure that they are not going to disturb the existing skill balance of ST. Any benefit should be tempered with an equally powerful drawback. Also be aware that mutations are not meant to nessecarily be new magic abilities. They must always be related to existing magic techniques or lore.
Multiple Sparks and Impact:
When a mage carries more than one Spark, there is always the potential for two or more to interact over time, producing strange and curious mutations that are the result of the blending of the Sparks. Also, many mages but not all will typically have a dominant Spark. This is often the first Spark they receive, but may simply be the Spark they have used and helped grow the most. This relationship of dominance over the lesser Sparks may carry over into mutations from any of the Sparks.
Spark Personas
Sparks will always possess certain inclinations and personality traits depending on the type of domain magic they are associated with. These traits are fairly consistent but will of course vary depending on the theme of the Spark and it’s individual goals for the mage.
Aberration: Abberration is a magic of hunger and excess. The Spark tends to WANT and its mutations are based around central desires that it inherits from both the mage and itself early on. Abberration is insatiable, never content, loud, savage, controlling, impatient, and possessive.
Abrogation: Abrogation is a stern and severe Spark with a strong dislike of other Sparks. Abrogation mutations tend to be detrimental to mages with more than one Spark as Abrogation naturally attempts to silence or stymie that Spark’s influence on the mage and their environment. Abrogation Sparks are strong-willed, stubborn, protective, hateful, and loyal.
Attunement: Attunement, as one of the Questing Sparks, is one of the more agreeable to its user. Attunement drives the mage to seek new Frequencies, travel, engage in new cultures and create relationships. It is a curious Spark, always learning and pushing its mutations to help the mage find more to catalog and explore. Attunement mutations, unlike Abrogation mutations, can be beneficial to mages with other Sparks. Attunement tends to commune and soothe other Sparks in a mage, creating mutations to help steer the mutations of other Sparks. Attunement most easily blends with other Sparks. The Attunment Spark is expressive, emotional, lonely, friendly, clingy, thoughtful, and greedy
Becoming: Becoming is a Spark of transformation and acquisition. It drives mages toward the collecting of totems and the experimentation of forms. For Becoming, all is in motion and nothing need be still. Becoming is a Spark obsessed with life in all forms and the exploration of bodies. While it is perfectly content to stay in a new body for as long as the mage wants, it will also push that mage to try new ones as they have time or inclination. Becoming is one of the more animalistic Sparks, high on instinct and borrowing heavily from the totems it comes in contact with. Its transformations and mutations tend to visit those spiritual, mental, or physical aspects on other parts of the totem. The mind and the soul are preserved between shapes, so Becoming actually tends to have mutations that favor those areas rather than physical ones that inhibit the forms it takes. A Spark may decide it favors a certain subset of totems over another, prefers a certain shape as its own, and any other kind. Becoming Sparks are intense, bestial, instinctive, impulsive, savage, and aggressive.
Defiance: Defiance Sparks are those of relationship. The Spark anthromorphs the elements into a form that can interact with the mage. In a way, the elements give the Spark a chance to express itself externally and, in turn, build a relationship with the mage. Sparks of Defiance tend to be possessive of their mage and have trouble mixing with other Sparks. Defiance wants to possess the mage wholly, to be their obsession, to grow their relationship through body and soul. Defiance Sparks tend to love art, anything that involves expression. A Mage may find their mutations respond to the art they’re good at, the Spark taking an interest in that as well. Likewise a Mage may find their magic starts to interfere with personal relationships. A Defiance Spark is passionate, expressive, obsessive, adventurous, and jealous.
Empathy: Empathy is a Spark of control and manipulation. Primarily non-physical, its interactions with emotions and the Tangles make it one of the more curious Sparks in domain magic. This curiosity, however, is geared entirely toward other sapient beings. Empathy tries to forge connections with others. The more Tangles it has to interact with, the more control it tends to believe it has. The Spark seeks to temper fake but powerful emotional bonds with others and can be a little mean-spirited, controlling, emotional, crafty, intrusive, and conniving.
Graft: All magic leaves its mark, Graft is no exception. The Graft Spark has a persona which is obsessed with discovery, with pushing boundaries of possibilities. The Spark itself is in a constant state of curiosity, intrigued by the energies which power the flesh and bone and blood of the vessels it is merged with. It is fascinated by the limits of creation, the boundaries of mortality and it seeks to always push them. To the Spark, those energies which separate life and death are items of abject fascination and it pushes the mage to seek, to discover, to know, to understand.
Hone: The persona of the Hone Spark is inquisitive yet direct. It possess a desire for knowledge but only if that knowledge will lead to some sort of power or advantage. It is a Spark of enhancement, it will always desire that its mage evolves from a lesser form into a stronger one. The Hone Spark is a meddlesome thing. Those familiar with the Lucis Dialect will reach out to others, seeking to grant them boons that they may not desire which are then thrust upon them. Umbral minded Hone Sparks would still reach out to others, but as a means of afflicting them with physical maladies. In a way it is a social Spark that will always possess a drive to be around others.
Necromancy: Necromancy is a Spark of control. It tends to obsess with the dead and the nature and rhythm of observed life. It is a Spark of artistry and enjoys being able to work on many different mediums. The Necromancy Spark is an emotional one and tends to be fiercely possessive of both their mages and the thralls in their possession. Necromancy Sparks seek to emulate life, mimic it but not create it, and so they are somewhat duplicitous as well. Above all else, Necromancy Sparks are authoritarian and rarely enjoy taking a backseat role to other Sparks. Necromancy Sparks are often ambitious, prideful, duplicitous, manipulative, organized, insightful, and contentious.
Rupturing: For Rupturing, all is movement and location. Rupturing revels in motion of all forms and tends to work best with mages that think fast, react quickly, and relocate often. Rupturing drives the spirit of adventure, discovery, and danger. Those who develop mutations in Rupturing tend to find that the Spark tries to keep their minds, spirits, or bodies ever moving. Portals open easier or in certain circumstances. Rupturing most readily combines with other Sparks, implementing aspects of its own domain and magic to how the other Sparks react and mutate. Considered one of the more social Sparks, its exuberance is attributed to a strong and lasting feeling of freedom. As such, Rutpuring Sparks hate to be confined or feel trapped, which often manifests in their Mages as well. Rupturing Sparks are hyperactive, excited, joyous, mercurial, immature, twitchy, and flighty.
Transmutation: Transmutation is a Spark of Discovery and Experimentation. Where Graft focuses exclusively on the organic, Transmutation expands its curiosity and exploration to anything that could grant insight through sensation. It tends to be a tactile Spark, drawn towards certain sensations of substances that it, through the mage, enjoys. Transmutation is a magic of altering and improvement. Transmutation is never at ease with complacency and seeks to leave its mark on all substances and objects around it. The Spark seems enamored with the tools of man. Transmutation likes to be additive, to augment or edit rather than create out of nothing. It prefers to work from a base. Transmutation Sparks drive their mages to be seekers of sensation and danger, to constantly test their limits and improve upon themselves. The Sparks are generally intuitive, driven, prying, invasive, artistic, arrogant, and reckless.
Examples: For examples of approved mutations, please see this link. [1]
Written by Oracle and Plague