Warping
Warping refers to the effect of change a character undergoes due to being exposed to a mystical effect that is not accord with the character's nature. Mystical effects can be momentary, such as a spell being cast, or medium-term, such as a strong aura through which a character travels. Effects like these are always specific to one of the Realms of Power. An entity that originates from, or is in complete accordance with a specific Realm, is usually considered immune to Warping from that Realm: a faerie creature would not be considered to be subject to Warping due to living in a strong Faerie aura. A Hermetic magus, though Gifted, is not immune to Warping from the Realm of Magic, but a spirit, a magical creature, is.
Quantification
A character that is subject to Warping gains Warping Points. Warping Points act like experience points for a Warping Score of a character, that is, it takes 5 Warping Points to increase a Warping Score from 0 to 1, and another 10 to increase it to 2. Human beings that are not born in an area with a strong aura, start with a Warping Score of 0.
As the Warping Score of a character increases, he accumulates more and more typical traits of the primary source of the mystical effects he has been exposed to. Effects of Warping are expressed via Virtues and Flaws.
Mystic Traditions
Various mystic traditions partly align their mortal members with one or more of the Realms. Hermetic magi, for example, are aligned with the Magic realm, and members of House Merinita are further aligned with the Faerie Realm.
Amongst the benefits of this alignment is the fact that such characters don't suffer Warping from residing in a high aura associated with that Realm.
Furthermore, they develop a particular response to Warping that is unique to their tradition and the Realm. Instead of suffering the normal effects of Warping, they suffer tradition's effects. Hermetic magi suffer Wizard's Twilight, diabolists suffer Vituperation, and so on.
References
See also
- The Limit of Warping: ArM5, p. 80.
Legacy Page
The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:warping