Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults Chapter One: The Mechanics of Initiation
The process of Initiation into a Mystery is given a full treatment in The Mysteries: Revised Edition, but a summary of the mechanics is provided here for reference.
All of the Exoteric (that is, House) Mysteries are governed by a separate (House) Lore; thus there is a House Bjornaer Lore, a House Criamon Lore, a House Merinita Lore, and a House Verditius Lore. Initiates who have not been apprenticed to a member of the House need at least (House) Lore 1; the Mystagogue for any Initiate must also know the same Lore, but generally needs a high level if the Initiation is to succeed. To grant the Initiate a new mystery Virtue, the Mystagogue generates an Initiation Total, which determines the success or failure of the Initiation:
| Initiation Total | Presence + (House) Lore + Script bonus |
The Initiation Total is based on the Mystagogue’s scores. There is no die roll; if the total is higher than the target level the Initiation succeeds. Initiation Scripts and their bonuses are described in the following chapters. The target for this total is the Initiation Target Level, which depends on the kind of Virtue to be initiated, Major or Minor:
| To initiate a Minor Virtue known by the Mystagogue | Target Level 15 |
| To initiate a Major Virtue known by the Mystagogue | Target Level 21 |
The target level is increased in the unlikely event that the Mystagogue does not know the Initiated Virtue. This is most often the case in the event of a maga who decides to try to initiate herself in a Mystery Virtue without a Mystagogue, in which case the Initiate acts as her own Mystagogue and uses her own scores in the Initiation Total.
| To initiate a new Minor Virtue | Target Level 18 |
| To initiate a new Major Virtue | Target Level 30 |
In addition, if the Initiate underwent a previous Ordeal (gained a Flaw, lost a Virtue, or increased a Flaw from Minor to Major) for a previous Initiation, reduce the Target Level as follows:
| First initiation after an Ordeal | After a minor Ordeal: Ease factor -3 After a medium Ordeal: Ease factor -6 After a major Ordeal: Ease factor -9 |
| Second initiation after an Ordeal | After a minor Ordeal: Ease factor -3 After a medium Ordeal: Ease factor -4 After a major Ordeal: Ease factor -6 |
| Third initiation after an Ordeal | After a minor Ordeal: Ease factor -1 After a medium Ordeal: Ease factor -2 After a major Ordeal: Ease factor -3 |
Only one past Ordeal counts towards a new Initiation, and there is a minimum Target Level of 9 no matter how great a reduction is applied.
If the Initiation Total equals or exceeds the Target Level, then the Initiation succeeds automatically. No die roll is made — the Initiate need only be properly prepared, and skilled enough to succeed.
If the Mystagogue’s Initiation Total does not exceed the Target Level, the Mystagogue may be able to vary and extend the Script, to make it more effective. If that is still not enough (for example, no Script exists) then the Mystagogue can experiment to attempt to discover a Script.
The initiation Script
An Initiation Script is a written text (similar to a Lab Text) which describes the process of a successful Initiation: the chants and methods, the places and times, and the sacrifices made. If this Script is followed exactly, it grants its bonus to the Initiation Total. Scripts usually detail the price of Initiation, which may take the form of an Initiation Ordeal (the acquisition of a Major or Minor Flaw, loss of a Major or Minor Virtue, or increasing a Minor Flaw to Major level), an Initiation Quest (a lengthy journey with a series of challenges), and/or an Initiation Sacrifice (of time, wealth, knowledge, or power). The Scripts detailed in this book give the bonus contributed to the Initiation Total from each component of the Script involved. More details about Initiation Scripts can be found in The Mysteries Revised Edition, Chapter 2: Entering the Mysteries, which also includes details of the process of creating a new Script.
Varying a Script
It may be necessary for a Mystagogue to modify an Initiation Script; for example, to add additional elements to it to make a difficult Initiation possible for an inexperienced Mystagogue. To vary the Script, the Mystagogue makes the following test:
| Varying a script | Stress Die + Intelligence + (House) Lore vs. Ease Factor |
The Ease Factor is 9 to extend the Script with a new component, such as an additional Quest. Magi with lower Presence or (House) Lore often try to extend Scripts they acquire.
The Ease Factor is 12 to change a component, such as varying the place, the time, or the subject of a Quest. It is impossible to change the Virtue a Script Initiates; that requires a new Script.
The Mystagogue may only attempt one change in a given Initiation. If the test fails, the Initiation would fail (and the Mystagogue knows this), but the original Script (or a different variation) may be attempted in another season. If the variation test roll succeeds, the modifi ed Script is used as above to generate the Initiation Total, and if this equals or exceeds the Initiation Target Level, the Initiation succeeds with no further rolls. If the Script would fail, the Initiate does not need to make any of the sacrifi ces that the Script would require; the Mystagogue realizes the problem before that stage is reached.
If a single change is not enough to make a particular Script work, then either a different Script is needed, or the Mystagogue must study more (House) Lore.
Example Elements of an Initiation Script
The Mysteries: Revised Edition has many examples of different Script bonuses, but the ones below are most commonly employed. See the following chapters for the bonuses of other Script elements.
| Script Bonus | Example script elements |
|---|---|
| +3 | Initiate has to be at a special place at a special time for the Initiation |
| +3 | Initiate has to complete a specific Quest |
| +1 | Initiate sacrifices time — serving another in the cult (one bonus only) |
| +1 | Initiate sacrifices material goods or wealth (this must entail real personal loss) |
| +3 to +6 | Initiate sacrifices something of great and symbolic value (familiar, talisman, powerful invested device) |
| +3 | the Initiate suffers an Ordeal inflicting a Minor Flaw or removing a Minor Virtue |
| +6 | the Initiate suffers an Ordeal increasing a Minor Flaw to Major level |
| +9 | the Initiate suffers an Ordeal inflicting a Major Flaw or removing a Major Virtue |
Character Creation & the Mysteries
Those who wish to play characters already Initiated into the Inner Mysteries of a Mystery Cult should discuss this with the storyguide. It is unusual (but not unknown) for a magus fresh from apprenticeship to know some of the inner secrets of his House, in which case the magus character should be designed with House Mystery Virtues as normal Virtues, part of the standard ten Virtues and Flaws. These are accounted for as normal: in particular, Flaws acquired now do not later count as past Ordeals. Note that if a particular Virtue requires some other specific Virtue or Flaw, this is still required. Mysteries with Initiation Scripts demanding the Sacrifice of familiars, talismans, and the like, or similar Ordeals and Quests clearly beyond the ability of the character, should be vetoed by the storyguide.
For older characters who are advanced in years before play begins, the acquisition of a Mystery Virtue can take the place of a season of laboratory activity, and thus subtracts 10 experience points from the character’s total. The Ordeals, Quests, and Sacrifices demanded by the Initiation Script must be suffered as usual; a player may, for example, have to pay to create a talisman during character creation, and then destroy it, if an Initiation Script demands it.
Potent Magic
Potent Magic, a Hermetic Virtue available in Major and Minor versions, was described in The Mysteries: Revised Edition, but is reproduced here as it is also used by some of the Mysteries in this book.
The Potent Magic Virtue describes how a maga’s magic is particularly attuned to a narrow field, much as in a Magical Focus. The benefits of Potent Magic are compatible with a Magical Focus; unlike a Magical Focus, a magus may have more than one area of Potent Magic, though only one Potent Magic Virtue applies to any single activity.
Potent Magic provides a maga with a bonus in her field of magic, and permits her to devise Potent spells, which gain a casting bonus from the sympathetic magic in shapes and materials.
Description
Minor Potent Magic covers the same narrow fields as a Minor Magical Focus, and grants a +3 bonus to Lab Totals and Casting Scores.
Major Potent Magic covers the same, wider, fields as a Major Magical Focus, and grants a +6 bonus to Lab Totals and Casting Scores.
A maga with Potent Magic may also invent new Potent spells (see below) within the field of her Potent Magic, and may vary spells she knows. See Potent Magic and Potent Spells, below.
Potent Spells
A Potent spell has a bonus known as its Potency, which derives from combining one or more Casting Items into the design of the spell. Casting Items use the factors given in the Shape and Material Bonus table: each Casting Item provides one bonus. (If more than one bonus is possible, the spell design states which one is used.)
| Potency | Sum of bonus from each Casting Item |
| Potency bonus | Add Potency to Casting Score |
Potency is part of the spell design; a Lab Text for a Potent spell includes the specified Casting Items and Potency score. A magus teaching a Potent spell teaches the formula he knows, including the Casting Items and Potency score. The level of a Potent spell, for the purposes of inventing it as well as for casting, is unaltered by the Potency score. However, a magus may not invent a Potent spell with a Potency higher than his Magic Theory score, even with the aid of a Lab Text or teacher.
Any magus can learn a Potent spell from a Lab Text or teacher, and apply Potency to his Casting Score; the Potent Magic Virtue is required to design a Potent spell from scratch, but not to reproduce one from a Lab Text.
To cast a Potent spell, the caster must touch the specified Casting Items. The items need not be large: they may be small and symbolic (for example, a shield-shaped brooch is still symbolically a shield). If the caster does not have the Casting Items available, the spell cannot be cast at all.
Potent Magic and Potent Spells
A magus with Potent Magic may create new Potent spells or alter Potent spells to vary the Casting Items.
When inventing a spell within the field of his Potent Magic (including from a Lab Text), the magus simply chooses Casting Items for the design, and then invents the spell as normal. Each chosen Casting Item (up to the limit of Magic Theory) adds a single Shape or Material bonus to Potency. (If more than one bonus might apply to the spell, choose one and note it in the design). The total Potency may not exceed the magus’s Magic Theory.
A Lab Text written for this spell includes the Casting Items and Potency, and is usable by any other magus.
In addition, a magus who knows a spell within the field of his Potent Magic may invent a variant spell with different Casting Items (including a variant with no Casting Items). If the only difference is a change in Casting Items, he may invent the variant in a single season.
Designing Covenant Libraries
When creating a covenant and choosing Lab Texts for the library, add Potency (if any) to spell level when counting Build Points, and record the Casting Items required.
Attribution
Content originally published in Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, ©2010, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0)