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The Faceless Men... and other such things


Simlasa

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So I was watching Game of Thrones and wandering how I'd make something like The Faceless Men in Mythras... is it a cult (they worship the Many-Faced God)? A brotherhood (an assassins guild)? and how to arrange their 'powers' of disguise and stealth... which seem almost magical.

But this also got me started thinking about Earthdawn again, and its 'Disciplines'... which are sort of like guilds devoted to certain professions (soldier, archer, cavalryman...) but each teaches a variety of 'Talents'... which are magical skills related to the profession (similar to the near-magical capabilities of The Faceless Men). So Archers get powers that let them shoot arrows of flame, or arrows that will point the way to a sought person. Disciplines also encompass philosophical outlooks about life and the world... so quasi-religious in nature, but no gods.

Not that I want to recreate GoT or Earthdawn... but I like the idea of having certain guilds that go above and beyond the usual and offer magic-ish professional abilities (not spells really) to dedicated members.
Would such powers best be portrayed using bits of folk magic? or should they be gifts... a number of them offered at each tier of guild membership? I imagine they should cost MP to use and require some level of success on the basic skill they're built off of (such as disguise or archery).

This is probably a dumb question and the answer is obvious... but I've been going around with myself about how to build such a thing... a guild that's borderline mystical cult in its powers... and not make it too OP. I also figure these factions would be harder to join and progress in... or that they'd ask a further degree of commitment somehow (ala The Faceless Men asking members to forget themselves and become 'no one').

Edited by Simlasa
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Realize that an organization can be a Cult and a Brotherhood.

Why not a Mystic Brotherhood here...or, as you propose, a Brotherhood with some Folk Magic?  Anything is possible.  The structure is meant to be broadly useful, not constraining.

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I'm not sure why I hit a mental block with it... I guess because it felt like such factions would provide much more powerful abilities than other, more mundane, guilds and gangs.
I guess it's just going to take some trial and error... making mistakes... to get a feel for it.

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As always, the question is, how much magic do you want your game to include?  It's a lot easier to dial it up than to retcon and take toys away, so I suggest starting small.  Put something up here and we'll pick it apart for you, if that's what you're looking for, and then you can refine, before getting to the gaming table. 😄

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