Numina House Rules

This post will contain rules and clarifications regarding the Numina race. (Note: current guide is a work in progress)

The numina race is made of exceptional but not supernatural human beings including but not limited to psychics, sorcerers/hedge mages, and people of True Faith.

There will be further editing but I am going to make a quick guide right now of same basics:

Hedge Magic and Numina versus Awakened: Awakened (see the Mage section) have Avatars and the ability to manipulate reality more directly.

Hedge Magic and Numina uses more "built-in" principles. Numina aren't inherently supernatural beings though they may also incidentally be kinfolk, ghouls, kinain and many others, sometimes simultaneously. (doing this however typically will either require purchasing a merit for each additional section or acquiring them in-game)


Sorcerers/Hedge Mages: Acquire magic through study and learning
Psychics: Acquire psychic abilities that are unlocked through meditation, drugs or trauma.

Paths Currently Disallowed:
           Divination - all versions from the book are more narrative than mechanical and can't really function in this server and game format, if there is interest, a homebrew version that provides more mechanical benefits can be allowed with the narrative side being more flavor cheese rather than having to try to force a particular vision or premonition to come true.

The following rulebooks can be used as guides but all of them would require some revision for utilization. These are organized in terms of Usefulness: 1. Sorcerer Revised (Available on DrivethruRpg, primary source for basic rules but is not updated to 20th edition). 2 Sorcerer: Paths of Power (Lots of cool paths and ideas, updated to 20th) 3. M20 Sorcerer (also updated for 20th edition) 4. Hunter Hunted 2 (A few additional well balanced paths/numina that are updated to 20th edition rules but is a vampire/hunter book rather than a Numina book)

Character Creation:
Multi-splat rules:
Firstly, character creation to add Sorcerer on to a Human precludes the character creation rules of other templates. While you can be a Ghoul, Kinfolk, Kinain, etc. and learn Hedge Magic those things are acquired through merits or in character story. This is primarily applicable for gaining the "free" dots in Numina related things not granted through merits. It's also a bit of a matter of rarity and slightly of balance so people don't try to pokemon their backstory into some weird Samuel Haight logic. Basically you can't combine multiple sources of *Character Creation* with Sorcerer just because they can *also* be a Sorcerer unless something else as well, also merits exist for many of these things for good reason or every Sorcerer would also be Kinain, Ghoul, etc. and those merits and their associated templates provide additional powers.
You may with ST permission spend freebie points on Numina as Kinain,Ghouls, etc without taking a merit with the exception of Supernaturals.
In that case, refer to the ST governing that Race eg. Werewolf mod for Kitsune etc. Though a Numina Race mod should still be contacted for any particular selections of paths etc.
Possible exceptions include Thin-Blood vampires
Character Creation Crunch:

1. We will be using the Equal for All rules (they're already default on the server anyway) and help put experienced Numina into an even playing field. You can follow the rules for creating a human with /CS on the server.

Equal for All (Sorcerer Revised Page 45, Book Option)
One of the themes inherent in Sorcerer Revised is
that all magicians are special and that most individuals,
supernatural or otherwise, cannot tell the difference
between a “sorcerer” and a “mage.” Nevertheless, efforts
have been made to keep from stealing the thunder from
our Awakened protagonists. Some Storytellers may wish
to run chronicles in which sorcerers play alongside mages
or just want to further emphasize the fact that linear
mages are not some inferior, lesser cousin to affinitive
mages. Try creating some Storyteller character mages
with Attribute, Ability, Background and freebie points
using Sorcerer Revised starting allocations instead of the
normal Mage levels. Or you may wish to have some or
all sorcerer characters constructed using Mage Revised
build values of 7/5/3 to determine Attributes, 13/9/5
for Abilities, 7 Background points, 6 Numina and 15
freebies. With an even playing field to start, the artificial
differences between sorcerers and mages dissolve and
the real differences can stand out on their own merit.

Freebie Points
Trait Cost
Path/Phenomena 7 per dot
Ritual 3 each

(all other costs are whatever the /CS command is if not mentioned)

Experience Points
Trait Cost
New Path/Phenomena 7
Path/Phenomena new rating x7
New ritual: rating of ritual


Learning Numina (House-ruled):
         Learning a Path or Phenomena requires a significant story justification. The books never really delve into this which can devalue numina, especially sorcery. Paths and rituals are valuable knowledge, knowledge that translates directly into power. Sorcerers quest, hoard, trade, and even fight to gain such things in the lore. Yet, the mechanics sections never talk about this, not in the Sorcerer books anyway. Many players may not even read the story and lore sections, let alone know how to apply them.
These rules are here to enhance the story and have fun, certainly not to NERF Numina users in any way.

This being said, learning Numina will be restricted based off of following in-character justifications for them, but not egregiously. This can be done through the narrative of events and questing such as acquiring an ancient spell-book or mentor, or done through rolls and roleplaying (which may help drive the creation of said events) Either way, learning numina is difficult or everyone would do it, and having said rare spell-book of a path then becomes powerful currency. Characters will be able to spend XP on Numina that they have *access* to.

Psychic Phenomena, cannot be simply taught. It must be "unlocked", through meditation, drugs, etc. Powerful stories involving trauma may sometimes unlock Phenomena as well. Phenomena is often raised simply through training or using the above methods. Certain merits and even flaws may provide justification for phenomena even if the flaw doesn't expressly say so. Wild Talent is generally great, while a flaw such as Eerie Presence or Sadism or pairs well with Psychic Vampire.

One of the main ways that players will gain Hedge Magic is through Mentors or Organizations. A character may select, create, or join an organization often called a "lodge". Examples include the Maison Liban, the Order of the Silver Mirror etc. These often include Paths a list of Paths that are available among the group, and a Sorcerer from that Group will therefore always have Access to that knowledge. Some of these paths may even be restricted to that group.

Additionally, characters whose backstories involve growing up among sorcery/occult may have select access to a path not on the list but fitting with their particular character and/or organization. For example a character may select access to Alchemy or Enchanting as a Mason Liban because it's relatively common among Hermetics, even though it's not on the list. This will be called their Bonus Path/Numina.

Examples of rolls that can be used to create or find sorcery include but are not limited to Ability+Investigation (Such as Intelligence or Wits) to hunt for a book containing a particular path or Intelligence + Occult to design one (may also utilize Library background as well)

Once a character knows a Path or Ritual they can Mentor other characters, granting them access to learning the path along with the Mentor benefits (Using similar rules to the Mentor Background)

Another option for learning paths is with the help of Merits and Backgrounds such as Mentor or Library.