unknown armies

Chronomancy

 
"The surest poison is time." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It is later than you think." - Chinese Proverb

Chronomancy is the magick of Time. Its practicioners are called "clockers," possibly a clue as to their relation to the Mechanomancers -- both schools sacrifice elements of a mage's life (youth in one, memory in another) and Chronomancers fuel their magick through the destruction of clocks and even clockworker mechanisms. Whatever the connection, Chronomancy is an older school but has only recently re-appeared as an active one.

The actual composition of this school is interesting: the majority of its members are young, favoring extreme fashions and behavior. The rest are much older, preferring a more stable, quiet existence. Undoubtedly, the older members are loathe to lose what youth the have left while the newer clockers are too hungry to realize how precious life can be.

Chronomancy Blast Spell - Chronomancer attacks cause 1/2 damage but also cause the victim to age a number of years equal to the blast's full damage. Although it is possible to kill someone by aging them beyond a reasonable lifespan (100+ years would kill most people), the victim will only suffer the physical and mental effects of aging (Body, Speed and sometimes Mind scores will decrease, affecting both the attributes and their related skills). Fortunately for the affected person, the aging is temporary and lasts until the end of the scene.

Generate a Minor Charge - Destroy a personal time-keeping device (sundial, stopwatch, alarm clock), do absolutely nothing for an hour.

Generate a Significant Charge - Destroy a large, public time-keeping device or a Clockworker's magickal construction, give up a year of your life permanently (Chronomancer will age one year). The aging affect cannot be altered through magick.

Generate a Major Charge - Destroy a large, significant and unique time-keeping device (Big Ben, Stonehenge, the Millenium Clock), give up your youth permanently (age thirty years). The aging affect cannot be altered through magick.

Taboo - Chronomancers cannot ever be late. Most Chronomancers carry several watches at one time, both to keep track of time and for charge-gaining purposes.

Random Magick Domain - Time, age and speed are all the domain of Chronomancy.

 
Starting Charges - Chronomancers start with 3 Minor Charges.
 
Chronomancy Minor Formula Spells
 
Tempus Fugit
cost: 1 Minor Charges
effects: The mage can speed up time around himself (giving him an automatic S in iniative contests, two attacks in one round or some other effect), others (for good or ill), or objects. This spell lasts for the duration of a combat round or for about 5 seconds of non-fight time.
 
Lethargy
cost: 1 Minor Charges
effects: A Chronomancy spell that slows its target down. Similar to Tempus Fugit in that caster can use this spell on himself (very handy when the mage has suffered a serious injury).
 
Wrinkle
cost: 1 Minor Charge
effects: The minor blast spell will age its target, as well as dealing damage.
 
Stitch in Time
cost: 3 Minor Charges
effects: Casting Stitch in Time will return a damaged or otherwise altered object to its prior state (in essense, "unbreaking" things). The object must have been broken or had its condition changed within a minute of the spell for it to work. Uses for Stitch in Time include "unbreaking" a window, returning a quarter to your pocket after using it to use a public phone, unlocking a door that someone just locked, etc.
 
Chronomancy Significant Formula Spells
 
Geezer
cost: 1 Significant Charge
effects: The significant blast spell will cause the Chronomancer's victim to age rapidly and deal damage. Older victims are especially vulnerable to dying outright from the effects of this spell.
 
Hypnotize
cost: 1 Significant Charges
effects: This spell causes its target to fall into a trance, unaware of his surroundings and the passage of time. The victim will not be aware of his trance-state, nor will think anything is amiss when he snaps out of it (until he notices the time or the fact that the ice-cream he was enjoying is now a puddle). A minor casting will Hypnotize its target for a number of seconds equal to the magick roll. A significant casting will expand that duration to minutes. The target will come to his sense if disturbed (someone shaking him, being burned by a cigarette) but will be obvlious to most external stimuli.
 
Out of the Loop
cost: 2 Significant Charges
effects: The clocker can remove himself from the timestream, only to reappear later in the same state and location. To outsiders, the mage appears to vanish into thin air (Stress checks as appropriate). A minor charge enables the mage to vanish for a number of seconds equal to their magick roll, a significant charge expands those seconds to minutes.
 
Anachron
cost: 3 Significant Charges
effects: This spell enables the Chronomancer to rapidly age or to reverse the aging process, restoring the mage to the EXACT STATE he was at that age (this spell will effectively remove injuries, both physical and mental). It takes about a minute for the mage to alter one year of his age and this alteration lasts 24 hours (or as permanent as a Chronomancer can be) unless the mage has never artifically aged himself by sacrificing his years of his life. In this case, the age change is permanent if the clocker desires it so (if not, the 24 hour rule applies). Anachron cannot return the mage to an infantile state (~18 months). Modern Chronomancers call this formula spell "Class Reunion" due to its regenerative properties ("Gawd, Margaret! You haven't changed a bit!"). Casting this spell requires the clocker to make a Stress check vs. Self. Failure could result in the creation of a Doppleganger...
 
Chronomancy Major Effects
 
The most obvious effect is to travel in time, though there are a host of other possible uses for a major charge...
 
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