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Mystery Cults

Credits

W RITING AND D ESIGN : Erik Dahl (Merinita), Timothy Ferguson

(Criamon), Matt Ryan (Verditius), Mark Shirley (Bjornaer)

E DITING AND P ROJECT M ANAGEMENT : David Chart

C OVER I LLUSTRATION : Grey Thornberry

I NTERIOR A RT : Kelley Hensing, Brad McDevitt, Jeff A. Menges,

Grey Thornberry, Kieran Yanner

A RS M AGICA F IFTH E DITION T RADE D RESS : J. Scott Reeves

L AYOUT , A RT D IRECTION , AND P ROOFREADING : Jeff Tidball

A DDITIONAL P ROOFREADING : John Nephew

F IRST R OUND P LAYTESTERS : Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow,

Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Wendell Joyner, Angus

MacDonald, Sarah MacDonald, Brian Watson; Matthew L.

Seidl; Volker Bürkel, Christoph Safferling, Andrew Smith;

Christian Jensen-Romer, Luke Price, Peter Hiley, Lloyd

Graney, Kevin Sides; Erik Tyrrell; Alexander Bader, Stefan

Ehret, MaPhi Werner

S ECOND R OUND P LAYTESTERS : Jason Fryer, Emily Dyson,

Matt Dyson, Michael Johnson; Donna Giltrap, Malcolm

Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Wendell Joyner,

Angus MacDonald, Sarah MacDonald, Brian Watson; Volker

Bürkel, Christoph Safferling, Andrew Smith; Neil Taylor,

Sheila Thomas; MaPhi Werner

T HIRD R OUND P LAYTESTERS : Christian Jensen-Romer, Kevin

Sides, Peter Hiley, Ed Woods, Luke Price; Wendell Joyner,

Angus MacDonald, Sarah MacDonald, Brian Watson, Quetta

Watson; Neil Taylor, Sheila Thomas; Erik Tyrrell, Roberta

Olson; MaPhi Werner

S PECIAL T HANKS : Jerry Corrick and the gang at the Source

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Ars Magica , Mythic Europe, Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, The Mysteries, Covenants,

Guardians of the Forests, Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, Realms of Power: The Divine,

The Broken Covenant of Calebais, and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trademarks of

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are used with permission.

D IGITAL E DITION V ERSION 1. O

J UNE 2006

Mystery Cults

Table of Contents

The Mechanics of

Initiation

W Hat tHe H ouse B elieves ............. 45

P ractices & B eliefs ........................ 48

Apt Action.......................................... 48

Riddles................................................ 49

Stigmata ............................................. 50

Body Modiication Rules .................... 51

Life as a Criamon Magus ................... 51

The Gorgiastics.................................. 52

Final Transmission .............................. 52

Adulterations: Lingering Problems .... 53

t He c ave of t Wisting s HadoWs ... 55

The Central Clutch............................ 55

The Prima........................................... 55

t He P atHs ..................................... 58

Stations............................................... 59

Enigmatic Wisdom ............................. 60

The Path of the Body......................... 61

The Path of Seeming ......................... 64

The Path of Strife............................... 67

The Path of Walking Backwards........ 70

Other Paths ........................................ 73

New Virtues ....................................... 73

New Flaws .......................................... 73

House Verditius 107

H istory ....................................... 107

The Cult of Hephaestus................... 107

The Cult of Vulcan .......................... 108

The Founder Verditius ..................... 108

The Early Years of House Verditius....... 110

The House After Verditius............... 110

Crises in the Order .......................... 111

Conlicts in the House ..................... 111

Current Concerns ............................ 112

v erditius M agi ............................ 112

Apprenticeship ................................. 112

Gauntleted Magus ............................ 113

Journeymen and Masters.................. 113

The Primus ....................................... 114

Prices for Enchantments................... 114

Vendettas.......................................... 115

The Contest ..................................... 116

t He M ystery c ult of v erditius .... 116

Initiation ... Mysteries of Verditius ..... 117

The Outer Mystery of Verditius Magic . 117

Learning the Inner Mysteries ........... 118

Hubris............................................... 118

Ordeals ............................................. 120

Confraternities ................................. 121

H ouse v erditius i nner M ysteries .. 123

Enchant Casting Tools ..................... 123

Items of Quality ............................... 124

Reforging Enchanted Items.............. 125

Verditius Elder Runes ....................... 127

Automata .......................................... 128

Bind Curse........................................ 131

Bind Magical Creatures.................... 134

Item Attunement............................... 135

v irtues & f laWs .......................... 135

New Virtues ..................................... 135

New Flaws ........................................ 136

a PPendix : e xPanded f orM & M aterial

B onuses ...................................... 137

P otent M agic ................................. 6

House Bjornaer 7

H istory ........................................... 7

Bjornaer the Founder............................ 7

The Founding of House Bjornaer ........ 8

The Early Years of the House .............. 9

The Schism War................................... 9

Recent Events ..................................... 10

c ustoMs of H ouse B jornaer ........ 10

Harmonists & Wilderists .................... 11

House, Clan, & Sept........................... 11

The Bjornaer Council......................... 15

The Gathering of Twelve Years ......... 15

The Apprenticeship of a Bjornaer Magus .16

t He H eartBeast ............................. 18

Choosing the Heartbeast ................... 19

The Heartbeast in Play ...................... 22

t He M ysteries of H ouse B jornaer 24

Initiating the Clan Mysteries ............. 25

Initiating the House Mysteries .......... 25

Initiating ... the Inner Heartbeast ...... 28

The Three Inner Mysteries ................ 30

The Inner Heartbeast in Play............. 32

Reining the Inner Heartbeast............ 32

t He H untress in tHe W ood ......... 33

History of the Huntress in the Wood ..... 34

The Huntress Today .......................... 34

Structure of the Huntress................... 34

t He M agic of H ouse B jornaer ......35

c Haracters of H ouse B jornaer .... 36

Virtues & Flaws ................................... 36

New Virtues ....................................... 37

New Flaws .......................................... 38

New Abilities...................................... 38

a PPendix : M undane B easts ............... 38

House Merinita 75

H istory ......................................... 75

The House Divided ........................... 77

200 Years After ................................... 78

The Future of the House.................... 78

H ouse s ociety .............................. 79

The Search for Arcadia ...................... 79

Belief & Mythic Europe ...................... 80

Do Faeries Dream of Counting Sheep?.... 82

The Sundered Realms ........................ 83

M erinita M ysteries ........................ 85

New Virtues ....................................... 85

New Flaws .......................................... 87

New Abilities...................................... 88

Familiars ............................................. 88

Arcadian Mysteries............................. 92

Folk Mysteries .................................... 96

Illusion Mysteries ............................. 100

Nature Mysteries.............................. 102

Contributors

138

House Criamon 44

t He f ounder ................................ 45

Introduction

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:

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.

extend the Script, to make it more effec-

tive. If that is still not enough (for exam-

ple, no Script exists) then the Mystagogue

can experiment to attempt to discover a

Script.

t o i nitiate a neW M inor v irtue :

Target Level 18

t He i nitiation s criPt

t o i nitiate a neW M ajor v irtue :

Target Level 30

An Initiation Script is a written text

(similar to a Lab Text) whic h describes

the process of a successful Initiation: the

chants and methods, the places and times,

and the sacrii ces 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 acquisi-

tion 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 Sacriﬁ ce

(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.

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:

f irst i nitiation after an o rdeal :

Subtract 3 for a Minor, 6 for a

Medium, or 9 for a Major Ordeal

i nitiation t otal = 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 initi-

ated, Major or Minor:

s econd i nitiation after an o rdeal :

Subtract 2 for a Minor, 4 for a

Medium, or 6 for a Major Ordeal

t Hird i nitiation after an o rdeal :

Subtract 1 for a Minor, 2 for a

Medium, or 3 for a Major Ordeal

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 suc-

ceeds automatically. No die roll is made

— the Initiate need only be properly pre-

pared, 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

t o i nitiate a M inor v irtue knoWn By

tHe M ystagogue : Target Level 15

v arying a s criPt

It may be necessary for a Mystagogue

to modify an Initiation Script; for exam-

ple, to add additional elements to it to

make a difi cult Initiation possible for an

inexperienced Mystagogue. To vary the

Script, the Mystagogue makes the follow-

ing test:

t o i nitiate a M ajor v irtue knoWn By

tHe M ystagogue : Target Level 21

The target level is increased in the

unlikely event that the Mystagogue does

not know the Initiated Virtue. This is

Mystery Cults

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 modi-

i 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 sacri-

i 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 com-

monly employed. See the following

chapters for the bonuses of other Script

elements.

+1 Initiate sacrii ces material goods or

wealth (entailing real personal loss)

+3 to +6 Initiate sacrii ces something

of great and symbolic value (familiar,

talisman, powerful invested device)

+3 Initiate suffers an Ordeal inl icting

a Minor Flaw or removing a Minor

Virtue

+6 Initiate suffers an Ordeal increasing

a Minor Flaw to Major level

+9 Initiate suffers an Ordeal inl icting

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 specii c Virtue or Flaw, this is

still required. Mysteries with Initiation

+3 Initiate has to be at a special place at

a special time for the Initiation

+3 Initiate has to complete a specii c

Quest

+1 Initiate sacrii ces time — serving

another in the cult (one bonus only)

Scripts demanding the Sacrii ce of famil-

iars, 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 acquisi-

tion 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 Sacrii ces demanded by the

Initiation Script must be suffered as usual;

a player may, for example, have to pay

to create a talisman during character cre-

ation, and then destroy it, if an Initiation

Script demands it.

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