lunes, 7 de diciembre de 2020

CANTRIPS & CONTRAPTIONS VII - BUNKS (DISPARATES)

Bunk is far more than a silly requirement for casting a cantrip; it is the means by which a changeling can actually touch the Dreaming within themself, allowing them to draw upon a little bit of Glamour. Nobody, not even the fae, really understand Glamour. It seems to come more readily to some than others, and it is never the same from one moment to the next. And yet over the ages, the fae have learned how to use it to create varied and wondrous effects in order to overcome the banal world.


Choosing a Bunk

Whenever a character decides that they are going to cast a cantrip, they must first successfully perform a Bunk in order to call forth the Glamour required for the casting. Theoretically a Bunk can be anything from whistling a tune, to reciting a Shakespearean quotation backwards, to jumping in the air three times while holding your nose.

This system provides guidelines that allow players to create their own Bunks on the spur of the moment, rather than randomly drawing them from a deck of cards. Essentially the Art determines the general nature of the act which must be performed (Chicanery often involves a verbal Bunk of some sort, for instance making up a new curse word or interjection on the fly - or uttering that made-up word, while Legerdemain usually demands a physical gesture, like "milking the giant cow" or "high-fiving the sky"), while the Realm dictates an object or person which must be involved in the Bunk. The more extensive and involved the Bunk is, the lower the difficulty for casting the cantrip (performing a salute to the sun vs. chasing your own coattails/skirt vs. high-fiving the sky or clapping your hands).

When creating a Bunk, a player must observe the following steps:

  1. Determine what is required for the Bunk, whether it must be a verbal phrase, a physical action, etc., by consulting the appropriate Art on the charts below.
  2. Decide how complex the Bunk will be. The minimum for complexity is one, the maximum is five. One can find guidelines for the complexity of Bunks in the charts below. 
  3. Finally, the player must perform the Bunk.  If for some reason the character is interrupted during the performance of the Bunk and is unable to complete it, the cantrip fails.
Autumn bunks: Hiding your face, blowing out a candle, constructing a costume, casting at midnight.

Chicanery

Chicanery requires a that a verbal Bunk of some sort be performed. This can be as simple as making up a new word to the reciting of a sonnet. Many Chicanery Bunks take the form of poems or silly phrases, though songs also perform adequately, of course, all must feature the Realm of the cantrip in some way. In the end it should be the character's personality that the determines the exact nature of the Bunk.

SymbolArtChicanery.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1A single word
  • Say a word backwards 3 times
  • Swear loudly
  • Make a strange sound related to the Realm (ie try a thunderclap for nature, a strange human-made noise for actor, for fae it would be more complicated...)
-2A short phrase
  • Tell a clever lie
  • Insult the subject
  • Shout your true feelings
-3At least a full

sentence

  • Sing part of a song
  • Start a quote from a film or novel
  • Offer a toast to the subject
  • Make up a new curse or interjection in your mother tongue
-4A paragraph or

short poem

  • Recite a full short poem, for instance a sonnet
  • Make up a new curse or interjection in a foreign language
  • Try to start an argument between two people
-5Several paragraphs

or a complete poem

  • Narrate your every action before doing it
  • Recite part of an epic poem
  • Tell a scary story involving the subject
Chicanery bunks: Performing a sleight-of-hand trick, wearing an elaborate disguise for a day, revealing a secret to a group.

Chronos

A bunk for Chronos must in some way involve time or representations of time (clocks or other timepieces, counting...). The requirements for these Bunks are dictated by how much time must be taken to enact the Bunk rather than by a specific action.

Chronos.png
Difficulty

Modifier

Requirement
-11 second
-210 seconds
-31 minute
-410 minutes
-51 hour
Chronos bunks: Performing a repetitive ritual, winding a clock or watch or flipping an hourglass, following the steps of a routine in reverse order


Dragon’s Ire bunks: Declaring a challenge, sharpening, cleaning, or assembling a weapon, initiating a battle cry

Dream-Craft

The Bunks for Dream-Craft generally involve the creation of a model of the subject of the cantrip. This could be anything from making a quick sketch to creating a sculpture from clay or sand.

Dream Craft.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Vague outline,

no details

  • Draw a stick figure
  • Make a figure out of mud.
  • Make a figure out of sticks.
-2Some details,

some accurate

  • Make a voodoo doll.
  • Wear a costume to represent the subject.
  • Make a model from blown glass.
-3Clear image;

Identifiable subject

  • Draw a portrait.
  • Make a sculpture from clay.
  • Make a wood carving.
-4Detailed representation;

Details should be accurate

  • Full color painting.
  • Create an ice sculpture.
  • Make a carving in crystal.
-5Finely detailed re-creation;

All details accurate

  • Create a masterpiece painting.
  • Make a detailed model of your subject.

Legerdemain

Legerdemain Bunks require that the changeling perform some action or movement; generally silly or superfluous.

SymbolArtLegerdemain.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Subtle physical motion
  • Curtsy or bow.
  • Pull your earlobe three times.
  • Cross your eyes.
-2Noticeable action
  • Drink a drink at one gulp, without stopping.
  • Leap as high as possible & touch the ceiling or a branch. (high-five the sky)
  • Milk the giant cow.
  • Give a moose salute.
-3Blatant action
  • Assume a full lotus position.
  • Roll on the ground and giggle.
  • Raise arms to the sky and shout.
-4Complex physical action

(requiring a full turn)

  • Write a short poem in calligraphy.
  • Perform a magic trick.
  • Stand on your head.
-5Complex physical action

(requiring more than a

full turn)

  • Make an origami figure of the subject
  • Juggle three items then add a fourth without dropping.
  • Catch a fly with chopsticks.
Legerdemain bunks: Juggling three or more objects, making an item “disappear,” throwing your voice, mirroring someone else’s actions.

Metamorphosis bunks: Cutting off a lock of hair, releasing an animal to the wild (caged rodent or songbird, fish kept in bowl, frogs kept in tank for dissection), mimicking an animal (hopping and croaking like a frog, humming and flapping your arms like a hummingbird, etc.) or object, chanting your target’s name.

Naming

Naming Bunks usually include runes or symbolic images and actions.

Naming.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Laundry List
  • Tear up a list you used in the last 24 hours
-2Spin-off
  • Spin a coin on a surface
-3Magic Fingers
  • Paint your fingertips a symbolic colour & do not remove for 12 hours
-4Ritual Garb
  • Where a specially prepared white robe inscribed with golden runes
-5Glitter-rune
  • Smash a precious gem and use the pieces to make a runic symbol
Naming bunks: Filling a page with the target’s name and destroying it, carving a series of intricate runes in stone.

Oneiromancy bunks: Maintaining a dream journal, collecting loose feathers and restuffing a pillow, destroying a favorite blanket.

Primal

Primal Bunks require the attainment and use of a natural element. For higher level Bunks, the natural object must be crafted in some manner.

SymbolArtPrimal.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Common element
  • Listen to a seashell.
  • Shower subject with flower petals.
  • Imitate a bird call or frog croak.
-2Uncommon element
  • Sprinkle subject with fresh spring water.
  • Eat a cake made with many spices.
  • Lick a jewel/gemstone and press it to your target.
-3Rare element
  • Shower target in four-leafed-clovers.
  • Burn mushrooms.
  • Pour curdled milk into a bowl.
-4Crafted

uncommon element

  • Strike subject with a whip with a holly bough crafted at the end.
  • Cut your wrist with a fingernail; drip the blood on subject.
  • Break a solid oak branch with your bare hands.
  • Bite the head off a large bug - especially if the species in question widows itself, for instance bite the head off a live praying mantis
-5Crafted

rare element

  • Massage someone with scented oils.
  • Bite the head off a small vertebrate animal (ie a rodent, songbird, frog...). 
  • Tightly grasp a rod covered in thorns.
Primal bunks: Lighting a match, carving a wooden sculpture, standing barefoot in water, marking yourself with clay, standing in a breeze.

Pyretics

Fire is almost always part of a Pyretics bunk.

Pyretics.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Flick Your Bic
  • Light a lighter
  • Light a match
-2Burn Baby Burn
  • Perform an anachronistic dance such as leaping through a bonfire
  • Burn a small object
-3Dragon Breath
  • Spit out a swig of alcohol and light it on fire
  • Burn a larger object
-4Insurance Nightmare
  • Burn a valuable object
  • Burn a large object
-5Guy Fawkes
  • Sculpt a wax-candle or wooden replica of your target and burn it down to a stub

Pyretics bunks: Burning sage, cooking a meal, pinching out a candle flame, creating or breaking a glass sculpture.


Skycraft bunks: Standing outside during a storm, breaking a long silence, shorting out an electrical device, screaming into the wind.

Soothsay

Soothsay Bunks require the use of divination items or at higher levels the actual performance of divination.

SymbolArtSoothsay.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Minor divination

object

  • Carefully tear a four-leafed clover into four separate pieces. Or tear a daisy apart.
  • Gaze into a quartz crystal.
  • Roll a pair of dice.
-2Major divination

object

  • Hold a lock of your subject's hair.
  • Shuffle a deck of Tarot cards. Or lay out a three-card spread (Empress's Garden for instance)
  • Rattle a bag of runes.
-3Perform a simple

divination

  • Scatter runes on the ground and read them.
  • Stare into the shards of a broken mirror.
  • Lay out a 10-card Tarot spread (for instance a Celtic Cross).
-4Perform a complex

divination

  • Perform an I Ching reading.
  • Burn a bag filled with chicken/rabbit bones, beads, and/or beans.
  • Sprinkle blood onto the sand and read the pattern.
-5Perform an extended

divination

  • Perform a crystal ball divination.
  • Chew the wax of a candle burned for seven days.
  • Create a voodoo doll of your subject.
Soothsay bunks: Reading tarot cards, casting divination wands, inscribing a staff with runes, meditating, ritually cleansing yourself or your tools.

Sovereign

Sovereign Bunks require that one conducts themself in the manner of royalty or adorns themself in royal garments.

SymbolArtSovereign.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Simple word or

gesture

  • Speak with an affected accent.
  • Put on a pair of spotless white gloves.
  • Salute the subject.
-2Make a commanding

statement

  • Break a glass of wine on the ground.
  • Issue an order.
  • Gesture with an ornate rod in hand
-3Adorn a garment
  • Touch a jewelled necklace crafted by a friend.
  • Apply intricate make-up to your face.
  • Draw runes on the ground.
-4Issue a proclamation
  • Stand on a chair & recite Shakespeare.
  • Sweep someone off their feet for a long, passionate kiss.
  • Tell a story with a moral.
-5Make an oath or vow
  • Henceforth call subject by a new name.
  • Swear loyalty to your subject.
  • Make an oath to kill your subject.
Sovereign bunks: Silencing another with a withering glare, entering a room only after being announced, delivering a proclamation to an assembled crowd, assembling and donning your most extravagant finery

Spring bunks: Sharing an impassioned embrace, jumping naked into a lake, surrounding yourself with a series of concentric circles

Summer bunks: Indulging a fantasy, stargazing under a new moon, rolling in fresh-mown grass, dancing through sprinklers, building a bonfire.

Wayfare

Wayfare Bunks require that the changeling physically move their body in some manner; anything from a simple jump to leaping and spinning in the air and landing on their head. Higher levels require a prop of some sort.

SymbolArtWayfare.png
Difficulty

Modifier

RequirementExamples
-1Simple, quick movement
  • Jump in the air.
  • Point at the place you want to be.
  • Stare up at the sky.
-2Movement with multiple actions.

Simple movement with prop

  • Eat three glazed doughnuts at the same time. You can also "chubby bunny" by saying a complicated word with your mouth full.
  • Flap your arms like a giant hummingbird.
  • Eat a live butterfly (or another live bug). 
-3Action changes current location
  • Pass through a door
  • Jump out a low window
  • Jump over a hedge or fence
-4Action involving great physical

force

  • Jump off an at least three-story building.
  • Trace a route on a map in blood.
  • Make a pile of sand in your hand & blow it off.
-5Action involves a prop
  • Thrust a blade into the floor.
  • Watch the shadow of a fixed object shift location.
  • Draw a face on an egg and then break the egg.
Wayfare bunks: Jogging in place, free running, jumping off something, releasing sand or ash into the wind, swallowing a key.

Winter bunks: Dousing yourself with ice water, spending a holiday alone, letting a fire die on a cold night, facing a fear without flinching.

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