This was an idea I had for my old character. Since he was a sorcerer naturally he should have a staff. I wracked my brain for ages about how to do it. While watching Tales of Earthsea I thought it could be a direlance. That was a breakthrough but it didn't do the fundamental thing a wizard's staff does and that's make casting spells easier (like I imagine Gandalf's does, he casts spells channelling through it.) After reading Scroll of the Monk I realised a wrackstaff would be better especially since he was a martial artist. I wasn't till I was reading part of Oadenol's Codex that I thought of the idea, use the sentient background as a model for making the artefact host to a new personality. I quickly hit on the idea of using Ryuk as a template (in fact a direct model) for him. He basically is the character of Ryuk from Deathnote with some character traits that will become evident.
This is a good sampler of my work and I think my best yet. Everything about this character worked out well and writing this artefact was so natural and happened so fast I had difficulty keeping up with myself.
This is taken directly from my notes. This is the purest way to write up work and I'm too lazy to edit. I may do a proper edit later but this is the only way to display all the ideas behind a concept, you might miss something in editing and provides and insight into creative flow.
Gillius's Staff has the Manse Sentient (level 5) power. Intelligence 6 (ergo Essence 6)
See rules for Sentient power
What if he has favoured abilities as well. He would have an Essence rating which he could increase, although increasing it above three might require circumstances which are beyond his control like serving or aiding his creator. Maybe he incorporated his own stubbornness into the design. The character may learn Charms in the way a Warstrider's animating intelligence knows Charms although he is not animating. Creating a spirit would require a form of Genesis for creating a new being than animating a construct. He may be very proud of his status and believe himself to be unique, perhaps he actually is. He hates being called a staff since the staff is just what he lives in, he describes it as someone calling a person a body.
Indestructable
The manse contains two sanctums, a study and a forge (which is the hearthroom?) where he was created. He views the manse as his home and birthplace ad has been the only person to live in it for fifteen-hundred years. If the manse had any form of mind or external awareness perhaps he spent his time communicating with it.
Factory Cathedral and Workshop Manse rules
His predecessor, the being's creator may have committed in the late First Age excesses a great blasphemy by creating a god, and one which was subordinate by nature to him. There may still be some powerful gods in Heaven who remember this outrage and (and others...) Such are the acts that made the Unconquered Sun turn his back on the Solars he created.
Rather than rules for creating life he discovered in his truly occult research of things people weren't meant to know and only the Primordials at that time understood- rules for creating gods. Given the scope and sheer affront of his endevour he may well have been only able to obtain such secrets from the Yozis if he didn't discover them through research (if he did he must have been an occultist and sorcerer of prodigious power.) In a similar way the Black Nadir Concordat gleaned the secrets of Necromancy from the Neverborn. If he had to perform a service to learn such things it must have been horrible indeed and would be a stark sign of the Solars' degeneracy and the Twilights' unscrupulous thirst for knowledge, if only because he was prepared to did it in the name of power. Such demonic influence may well explain his warped and devious personality but who knows, maybe he just preferred him that way or that's just the way he turned out. Such blasphemous technology was of course totally new, people weren't meant to create gods, maybe the process was cursed because it was so unnatural. No one knows when he learned to make his greatest creation, many (in Heaven and elsewhere) hope he never does again. He hasn't increased Essence since the Usurpation since he hasn't been able to aid his creator,
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The god's ability levels cannot exceed the character's but their attributes can. Difficulty Essence+2 Wits+Craft final roll at the end of artefact creation.Failure destroys the (now useless) artefact and has serious Essence discharge. Botches are better not contemplated. The sorcerer has to stake his soul making his diabolic creation and may well lose it if he fails so catastrophically. The maximum Essence level they can attempt is two lower than their own Essence. The whole process is unhallowed and the god it creates (this is the only known instance of it being used) are always flawed in some not detrimental but unpredictable way. It was only attempted during the decadence of the later First Age where the Twilights' experimentation knew no limits or qualms and he seems to have been willing to have risked his very soul in the endevour which is an essential part of the whole process culminating in the awakening spell (dramatic action) maybe it takes place during Calibration and has the same rules as summoning a Third Circle Demon. He finally managed to avoid the annual feast in order to perform his masterwork. The spell must be cast from sundown to midnight during the fifth day of Calibration creating further speculation into the presence of Yozi taint.
Perhaps he found during his research (lore) some diabolic way of creating a sentient god without the blessing from a priest and of Yu-Shan in some crack in reality created by the Primordials. The sigils on the staff look eerie and sometimes evil, much like it's occupant... The sigils could actually be his entire personality encoded. Perhaps he achieved his monumental work by taking risks no one would or should take. The fact that he would be willing to risk his soul for it proves it's at least possible. That he actually succeeded after beginning to discover it was possible by chance than by setting out to create a god.
Unlike other projects which were sanctified by the gods and presided over by priests he achieved his all by himself. Although people speculate who he had help from.
He also conceived of his project during Calibration and built it the next year before casting the spell of unhallowed awakening during the next Calibration and (unintelligible) no (unintelligible) to Yu-Shan completely contradicting all existing doctrine on creating a new spirit.
Instead of praying to the Unconquered Sun or another deity to bring a god into being by writing it's name in the Book of Heaven after making a sacrifice he managed to create a 'god' all by himself. It was this act of sheer outrage that causes him and his creation to be abhorred by Heaven. Unlike other awoken gods he did not start off with the intellect of a small child but was fully develop at the moment of his creation. Also he has no name in the Book of Heaven, a clear sign of his blasphemous nature. Such acts would have earned the Unconquered Sun's approbrium if he still paid attention to Creation because people could create gods without calling on his aid. Maybe the reason he decided to do it (other than sheer curiosity) was because he perceived the Unconquered Sun no longer cared for Creation so why seek his help?
Unlike a Warstrider's little god he doesn't remain bound to the staff and cannot be killed by it's destruction, any damage to the staff has no direct effect on him but would make him very angry.
An attuned user can see R'yuk as if he stood next to him and can hear his thoughts that he chooses to share.
Maybe difficulty should be Essence+4 up to a maximum of three. To increase his Essence beyond that the god has to earn and spend experience points.
He remains with the staff because otherwise he cannot communicate with people. Only by using Essence sense of being dematerialised can anyone perceive or communicate with him. Holding the staff is not necessary, as long as they can see it they can see him and hear any annoying things he wishes to say. An important rule is that while someone must own that staff in order to be able to communicate with him they don't own R'yuk, a fact he goes to great lengths to explain to anyone who listens.
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Unlike a Warstrider AI he is a 'true god' (that's how he refers to himself) and isn't limited to perceiving only his immediate surroundings but can sense everything an ordinary person, or god, can. He spent the fifteen-hundred years of isolation during the reign of the Dragon-blooded sealed in his creator's tomb, communicating with the manse and sensing what was going on around it.
The staff is an artefact in own right but it's powers do not depend on R'yuk and he has no control over them. However using it for a purpose he deeply disapproves of would earn his hatred, something an owner could much rather be without. He is more an equal partner to an owner in possession of the staff (although he still regards it as his property as anyone who attunes to it is merely sharing it with him) not someone who can be controlled through it or can control it's use.
To increase his Essence above three he has to fulfill his own obscure criteria for Essence gain in a geographic area (which may cause him to be distracted for long periods of time.) One of the main advantages of having Ryuk as a companion is that he automatically has Essence sight, any dematerialised beings are visible to him, he can tell artefacts or high Essence beings or more obscure and arcane knowledge about his environment and tell the staff's owner without anybody noticing. As a being especially one who feels the need to aid his master, he is extremely self-centred and may withhold any information simply because they didn't ask him and is likely to do so if it conflicts with his own agenda.
Warstrider AI Essence is limited to three by the Celestial Bureaucracy. The Essence of a created god cannot exceed the lower of the character's (Essence or Intelligence) -5.
The worst he can do to an owner is not help.
He can add his abilities to any applicable rolls involving the staff, typically martial arts attacks but also abilities like awareness or
He can ignore unwanted users using his Dodge MDV.
He regards it as very poor comparing him to (or thinking he is) an animating intelligence viewing them as 'dumb' while he is 'smart' (rather too smart than most users would like.)
Is he the god of the manse as well created in it's hearthstone chamber workshop?
His appearance isn't based on attractiveness as it is for people and most gods but on the fact that he looks cool.
As a being of the First Age Ryuk prides himself on ignorance of modern vernacular. He only recently learned to understand Riverspeak and only talks in Old Realm.
Since he was created completely independently of Yu-Shan his name is not written in the Book of Heaven. He is basically an unhallowed god. Some believe this is the contradiction that causes his tainted and wared character although it may be the lack of blessing by the Unconquered Sun (the official version in Heaven among those who know of him.)
Creating the small god of a Warstrider they beseech Heaven to imbue it with a god he made one by himself basically usurping their authority. Which he probably justified to himself (which is the only person he feels the need to justify himself to) to achieve it for himself and Heaven had turned it's back on the Solars and apparently Creation. Normally it's the sacred preserve of Heaven.
Perhaps the manse's creation points apply to him instead.
Has a drawback
The staff can be used to fire Glorious Solar Bolt. Those attuned to it or capable of seeing dematerialised spirits see Ryuk shooting the cleansing fire from his hands. Although some would argue he resembles a creature of darkness himself he is capable of using a Holy Charm and seems to delight in destroying the owner's enemies.
As long as the owner holds the staff he always tries to remain in Essence x 5 yards of it.
Maybe he isn't as tangible as ordinary spirits he is incapable of materialising and his powers seem more abstract than direct. When he attacks people, unless it's other dematerialised spirits he doesn't hit them but supplements his owner's attacks. Making such an object is always a level 5 artefact to represent the difficulty and expense of creating a god. It's initial potency depends on it's Essence level, although only one has ever been made. He made the staff out of pure orichalcum so it could create such a being and so he could enchant it so it would be indestructable.
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Manse is constructed of pure orichalcum blocks (partly.)
Keep track of non power-operated powers seperately, do not count towards creation points (all form the head rule.)
The manse is like the sanctum of the god. The god has to be created in an artefact of an aspected manse (the aspect of the manse matches the magical material it's made from.) The first one was made from orichalcum which represents perfection or striving for an obsolute. No one knows if this is the only way to do it since that's what he was trying to do since no one else has tried it. The god is created in a manse using the Sentient power during manse construction, the rest of the manse including the workshop was complete and it effectively used all the newly raised and functional manse's creation points. But he not dependent on the manse for his existence. Rather it's the other way round the manse can't be given any innate creation based powers as long as he exists since he and his artefact effectively use all it's creation points. The manse is a luxuriously constructed palace of orichalcum which could be what making a god in it's (esoteric god making ability) forge workshop possible.
The character had to create the manse to channel Essence in the workshop for it to create a god in there.
The character, created his manse in the First Age, was a genius. Character can only create a god with Essence up to their own Essence -5. Essence counts as creation points in addition to Sentient power. Requires the use of a level 5 manse with all the benefits of the Sentient power. Whether it has to be made of orichalcum is unknown but it would make sense. First the have to learn Craft (_____) which he did from scratch. Because it's not authorised by the gods in Yu-Shan there's no limit on the god's Essence except the creator's skill and what's mystically possible. The god isn't a little god like in a Warstrider.
In addition to the Sentient power each point of Essence costs one creation point. They are made out of the manse but they do not depend on it for their existence.
He made the staff out of pure orichalcum and fortified it with the manse's Essence and the Essence of the god itself making it indestructable.
In the All Form The Head idea the italisized manse powers are not powered by the manse's Essence and do not count as the manse's allocated creation points, they would have to be bought with resources, carving a manse in moonsilver or orichalcum would cost a massive fortune and powers like archives would require purchasing an extensive library (including finding rare tomes) or extensive research. It is an excellent expandable power as they can increase the size of the archive by doing more research. The archive has to represent something the character does not know or cannot easily remember or there would be no point in it.
If the artefact is seperate it's 'creation powers' would be seperate. If it was made of pure orichalcum it would be indestructable. As part of his desire for perfection and chasing an absolute in addition to the staff he used block of orichalcum in the manse, strengthened by the manse's Essence it makes them indestructable. Is pure orichalcum indestructable? If so the Wall Eaters couldn't destroy it if it's pure. Each block was monumentally expensive, in total it required many times mmore orichalcum than a Royal Warstrider. What types of rock are associated with orichalcum? The rest of the manse would be made of them.
Armour plate is based of the materials. The materials can be indestructable but the manse has to have the Indestructable power for it's Essence to fortify it's construction and make it indestructable. Orichalcum is especially appropriate for the construction of the manse and staff since it's the hardest of the magical materials.
Creating the artefact was more a matter of bringing him into the world than making an object he inhabits and is bound to although he still views it as his possession in the way someone regards their house or the maker viewed his manse. It's possible to live outside or without it but much more preferable to be inside it.
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A character cannot create a god with a higher Essence rating than their score in Craft (_____.) They must create it in a level 5 manse so (unintelligible) without any used creation points so they can create the Sentient power (they need Intelligence 6) and require appropriate lore and occult ratings to learn Craft (_____.)
Instead of creating and modifying life they are creating and modifying Essence.
Characters may not have a higher rating in Craft _____ than the lowest of their Lore, Occult, Intelligence/Essence
_____ does involve the use of sorcery, it uses a unique Solar Circle spell like creating a golem but firstly the creation is a naturally immaterial being made of pure Essence and requires a manse rather than magitech. Possibly more important, especially to Ryuk it does not create a mimic of something that just resembles what it's supposed to be but creates a genuine god.
Although his manse and it's contents were monumentally powerful the Terrestrials sealed it and prevented intrusion as best they could to be sure his soul did not rise after being buried there as a vengeful ghost since his manse was so important to him but also to prevent anyone learning the secrets of what a 'twisted' genius like him was doing which were a mystery even to them (although the Sidereals probably knew.)
Manse Powers
Archive Craft The notes he used to create the spell any reader would have to be very gifted to make sense of them and recreate the spell since it was never actually written down.
Well Flavoured Aspect, Magical Conveniences
He would want to make sure he liked it and it worked well for him. It also works for R'yuk as well.
ower since the power to use the Craft stems from it.
Through his access to the knowledge of the archives R'yuk has some idea of his creation but would be interested to know more from his master's successor.
Conviction Charm R'yuk has a lot of self belief. Likes playing pranks on people. The Black Jester. Motivation: to carry out his master's wishes; but he doesn't always do things for them if he's not explicitly asked to.
Because he wasn't an officially recognised god, given no specific domain to govern, and because Gilius wanted his powers to grow over time as Ryuk's own nature evolved to Ryuk's choosing, he can learn new Charms as time goes on as long as he has experience to base them on which is why his powers haven't grown during his long period in stasis since he had no one to interact with which is a core part of his being. He was intended as a companion. He thrives on interacting with people and toying with them. Some wonder if he is even a god at all but he certainly believes he is and apart from his abberations could well be classed as one.
Despite the fact that he's been able to observe the world through the manse which was designed in part for him as well as for the sorcerer he's become increadibly bored with no one to talk to for fifteen-hundred years when there are so many people around (he found the Great Contagion especially depressing and would go mad with excitement if he got out now especially if he was recovered by the reincarnation of his creator- he prefers the term maker (and never calls him master) as it's less senior.
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See section on Compassion and Temperence Charms
He has no star in the sky.
Given his artificial creation purely by the will of a Solar Exalted and his absence of Fate all in Yu-Shan consider him a blasphemous god. An abhorrent abberation.
Although less powerful in terms of raw power than his maker, Ryuk has access to unique spirit Charms that would make him a helpful ally since he has a different type of power. He exists by nature on the spiritual plane and can see and do things that mortals even Exalts can't even though he doesn't have the same insight as his maker. Maybe he can actually see spirits as well as people or detect them in some other way that allows him to read their emotions and tell other things about them.
Having lived during the end of the First Age he is used to being in a very different environment. His once mighty companion is now only newly Exalted. It's not in his nature to see his relationship as master/servant where he now has the upper hand but would be disappointed that his powers are so weak and seeks to develop them so he can return to the intellectual sparring partner he once knew where Gilius' sheer intelligence was matched against Ryuk's occult insight.
No matter how good someone is at concealing their intentions or lying Ryuk can tell this. He wasn't made to duel with his maker but quickly started sometimes being quite irritating, although the help he gave was invaluable and most of the time he found him an interesting companion, he was always interesting for that was his intended purpose but he wasn't always pleasant or bearable.
The secret of Ryuk's power is the fact that they are based on his Virtues which even beings with high Essence can't raise above five (though they would be more effective and he would be able to learn more powerful ones if his Essence was higher.) He still has powerful abilities which work asymetrically to Exalted Charms.
Perhaps he was created to protect him against other Celestial Exalted including one of the Solars who became a Deathord.
Because he has no given area to govern over it's harder for him to learn Charms and they may be less effective but he can create any Charm he wishes.Perhaps he can channel Valour and Compassion Charms through the staff only while he inhabits it. If he wants he can use the staff as a shelter from other gods or other unfriendly being and can aid his friend in fighting by chanelling Valour and Compassion Charms through it. He does tend to get bored in there after a while if nothing's happening but can communicate with the staff's user if they are touching it and use Compassion Charms to read their mind. He could channel Conviction Charms through the user as well given them fearsome psychic powers.
He has Virtue Charms that use Attributes, Abilities and Essence to target a character's Virtues Virtues, Virtues Channels, Limit, Limit Break.
I always imagined it would be his Virtues against their's. Uses attacks on virtues to induce behaviour but hates direct manipulation. He never controls people. He embodies Virtues and expresses them and loves to press people's buttons but never controls or dominates them.
As spirits they use the power of spirits directly, they channel Essence through the sheer power of the soul.
Charms to supplement Martial Arts
Due to the subliminal connection when the user touches the staff they can act in total synchrony instantly communicating, exchanging thoughts invoking beneficial Charms reflexively.
When in the staff he can sense everything the user senses, he can read their thoughts and communicate with the freely, That's his real power to read people's minds. He has an intimate understanding of how to read someone's buttons and press them, or at leasr a side effect of his ability to read people's souls.
He can anticipate people's actions.
Powerful but somewhat undisciplined but his power derives from that.
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He didn't want to be interrupted at any point in his work especially when working on him.
In the beginning of Wonders of the Lost Age it says although a grand daiklave and a Warstrider have the same artefact rating 'ask a legionnaire which one he'd rather face on the battlefield and the difference is clear.' That' an obvious inconsistancy in the rules as some artefacts are clearly in a league of their own. Such artefacts are called Wonders.
How do you determine what it's starting Essence is since that determines attribute levels. The Essence depends on what level the sorcerer want cannot exceed Craft dei-. The whole project unlke artefact creation can fail though. The whole process is different to artefact creation since it's not an actual artefact (although one is required for the spirit to live in.) Difficulty increases as they try to make a being with a higher Essence and the process of creating it involves a finale which they would have to complete successfully within time constraints or the whole project fails. They only have one chance to complete it. It's a bit like creating a complex potion or starmetal where ingreadients have to be heated at a certain temperature for a certain time and have to be mixed as soon as they are ready. Measurement is done frantically on the fly and must be precise. Naturally it is very stressful work
and has had very little to do resulting in little ability and trait improvement.
He is more than an automata, He is to all intents and purposes a god, he may actually be one of the staff or his creator's manse (or perhaps even the blasphemous principle of dei-) with the staff as his sanctum. Those in Heaven who know it's secrets and Gilius' past who he may not truly remember would view him very poorly (perhaps that's what caused his incident in Heaven.) He created him so cunningly that the Dragon-blooded could not destroy the staff or perhaps thought he would be more comfortable with his devious companion.
It's clear that creating a new spirit is beyond the purview of Genesis since they're not animating a new life form and perhaps even making it sentient but creating a new Essence Pattern. Perhaps he also had to create a new star for him as well.
Maybe in his laboratory he created his new Craft.
See details of size of a Shogunate workshop.
Workshops needn't be rooms as obvious as a forge. They can include studies for Air, kitchens with pantries of exotic plants for Water or an observatory for Fate perhaps. Each Craft has it's own needs, a workshop doesn't have to literally that.
He may even be a Wonder (appropriate really creating a fully fledged new consciousness) so he may well have needed a Workshop Manse. Maybe he built it especially. Considering the increased effective artefact level of such a treasure. For crafting, repair etc. a wonder has equivalent artefact level plus three, creating difficulty 10 for the greatest Wonders.
The fact that such an artefact would not require repair is another thing that separates it from those created by Genesis.
Can't have a higher rating in Craft (dei-) than their lowest rating in lore, occult and intelligence/Essence (awareness?) with a minimum of _ in all those traits. Maybe he created the Solar Circle spell needed to awaken him.
Essence woven creation at the moment he finished the design.
