Minister Magi
ministermagifemale.jpg
Minister Magi

Minister Magi minor template.


Humans that have been heavily enchanted by binding themselves to a specific mage are an old practice dating back to King Arthur pendragon protecting Merlin the great. By binding themselves to loyalty and protection of their master the mage they are infused with mana and granted certain powers depending on the path of the mage they defend. Ministers are almost always an extraordinary mortal with the ability to stand the rigors of magic and the poison of mana to their minds and bodies. Modern Ministers generally dress in the garb of a professional bodyguard instead of the plate mail of the old breed. A sniper rifle of Berretta infused with mana bullets takes the place of a long sword and shield, but the job nor the difficulty in becoming a minister have not changed.
Ministers in the new ages have become incredibly rare with only the Mysterium and Silver ladder semi commonly using them. Older more powerful mages sometimes shun the use of bringing in normal humans as Ministers and will sometimes go out of their way to destroy non-proximi Ministers. Mysterium Elders are much more open about ministers and the oldest mages sometimes have more than 1 when they can afford the vast mana cost. Younger mages though rarely have the knowledge of power to create a minister as the ritual has become rare among those who don’t know where to look. Many mages would prefer to create a golem or summon a spirit that they can bind since a human has much more free will, though no spirit or golem has the Versatility or the Cost efficiency of a Minister.
To become a Minister the mage master must have at least 4 dots in one ruling arcana and gnosis 4. They must craft a circle of incredible complexity that usually takes up about 20 square feet of runes, angles, powerful mathematical formulas and personal touches. The Circle must be carved into the floor, the engrave filled with a mixture of diamond dust, pure (at least 98% pure) water, blood, and tass. Personal touches vary in wild ways such as only cutting the circle with a titanium knife, using personal blood instead of blood from an alternate source, or any other such item. The mage must join the minister in the only 2 relatively blank spots in the circle and begin a 24 hour long chant and fasting session where no food, water, or sleep is allowed, in this time mana directly from the mage shall merge with the tass and foci of the circle and slowly infuse the minister to be. The average human body cannot accept mana and it will almost always be rejected at first. The minister must roll Stamina+resolve every 30 minutes they are being infused failure dictates they take 1 lethal damage. Succeeding in every roll means they gain a small bonus to 1 attribute for 6 months. A single exceptional means there bodies accept the mana better than it should and they gain a permanent attribute bonus as long as they hold at least 1 point of mana.


Aegis:

Ministers may empower the link they have to the mage they defend. This is a long process that takes sometimes years of getting used to the rigors of mana and the training of being a master of defense. Aegis is similar to Gnosis in that it grants certain bonuses to the body and power of the Minister. It only goes to 5 dots but at 4 and 5 the Minister may raise attributes above the normal limit of 5. This boon though is offset by its incredible cost. The Minister must not only expend 8xdot in xp the Mage they defend must expend mana in large amounts equal to 5xnew Aegis dot. This can be very expensive and requires a similar ritual to the one that created the Minister.

Aegis Attribute Max Mana Barrier
1 5 5 —
2 5 6 —
3 5 7 +1
4 6 8 +1
5 7 10 +2


Benefits of Being a Minister

  • Ministers may spend 1mana/turn. This may be used on any of the below minister powers as well as powering artifacts. They may also use this mana in place of willpower when using a relic but doing so inflicts one bashing damage as the mana rebels to being lowered to such a task. Ministers may store a certain amount of Mana as determined by the Aegis trait.
  • Extended lifespan, The Minister cannot die of old age while the Mage they defend still lives and they age at half the rate of a human, this benefit does not extend to the mage they defend though so at the end of their lives the mage usually tends to be farther older seeming then the person guarding them. When the Mage they defend dies the Minister loses this bonus but does not start to rapidly age as long as they do not burn the last of their stored mana.
  • Physical Boost: A minister may use a single point of mana to boost an attribute at a rate of 1:1. They may do this up to 3 points in any physical attribute they wish to boost. This does not work on mental or social attributes such as intelligence or manipulation. The effect lasts for 1 scene or until the minister runs out of mana.
  • Rapid Healing: A minister may expend 1 mana to heal a point of Lethal damage or 2 points of bashing damage. This Forces the mana stored in there body to knit flesh and regrow bones. An unfortunate side effect is no human can control the rate of healing specifically. Any incident of attempts to regenerate dangerous amounts of damage such as 4+lethal or aggravated damage can cause a magical regenerative tumor to grow on the failure of a Stam roll. These Tumors cannot be healed without Master level death magic to kill the magical infection then life magic to heal the destroyed area. This can result in magical abominations(STs Discretion)
  • Telepathy: if either the mage or the minister expends 1 mana the two may communicate in very powerful long telepathy useful up to 50 miles that can exchange communication, aural, visual, or touch sensation. This may last up to 1 hour.
  • Minor Resilience: Ministers resist 1 bashing damage from any source they receive. So if punched they resist a portion of the damage. The magic defends the bones of the defenders. They also have a nice Defense against broken bones and they do not take an injury that would result in a broken bone on a successful Stam+Aegis roll
  • Physical Barrier: the most powerful and ancient Ministers have such an affinity with the mana they use that it shields them constantly granting an armor bonus to mundane (not magical) attacks. Bullets, swords, fire they all glance off the glory of the Ministers.

Drawbacks to Ministers

  • Ministers cannot create their own mana and the mage they defend must fuel them with through meaningful physical contact which is a minor ritual in itself. Some rituals may be as simple as a kiss, while others may be a knight’s bow to their lord. These rituals are always highly personal to each pairing and are part of the reason many mages refuse to accept the Ministers since it sometimes implies humans as being equal to the Awakened.
  • Mana Addiction: Ministers over long term become heavily dependent on the mana in their bodies. From stopping the aging process to healing themselves the boons it grants are multiple and great for any human. The problem here is if they run out of mana at any time they suffer a -1 to all physical attributes and have a -1 to all morality rolls. They must also have at least 1 point of mana in them to be immune to paradox.
  • The Defenders Plight: Any time a minister allows his mage to be injured they must roll a Res+comp-damage failure indicates they must attack the person who injured their ward even at the cost of risking greater personal injury. The mages come before all to the pull of mana.
  • The knights Grief: If a minister allows his ward to die through any means they take an automatic morality 2 challenge. The mana in their body also attempts to rebel and escape. They must roll a number of dice equal to the mana they have remaining. Every failure is the loss of 1 mana and 1 bashing damage as tass leaks out of their eyes nose and mouth in bloody masses. Every success means the minister holds onto a point of mana per success. Critical failure (a rare and dangerous instance) has there body’s craving for mana destroy them leaving them in a quivering coma. An exceptional success though means they hold onto all there mana and even regain their entire pool of mana as the pattern of the dead ward is cannibalized by the minister.

Path Bonuses

  • Acanthus: The ministers to the Thistle mages are rarely as capricious as the mages they defend and sometimes overcompensate for the fickle nature of the awakened they defend. Acanthus Ministers gain a small measure of control over time able to speed it up and slow it down for themselves in small degrees. At the cost of 1 mana they are able to increase their speed by 3 or decrease the defense of 1 target with a successful Wits+aegis- targets SA roll.
  • Mastigos: Ministers of the path of scourging are unwaveringly loyal tying themselves to their wards side with chains sometimes. They ensure that the ill will the Mastigos does not cause issues and deal with threats with deadly efficient force. Mastigos Ministers have the gift of spatial awareness and at the cost of 1 mana may be aware of every living thing (or undead thing) within 50 yards. The only way to avoid this is magical forms of hiding which the minister cannot breach. To balance this though the minister can tell who is mortal and who is supernatural though not how they are super.
  • Moros: The path of doom creates either grimly lighthearted ministers or bodyguards who do their job with ruthless efficiency not caring for the lives of anyone but themselves and the Mage they defend. With the power of the grim touch the doom Ministers are a force to reckon with in close combat, what they touch dies. With 1 point of mana burned they may inflict lethal damage with their hands for 1 scene. If they can already do this through the use of a fighting style they also gain a +2 to bare handed combat rolls. Gloves and other such things do not block this but they tend to fall apart quickly as the material is devoured by mana.
  • Obrimos: The path of the might is empathized in these ministers. Generally huge men and women who wouldn’t be out of place in a military outfit or in a sheiks personal guard. They tend to be huge and tanned with amazingly fit forms. The problem with this is they also usually tend to be submissive to their ward but incredibly rude and domineering to everyone else. They benefit from the eagles glory, at the cost of 1 mana they shine with the glory of might giving off the light of prime magic from their entire body especially their eyes which become pools of liquid mana. They gain a bonus to intimidation of 3, and def. of 1 for 1 scene. People who cannot see this light are unaffected by its blinding light.
  • Thyrsus: The path of ecstasy breeds odd ministers, more often than not they double as lovers as well as bodyguards and knights. Firmly rooted in the mystique of the job they tend to dress the part to a T and some even try to wear shining armor or use swords and spears. They gain the power of the martyrs touch. At the cost of 1 mana they may sacrifice their own health at a 1:1 rate with anyone they wish too and may even cure illness by burning mana. Minor illnesses cost 1 while life threatening ones like aggravated terminal cancer can cost as much as 5.(ST’s discretion)
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