#under a read more because it is three whole pages long lmaoo

[khttrpg]

Witch Job Class in Re:Roll V0.2

Please note that this is playtest material, and subject to change.

LVL 1: ABILITY POOL

At first level, you gain access to the following abilities: Replica Buster, Scan, and Steal.

LVL 1: MANIPULATE SPELLS

You learn magic that can reach into a person’s heart and twist what you find. You gain access to spells with the Manipulate tag.

LVL 2: MEMORIA

At second level, you have gained a deep and immutable connection to the memories of those around you, such that it takes palpable form for you to use.

You treat Recollections as if they were physical items. You can take them from willing creatures or give them away; you can use abilities like Steal and Throw Item to collect or use them. If you have access to synthesis and the proper materials, you can synthesize them, and if someone is willing to sell part of their memory to you, you can purchase them for a price negotiated between you and the seller.

You also learn how to see pieces of others’ memories at a glance. If you have the Scan ability, when you use, you can also learn how many Memories the person has, and whether any of those Memories are false. You can also use this to learn if someone is possessed or sharing a mind with another being.

The way you view the minds of others often changes to reflect your abilities as your memory and mind magic become more powerful. Some begin to see memories as links in a chain which can be separated or reconnected; some think of memories as webs of string connecting people, which can be cut or retied. Think about how your character might conceive of memory as a physical sensation, and how this might change the way they talk about and use their magic.

LVL 3: REMINISCENCE

At third level, your connection with your own memory improves. You gain 3 Gains/Spends in Memories you have access to. You gain 3 overall, not each. For example, you could take 3 Gains, 2 Gains and 1 Spend, etc.

You gain an additional Gain/Spend for each level in Witch. If your Gains/Spends exceeds the number available to you from your Memories, the next time you gain a new Memory, you can immediately apply them in the process of potentially rearranging your Gains/Spends.

You also gain a new way to use Recollections; at any time, you can spend seven Recollections to gain access to a new Memory that you and your MM agree is appropriate to the character.

LVL 4: ABILITY POOL

At fourth level, you gain access to the following abilities: Advanced Specialization, Memorize, and Peep.

LVL 5: MEMORY DEGRADATION

You can take advantage of weak points to tweak the memories of those around you. Given one minute of uninterrupted work, during which you are visibly casting magic on a person you can see, you can change one major detail about one of the memories of a target you can see.

You change a single Gain/Spend to a different Gain/Spend which the target also has access to. This manifests in roleplay – if, for example, you were to trade out a Defector’s Two Timer to Shaky Grounds, the character would become less confident in their persuasion and more uncertain about the path they’re taking.

If targeting a character who does not have any Memories, such as a minor NPC or an Ally, you can instead choose to alter the memory of a person, location, or action that the target has seen or been part of.  When you try to use Memory Degradation on an enemy or someone unwilling, the MM may call for a Competition between your Recall and their Resolve.

You can only use Memory Degradation once per Story, and it only lasts until the next time you use it.

You cannot use Memory Degradation on a fellow PC unless you and the player discuss it beforehand and agree to what will happen.

LVL 6: COGNIZANCE

You have a very sharp mind and face no trouble recalling information. When you attempt to reduce a CR using Recall for something you’ve seen first-hand, instead of succeeding so long as any of your dice roll a 4, you succeed so long as any of your dice roll a 3 or 4.

LVL 7: MANIPULATE SPELLS II

You gain a greater understanding of magic that manipulates the heart. You gain access to spells with the Manipulara tag.

LVL 8: MEMORY LOSS

At eighth level, given enough time, you can modify memories on a large scale. Your Memory Degradation improves in two ways:

When using Memory Degradation, you can exchange a person’s Gains/Spends using Memories that the target doesn’t initially have access to, conjuring memories out of thin air to replace the ones they have.

You can spend additional minutes of uninterrupted work to trade out another Gain/Spend on the same person you initially targeted. This minute does not have to be concurrent with any other minutes you’ve spent doing so. You can still only target a single person per Story, and it still only lasts until you use Memory Degradation on another being. You can only ever exchange Gains/Spends up to your Mind Stat on a single person.

LVL 9: RESTORATION

You know enough about memories to restore them. You are capable of Restoration – an extensive process through which you restore a person’s memories. Restoration is deeply complex, and requires both advanced technology and magic Restoration requires the following:

A functioning science lab in which there is restorative technology, including a container in which the being undergoing Restoration is contained for the duration of the process in a coma-like state.

2,000 hours which you can keep track of as you play, or six months of daily work if you want to timeskip.

The Restore spell.

A Magic Stat of at least 5, and max MP of at least 10.

The process of Restoration may take more time if it is interrupted, if the equipment is subpar, or if the being undergoing Restoration has another version (such as a Nobody).

Restoration has the following effects:

Any “extra” versions of the being (a Lingering Will, a Nobody, etc.) are reintegrated seamlessly back into the main body.

The being regains any memories which it has forgotten or which have been removed through Witch features or magic.

The being cannot remember anything starting between the time they received false memories and waking up from Restoration.

LVL 10: ABILITY POOL

At tenth level, you gain access to the following abilities: Imitate, Power of Waking, and Seal.

LVL 11: INDUCED AMNESIA

At eleventh level, your ability to manipulate memories reaches a peak. When you use Memory Degradation, if you fully transfer one Memory’s Gains/Spends to belong to a different Memory, the effects of Memory Degradation become permanent, and the target sincerely believes that their new Memory has always been true. The target’s mind will automatically fill in the gaps of their personal history to replace one Memory with another with the least possible friction.

A person whose memory has been fully exchanged has not lost the truth forever; the memories remain, but hidden deep inside their heart. These memories can be restored through Restoration.

LVL 12: MEMORY WIPE

At twelfth level, you can make sweeping changes to a large population’s collective memory. You can choose one being or object to target, and a number of beings up to your Mind Stat who know of the target. Over the course of seven days of uninterrupted work, during which time you cannot perform any other tasks or be damaged in any way, the beings involved completely forget the existence of the target. You choose whether they lose the memory entirely or if it is replaced by similar memories with another object/being.

If you choose to impose new memories, the perception of reality warps to match them; anything that might remind the beings of their actual memories will be reinterpreted by their brain to look like a different object. If you choose to simply wipe the memories, the affected beings will still see the object as it is, but will fail to retain any information about it when they are not looking directly at it, and will not recognize it as anything significant even when they are looking at it.

Any effects of a Memory Wipe are direct modifications to a person’s memory, not magical illusion; as such, they cannot be affected by any magic which would normally dispel or pause illusions. Like Induced Amnesia, the memories are not truly lost forever, and they can be restored through the Restoration process.

LVL 13: MANIPULATE SPELLS III

You are a master at mental and emotional magic. You gain access to spells with the Manipulaga tag.

[swankymikehanlon-blog]

The three times Mike saw Stan and the One time Stan saw Mike

“Hi Stan.” Mike stood in front of the grey stone protruding from the dry soil. Flowers, lilacs and hydrangeas to be exact, were clasped in his left hand while an old book laid asleep in his right. The wind had felt like icicles stabbing his exposed flesh and he had to close his eyes a couple of times so they wouldn't sting. 

“I, uh, I brought you your favorites this time.” Mike kneeled down on both knees and looked at the flowers in his hand. Under the winter sun, they looked beautiful, but soon they would wilt. As the others always do. 

“I found a book. And it’s beautiful. You’d like it.” Mike whispered as he took out the flowers from the week before and put the new ones in. He laid the old ones to the side of the of the stone and let out a distasteful and dreadful sigh. He felt his lip twitch as he read the written message over and over again.

Stanley Uris

A son, a friend, and a lovely young boy.

1999 - 2017

He reached across and gently traced the name with his ring finger. He still wore the ring Stan got him for his birthday. Underneath the band, the words “Everlasting”. 

Why? Well they both originally wanted to tattoos of the saying on their left shoulder blade. But they were quite underage. So they both saved up and bought identical rings with ‘their’ word.

“Oh yeah, the book.” Mike chuckled as he retracted his hands away from the cold stone. He looked at the book, cover so simple yet so alluring. He opened the book and flipped to a page that had been marked with a light blue sticky note. 

“I want to read this to you. And I want to read so much more.” Mike looked at the gravestone with sadness. He palmed the slighlty rough page he had opened to and began reading.

The only regret is that I waited

longer than a breath

to scatter the sun’s reflection

with my body.

New stars burst upon the water

when you pulled me in.

On the shore, our clothes

begged us to be good  boys again.

Every stick our feet touched

a snapping turtle, every shadow

a water moccasin.

Excuses to swim closer to one another.

I sank into the depths to see you

as the lake saw you: cut in half

by the surface, taut legs kicking, the rest of you sky.

Suddenly still, a clear view

oh what you knew I wanted

to see.

When I resurfaced, slick grin,

knowing glance: you pushed me back under.

I pretended to drown,

then swallowed you whole.

Mike started to feel an ache in his chest. He closed the book and stood up. He dusted the top of the stone and kissed the fingertips of his hand before placing them lovingly on top. His feet walked off, but his soul remained. His soul remained with his lover.

“You will never guess what happened!” Mike excitedly took the old, wilted, flowers out of the vase and placed the new, fresh ones in. Today he didn’t bring a book, but rather a letter. He opened it for the third time. The first time he opened it was in front of his grandfather who had begun to cheer in joy. The second time he opened was on the car ride here. 

“Dear Mike Hanlon, 

I am delighted to inform you that the Committee on Admission has admitted you to the class of 2018. Please accept my personal congratulations for your outstanding achievements.” Mike finished with a wide smile. He held the paper with fragile hands as he flipped it over to the stone, acting if it were really Stan.

“I can’t believe I got into Stanford. You always did believe in me.” Mike turned the paper around and read it over again. He felt his smile grow wider when he scanned the handwritten signature at the bottom of the page. But, the more he looked at it, the more his smile started to fall. He got accepted, that was the good part. Put Stanford wasn’t in Derry, Maine. It’s all the way across the country.

Mike just sat there. Acceptance letter still in his now clammy hands. He didn’t say anything. He thought. He though a lot. After a little bit he placed the letter next to the gravestone and the flowers. And continued to think.

The chilly day turned into the unforgiving night sky before Mike’s eyes. He only realized it got late when the contrast between his breath and the sky was visibly noticeable. 

“Why’d you take him?” Mike asked. He looked up at the stars, barely twinkling. They looked like little obscure lights mocking the tears that streamed his face. His sniffles were no louder than the chirp of the crickets in the forest behind him. 

“Why’d you take him?” Mike asked again. 

The moon had no answer. Neither the stars. Neither the black blanket that held both things together. And Mike thought.

Maybe there was no answer. Maybe there was no answer at all.

And that night, Mike Hanlon was sad. So was the moon. The only difference was that Mike had no clouds to cover his forlorn face.

His coat reached down to his ankles. His leather clad hands had been tucked away in the depths of his coat. The scarf of color red and soft brown kept the winter air from getting to his neck. It was 8:00 a.m on a Sunday morning. Mike had brought flowers, this time his favorite. Roses. He placed them into the vase but kept one in his hand. He twirled it around, gently, before smiling.

“I’m leaving today.” Mike bit his inner lip. Words wanted to claw their way out of his throat. But he was a knight in shinning armor, and he would not let them win. So he just coughed and swallowed the lump that grew in his throat. 

“I’m not going to see you for a while.” He let the sentence drip out of his mouth like it was a snake. He shook his head and dug his heels into the ground.

“I’m doing this...not only for me. But for us. This is for the both of us. And I’ll make you proud. I promise.” Mike felt the corners of his eyes getting damp. The cold air stung, but he didn’t care. He stepped closer to the grave and leaned down to trace the letters that read his lover’s name. One last time. He closed his eyes and recited something personal.

“Dear Stan...The day I met you. Was the day, I knew...I knew what love was. It was a long time ago. We were just kids. I mean, we’re still kinda kids, huh?” Mike chuckled, a chuckle that seemed to mean something other than happiness.

“But, I remember being scared to admit, to myself, that I loved you. I didn’t know what to do. But then one day...October 14, 2015, you kissed me. And I felt, I felt like euphoria. Like I was luckiest boy to ever live. And then I fell in love with you even more. So the years passed. And you’re gone now. But I continued to love you. I will always continue to love you. You were my first love. And I was yours.” Mike slowly took off the band on ring finger, and let out a breath. 

He kissed the ring and read the engraved writing before putting the rose through it. He placed the rose and the ring on top of the gravestone before standing back.

“I will always love you. My love for you...will always be everlasting. Sincerely, Mike Hanlon. They boy who was taught love by ‘Love’ himself.”

Stan wasn’t lonely. He had the trees. And the delicate birds. And the graceful night sky to keep him company. But Stan still felt a void. A void that would soon be filled. 

He was writing, nothing really, just a few notes. 

Draw another picture of the Blue Finch that visits you at precisely 10:00 a.m

Try on you’re old clothes

Watch another Alfred Hitchcock movie. 

Just the same thing as any other day. He hadn’t aged. Not one bit. He still looked like the same boy. The same boy who had loved Mike Hanlon to death. But then he heard footsteps. Footsteps other than his own. And he stopped, frozen, tapping of his pen ceased. 

“Hello?” 

That voice. The voice Stan had been longing for, for what seemed like centuries. The voice that reminded him of Honey and Tea. The voice that would give him goosebumps in the earliest of the a.m’s. The voice that he hadn’t heard in years.

“Mike?” Stan had stood up, chair almost falling to the ground. But he didn’t care. He didn’t care because Mike Hanlon stood at the door. Hands by his side with an expression of shock. He looked the same. He wasn’t old, no wrinkles seemed to plague his face and no teeth had fallen from his mouth. He still looked like the teenage boy Stan had knew very well.

They both stared for another minute before running to each other. They hugged. And they kissed. And they would never let go.

The moon became sad with me. Days of eternal misery had vanquished my hopes. But I saw him again and the sun smiled. And so did I.

Well, there’s that. And if anyone is confused over the ending, Stan had been in a type of ‘peace’. Yes, lmaoo totally from Vampire Diaries, but if you want to assume they were in some type of heaven, you can. All I’ll say is that ended up together. The poetry that is mentioned is from a book called “Prelude to Bruise” by Saeed Jones.