High Circle Preview — Illusionist

Apologies. This is going up a little late today, as I haven’t been sleeping very well this week. In fact, I’m not going to say much of anything about the progression, since I’m knocking this out in the morning (instead of a night or two before like normal). Instead I’ll point you to Morgan’s design commentary over on his blog.

Warden Talent Options: Armored Matrix, Astral Pocket, Empathic Sense, Etiquette, Graceful Exit, Lasting Impression, Range Pattern, Safe Thought, Thought Link, Undermine

Ninth Circle

• Hide Spell: As a Free action for 2 Strain, the adept can create the illusion they are not casting a spell. The adept’s Illusionism rank is treated as the spell Circle to determine the Sensing Difficulty. Any character who could normally perceive the spellcasting can make Sensing tests. The spell cannot have a damaging effect.
• Karma: The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests.
• Discipline Talent: Disarming Smile

Tenth Circle

• Defense: The adept adds +2 to their Social Defense.
• Mystic Armor: The adept adds +1 to their Mystic Armor.
• Discipline Talent: Infuse Memory

Eleventh Circle

• Defense: The adept adds +1 to their Physical Defense.
• Karma: The adept may spend a Karma Point to target an additional opponent with a spell they are casting. The duplicate spell is an illusion (whether or not the original was), allowing for disbelief or Sensing tests as appropriate.
• Discipline Talent: Truth Through Lies

Twelfth Circle

• Defense: The adept adds +4 to their Mystic Defense.
• Initiative: The adept adds +2 to their base Initiative Step.
• Discipline Talent: Concise Casting

Master Talent Options: Bardic Voice, Casting Pattern, Effect Pattern, Impossible Hide, Second Chance, Shared Matrix, Soul Aegis, Witty Repartee

Thirteenth Circle

• Manipulate Reality: For 1 Strain, the adept may add the keyword Illusion to any spell they cast. These spells may be disbelieved or subject to Sensing tests as appropriate. The spell’s target may require a Sensing test to realize the spell is an illusion. For example, an illusory Flying Carpet will not allow the target to fly, but the target may not realize it at first. For 3 Strain, the adept may remove the keyword Illusion from any spell they cast, causing the effects to become real. The effects of this ability are powerful and unpredictable, and may not have the exact same effect each time. The exact outcome is subject to gamemaster discretion, but should involve input from the player regarding the desired outcome; they are a Master Illusionist and should have some idea what they are doing. After using this second ability on a spell, the next spell cast must be an illusion, even if that requires the adept to use the first ability to make it so.
• Defesne: The adept adds +3 to their Social Defense.
• Karma: The adept increases their Karma +1 Step to a d8.
• Recovery: The adept gains an additional Recovery test per day.
• Discipline Talent: Enthralling Visions

Fourteenth Circle

• Defense: The adept adds +5 to their Mystic Defense.
• Mystic Armor: The adept adds +2 to their Mystic Armor.
• Discipline Talent: Memory Probe

Fifteenth Circle

• Defense: The adept adds +2 to their Physical Defense.
• Initiative: The adept adds +3 to their base Initiative Step.
• Discipline Talent: Spliced Weave