Chapter 3: Systems

Experience

Rank and Renown

Way of the Leader Rank Glory Honor Wisdom 0.-Novice 0 0 0 1.-Initiate 1 1 1 2.-Knight 1 3 2 3.-Captain 3 5 4 4.-Elder 4 7 6 5.-Master 6 10 8	Way of the Sorcerer. Rank Glory Honor Wisdom 0.-Novice 0 0 0 1.-Initiate 1 0 2 2.-Knight 2 1 3 3.-Captain 3 3 6 4.-Elder 4 6 8 5.-Master 7 8 10
Way of the Warrior. Rank Glory Honor Wisdom 0.-Novice 0 0 0 1.-Initiate 2 1 0 2.-Knight 3 2 1 3.-Captain 5 4 3 4.-Elder 7 6 5 5.-Master 9 9 7	Way of the Worker. Rank Glory Honor Wisdom 0.-Novice 0 0 0 1.-Initiate 0 1 2 2.-Knight 1 2 3 3.-Captain 3 4 5 4.-Elder 6 6 7 5.-Master 9 9 9

Ollin

The Movement is the Eagle Knight's connection to existence as well as their understanding and control of this force of change; in game terms it might be a mix between a Garou's Gnosis and a Mage's Arete.

It is composed by permanent and temporary dots. The permanent points indicate the understanding of the Movement and how it affects all things and beings. Permanent Ollin is used to roll for the effects of the four Ways in the same way as a Mage's Arete, with the difference that the effects need not be coincidential and they don't cause Paradox. Ollin is rolled against a difficulty of the effect's Level+3 in all Ways but the one corresponding to the Knight's Journey, in wich case it is the Level+2 instead.

Temporary Ollin is stored Quintessence and can be stolen by a mage with the Prime Sphere. For vampires, the Blood of a Knight is richer the more Ollin it had stored; for every temporary Ollin more than 5, a Blood Point is worth an extra point. Temporary Ollin cannot excede the number of permanent Ollin, as the Knight can't store more than he can understand and control.

Each time a Way is used succesfully, a temporary Ollin point is substracted from the total, except all effects in the Way of the Knight's Journey, which are free.

Temporary Ollin can be easily recovered by a succesful Perception+Meditation roll against the difficulty of the Gauntlet. The Knights believe the Earth to be an enourmous Node. The number of successes mean the number of Ollin points recovered up to the character's maximum.

The Four Ways

The Four Ways are very different from Magickal effects; They don't cause Paradox as they are more akin to Garou Gifts, for the gods provided them, save for the fact that they are fueled by the Knight's own understanding of the Movement.

The Way of the Leader

Empathy.- The Knight is able to sense the feelings of those around him; it may be as little as one person or as many as an army; the scope of the sensing must be determined before rolling for success. The number of successes determines the accuracy and clarity of the reading.

Eyes of the Eagle.- The Knight gets a mental image of the terrain in which she stands; this is called 'bird's eye view' by the younger Knights, as it provides the user with vital information such as ambushes, obstacles, hiding places, persons (the identity is provided only if the Knight knows the individual in person), etc. The more successes, the larger the area covered.

Call to Battle.- The Knight can call all his allies or persons that have the same goal as the Knight that are in the vicinity, and can give them an immediate awareness of the situation at hand and the actions needed, thus winning initiative for them. Note that not only battles can be confronted with this effect, but also other kinds of crises such as natural disasters, accidents, rescue missions, etc.

Inspiration.- Similar in some way to the Ahroun Gift, this effect causes that all of the Knight's allies gain an automatic success in whatever they are doing at the same moment. This requires the expenditure of 1 temporary Ollin point per turn in addition to the one needed to fuel the effect.

Link of Battle.- This makes the Knight and allies present to act as one; this creates a dice pool equal to the sum of the Willpowers of everyone linked. Any participant in the link can draw from this pool to add to any kind of roll until the pool exhausts, at which point the effect ends.

The Way of the Sorcerer

Sense Magic.- The use of this effect causes the Knight to sense anything magical in the immediate surroundings this includes fetishes, talismans, Magick, Thaumaturgy, Garou Gifts, Rites, Rituals, Hedge Magic, Arcanos that affect the living world, etc. If three or more successes are achieved, the Knight can determine exactly what kind of magic is being used; five successes allow for the pinpointing of the effect.

Astral Quest/The Sight.- By sinking in deep meditation, the Knight can separate her spirit body from the physical, traveling in the Umbra as if she was a spirit. She can achieve great speeds in this way, but cannot affect anything in the physical world. Consider the spirit form as having 10 Power for each permanent Ollin point.

The Sight is the name of the ability of any Sorcerer to see the spirits around her, including those of the dead; it's automatic upon reaching this Level in the Way of the Sorcerer. A roll must be made in order to interact with the spirits.

Step Sideways.- As the name implies, the Knights can, by using this effect, travel to the Umbra carrying along their physical bodies, as the Garou do. The Knights, however, don't need a mirror. The difficulty can be raised by the Gauntlet, but it will never be less than 6.

Eagle's Wings.- This effects works in two ways: in the Umbra and in the physical world. In the Umbra, the Knight assumes the form of a gigantic eagle, roughly the size of a human. The eagle form has double the number of Health levels and the following adjustments: Strength +3, Dexterity +1, Stamina +2; Charisma -1, Manipulation 0, Appearance -3; Perception +3, Intelligence -1, Wits +1. This lasts as long as the Knight desires.

In the physical world, the Knight turns into a royal eagle slightly larger than the normal animal; the attribute modifiers are Strength -2, Dexterity +2, Stamina +1; Charisma -3, Manipulation -3, Appeareance -2; Perception +3, Intelligence -2, Wits +2. This effect lasts as per the following chart.

Successes	Duration
Botch	The Knight loses three Ollin points and is stunned for the following three turns.
0	The Knight loses the Ollin spent.
1	5 turns
2	10 turns
3	1 hour
4	6 hours
5	A day
6-7	A week
10	The Knight can transform back and forth as many times as he wishes for the entire Story.

The Knight can transform back into human form at any moment, but needs to roll again to change into eagle form.

Attacks in Eagle Form

		Difficulty		Damage
Type	Roll	Umbra	Physical	Umbra	Physical
Talon	Dexterity+Brawl	5	6	Str+4	Str+1
Beak	Dexterity+Brawl	6	7	Str+3	Str
Dive	Stamina+Brawl	7	5	Str+5	Str+3
Wings	Intelligence+Brawl	6	8	Thrown back	Stun.
SPECIAL NOTE: Sorcerers with a nahual can choose to shapechange into their nahual instead of into an eagle; in the Umbra they inhabit their nahual.

Rituals.- Upon achieving Level 5, the Sorcerer can learn and enact any kind of ritual; including Garou, Kindred and Hedge; at the Storyteller's discretion, they may also begin to learn Garou Gifts, Thaumaturgical Paths and Hedge Magic; to activate them, the Knight must roll for this effect (Ollin vs 8) regardless of the Gift's or Path's Level and ignoring any other required rolls.

The Way of the Warrior

Sense of Battle.- The Knight studies her enemy's movements with lightning-fast speed and reacts accordingly. She can add a number of dice equal to the successes achieved in the Ollin roll in whatever actions she intends to do next.

The Sun's Rage.- This works exactly as a Garou's Rage; success grants extra actions to the Knight and enables him to ignore the effects of wounds but also risks Frenzy. If the Knight rolls a number of successes higher than his current temporary Willpower, he goes into a Berserk Frenzy, avoidable with the expenditure of a Willpower point.

Eagle's Talons.- The Knight can grow black talons from her fingers, adding three dice to any Brawl and Damage roll. The damage done is aggravated. The talons lasts a turn per success.

Cuauhtlehuamitl.- Any missile can be imbued with the Sun's Power with this effect. The missiles can range from a rock to a bullet and the damage they cause is turned into aggravated. The number of successes indicates the number of missiles empowered in this manner. The visual effect is quite spectacular, as the missile trails fire in it's path; this fire can ignite anything it touches (including the target!) if the item, animal or person fails to soak at least three damage levels.

Inner Burst.- The Knight can awaken the power of the Fifth Sun in any object and being in this world, causing the target to burn from the inside out. This causes a base damage equal to the target's total Health, effectively reducing it to cinders. If the target is sentient, it can resist this effect with a Willpower roll against the Knight's Ollin, reducing the damage by a Health level per success. Even if the target resists succesfully, it is considered Incapacitated and in need of urgent medical care. The sight can send any vampire into Rotschreck.

If the Knight chooses to awaken the Sun inside herself, she burts in a fiery explosion, burning in a ball of fire of 6 feet in diameter. This is extremely dangerous, and is only used in desperate situations. In this fiery state, the damage dealt by any of the Knight's attacks is considered aggravated and is also augmented by 5 automatic successes; anything she touches begins to burn, even if the material is non-flammable. This effect lasts as many turns as the Knight's Ollin and in each turn, the Knight must roll Willpower against her own Ollin to avoid burning to death. Each turn the Knight suffers three levels of damage, which must be soaked with the Willpower roll; if any roll botches, or Health is reduced below Incapacitated, the Knight dies. When the effect ends and if the Knight is still alive, she is reduced to Incapacitated status.

If the Knight wants to sacrifice herself, the burst can be worth 10 health levels per Ollin point plus 10 more per success achieved in the Ollin roll. This is a mighty explosion that effectively kills the Knight, sending her spirit to Helios.

The Way of the Worker

See the Patterns.- The Knight can perceive the Patterns that conform a being, an object or a phenomenon; so the Worker can give a diagnosis of a sick person by looking at the Patterns of Life, find the weakest spot in a structure by studying the Patterns of Matter, or detect Obfuscated vampires with the Patterns of Forces. If the Knight is looking for specific information, the Storyteller can ask for a special roll to understand the Patterns (eg., Perception+Medicine in case of a detailed diagnosis).

Strengthen the Patterns.- Ollin can be used to strengthen Patterns in a variety of ways limited by the player's creativity. The base mechanic should be based on the successes achieved in the activation of this effect. A Knight can harden her skin with the Life Pattern (create a Stamina modifier equal to the successes), make an object unbreakable (likewise), make a light brighter or a fire hotter, etc.

Repair Patterns.- Used mainly for healing and mending; successes restore levels of damage to persons or objects, by realigning their Patterns. Other uses can be found, though.

Crafting.- The Knight uses this effect to create special objects by tying patterns together; electrical swords (tie the sword Pattern to a Forces Pattern), medicines (tie the medicine's material with a Life Pattern), etc. There must always be a material component, and the successes required depend on the complexity of the task (Storyteller's discretion). Some items take much time to complete. It is rumored that the Knights are beating the Technocracy in the implementation of cybernetic parts by the use of this effect.

Pattern Weave.- Knights who journey the Way of the Sorcerer have discovered the advantages of the Way of the Worker, as the Pattern Weave allow for the creation of facsimile magick in the Spheres of Life, Matter and Forces (up to level three). These effects can be dismantled automatically by a Mage with at least a dot in the appropriate Sphere. Some Workers have experimented with Weaving the Pattern Web, which opens a universe of possibilities: the Gauntlet can be weakened or strenghtened, reality can be calcified or decalcified, Weaver Spirits can be dominated, etc. Effects with the Pattern Web should require a huge number of accumulated successes, making it mandatory for several Workers to work in unison in order to complete an effect. Messing with the Web instantly attracts the attention of Pattern Spiders.

Rituals

These rituals are human ritual; hedge magic that has been preserved over the centuries by the faithful Cuacuahtzin; anyone can participate, but the enacter must know how to perform the rituals, be it Hedge Magician, Thaumaturgist, Garou or walker of the Way of the Sorcerer (a simple Willpower roll against a difficulty of 3+level; it's not necessary to have achieved level 5, but dufficulties rise by 1.

Ollam (Level 5)

This is the traditional ball game where two teams of players strive to push a ball through a wall hole by using only the head, elbows and hips. The two captains must know the ritual. One team represents Day; the other, Night. both the outcome and the play itself are omens. In the times of the Aztec, the winners were sacrificed; the Cuacuahtzin no longer practice this.

Both captains make the Willpower roll; they average (rounding down) their successes and compare the final outcome on the chart; the Storyteller must award the enacters with an omen: a clue to the question they wanted an answer to when enacting the Ollam.

Successes	Result
1-2	A very vague clue in the form of a riddle
3-4	A cryptic answer
5-7	A clear clue for the knowledgeable
8-9	The signs couldn't be more straightforward
10	Exact visions from the future and the possibilities therein

Chart the Tonalamatl (Level 3)

At the moment of a child's birth, the Cuacuahtzin make a horoscope which foretells the fortune of the child. This reveals if the child is marked by a Destiny or a Dark Fate, for example, or if his Avatar is strong enough to Awaken later in life; if the child will become a hero or lead a normal life. Use the chart for Ollam for determining results.

Journey into Mictlan (Level 4)

All the mexican supernaturals are intrigued by death; the Knights are no exception. This rite can only be enacted by a Sorcerer able to Step Sideways. After the ritual is finished, the Knight can Step into the Shadowlands of the Wraiths instead of the living Umbra. For each success, the Knight can remain in the lands of the dead for a day. At the end of the duration, she is pushed out, emerging in the spot corresponding in the physical world.

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