Creating Techniques
A Technique is a specialized form of a Warden’s Power, allowing them to accomplish greater feats or act with less effort.
When defining a Technique, start with the Power you want to use as well as the ability you want to achieve. Describe both to the Referee. Decide as a table how much of a reach your technique is to determine the cost:
| Cost | How much of a stretch is this Technique? |
|---|---|
| 0 | This is exactly what your power is meant for (use your super-senses to smell if someone is afraid) |
| 2 | Fundamentally related, but somewhat specialized (a lightning Technique that causes your foes to drop their weapons) |
| 4 | Tangential to the intention but well within possibility (create magical barriers that function as ship sails) |
| 6 | Just on the very edge of possibility (shape summoned smoke into convincing intangible illusions) |
| 8 | Not actually possible with your power, but highly related (use a power for healing people to fix machines) |
| 10 | Barely related in the first place (use a chain power to summon a chain that cuts off the flow of Aether to a foe) |
| Cost is fuzzy, so feel free to go back and forth with the Referee a bit. Then decide on your Technique’s conditions. Conditions are drawbacks or requirements that must be met to use a Technique. They each grant some Bonus Aether. |
- Free space: Every Technique gets 1 Bonus Aether representing the training required to create it.
- Circumstance: Take 1 Bonus Aether for a common circumstance (you could expect it multiple times a session), 3 Bonus Aether for an uncommon circumstance (it might only be once or twice a session), or 5 Bonus Aether for a truly rare circumstance (it may only come up on some Situations)
- Sacrifice: Take 1 Bonus Aether for something common and pedestrian, 3 Bonus Aether for something that requires effort to replace, and 5 Bonus Aether for something irreplaceable
- Oath: Make a solemn vow that constrains your use of the Technique. Combine a Circumstance and a Sacrifice; if the Circumstance is violated, the Sacrifice takes effect. Add two Bonus Aether to whichever is lower.
- Other: Work something out with the Referee!
Add up the Bonus Aether of your conditions and subtract the cost of your technique. It must not be negative; if it is, narrow your scope or impose more conditions.
Instinctive Techniques
Some Techniques you drill in a specific way, until they become second nature. Create a Technique using the above process, and then decide on all the Magnitude factors with the Referee. The Technique’s cost is the Magnitude of your action minus the Technique bonus above (or 0, whichever is higher).
This is the way to use your Powers without spending Aether—if you find yourself doing exactly the same thing over and over, it may be worth codifying into an Instinctive Technique.
Upgrading Techniques
Either through gaining renown or through long-term projects, a Technique can be upgraded. Increase its Bonus Aether by 1; if it’s an Instinctive Technique, you may instead accordingly increase the effect to match its new Magnitude.