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Haemonculus

2018-04-20T18:53:00Z

2001:BB6:B400:1EFD:F10C:AD23:9E4F:9A5B: added extra linguistic autism

[[Image:M1820987a 99800112008 DEHaemonculus02 873x627.jpg|300px|thumb|right|"I think it's only fair to tell you. I have no idea what I'm doing, but trust me: it will be extremely painful..."]]
A '''Haemonculus''' (from ''homunculus'', Latin for "little man" and one of the usual buzzwords of alchemy in fantasy, and ''haemo-'', the <strike>British</strike> CORRECT spelling of ''hemo-'' [<s>though they are pronounced the same way</s> They are pronounced the same way in English. Haemo-, is a Greek root pronounced in Greek "haimo." It was adopted into Latin and during Late Latin changed its ae for a simpler e.], from Greek for "blood" -- not that Haemonculi are little men made out of blood, but they are sort-of-alchemists and they work with flesh and blood) is a [[Dark Eldar]] mad scientist (in some ways, they're like the [[techpriest]]s of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]) -- though the Haemonculi would insist that their works are far more <strike>advanced</strike> artistic than crude bionics of [[Human|Mon-keigh]] technology, and the techpriests would be insulted by the comparison to <strike>filthy</strike> fabulous, deviant [[xenos]]). They are colloquially known as "flesh-sculptors" and "Lords of Pain" because that's exactly what their art is all about. They take great pleasure in modifying creatures, and the more bizarre and painful (to both the subject and whoever said subject gets turned loose upon) the better. They're not above self-experimentation, either, but it doesn't matter, because they're doing it in the name of ART ! Because the universe wasn't [[Grimdark]] enough yet and we needed the artists too to be raving lunatics with a need for scalpels and living beings to act as materials/canvases.

[[File:Dark-Eldar-Haemonculi-Coven.png|450px|thumb|left|"Know fear. These are my grounds now; where screams are flowers, and pain their fragrance."]]
Nobody is quite sure where they come from, since Haemonculi are all extremely old and heavily modified from whoever they once were, but the structure of their covens suggests that they start their careers as '''Wracks''' (or "Haemacolytes" if you want to be polite) apprenticed to a Haemonculus, doing the dirty work with scalpels and such (like BDSM grad students). They were also probably were the masters of the eldar society pre-fall, meaning they predate a lot of stuff (and Eldrad!). If the Dark Eldar were Reasonable Dark Eldar, Wracks who impressed their masters would be given a chance to join the inner circle; as it is, Haemonculi are probably more likely to kill gifted students and take credit for their work, while said gifted students are busily plotting the downfall of their masters and maneuvering to take their places. This is made easier for all by the fact that Haemonculi usually group up in Covens, organisations of gifted mad scientists who all get together to perform experiments, get pimped-out bases and weapons, and perform huge raids where the populations of entire hives are taken away and tortured horribly. These guys recently got their own supplement, and some new models.

The limits of their genetic engineering is relatively unknown due to very little fluff expansion in contrast to [[Orks|other]] [[Chaos|factions]] [[Tau|or]] [[Space Marines|units]] (Makes sense due to the relatively unpopularity of Dark Eldar which makes them receive less coverage). This has led a few on /tg/ to note that their creations are underwhelming in comparison to the genetically enhanced creations of the Imperium such as [[Adeptus Custodes]] or [[Primarchs]] or even just regular [[Space Marines]]. Nevertheless, [[Skub|whether you want to agree on Haemonculus genecraft capabilities or not,]] their influence in genetic engineering is able to attract guys from [[Fabius Bile|Fabulous Bile]] to even members of the Imperium. Well...in the latter's case, it was more of a call for desperation due to the failing Golden Throne and being the <u>only</u> ''faction'' that still have knowledge in genetic resurrection and soul transference.

===The Covens===
Like all mad scientists, the Haemonculi like to gather together, sip tea, and discuss their latest discoveries over the flayed body of some unfortunate victim. They call these little fraternities covens, and [[Games Workshop]] was actually kind enough to detail them and all their sick, twisted glory.
*The Black Descent: The Cube meets Saw. These guys put jigsaw to shame. They take special delight in crafting ironic punishments for those that offend them. They created their own murder labyrinth below Commorragh and filled it with all sorts of nasty traps. Anyone lucky enough to escape the maze alive has the "honor" of being turned into a wrack and joining the coven. Have an elaborate caste system where the higher your rank, you learn more secret paths through the maze. Did I mention you have to navigate the labyrinth in pitch darkness?
*The Dark Creed: Not quite Night Lords, but close enough to compare notes. Like the Midnight Clad, they love to terrorize their victims before they kill. Unlike the Night Lords, The Dark Creed don't like to get their hands dirty. Instead, they try and drive their victims insane with fear, usually by relying on long range weapons or hordes of allied Mandrakes creeping out of the shadows when you least expect it.
*The Hex: Taking the arcane science/horror and turning it up to eleven is The Hex's favored tactic. They claim to be the brains behind some of the more crazy Dark Eldar Weapon, including a sniper Rifle that turns people to glass and a gun that causes a victim's skeleton to explosively grow until it impales the people standing nearby.
*The Coven of Twelve: They like their Wracks skinless, their toys shiny, and their deaths...interesting? The Coven of Twelve resemble a gentleman's club of demented, immortal psycopaths. They gather in what passes for smoking jackets, drink expensive wine from the skulls of their still-living enemies, and share stories of how awesome they are. Despite the name, there are only eleven members (they keep a seat open for Urien Rakarth in case he ever decides to come sit at the cool kids table) and getting a spot is really hard. Most of the members have died and brought back so many times that you have to get really creative when trying to permanently off one. (For instance, turning your target into a living soup and then drinking him).
*The Everspiral: Stupid Evil. I wish I was making this up, but apparently the Everspiral's whole identity is that they have decided they are going to do every vile, despicable, horrific, malignant, nasty thing possible. Why? Because they think they are evil gods and intend to "do everything in their power to ensure each day is a little viler than the last." That is an actual quote from the Haemonculus Coven supplement.
*The Ebon Sting: They make the best Talos. Also, they have a signature poison that causes their victims to turn into an incubator for worms, from which said poison is extracted.
*The Altered: Does this spine make me look fat? The Altered never wear the same anatomy twice and are constantly reworking their physiology. However, their real love is poisons. As in, kidnap and distill the population of an entire planet to synthesize a single drop of the perfect toxin.
*The Prophets of Flesh: Urien Rakarth's personal coven. The Wracks start out by having their arms and legs altered and branded. Should they prove to be especially sadistic, the Wrack will have the arm or leg cut off and a new, unblemished one is taken from the flesh libraries and grafted on. Yes, a flesh ''library.''
*The Thirteen Scars: The sick fucks who trained [[Fabius Bile]] in the art of being a sick fuck. Their infamous Headquarters is the Tower of Flesh, which in addition to being exactly as the name describes is also mobile and powerful enough to fight Chaos Titans.

And that's pretty much it. Hope the nightmares you have tonight aren't too bad.

== Tabletop ==
Haemonculi used to be an HQ choice for [[Dark Eldar]] armies, available in up to three per HQ slot (one of whom may be a Haemonculus Ancient, with some beefed-up stats), and allowing Wrack squads to be taken as Troops instead of elites. Nowadays, they got slightly pricier at 70 but have the Ancient's statline by default, and can no longer be bought at 3 for a slot. These guys serve a critical rule by granting the unit they're in a bonus turn for PFP rules, meaning free FNP on turn 1 for example. Relatively tough and with access to some pretty heavy-duty wargear, including the Crucible of Malediction, which gives all psykers within 3d6" an unsavable S6 hit, and your only source of HQ-level Concussive, via the Mindphase Gauntlet. In shooty lists, it's not uncommon to see a single, cheap haemonculus with a liquifier gun or a hex rifle (or an otherwise naked Archon with a blaster) stuck in which a larger squad just to fill up the mandatory HQ slot, because the DE will not be winning by combat in this edition (damn Overwatch).
* In the Covens supplement, these guys become your ONLY HQ choice. This makes bringing them even more critical, as their PFP boosting is the only way the Grotesques can last despite their shit Leadership. Keep them as cheap as possible, and keep the relics you grab from the covens as low as possible, because most of them kick ASS.
Mentioning the fact that they are immensely more powerful in the fluff than in-game tends to induce [[RAGE]] in players of fluffy Coven lists. [[File:Lords of Pain.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Now if only these things were really as powerful as anything else called "Lord"...]]

== Gallery ==
<Gallery>
File:Haemonculus.PNG|Red Ones Go Fasta! Oh wait, wrong faction... It's probably just the blood of thousands of emo-hating imperial hipsters.
File:The Hex Haemonculus.png|<s>Haemonculus of the Hex Coven</s> That's a Wrack, one of the Haemonculi rank-and-file initiates.

</Gallery>

{{Dark Eldar-Forces}}

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Dark Eldar]]

Four By Five Magic

2018-04-19T21:10:13Z

2001:BB6:B400:1EFD:F10C:AD23:9E4F:9A5B: Added linguistic notes. Will add full table of more appropriate forms if there are enough fa/tg/uys like me who can't stand latīnam canis.

[[Category:Game Mechanics]][[Category:Roleplaying]]
<div style="float:right; margin:2em;">__TOC__</div>

Four-By-Five magic is a system designed for [[FUDGE]], although it has been adapted to other systems like [[FATE System]], [[Microlite20]] and [[Amber Diceless RPG]]. The system uses an verb-noun method to classify spells, much as [[Ars Magica]] does. It was originally written by Steffan O'Sullivan in 1999 for 5-point FUDGE. Since this is a wiki article, this article is a <s>corruption</s> enhancement of the original.

A magician learns words of power, spoken by the creator(s) to bring the world into being. It's not enough to duplicate the sound, the magician must also flex their spirit to pronounce the correct "sound" equivalent in the local ether. This emits an effect that local reality cannot ignore.

In FUDGE, a magician knows all the words except "Control" and "Spirit", which they only learn if they spend at least 3 points in the Magic skill group. In Microlite20 or d20/OGL, a starting wizard would know 3 words and gain another word every 3 levels, but "Control" must be the last action word and "Spirit" must be the last realm word. Ars Magica has five "techniques" and ten "forms," which combine in similar ways described here, so you could call it "Five by Ten Magic" except that making up spell effects on-the-fly is discouraged.

The effectiveness of a spell depends on how much [[mana]] is invested in the spell, or the margin of success made on a magery skill roll.
: What about [[Vancian|Vancian magic]]? Try this option: give the magic-user 150% as many spell-slots as normal, each which can be occupied by one word, rounding up to the closest even number. Spells need two words to be cast so this reduces the # of spells per day, but spells are much more flexible so it's meant to balance out.

== Words ==

There are nine words of power. Spells are usually an action (verb) and a realm (noun) together. Below are also the words in ''Latin'' in case you want to get all Harry Potter. (<s>Don't forget that Latin puts the verb after the nouns.</s> In Latin, object is marked with the accusative case — that is, for you neckbeards who don't care about linguistics, you can put verb and noun anywhere as long as you change the word accordingly: therefore nāvitās → nāvitātem. This, of course, is made difficult due to the translation being half-assed at best.)

The Four Actions:
* '''Communicate with''' (''dēferō''): Read, Seek, Inform, Sense, Determine, Understand, etc.
* '''Diminish''' (''īnfirmō''): Weaken, Damage, Injure, Reduce, Break, Dull, Deteriorate, etc.
* '''Enhance''' (''augeō''): Strengthen, Heal, Enlarge, Repair, Sharpen, etc
* '''Control''' (''temperō''): Shape, Hold, Command, Form, Direct, Dictate, etc.
:(only after mastering the other actions can a magician learn to properly use the Control word).

The Five Realms:
* '''Body''' (''corpus''): Living body of sentient beings, animals, plants.
* '''Energy''' (''navitus''): Fire, wind, electricity, motion, sonic - and if the GM is willing, time.
* '''Matter''' (''materium''): Solid material with no mind - stone, metal, wood, leather, paper, plastic.
* '''Mind''' (''mentus''): That which normally inhabits and animates/motivates an aware creature.
* '''Spirit''' (''animus''): That which motivates the living but no longer inhabits a body, or never did, or what unnaturally inhabits a body, item or location.
: (only after mastering the other realms can a magician learn to properly use the Spirit word).

(Water overlaps Energy and Matter realms: vapor or liquid water would be Energy, because you're altering its motion, but ice or stagnant water would be Matter.)

These combine into twenty spell effects.

== Spells ==

There are only 20 possible utterances with these words of power, but this doesn't limit the magical effects to only 20 possible effects; each spell is a description of the effect the magic-user wishes to create, with embellishments made by the context of the spell, pointing, gestures, ritually carved sticks or patterns on the floor, etc. Most of the time these props are not necessary, but help the wizard to concentrate and make her command clearly understood by the cosmos.

The potency of a spell's effects depends on how much mana is invested in emitting the words of power, or by the margin of success in a magery/spellcraft skill roll, or the target number/ difficulty class you're willing to risk. The original rules mentioned four levels of effectiveness for each spell (''followed by their [[D20_System|d20SRD]] equivalents''):
* '''Fair''' (''standard'') potency spells cause events that don't seem like magic to most people, but are nonetheless caused by a magician.
* '''Good''' (''extraordinary'') potency spells are events that are possible but extremely unlikely.
* '''Great''' (''spell-like'') potency spells are events most people will acknowledge could only be caused by magic; however, these are relatively minor, one-off effects.
* '''Superb''' (''supernatural'') potency spells are events that everyone will admit could be caused only by major magic.

:(''In the effects, it mentions "levels", which has a different meaning in [[FUDGE]] than it would in d20 systems. FUDGE uses a bell-curve for success rolls, so +1 level for FUDGE could be +1 to +4 for d20.'')

=== Communicate/Sense Spells ===

* '''Sense Body''': “Read” an opponent, determine skill level, diagnose, determine whereabouts, etc.
** Fair: discover an opponent's skill level by the way he holds his sword
** Good: diagnose the most difficult disease accurately
** Great: look at person and know their physical skills, including levels, at +/-1 accuracy
** Superb: sense when a specific person walks into a room in the same city

* '''Sense Energy''': Sense types of energy, clairvoyance, psychometry, foresee, etc.
** Fair: sense which rooms in the inn you are at have a lit fire
** Good: hear words spoken into the wind at the other end of the ship
** Great: feel the personality of the last person to use an object
** Superb: sense when magic is being used in a castle yonder

* '''Sense Matter''': Sense type of matter, seek out closest of a given type, determine quality, strength, etc.
** Fair: sense the quality of a sword by touching it.
** Good: determine how much money a person is carrying
** Great: “imprint” your signature on an object - be aware of who touches it over the next week
** Superb: locate the nearest quantity of gold within a mile

* '''Communicate with Mind''': Telepathy, both read and send, languages. May be Opposed by Willpower.
** Fair: stare into a person's eyes and convey a two-word message without speaking or moving.
** Good: send a silent message to someone in the same room.
** Great: read surface thoughts of a subject
** Superb: read a person's desires

* '''Communicate with Spirit''': Communicate with spirits, summon. May be Opposed by the Spirit's Willpower.
** Fair: (no such thing as a "typical" communication with spirit)
** Good: ask a spirit “yes” or “no” questions and understand the answers
** Great: talk freely with any spirit
** Superb: summon a spirit from another realm (although the spirit still has to get here...)

=== Diminish Spells ===

* '''Diminish Body''': Damage, shrink, weaken, make clumsy, etc. Opposed by Health.
** Fair: an enemy strikes at you as if -1 level lower
** Good: cause a speaker to go hoarse
** Great: weaken a warrior so that he can't lift his sword
** Superb: cause damage to an enemy as if struck by an invisible sword

* '''Diminish Energy''': Reduce fire, flow of water or air, counter a magic spell, etc.
** Fair: extinguish a fire that would have kept burning
** Good: reduce an attack spell to 1/2 damage
** Great: stop a fireball from doing any damage
** Superb: eclipse the sun to twilight over a battlefield

* '''Diminish Matter''': Damage, shrink, dull, break, warp, etc.
** Fair: snap a taut rope by touching it
** Good: snap a board with a light touch
** Great: shrink a spear to an arrow
** Superb: snap a sword by touching it

* '''Diminish Mind''': Confuse, make stupid, induce headaches, memory loss, discourage, etc. Opposed by Willpower.
** Fair: allow your weak disguise to pass all but intense scrutiny
** Good: make someone drunk after they've had only one small drink
** Great: make someone forget a skill for a day
** Superb: drive someone berserk instantly

* '''Diminish Spirit''': Injure, shrink, weaken, etc. Opposed by the spirit's Willpower.
** Fair: (no such thing as a "normal" interaction with spirits)
** Good: weaken a spirit by -1 level
** Great: weaken a spirit to half its potency
** Superb: exorcise a zombie, causing it to disintegrate immediately

=== Enhance Spells ===

* '''Enhance Body''': Physical healing, increase Strength or Agility, counter fatigue, increase movement ability, etc.
** Fair: heal a minor wound in one-quarter of the normal time
** Good: temporarily raise someone's Strength by two levels
** Great: run twice as fast as otherwise possible
** Superb: restore a missing limb

* '''Enhance Energy''': Increase the size of fire, a flow of water or air, aid a wizard in casting a spell, etc.
** Fair: keep a fire going ten minutes after it should have died out
** Good: increase a gust of wind to a blast strong enough to put people off-balance
** Great: cause water to overflow a dam
** Superb: create a hurricane from a normal gust of wind

* '''Enhance Matter''': Repair, strengthen, sharpen, increase utility or aesthetics, enlarge, etc.
** Fair: make a chain less likely to break
** Good: allow a wooden staff to parry a sword without damage
** Great: grow a knife into a sword
** Superb: make paper as hard as rock

* '''Enhance Mind''': Mental Healing, increase memory, temporarily raise intelligence, counter mental attacks, encourage, etc.
** Fair: able to remember a fairly long list of items
** Good: temporarily raise someone's Reasoning power by two levels
** Great: teach someone one of your skills at your level just for one day
** Superb: restore an insane person to mental health instantly

* '''Enhance Spirit''': Heal, increase size, encourage, counter attacks, etc.
** Fair: (no such thing as "standard" interactions wtih spirits)
** Good: strengthen a spirit by +1 level
** Great: strengthen a spirit to twice its potency
** Superb: cause a spirit to grow ten times its size

=== Control Spells ===
There are no Control spells at "Fair/standard" level, because the Control word is difficult to use, and most things in the cosmos resist control either by objecting to interference, or by adhering adamantly to the laws of physics. Control spells start at "Good/extraordinary".

* '''Control Body''': Shape-shift, freeze in place, cause hand to attack owner, cause to stumble, enable to fly, etc. Opposed by Health.
** Good: cause someone to stumble as they walk
** Great: freeze someone in place
** Superb: shapeshift into a hawk

* '''Control Energy''': Fireballs, jets of water or air, magical bolt, etc.
** Good: cause fire to leap out of the fireplace a short distance
** Great: ride the wind
** Superb: evoke a large, potent fireball

* '''Control Matter''': Shape inanimate matter, telekinesis, animation, open locks, etc.
** Good: open a lock in a few seconds with improvised tools and an absence of lockpicking skill
** Great: animate a pair of scissors to operate at your will from a distance
** Superb: shape stone as if it were soft putty

* '''Control Mind''': Dictate actions, emotions, attitudes, loyalties, beliefs, etc. Opposed by Willpower.
** Good: cause someone to see motion out of the corner of their eye (despite nothing being there)
** Great: create illusions which can be seen, heard, smelt, felt
** Superb: cause a character to attack his friends

* '''Control Spirit''': Dictate actions, emotions, banish from this plane, etc. Opposed by the spirit's Willpower.
** Good: (controlling a spirit is beyond extraordinary)
** Great: bind a spirit to specific object, or allow a spirit bound in place to roam free
** Superb: banish a spirit from this world entirely

== Source ==
* [http://www.panix.com/~sos/rpg/4by5.html The original article] by Steffan O'Sullivan