[UA] Gaps in Post-Modern Magick

[Mike Dewar]

PoMo is by far my favourite sourcebook, in terms of sheer deliciously weird
goodness, however while re-reading it I can't help noticing one or two parts
of it seem to have slipped into an Otherspace. 

Specifically, the magick theory section on Oneiromancy and the Cryptomantic
major charge possibilities. (Note: for those who don't have access to PoMo,
one of it's more delightful sections is a short series of descriptions of
the common ways the particular adept types are likely to skew away from
normality the deeper they get into their magick). I'm running a campaign
featuring appearances by 101 and a Cryptomantic cabal, and while re-reading
their sections for flavour and to "get into the mood", I noticed the absent
sections and my curiosity was piqued. 

Any thoughts of what kind of details should fill these gaps? Here are a few
of my own: 

Oneiromancy: 

Going without sleep for long enough can make even normal people pretty
messed up. The feeling of being semi-drunk on exhaustion makes even simple
activities like making the next pot of coffee pretty challenging. 

So the obvious solution is stimulants, as any good sleepwalker knows. But
you don't want to slide all the way into full consciousness and shed your
precious charges, so you've got to walk a careful balancing act between too
much and too little. 

In reality, it's less of a balancing act and more of a wild seesaw ride
between caffeine highs and crashing exhausted lows. The longer the
Oneiromancer goes without sleep, the more extreme the swings are likely to
become - as he starts to gather an impairment, he needs more and more
stimulants to stay functional, and he's also likely to be less careful in
calculating quantities (like how many scoops of coffee to water or, as he
gets more exhausted, how many snorts of cocaine or caffeine pills per hour).

As the Body checks start to come thick and fast, Oneiromancers tend to get
increasingly more desperate to stay awake, often convinced that "just one
more hour" while bring them even deeper insight into the borderworlds
between sleep and dreams. Some may even deliberately injure themselves in
order to stay awake, cutting their flesh or slamming hands in drawers.
Besides the unpleasantly Epideromantic overtones, such self-injury can
sometimes go too far, propelling the adept into shock and ironically
bringing on unconsciousness that much faster. 

Like drunken boozehounds, particularly sleep-deprived Oneiromancers may have
difficulty differentiating between their own waking hallucinations and
genuine magick. More disturbingly, exhausted Oneiromancers often rack up so
many charges that they may even start casting magick without realising it,
as the line between subconscious dreams and conscious action frays further
and further. 

Given that unconsciousness means taboo, powerful Oneiromancers may come to
dread and hate their own sleep. Ironically, this means that they tend to be
more likely to have nightmares when they do pass out, which in turn means
they fear and loathe sleep even more. Some may even develop paranoid
delusions that they've been blasted by other Oneiromancers, and terrified of
passing out in case they get gutted while they snore. 

Lastly, given their dependence on stimulants and rave-culture cabal
background, a considerable number of Oneiromancers are drug addicts. Even a
comparatively low-key coffee-drinking Oneiromancer can get withdrawal if he
cuts back on his caffeine, and many of them rapidly progress to heavier
chemistry to stave off their dreams. 

Needless to say, Narco-alchemists and Oneiromancers get on like a house on
fire - next to a gas main. 


Cryptomancy major effects:

Permanently conceal a fact or event from the world, even the extent of
erasing the memories of those who know/witness it. Alternatively, discover
the answer to a great mystery which has fascinated a generation. 

Permanently "steal" the power of an avatar, with all the related taboos and
channels. Gain the ability to identify avatars on sight and see the
invisible manipulations of the archetypes. 

The one or two Cryptomancers who have spend major charges to achieve the
last power often die in wildly improbable accidents shortly afterwards. 


****
Has anyone noticed any similar gaps and got ideas for them? I recall that
someone posted a comment or three on filling in "round-the-bend" ideas for
the new adepts in UA 2nd ed. 

- Mike