Attunements

Attunement Binding

Attunements are sources of power, generated by some unifying ideology. Power concentrates differently in different cases; some Attunements boast hundreds or thousands of members working towards similar goals in very different ways. Some are small bands with a very narrow, local focus. Most lie somewhere in between. Scholars have been trying for centuries to find the underlying law of reality that determines which factors develop into Attunements and which will not. Not one has come close. Every Attunement is easy to explain after its birth. No one has succeeded in predicting new formations with any accuracy.

New Attunement formation is thought to be comparatively rare. Many 'new' Attunements are actually re-formations of philosophies long thought deceased, or variants of other philosophies that forked far enough away to develop their own bonds. That said, surveillance across the planes is not all that scholars could wish, and Attunements could easily be born, serve out their functions, and disband before Nexus scholars even hear rumors of them.

Attunement Powers

Powers are what distinguish an Attunement from a club or a gang. Which powers grow where is a mystery; some Attunement sets manifest exactly what you'd expect, some are so far off the stated goals that onlookers suspect a hidden agenda. Progression, mercifully, is generally well-studied and linear. Power grows as a function of dedication to the philosophy; adventurers refer to this measurement as "Favor", even where that term is imprecise. It arose from some of the more public and prominent Attunements where it fit perfectly; adventurers being what they are, then lumped every other measure into that box and called it a solved problem.

A caveat: No list will ever be exhaustive. Some attunements are very public and well known. Some have very skilled counterintelligence services. Various organizations in the game world make attempts at cataloguing Attunements, and only succeed to modest degrees. If your character would like to investigate this, they're not alone and some of the best researchers in this field operate openly; feel free to stop by for a chat. If you're actively pursuing one, you'll be given every opportunity to look over the power sets before you commit, in almost every case. (There are some awful organizations out there that withhold this information to keep the rank and file in line, there are some that are very young and haven't yet discovered for themselves how far they can take things, but if you're pursuing one of those things you'll know this a long time before anyone asks you to spend your precious slot on it.)

For the benefit of veteran players looking for the Attunements to do some early holiday shopping: A list by its nature implies exclusivity. This is the list, the things that are on it are the options, and conversely the things that are not on it are not. Even with a lengthy disclaimer, it didn't take twelve hours into the proofreading process before I was fielding questions about why things weren't on that list and hence not in the game. Once that list goes up, we lose the mission and I never wanted that.

1. Attunements were intended to expand characters as they grew into interests and themes. It was not long after their introduction that they became a shopping list item, usually right after Skills. I never wanted that. I rapidly grew to hate optimization-of-theme. Optimize skills - that's what they're there for and a well-tuned character is satisfying in its way - but at the point where I have players involved in stories they do not like to get powers they do, we have lost the mission. In that light:
2. If there's an interesting theme that's not represented so far (like most themes) please feel free to submit it for consideration. We obviously can't accommodate all possible themes. Some things are at odds with the cosmology of the overall game. Some present gameplay difficulties that are either insurmountable or only surmountable at too high a cost in overall playability. Some rely on roleplay inconsistent with a friendly game - there is space in the game for necromancers but they inspire negative interactions. And headaches. Some are overtly too powerful to introduce - no one is going to give me Aaravos and no one should. Some are gnomes. We can't promise to introduce your theme, but we can (and should) at least review it for feasibility. Plot has a wide range of interests and we can work with all kinds of things we didn't dream up.