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. To bind yourself to an attunement takes the out of game dedication of 10 Skill Points which must be paid before you will gain any of your Attunement powers.
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.
Most characters may have two Attunements. Currently Paladins may have one and Warlocks may be similarly limited in the future.
How To Get An Attunement
Attunements require prior approval from Plot staff and cost 10 skill points if they are approved. The approval process may take quite some time (often over a year), and Plot staff will observe the character's role-play interactions before determining whether the Attunement is appropriate for the character and the game in general. Attunements may be declined for a number of reasons, which may include: 1) The Attunement may be difficult to execute or enforce in game play, 2) The Attunement isn't appropriately thematic or is too powerful, 3) The attunement theme doesn't fit how the character is played or appropriate for the character's personality, or 4) Pretty much any subjective criterium that Plot thinks warrants withholding approval.
If you have an idea for an Attunement that you would like for your character to have, propose the idea to Plot. If another character has an Attunement that you would like to have for your character, ask that character about it and then propose the idea to Plot. You may want to dedicate Between Game Actions to researching or exploring the proposed Attunement, and acquire skills appropriate to the Attunement.
Your character will likely be drawn into plot threads while your character is being evaluated for an Attunement.
If your character is approved for an Attunement, the character will then begin to advance within the Attunement. With any "banked Favor" being added to their total over time.
Attunement Advancement
Whatever the power source, advancement doesn't change between Attunements. 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. The worlds being what they are, it's virtually impossible for an adventurer to avoid some karmic scrutiny, and those ledgers are kept with great care if not great detail. The net result of this is that your character accumulates up to 50 Favor whether or not they're actively attuned. That Favor goes active when their first attunement activates.
The advancement chart looks like this:
| Favor Total | Attunement Rank | Attunement Powers Available | Miscellaneous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | 1 | Rank 1 | |
| 6-10 | 2 | Rank 2 | |
| 11-15 | 3 | Rank 3 | |
| 16-20 | 4 | Rank 4 | |
| 21-25 | 5 | Rank 5 | Focused Training |
| 26-30 | 6 | Rank 6 | |
| 31-35 | 7 | Rank 7 | |
| 36-40 | 8 | Rank 8 | |
| 41-45 | 9 | Rank 9 | |
| 45-50 | 10 | Rank 10 | Focused Training |
| ... | |||
| 75+ | Special | ||
| 125+ | Special |
With that table in mind, it's very important to understand that "Rank" is a measure of progression, not authority. You never wield authority over other members of your Attunement on the simple weight of your Favor count or Attunement Rank. Similarly, never feel obligated to take orders from someone because they have more Favor than you. Some Attunements are very specific in how they maintain organization - If you're a Rank 10 Biomancer Corporal because you're a good student of Spirit Magic, and you decide to issue orders to a Rank 4 Biomancer Captain because you have more favor and Attunement Rank than she does, you're about to get your ass kicked and then court martialed. Some operate as groups of equals with just barely enough oversight to qualify as a group rather than a hundred weirdos with a similar philosophy. It's fairly common that at the top end, there's a good bit of overlap between Rank and Authority, but that's a consequence of those people growing, not gathering Favor and misusing it as authority. Take this seriously; a number of prominent Attunement members do and some can get very aggressive on the topic.
Focused Training
At Ranks 5 and 10 in an Attunement, a character is eligible to receive focused training from their peers/masters/bosses. Focus training requires any Knowledge skill that makes sense for the Attunement. If you are in an Attunement that deals with the underpinnings of magic and how rituals work you might use Knowledge Area: Magic where someone dealing with the flora and fauna of the world might use Knowledge Area: Nature. Speak with the Plot representative in charge of the Attunement for specifics.
Upon receiving this Focused Training, the character may choose a single benefit from the list below. More options may open up as the Attunements available are researched or stumbled upon:
- 1 Blade Effect per encounter (+5 temporary weapon damage for a single swing)
- +10 Spell Pool
- +5 Base Body
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.
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.
- 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:
- 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.
Popular Attunements seen around Nexus
For any number of reasons there are dozens of different Attunements walking the streets of Nexus on any given day. This is a list of the most common few just so you have an idea of what is out there.
Planar Champions
Whether from one of the Elemental planes or various reaches of the far planes like the Abyss, there seems to be a number of Champions in Nexus equal only to the number of previously collapsed Prime planes.
Iron Star Mercenaries
No matter the Prime, there has always been an elite unit of soldiers dedicated to each other and to the almighty coin. The Iron Star was the most commonly found name of these mercenaries and so they have banded together under this banner.
Loremasters
With all the destruction and upheaval seen by those who find themselves in Nexus, there always remains a need to preserve knowledge of events, homelands, and heroes of the past. Loremasters are known far and wide as some of the greatest protectors of this knowledge.
Pit Fighters
No industry in Nexus is more popular than the Pits, unless you count the number of bars as a single entity. Fighters of all sorts make their name in the Pits and fortunes have been known to be won and lost at the monument to blood and sport.
Knights of Celiene
These knights come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and ideals. One thing unites them above all; their drive to do the right thing. Be wary as this may not always line up with the laws of your homeland like you think it does.