Tower

XVII. Tower

“No place but down.”

Human beings are very fond of blaming others for their failures. Usually this is attributed to the bitterness of failing. Sometimes however, they are right.

The Tower Arcana is the Arcana of failure. In a way, they’re quite the opposite of the Chariots and the Stars. Where the two strive for excellence, the Tower Arcana strives for the failure of others. The three often clash, and woe betide those who are caught in between their conflicts!

The Tower Arcana believes that human beings are best served by surviving conditions of adversity. They believe that the human spirit is prone to complacency when resting on their laurels, so they see it fit to takes these laurels away. In short they see satisfaction as a deterrent to ambition.

Towers are born from death when the cause of their death is the result of another’s error. Because they died and were awakened to the mysteries of Persona, they often lose their chance at happiness, living a borrowed life unfulfilled. Most Tower Cards are the victims of botched surgeries, car accidents and other events that could have been avoided if people were simply more competent and responsible.

As a result Tower Cards are often seen as a dour lot, the party-poopers of the Arcana. They resent most of humanity for hurting them (since it was human error that got them into this mess in the first.) They try to cut people down, knowing that those who have the inner strength to survive their own misery will become great for it. They see it as returning the favor for whatever mistakes human beings had done to them. It earns them few friends.

Because they work so hard at making others fail (so as to make room for successes later on), Tower Cards are also seen as bullies in conventional settings. The office bully is often an ideal candidate for the Tower Card. There’s nothing like resentment to fuel the driving ambition to surpass the person who makes you miserable.

The current Dealer of the Tower Arcana is an art critic named Penelope Brantley. Penelope’s cutting pen has ruined the careers of many an aspiring artist. She however, knows when to relate success when it is properly deserved.

The conditions of her own death are a mystery, and she likes to keep it that way. Rumor is she’s the result of a botched suicide and that when she Awoke, she was originally dealt under the Arcana of the Hanged Man. Whatever she did to exit that service is still something hotly debated by members of the Awakened community. When interrogated by anyone rude enough to ask, the Dealer simply shrugs. Misfortune is then sure to follow.

The Powers of the Tower

Tower 1: It Sucks to Be You
Roll: Presence + Manipulation. Reflexive. 1 Numen.
This ability drains successes from the Tower’s target.

Exceptional Failure: The power backfires. The next roll of the Tower is automatically contested by It Sucks to Be You. Should the next roll being contested, It Sucks to Be You dice is added in the dice pool against the Tower’s own roll.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: Every success rolled on the part of the Tower can be stored and used against the target’s success and will be converted into failure.

Exceptional Success: As Success.

Tower 2: Crashing Around Your Ears
Roll: Presence + Manipulation + Numina vs. Presence + Numina. 1 Numen
This ability creates a psychic resonance around the target that drives others against him.

Exceptional Failure: The power backfires and strikes the Tower.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The target is struck with a disgusting aura. He becomes an object to avoid. His aura is off-putting and distances others from him. All Social Rolls are penalized by a value equal to the Tower’s Presence divided by 2, rounded up.

Exceptional Success: All Social Rolls are penalized equal to his Presence.

Tower 3: Fall of Jericho
Roll: Presence + Stamina + Numina vs. Presence + Numina. 1 Numina + 1 per level of intended damage.
This ability uses the Persona-user’s mental energies to thrust out at solid objects, rendering them unstable.

Exceptional Failure: The power shoves the Persona-user back, inflicting half of the damage he intended on his target.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: A telekinetic bolt (akin to a battering ram) shoots of his mind, damaging his target for 1 bashing damage per Numen spent. He can choose to spend 2 Numen per damage to make it lethal, and 3 Numen per damage to make it aggravated.

Exceptional Success: As Success.

Tower 4: Foundation of Sand
Roll: Presence + Strength. 3 Numen.
This ability erodes the efficacy of the target’s abilities.

Exceptional Failure: As Failure.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: A Persona-user can undermine his target’s abilities with this power by overriding his target’s control over his own powers. Any supernatural ability used by the target will need to spend 1 Willpower point in addition to any other costs he may have to pay in order for the power to function.

Exceptional Success: As Success.

Tower 5: Edifice of Light
Roll: Presence + Intelligence + Numen. 3 Numina or 1 Willpower point.
This ability allows the Tower to create a psionic gestalt of his powers into a single structure.

Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function.

Failure: The power fails to function.

Success: The Tower must designate two of his Persona abilities to link into a gestalt. When he activates this ability, those 2 powers will always operate simultaneously. The cost of the gestalt abilities is the higher cost between the two abilities. A Tower may use Edifice of Light to create several gestalts but he must pay for each gestalt.

Exceptional Success: As Success.