Author's Note: Although the profession of the Elemental Miner is mentioned in numerous Sourcebooks, no one ever bothered to write one. So, during my holiday, I came up with a possible solution which I have put here on this webpage, hope you like it.
The Elemental Miner is a discipline which should be well known in Barsaive, because the construction of (Theran) Kaer's required, that large quantities of true elements would have to be mined, which were needed for defense (earth especially) and air/water distribution and cleansing systems. Therefore elemental miners were common in the old days (the days before the scourge) and are currently experiencing a Renaissance due to the sharp demand of true elements, for adventurers, mages and whole kingdoms.
It represents a cross between an Air Sailor and an Elementalist. Air Sailor because the main means of locomotion of most Elemental Miners are airships - True Air is harvested with special (orichalcum, if I remember it correctly) nets, True Water is often found in frozen and thus harvestable form on the peaks of high mountains and True Fire is usually mined atop Death's Sea, naturally a domain which you might not want to cross on foot. True Earth is usually not mined with the help of airships, but often transported with them and True Wood almost never mined at all. The discipline of the Elementalist because of the Elemental Miner's honors and "worships" of the elements - they take what they must but don't strip mine a true element cache, like (theran) wildcat miners do.
Elemental Miner's begin their training without a special focus, but will (must) focus on one kind of true element, be it Fire, Air, Water or Earth (as mentioned above Wood is not mined) upon reaching Journeyman status (5th circle).
At this time the adept names himself either Fire Miner, Earth Miner, etc. and will often (though not always) get a by- or nickname which describes his chosen element, e.g. Fiery Jorgensen or Stout Khaim.
Upon reaching Warden status (9th circle) the Elemental Miner will also change in appearance (and more see below) to his chosen element, e.g. red hair for fire, thin body for air - the exact change will be described by the GM.
To attain a new Circle an Elemental Miner has to go on a mining expedition and show the elders his understanding and experience for his element, novice miners usually mine a symbolic kernel of another true element during each circle (1st through 4th) in the presence of the elders (captain).
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Important Attributes : Willpower and Perception.
Artisan Skills : Runic & Wood Carving, Craftsman.
Racial Restrictions: Rei'dar and Centaurs.
Karma Ritual : Much like an Elementalist an Elemental Miner expresses his feelings for the elements. The Miner starts the mystic circle, he first burns some wood, then extinguishes the fire with water and waits for the air to dry the water. Thereafter he covers the remains with earth. (and if he is still a novice plants a tree)
* denotes a Discipline Talent
FIRST CIRCLE :
Talents:
- Karma Ritual
- Melee Weapons
- Climbing
- Wound Balance
- Air Sailing*
- Detect True Element*[see below]
SECOND CIRCLE :
Talents:
- Speak Language
- Durability ( +6/+5 )
- Great Leap
THIRD CIRCLE :
Talents:
- Elemental Tongues*
- Haggle
FOURTH CIRCLE :
Karma: The Elemental Miner may spend a Karma Point on any action using Dexterity only.
Talents:
- Thread Weaving* (Elemental Weaving)
- Astral Sight
FIFTH CIRCLE :
The Decision:The Elemental Miner has to chose his Element and he better chose the right one, because he can't change it without renaming. Elemental Spirits of this element will be unlikely to harm the miner, unless he abuses the element, by strip mining or other direct actions.
The Elemental Miner also gains the Half-Magic (PER-based) ability to summon his elemental spirits as an elementalist does. (read the corresponding section in the Magics Sourcebook)
Talents:
- Net Crafting [see below]
- Fire: Fire Heal
- Air: Air Dance
- Water: Cold Purify
- Earth: Steel Thought
SIXTH CIRCLE :
Physical Defense: Increase the Elemental Miner's Physical Defense by one.
Talents:
- Elemental Hold*
- Air & Water: Endure Cold
- Fire & Earth: Endure Heat (like Endure Cold in hot temperatures, e.g. above Death's Sea or near a magma river)
SEVENTH CIRCLE :
Social Defense: Increase the Elemental Miner's Social Defense by one.
Talents:
EIGHTH CIRCLE :
Karma: The Elemental Miner may spend a Karma Point on any action using Willpower only.
Talents:
- Manipulate Element* [see below]
- Fire: Taunt
- Air: Wind Catcher
- Water: Temper Self
- Earth: Unshakable Earth
NINTH CIRCLE :
Spell Defense: The Elemental Miner's Spell Defense is increased by one.
Physical Defense: Increase the Elemental Miner's Physical Defense by one.
Talents:
- Summon*
- Summoning Circle
- Bargain with Summoned Creature*
TENTH CIRCLE :
Initiative: Increase the Elemental Miner's Initiative Step by two. Create Orichalcum: This Power is described under the Weaponsmith's section in the ED Companion page 20.
Talents:
NEW TALENTS :
Detect True Element
Step Number: Rank+Perception
Action: Yes
Skill Use: No
Requires Karma: No Strain: 1
Discipline Talent Use: Elemental Miner
May be learned with the Versatility Talent only by Elementalists and Shamans.
This Talent allows a character to detect the presence and location of true elements. The character makes a Detect True Element test and must overcome a base difficulty equal to the spell defense of the true element or the region (usually 8), depending on the success level the character detects: Average: Presence of the Element; Good: Direction; Excellent: Distance and Extraordinary: Exact Amount.
The talent has a range of 100 Yards per rank aboveground and 10 yards (per rank) below.
Net Crafting
Step Number: Rank+Willpower
Action: Yes (takes 1 minute)
Skill Use: No
Requires Karma: Yes Strain: None
Discipline Talent Use: None
May be learned with the Versatility Talent.
This talent allows the character to craft ethereal nets used to mine and store True Elements for a short time without the need for orichalcum nets or containers. The character stretches his hand as if throwing a real net and makes a Net Crafting talent test. If the conditions are not suitable (trying to mine True Earth aboveground, True Air without a storm, etc.) nothing will happen. The GM chooses a difficulty number between 6 and 18 (relative to the amount of risk a miner is willing to take) and each success level above poor will yield one kernel of the element in question. So an excellent success will allow the miner to extract three kernels.
Note: Since the Net is ethereal it will pass through all unliving material (and thus stone) but will come to a sharp halt when it encounters living material - kernels of True Earth are pulled through the tunnel walls.
The talent has a range of 50 yards, this makes deep-sea mining impossible, True Water may be harvested from mountain peak snow though.
A net will hold the element for 1 day per rank even without orichalcum container, but another use of the talent dispels the first net.
Weather Sense
Step Number: Rank+Perception
Action: Yes
Skill Use: No
Requires Karma: No Strain: 2
Discipline Talent Use: Buccaneer, Air Miner
May be learned with the Versatility Talent only by Scouts and other outdoor-disciplines.
This Talent allows the character to predict weather changes. The Elemental Miner's GM makes a talent test against a target number
between 5 and 15 chosen by the GM (you may decide how variable the weather is in that particular region) and notes the result.
If successful the Elemental Miner has correctly predicted the wether for a number of hours equal to the test result. During that time the Elemental Miner may
enhance any of the Ship's test with his Karma Points (only one per test), but only with a step of 3 regardless of his race.
Stones' Speech
Step Number: Rank+Perception
Action: Yes
Skill Use: Yes
Requires Karma: No Strain: 1
Discipline Talent Use: Earth Miner
May be learned with the Versatility Talent.
This Talent is used by miners to detect different layers of stone (granite, etc.) and the chances for a cave-in.
The character makes a Stones' Speech test by knocking on the stone floor and waiting for the surrounding stones' to answer (essentially he waits for the sounds' echo). After their "answer" he can tell the amount and thickness of the different layers of stone (granite, sandstone, etc.) which is essential for mining and avoiding cave-ins, the higher the roll the more accurate the information will be. A passage constructed with an earth miner who used this power to aid the construction is much more unlikely to collapse than normal shafts.
Pacify Element
Step Number: Rank+Charisma
Action: Ritual (2min)
Skill Use: No
Requires Karma: Yes Strain: None
Discipline Talent Use: Elemental Miner
May be learned with the Versatility Talent.
This Talent allows the Elemental Miner to avoid conflicts with Elemental Spirits and protect his ship (or tunnels) against his element. To achieve the desired result the character makes a Talent test against a target number between 10 and 20 (GM's choice) each success level will improve an elemental spirits attitude by one level (Elementals which protect True Element Kernels are usually hostile), also the conditions under which the miner works will better considerably on a successful roll. E.g. Death's Sea will show dark (cooler) patches, tunnels will have better air circulation, an avalanche will be prevented and a storm will not crash the airship.
Manipulate Element
Step Number: Rank+Willpower
Action: Yes
Skill Use: No
Requires Karma: No Strain: 3
Discipline Talent Use: Elemental Miner
May NOT be learned with the Versatility Talent.
This Talent works like the Elemental Spirit power by the same name on page 82 of the Manual of Mystic Secret. It lasts a number of minutes equal to the Miner's Rank in the talent.
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