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Link
Usage and mechanics:
The Link ability allows an Empath to link to another person and share some of
that person's knowledge in
a given skill. For example, if you were to link the Power
Perception skill with an experienced mage, you might be able to perceive
more power in a room. Or, if you were to link the Lockpicking
skill with an experienced locksmith, you might be able to pick a type of
box that is normally beyond your skill.
There
are a few things to take note of, however: First, if your rank
happens to be much higher than the
person's you link with, you may get the opposite effect and feel less
knowledgeable in that skill. They, on the other hand, do not seem
to 'borrow' any knowledge from you. And second, if the difference in
ranks between you and the person you link with is great, you may feel
rather fatigued
while forming and maintaining the link. The
mechanics of Link are unclear, and though it seems to have no permanent
affect upon those involved, Guildleader Annael believes it could be
dangerous (see log for details). All in all, it seems to be a mere
sharing of skill through the Empathic link -- but for it to cause the worry of Annael or physical
stress upon the linking Empath,
it remains a somewhat mysterious ability.
How
to learn it:
Before you can use Link, you must have another
Empath teach it to you by example. There seems to be no circle or stat restrictions for learning or
using this ability -- you can learn it the moment you've joined the
guild.
The commands:
Link requires that you TOUCH <person>
(to form the basic Empathic link) and then LINK <person> <skill>.
In return, that person must also LINK with you to complete or
accept the
link. See the complete list of commands below.
>link
An empath can initiate a LINK to another player to temporarily share some of the knowledge that player has in a skill.
LINK options for empaths:
LINK <target's name> <skill> - Issues a request to link
LINK CHECK - Checks to see what links are in place
LINK options for non-empaths:
LINK <empath's name> - Accepts a request to link
LINK <empath's name> REFUSE - Refuses a request to link
LINK CANCEL - Breaks a link
LINK options for all:
LINK <name> CANCEL - Breaks a link with a specific person
LINK ALL CANCEL - Breaks all links
Manipulate
Usage and mechanics:
An Empath with the manipulate ability can extend their influence over a
creature, causing it to see them as friend rather than foe. Like the Innocence
spell, this ability requires that the Empath have sufficient Charisma or
"power of influence," as the case may be. In addition, this ability does not work well on the undead and will
cause them to notice you a little too well. (Which can
actually be a good thing if you're hunting the undead and wish to divert
them away from other members of your party!)
A
successful manipulation will cause a creature to cease its hostilities
toward you or prevent it from attacking you in the first place. A
'friendly' creature may then (if there are no other players in the room)
turn against a 'non-friendly' creature and proceed to fight it to the
death... which, frankly, may take some time. Nonetheless, with
Manipulate it's possible for Empaths to acquire boxes and loot on their
own -- a rather large step for the guild. You may also notice that once a
friendly creature dies, leaves your presence, or if enough time passes, the link between you and that creature
breaks. This suggests that your influence over the creature
must be a sustained activity, not simply an instance in which the
creature is manipulated. The length of the manipulation of
a creature seems to be dependent upon the level of that creature in comparison to your own
skill and concentration. Moreover,
you may find yourself unable to Manipulate more than one creature at a
time (or perhaps none at all) if they're at or
beyond your level. On the other hand, you may be able to
manipulate several creatures at a time should they be significantly below
your level. The
mechanics: Manipulate uses up your concentration when you fail to
perform it correctly. Once you
manipulate a creature (or attempt to), and your concentration numbers
drop, you will have a difficult time perceiving health or casting
spells. Type INFO to see the level of your concentration at any
time. And, finally, a tip
for those who use this ability: Should you
successfully manipulate a creature into fighting another creature, you
may wish to brawl the "foe" of the two and knock it off
balance in order to help the friendly creature more easily defeat the
foe.
How to learn it:
To learn this ability, you must be at least 20th circle and have sufficient
skill in Empathy. You must also find yourself an Empath of
at least 40th circle to teach it to you by example.
In
turn, Manipulate will exercise your Empathy, giving you another way to
train it without actually taking wounds from patients!
The commands:
Once learned, you can MANIPULATE
FRIENDSHIP <creature> to extend your influence over that creature.
A
small side note: The mere fact that the manipulate command
includes the word "friendship" may imply that there will be
(or already are) other ways of manipulating creatures that have not yet
been discovered... one can only hope! Perceive Health
Usage and mechanics:
The Perceive Health ability allows Empaths to assess the general health of the people in a room.
It also lets us determine who are Empaths, whether or not there is anyone hiding in the room, and serves as a useful list of people in order that they entered the room
(most recent at the top). Be advised, however, that your
perceptions will be overwhelmed and you'll become stunned if you attempt
to perceive the health in a full room or in the presence of many
people. This stun will cause physical harm to your internal head
and nerves.
How
to learn it:
No need to learn this ability -- you
already know it. Perceive Health is a part of your ability to
perceive the power or mana in a room. In this case, it's your
ability to perceive the life essences. (Type PERC HELP for more
Power Perception options.)
Since
the switch from Transference, the use of this ability (especially in
rooms with at least a few people) teaches Empathy, as well as Power
Perception.
The commands:
If you type PERCEIVE HEALTH (or just
PERC HEALTH for short), you'll see
something similar to the following, depending on your skill:
You close your eyes, drawing all your thoughts inward, and then slowly reach out to sense the life essences of those around you...
You sense:
The presence of Sally, a fellow Empath. (1)
The presence of an unseen fellow Empath. (2)
The presence of Joe, whose life essence is wavering. (3)
The presence of Fred, whose life essence is almost extinguished.
(4)
The presence of Mary, whose life essence has a faint greenish tinge.
(5)
An unidentifiable presence. (6)
A relatively healthy presence nearby. (7)
A wavering life essence
nearby. (8)
You sense (E) from your current position:
The presence of Adam, a fellow Empath. (9)
Roundtime: 10 seconds
What
it all means:
1.) An empath in the room.
2.) A hidden empath in the room.
3.) A non-empath with over 50% vitality loss.
4.) A non-empath with over 80% vitality loss.
5.) A non-empath with poison.
6.) A hidden non-empath in the room.
7.) A healthy creature (such as a monster or companion) in the
room.
8.) A
creature with over 50% vitality loss.
9.) An Empath in an adjacent room. Shift
Usage and mechanics:
Simply put, the Shift ability allows an Empath to link with another person
and shift that person's body or facial features, such as eye color or
shape, nose shape, or even their build, age, or sex.
Unlike the other abilities listed here, Shift is a
"secret" ability. Any who mention it in public are at
risk of being thrown in jail. The interesting part is that the
ability isn't illegal... According
to the authorities, Shift doesn't exist. To make it illegal would
be to acknowledge its existence, and considering the history of the
ability, such a thing is too terrible to consider. To
read up on the history of Shift, browse the list of known features, or find an
Empath who can perform your desired shift (at a cost, of course), please
visit the Empathic
Shift Coalition website. Also, visit the Library
here on this site to read "The Twist of Mindy" and "Jomay's
Story."
How to learn it:
To learn this ability, an Empath of at
least 30th circle must quest for it. Once learned, the Empath will
have a variety of features to choose from, depending on their skill.
While
shifting someone's features, an Empath will learn a small amount of
experience in Empathy. Though
the shifting quest is no longer a best-kept secret, I'm going to refrain
from offering any detailed clues. Three things I will tell the
prospective shifter, however: 1.)
Read the release
of shift, located at the Empathic Coalition's site.
2.) Talk to every NPC you can find, even ones you don't think would have
anything to tell you.
3.) Have a map handy, as it may indeed help or spark your imagination at
the right time. As
a teaser, here is Bruwster's speech:
"The Shift ability is a talent rooted back in the days before the
fall of the Seven-Star Empire, allowing the user to alter the
appearance of others. It is unknown why the ability cannot be done
upon oneself directly. Previous Empaths who attempted to do so have
failed miserably, causing themselves to experience sudden lashes of
pain."
"To use it, the Empath must first establish an empathic link with
the recipient. From there, the Empath needs to firmly picture what
sort of metamorphosis they want to cause on the patient. Oddly enough,
the simplest forms to picture and to enact are those that are closest
to the Empath's own physique and not the ones closest to the
patient's. The sole exception to this is realigning a person back to
their original appearance..."
"The Empath then creates a base mental link to the patient,
thrusting the image into the mind. It is believed that Empaths used to
be able to simply go from this step straight into altering features,
but now the patient must also relax his or her body, mentally agreeing
to the change, before the Empath can complete the final step and
attempt the transformation."
The commands:
Shift commands are only available to
use or review by those who have gained the ability. If you have
completed the necessary quest, type SHIFT HELP for the details. Otherwise,
I offer only a brief description of the shifting procedure for those who
are new to the system:
First off, typing SHIFT HELP
ATTRIBUTE will show you exactly what features you are able to
shift under ideal conditions. In the beginning, the features you'll be able to Shift will be very close to your
own, but as you gain experience, you'll find yourself able to Shift an
increasingly wider variety of features. Like the Link ability, to begin the
process, you must first
form an Empathic link with your client by touching them. Next,
type SHIFT <client> <body part> <desired feature>.
For example: SHIFT JANE LENGTH LONG.
(You will attempt to shift Jane's hair length to be longer.)
The client will receive a message echoing the proposed shift and will
be required to ACCEPT TRANSFORMATION in order to continue. To
begin the actual shifting process, follow up with SHIFT <client>. To
evaluate the progress of your shift, type SHIFT EVALUATE. To
cancel the shift altogether, type SHIFT CANCEL. And
again, SHIFT HELP will give you a full list of commands.
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