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Limits to the powers of the spirits

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Arcanist Lupus
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Limits to the powers of the spirits

I really adore the more bizzare effects among the powers, such as Uncanny Melting, Strangling Firevine, and Twsited Flowers Murmur Ultimatums.  But they got me wondering what the full range of effects that the spirits can cause.  If they can make flowers talk and plows melt, and grow plants that are on fire, is there anything that they can't do?  (Given sufficent time and energy, of course)

 


"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"

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Powerhound_2000
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Leave the island and expand their territory apparently.  


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
phantaskippy
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Vital Strength of Earth cannot tango.  It has tried, but it is slow and oafish and gets embarrassed.  It sometimes feels depressed when it sees Wise Wind Whispers dancing with Branches that Reach for Stars, and it knows it will never dance like that.

cnranger
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Along these same lines I was wondering if the minor and major powers have canonical spirits that use them.

In game any spirit can potentially cause a Tsunami, but thematically its seems a bit of a stretch fo Heart of the Wildfire to do so.

Canonically could Wildfire cause a Tsunami?

Eric R
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Vital Strength of Earth cannot tango.  It has tried, but it is slow and oafish and gets embarrassed.  It sometimes feels depressed when it sees Wise Wind Whispers dancing with Branches that Reach for Stars, and it knows it will never dance like that.

*LAUGH* Awesome. I'm not sure embarrassment is in Vital Strength's nature - but yes, it'd be far better at a pavane than a tango.

In game any spirit can potentially cause a Tsunami, but thematically its seems a bit of a stretch fo Heart of the Wildfire to do so.

Canonically could Wildfire cause a Tsunami?

As the Spirit is portrayed on the Spirit Mat? No, beause start-of-game Wildfire doesn't have that Power. But if they take that Power during a game? Then yes, they could, because they've changed - the word "Growth" can be parsed multiple ways; in the context of Spirit Island it doesn't just mean "getting bigger", it also means "changing, becoming", as in "growing up" or "personal growth". Thematically, this is why you have to Forget a Power Card in order to keep a Major Power: you have to give up something of what you were in order to incorporate such a large new influence into your being. The Spirits fighting the Invaders are making a conscious choice to reach for becoming other than they are - to change and adapt in order to survive.

(If you like, at the end of a game, you can lay out your Power Cards and consider the events of the game, and think on whether your Spirit might have acquired a different name. I played one game with Shadows where I kept doing things around the Sharp Fangs player - taking Beast-centric Powers, using Entwined Power for targeting, other stuff I can't even remember now - and also Forgot several of starting power cards. By the end of it the Dahan were probably calling me Second Hunter Brings Darkness or the like.)

So Wildfire could absolutely change and cause a Tsunami. It probably wouldn't make as big a Tsunami as River or Ocean would, though - that would take a much bigger change to its nature (in game terms: acquiring the necessary Powers to hit Tsunami's threshold).

Chaosmancer
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That is an awesome idea. I totally need to do that some day

dcvdg1
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Eric R wrote:

Vital Strength of Earth cannot tango.  It has tried, but it is slow and oafish and gets embarrassed.  It sometimes feels depressed when it sees Wise Wind Whispers dancing with Branches that Reach for Stars, and it knows it will never dance like that.

*LAUGH* Awesome. I'm not sure embarrassment is in Vital Strength's nature - but yes, it'd be far better at a pavane than a tango.

In game any spirit can potentially cause a Tsunami, but thematically its seems a bit of a stretch fo Heart of the Wildfire to do so.Canonically could Wildfire cause a Tsunami?

 

As the Spirit is portrayed on the Spirit Mat? No, beause start-of-game Wildfire doesn't have that Power. But if they take that Power during a game? Then yes, they could, because they've changed - the word "Growth" can be parsed multiple ways; in the context of Spirit Island it doesn't just mean "getting bigger", it also means "changing, becoming", as in "growing up" or "personal growth". Thematically, this is why you have to Forget a Power Card in order to keep a Major Power: you have to give up something of what you were in order to incorporate such a large new influence into your being. The Spirits fighting the Invaders are making a conscious choice to reach for becoming other than they are - to change and adapt in order to survive.(If you like, at the end of a game, you can lay out your Power Cards and consider the events of the game, and think on whether your Spirit might have acquired a different name. I played one game with Shadows where I kept doing things around the Sharp Fangs player - taking Beast-centric Powers, using Entwined Power for targeting, other stuff I can't even remember now - and also Forgot several of starting power cards. By the end of it the Dahan were probably calling me Second Hunter Brings Darkness or the like.)So Wildfire could absolutely change and cause a Tsunami. It probably wouldn't make as big a Tsunami as River or Ocean would, though - that would take a much bigger change to its nature (in game terms: acquiring the necessary Powers to hit Tsunami's threshold).

Amazing writeup Eric!  

Also, keep in mind that the end results of powers could be similar (when used by different spirits), but the 'HOW IT WORKS' could be different.  For example, Wildfire might learn to cause a Tsunami-like effect by somehow using fire to superheat the land (or water itself) offshore.  Vital Strength might cause an eruption/undulation of the ocean floor offshore.  Etc.  Different thematic mechanics to cause essentially the same effect described on the card.

Arcanist Lupus
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Oh!  I get it!

 

It never quite made sense to me that the spirits gain elements by using powers.  But now I'm starting to see how much the spirits are defined by the powers they are using.  The powers don't represent the spirits doing specific things, they represent the spirits becoming those things, at least partially.


"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"

- Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

Eric R
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Yes, exactly! And to cause a Tsunami, Wildfire must evoke/concentrate on that part of its nature which is now water-aligned.

One could perhaps express it as "choosing Power Cards to play is the Spirit choosing to focus on that part of itself during those years". The tempo cost of Reclaming corresponds to it being more natural ("easier" along some axis?) for Spirits to express their entire nature rather than just a portion of it over and over... except for Spirits with strong constancy (eg, Earth) or fluidity/flexibility (eg, River).