Wu Tan

Wu Tan is the Alchemical and Elemental magic of the Hsien.

Overview
Traditional Chinese medicine and magic attempt their tasks by balancing the elements and energies in the human body and world. Doctors use herbs, animal remains, massage, feng shui, and acupuncture to establish balance of metaphysical forces. While the West is slowly giving these practices their due respect, in the World of Darkness they represent a shadow of true mastery of such forces. The shinma are servants of the elemental forces that created the world. The truck with the foundations of perception: Yin and Yang and the elements of Earth: Wood, Fire, Metal, Water, and Earth.

Wu Tan doesn't rely on static spells or cantrips. Each of the Alchemies has five levels of growing mastery that can be used to create effects. Each Alchemy also corresponds not only to the natural element it is named for but to the spiritual correspondences of those elements in the souls of themselves and other people. While Wu Tan doesn't have the scope of Awakened Sphere magic, it is much more universal than people imagine.

System

 * 1) Pick an I Chih and decide if the effect is Yin or Yang
 * 2) Add to the required number of successes if you want to add modifiers
 * 3) Subtract from this number based on the Fortunes used.
 * 4) Roll the dice for successes.

Modifiers

 * Abundance: Number of targets effected
 * Circumstances: Placing conditions on the effect
 * Continuance: Duration of effect
 * Domain: Range to the target or sphere of influence
 * Harm: Directly damaging a target
 * Magnitude: Size of target or the degree to which it is changed by the magic

Fortunes

 * Color: Auspicious colors attached to elements
 * Direction: Standing in the elements direction from the target
 * Dzi Dzat: Paper sacrifices, folded or drawn to represent what is desired
 * Festivals: Auspicious celebrations tied to the elements
 * Kwannon-jin Fortune: Being a kwannon-jin associated with the element
 * Mu-Jen: Wooden dolls like voodoo dolls
 * Poetry: A haiku or other poem
 * Season: The element's time of year
 * Sense: Caster and target experiencing the same taste, smell, etc...
 * Skills: Using a skill or knowledge that aids the I Chih
 * Wani Form: The hsien wears their true self

Roll
The roll for an I Chih is a number of dice equal to the Alchemy score plus the appropriate attribute based on whether the effect is Yin or Yang. The exceptions are Di Tan which only uses Intelligence as its attribute, and Nei Tan which only rolls the shinma's Tao score.
 * Wood
 * Yin: Appearance
 * Yang: Strength
 * Metal
 * Yin: Perception
 * Yang: Dexterity
 * Water
 * Yin: Stamina
 * Yang: Manipulation
 * Fire
 * Yin: Charisma
 * Yang: Wits
 * Earth
 * Yin and Yang: Intelligence

Elemental Alchemies

 * Di Tan: Earth Alchemy
 * Hou Tan: Fire Alchemy
 * Lin Tan: Wood Alchemy
 * Tieh Tan: Metal Alchemy
 * Shui Tan: Water Alchemy

Elemental Levels
The effects of Wu Tan are several at each level with a total of five levels called I Chih and are the same for all the different alchemies. The differences are based on the Element and whether the effect is based on Yin or Yang.

Level 1: The Prodigal Tongue
The shinma can communicate with spirits; understanding and being understood by them. They must speak to the spirit, not hum or meditate. The spirit will speak back, though those who do not understand the element will not understand what is being said. Material elements creak or groan while spirits materialize and converse in their tongue. Effects are:
 * Commune With Element - The Hsien may speak with the elements, be they stones, trees, or rivers depending on the Alchemy they are using. This is Yin or Yang depending on the element.
 * Read Elemental Soul - All mortals and Shen have elemental souls. The Hsien can learn something about a sentient being by reading the strength or weakness of the particular elemental soul in the person. This is a Yin Effect.
 * Speak With Jimu-Tenno - The shinma can speak with an elemental spirit, or Jimu-Tenno. This is only possible if the shinma can see beyond the Wall or if the spirit has manifested in the Middle Kingdom. This is a Yang Effect

Level 2: Command Elemental Vassals
P'an Ku gave the Hsien the job of overseeing the elemental spirits. Each Hsien can command elementals corresponding to their Kwannon-jin Fortune. Other shinma must negotiate with spirits even with the right Alchemy, usually by making offerings or promises to convince them to serve. The difficulty, though, is finding a spirit because the hsien can no longer simply enter into Heaven. If they are not in a Dragon Nest, a likely place to find a spirit, they can try going to a natural spot attractive to a particular elemental and call out, relying on the spirit to use their power to manifest. Frivolous use of the I Chih will bring reprisal from traditional hsien societies and getting an elemental killed will bring reprisal from Heaven itself.
 * Dispel Elemental Spirit - The Hsien may dispel a spirit. It is easier to dispel an unmanifested spirit than a manifested one as it must be forced through the Wall. The successes needed are based on the spirit's current Chi score, 1 success per 10 Chi. If manifested it is one success per 2 Chi. This is a Yin Effect.
 * Summon Elemental Spirit - The Hsien may summon elemental spirits with one success needed per 10 points of Chi plus the Wall rating. Success forces the spirit to Appear. If the spirit is not of the hsien's element it must be bargained with and cajoled into service usually by some sacrifice. This is a Yang Effect.
 * Diminish/Nurture Elemental Soul - The Shinma may command the elemental soul of a sentient being. Using the example of Fire, to increase a beings sense of propriety (a Yang effect) would cause an unruly person to act properly while decreasing the Fire soul (a Yin effect) will make a prudish person more open to lascivious suggestions. The Human soul is a complex thing and to completely control it requires use of all 5 elements.
 * Increase/Decrease Elemental Attribute - The Hsien may increase (Yang) or decrease (Yin) the number of dots in an elemental Attribute. (see above for elemental attributes). It requires 2 successes to add or subtract 1 Attribute dot. To drive an attribute to 0 requires three successes on top of that.
 * Dragon Boat-0.pngSummon the Dragon Boat - This power can only be used at a Dragon Nest and allows the shinma to travel to other dragon nests and enter the spirit world in a limited fashion. To do so the hsien must have a dragon boat figurine made of the color jade allied to their kwannon-jin. The ritual is done as the focal point of the Nest where the practitioner summons an elemental to act as a ferryman. The elemental usually gets the figurine as part of the bargaining. After the elemental is summoned the I Chih is enacted. The boat carries one person unless the Abundance modifier is used.If the I Chih is unsuccessful the elemental loses faith in the hsien and departs and the whole ritual must be repeated. A botch sullies the nest and breaks the figurine. It takes a day to purify the Nest before the ritual can be performed again. The type of elemental summoned depends on the road followed. This seems to be a Yang effect.

Level 3: Raiment of the Elements
At this level, the Hsien gains control of the elemental nature of his or her mortal body. This allows for many effects like taking on the appearance of the element, merge with, hide within, and travel through the element, subsume small objects of the element within themselves, and by doing so understand their properties. This level can only effect the Hsien themself and objects of the elements.
 * The Enfolded Object - The shinma can hide small items of the appropriate element within their own elemental spirit. They can roughly double their mass with this effect (bringing in an object up to their own mass) and once hidden the object cannot be detected because it becomes a spiritual part of the shinma. Some objects need multiple alchemies to effect. A gun with its gunpowder needs both Metal and Earth. One would guess this is a Yin Effect.
 * The Path of the Elements - The hsien can merge with and "fly" through the elements. He or she must touch the element and it must be of at least the same or mass. Different modifiers change distance travelled or time spent in the object. One success allows 10 meters of travel. At the end of time spent, the hsien must step out or be ejected, causing 2 levels of Aggravated Damage. Perception rolls while in the element are at +2 difficulty and I Chih cannot be cast as the Chi of the hsien is already active. Mundane items (like clothes) do not travel with the hsien unless they are Enfolded, though magical and jade items do. Silk worn by the hsien travels as well. (Members of the Li Shen say this is because of the August Personage of Jade's sublime modesty. No one wants a bunch of nude hsien showing up when summoned.) One would assume this is a Yang Effect.
 * Elemental Form/ Elemental Fist - The Shinma may transmute their body into one of the elements. The laws of the middle kingdom still apply, though. Fire must have fuel and Water must have a container. As above, normal items do not change but magical ones do. Masters of Wood, Earth, Metal, or Fire, can do extra damage in hand-to-hand combat by changing their extremities. Each success on the roll adds a dice of damage. One would assume this is a Yang Effect.
 * Mask Elemental Soul - (Not Canon) Based on the description of this I Chih it seems it would be possible for the Shinma to mask his or her elemental souls with fake readings. This would come in handy if a noble Chu Jung was trying to infiltrate one of the Mu Courts as they could mask their proper, decorous soul with a fake, improper mask.

Level 4: Awaken the Elements
With this power the Shinma regions the ability to command the elements of the Middle Kingdom. They can be summoned, shaped, moved, toyed with, and sundered. Powerful hsien can summon storms or divert rivers, make plants dance like people, or rive the earth.
 * Awaken True Jade - The shinma can awaken Jade. To create Yin Jade is a Yin Effect and to create Yang Jade is a Yang Effect.
 * Move Element - Similar to telekinesis, this power lets the shinma move an element. Modifiers are used to determine size, duration, and distance moved. The object moves at walking speed. An extra success can make it move at running speed. If used as an attack the Harm modifier must be used as well as Domain for range. Just moving the Element is a Yin effect. Attacking is a Yang effect.
 * Shape/Sunder Element - Elements can be given form or be broken. Making an element move by also using Move Element requires a significant magnitude of change. To shape is a Yang Effect. To sunder is Yin.
 * Summon Element - The amount of element summoned uses Magnitude modifiers and it comes from the nearest source. The shinma cannot control where it is summoned from so you cannot summon all the water out of a person. This is incredibly difficult magic and all necessary successes from Magnitude of Form are doubled and even at the lowest levels it requires an extra success. In the spirit world the court is tripled. Yang effect. Conversely to dispel an element is a Yin effect.
 * Repair Elemental Soul - (Not Canon) Some beings have so destroyed aspects of themselves that their various elemental souls are mostly dead. With this power a hsien could "redeem" a fallen Shen, provided they know which soul aspect has been destroyed. Someone who had entered the Cauls or danced the Black Spiral would probably need multiple Elements brought to bear.

Level 5: Master the Elements, Throne of Jade
The shinma can exchange characteristics of different examples of his or her element or change one example into another. Pliability, hardness, color, chemical characteristics, texture... all are mutable in the hands of a master. The limit on this power is that it only works within elements. Water could be turned to ice or steam. Oak could be made as pliable as a mushroom. Lead can become gold. To make changes across elements, like turning straw into gold, requires the master to have both Alchemies involved at level 5. Jade can be destroyed with this power but its properties cannot be duplicated or created. The changes are not permanent unless Continuance is used.
 * Exchange Properties - Form and Change are usually necessary modifiers here. Making a stone as hard as diamond is relatively easy. Making mud that hard is more difficult. Making something weaker is a Yin effect. Making something stronger is Yang.
 * Transmute Element - This power is by its very nature about so even the most basic change usually requires three successes. Again, Yin or Yang depends on the type of change. Making a diamond mud is Yin. The reverse is Yang.

Modifier Systems
Unless otherwise stated, an I Chih only targets one person, lasts for a combat turns, and only works within 10 meters. Modifiers add successes to the number needed to perform an I Chih.

Abundance of the Ten Thousand Things
The shinma must use this Modifier to affect multiple targets. The number of targets affected dictates the number of extra successes necessary. The effect is based on P'an Ku's creation story as he separates creation.

Circumstance of the Monkey King
This modifier puts conditional effects on an I Chih and is based on Hanuman's practical jokes.

Continuance of the Righteous Judgment
This modifier makes things last longer, often by appealing to the sun or moon. It is based on the basic Chinese calendar. This is an easily abused modifier as some players will try to use it to duplicate other modifiers. It cannot be used with Harm.

Domain of the Great Lord
This modifier allows the shinma to extend the range of their magic. It is based on the concept of demesne used by ancient hsien lords. It radiates out from the caster. This modifier assumes the caster knows the location of the target. One cannot use City and hope to hit the person they are targeting. Also, to make an area effect Abundance must also be used to hit targets.

Harm of Heaven's Sword
Harm allows a hsien to directly damage targets and mimics the vengeful sword of Wu Ti, a military emperor. Harm cannot be used to modify every I Chih and only level 4 and 5 I Chih are capable of doing damage at all. (Elemental Fist cannot be modified to do more damage than what it already does.) It also cannot be used with some modifiers like Continuance. Direct attacks can look like bolts of fire or lightning, changing the elements of the body, or making trees attack with sharpened branches. It does not include damage from floods, earthquakes, or being trapped in a burning building. Indirect attacks can cause more damage but they can't be easily controlled. Harm is Aggravated Damage.

Magnitude of Pan Ku's Creation
Magnitude has to separate effects. First it measures change. It is used when affecting an Elemental Soul or playing with qualities of elements at levels 3-5. It lets great changes be made. It also applies to magnitude of form. If an object is human-sized or larger, this modifier must be used. It is often used with Domain and Continuance.