Table of Contents
Communions
Communions are a path-boosting, load-sharing strategy, which Mages can use in combat. Mages generally join a communion as either Masters or Slaves. Masters do the spellcasting and so-called Slaves help shoulder Fatigue.
Types of Communions
There are three separate communions an army can theoretically have at the same time. Only one is actually called a "communion", however.
Communion
The Astral Communion is the most common variety, and the quickest to perform. The Masters end up taking 25% longer to cast their spells, however, as commanding the thoughts of others is a bit annoying.
Sabbath
Entry into the Blood Sabbath typically costs a Blood Slave, and entry is slower than entering an Astral Communion. It is a very top-heavy sort of arrangement, as the Masters accrue 50% less Fatigue than in the other sorts, while the Slaves accrue 25% more.
Chorus
Only the Witches of Man and the New Testament Angels can cast spells in Chorus, splitting the load and boosting the strength through shared singing. Singers safely exit the Chorus once they stop singing, or once there are no Masters to lead the choir.
Path Boosting
The path-boosting of Communions (and Sabbaths, and Choruses) is a big draw. Two Yogis can allow any amount of Gurus to cast Soul Slay without any investment of Pearls, for instance, while four Yogis can enable any number of Gurus to cast Enslave Mind.
The path boost is determined by the amount of Slaves the Masters can lean upon. What degree of a path boost do you want? Let's just use Astral as an example here.
| If you want… | …then you need… |
|---|---|
…+ 1… | …2 slaves. |
| …+2… | …4 slaves. |
| …+3… | …8 slaves. |
| …+4… | …16 slaves. |
| …+5… | …32 slaves. |
| …+6… | …64 slaves. |
| …+X… | …2 to the Xth power slaves. |
Load-Sharing
Ideally, the Fatigue of the spells cast by the Masters is split between the Master who cast it and all of the Slaves beneath them. This includes Spellcasting Encumbrance, and everything that modifies it.
For example, say two 2 Masters have 16 2 Slaves in Astral Communion, and one of the Masters decides to spend 1
to cast Time Stop. The Master in question has 2 Spellcasting Encumbrance, so the spell costs 102 Fatigue to cast. The Fatigue is thus split evenly between the 17 participants in the spell's casting (ignoring the other Master), giving them all 6 Fatigue. (102 / 17 = 6)
What if the Master decides to spend 2 instead, to reduce the spell's Fatigue cost to 52? Unfortunately, while this does help the Master, it does not help the Slaves. This is because the Master's understanding or capability with Astral magic now outstrips the Slaves, causing them additional Fatigue as their brains have to "overclock" to keep up. In this case, since the Master is 3 for the purpose of this spellcasting, the Master accrues only 3 Fatigue (52 / 17) but the 2 Slaves still accrue 6 Fatigue (52 * 2 / 17). Note that this takes into account every path boost except the path boost from the communion/sabbath/chorus itself.
| If the Master's level… | …then the Slave accrues… |
|---|---|
| …is at least double the Slave's level… | …quadrupled Fatigue. |
| …is greater than but not double the Slave's level… | …doubled Fatigue. |
| …is equal to the Slave's level… | …equal Fatigue. |
| …is less than the Slave's level… | …halved Fatigue. |
Innate Spellcasters are even worse to help in this regard. They senselessly cast spells on their own schedule, disregarding the mental flow that other spellcasters are used to (such as the pauses through voicing and acting out the steps), and they double Fatigue for their Slaves.
Only the primary path of the spell in question is taken into account, though communions/sabbaths/choruses do boost all paths the Master has. Likewise, the Fatigue multiplier is calculated for each Slave individually. The minimum Fatigue cost for assisting in spellcasting as a Slave is 1. If a Slave cannot handle all of the Fatigue meant for them (due to it pushing them over 200), they take 1 HP damage inside their head, with the standard chance for more damage if their Fatigue would be pushed above 250.
Unity in Spellcasting
Any spell the Master of a Communion/Sabbath/Chorus casts, if it only targets the Master, also targets the Slaves. For example, a Sabbath Master may cast Reinvigoration to wipe the Fatigue off both themselves and their Slaves.
Communion/Sabbath/Chorus Slaves may not do anything else while serving a Master. They are helpless. "Service" in the communion is automatic, upon a matching Master of the same team being found. "Service" only happens in combat, though, so designated Communion Slaves like Phlegra's may still do things on the strategic map.
Leaving the Circle
Leaving a Communion or a Sabbath, in combat, is very difficult. For the Slaves, they essentially have to wait until the Communion (or Sabbath) ends. A Communion, Sabbath, or Chorus is considered to have ended in one of the following circumstances:
- All of the Masters of the Communion/Sabbath/Chorus have left the battlefield (or died)
- All of the Slaves have died (or left the battlefield somehow)
The ending of a Communion or a Sabbath is harmless for the Masters, but it causes "psychic feedback" for the Slaves; they take between 3 and 150 Fatigue (generally around 75) as they snap back to reality, and they require a combat round to get back to doing whatever the heck they would do off-script.
In the case of a Chorus, exiting is as simple as "Fatiguing out" by accruing 100 or more Fatigue. It should be noted that Choruses thus can't let their leading singers "juice" their back-up singers for multiple enormous spell castings, though the Angels with the innate "Chorus Slave" trait will resume singing in the Chorus once they've awakened.