My take on Mummers and current abilities

[Rosalin]

I'm not an expert Mummer but, I am a mummer with "words". I've not read through every topic here but, the way I've come to see Mummers is very close to Psionics. Before I get onto any of my ideas for abilities I'll explain how I see Psionics as it doesn't tend to align with most depictions.

Psionics is power from within. Sorcery and Elemancy is manipulation of powers that they don't inherently house within themselves. As Sorcery requires material components and Elemancers use their energy whilst manipulating the weave. Hence this is power 'without'. This is merely how I percieve it. Don't cite me for I may be wrong.

Power words & you

I see that there are pitches for AOE attacks and that there's already a well established point that Mummers with their current abilities are quite strong.
Wonder allows a supremely effective stun, which can be further stacked on with Tranquility. Horror is our panic button. If we need all the enemies to run then shout scary things at them and they'll run! Sometimes they panic so terribly that they run right back to you! As far as combat goes however Tranquility fills the same role as Wonder does, only it's less effective as a stun; a trade off for it's length.

The only change I can fathom to propose would be to make Tranquility a unique debuff of it's own. Rather than forcing an enemy to fall asleep or simply become non-aggressive I think that utilizing this as a stacking debuff to enemy skills would serve to give it many more uses. In it's current state Tranquility is a lesser Wonder. It could be my armour reducing the time but, as it currently stands the best usage I personally see is keeping enemies off of you whilst foraging/woodcutting. From an RP standpoint it's iffy for players. Say I want to calm someone down forcibly (by whatever means it gets this extreme) You've only forced a character to sleep. They can still wake up mad.

An alternative use I'd like to see for Tranquility is as an AOE (Wait! Wait! Put away your pitchforks!) but, not as an ability used DURING combat. I think if the Mummer could use Tranquility as a 'sustained' aura of peace then a Mummer would be able to stop fights from even starting. If a player traveling with the Mummer or the Mummer them self however makes a hostile action whilst in this 'aura' of peace then the emotion the Mummer took time to weave is horribly distorted. Dispelling the aura altogether and preventing it from being used again for a period of time. It would be unable to cast during combat for the same reason. As a way to convey this action (It is a word after all) I think would be to give a message that the specific player is emitting an aura of tranquility. (they are openly projecting it from their mind) Especially hostile enemies or players that are attempting to engage the party protected by this aura of armistice would have to overcome the aura. The same way enemies can resist or succumb to any other word a hostile action would incur this roll between the caster and the entity attempting to engage. If they fail then the attack simply doesn't happen. If they succeed then the aura is overcome as a whole and the spell fails.

In the special case that GMs wouldn't want this version of Tranquility to take effect. (Say an Event or the Whispering Woods) It could easily be shut down with "There is already an unnatural powerful emotion flooding this land." In the case it's because of players I think special things could be done to break this aura as well. A disciple of Aranas could very well possibly exude such a powerful fake emotion towards the aura that they conflict and cancel each other out. Which could be done from hiding and not give away the aggressor. Personally I think this would well and good spook a Mummer maintaining the Aura.

Performance

No matter how it's spun this is a game with combat. The three words of power can and will be the best line of defense for a Mummer. Wonder is the best and flexible for preventing and aiding combat but, what about after combat? This realm is what I want to see most worked on. We're not combatants. We're Mummers, storytellers, jesters, performers, musicians. You name it. Storytelling is already a modest earning for Riln and GP (Guild Points) but, what about performing? Juggling knives, playing songs, and telling fortunes? I don't expect there to be an ability for every facet of a Mummer's talents. I do think that an alternative/combo for Storytelling could be made however!

I'm not knowledgeable about how flexible or rigid the verbs for this game are but, I think we can greatly expand upon what a Mummer does in order to express themselves for meager gains and recognition in the world. My pitch for this is the Performance ability. When you use Storytell you get a list of verbs (topics) that make given receptive locations different requirements in order to tell them well. With Performance I think we can link this to the Commons of any city. Instead of announcing a grand storytelling you need something louder, grander! Instead of weaving topics we weave different kinds of performances that require different sets of skills. In Mistral a grand performance could be related to your skill with a specific kind of instrument. Weaving five or so tones in an array that could mimic a theater performance. For Shadgard they may get a better kick from watching a Performer juggle knives which rolls your Daggers and Hurling skills to decide the performance. Or shooting a flintlock at targets with your skill pulling off more amazing tricks. The higher your combat skills with the given tools the better the performance! We may not be combatants but, we are passionate. I think the skill levels provided would be good to gauge a given performance.

WEAPONS
Barely pass - 200 / Good - 400 / Great - 600 / Wonderful - 800 / Amazing - 1000 / Grand - 1500 / Masterful - 2000 / Legendary - 2500

MUSIC
Passable - 100 / Good - 200 / Great - 300 / Wonderful - 400 / Beautiful - 500

With the weapon skills the Riln gain should never exceed 100 unless there's a much longer cool down for performing than Storytelling. Having both of these abilities works well in tandem for making riln and GP but, outside of weapon performances don't incentivize violence. You could well and good make the Weapons performances not rely on any current skills as an alternative. I'm a flashy swordsman IRL but, I'd be utterly defenseless against someone practicing HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts)

This is much longer than I anticipated but, I genuinely want to see great things done! There's more ideas I want to throw out and even more I want to speak about but, I think this is enough to chew on for the time being.