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Cagliostro, Merlin, Paracelsus, Pythagoras, Saint-Germain, Solomon, Thrice-Great Hermes. These mages are united by one common fraternity; The Order of Hermes, and one common phrase; “I am become the Word.” The founders of the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions. The architects of the structure of the council. The formulators and conceptualizers of the nine spheres of magick. The Order of Hermes can claim all these accolades and more. They are the largest, most organized, possibly wealthiest and (they would say) the most influential Tradition. They have the most Masters and Archmages, the most chantries and strongholds, and the greatest libraries.
The Order claims to be the oldest Tradition, having existed in some form since the creation of written language. They are the original codifiers of magickal study, founders (they would say) of western mysticism and (in their opinion) leaders of the traditions. They are the creators of common Tradition practices such as Certamen and the ultimate punishment of Gilgul. For many, the Order defines the word mage.
The Order has also endured some of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the Traditions. Tremere was a Hermetic mage, and generations of betrayal, war and death resulting from his actions are their responsibility. The heavy hand they wielded on the Sleepers during the Mythic Age is more or less solely responsible for the foundation of the Order of Reason which would grow into the Technocracy. If you are using the relevant Future Fate, infighting among their own led to the death of their most powerful Archmage, the loss of their greatest chantry, and was primarily responsible for the fall of Horizon to the Technocracy. All of these disasters and more belong to the Order.
If choosing a singular word to sum up this Tradition, the likely choice is “pride.” Pride led the Order to its greatest achievements and precipitated its greatest failures. Pride also keeps the order at the heart of the Traditions. The Order believes without them there is no Council of Nine. They are the glue holding the Traditions together and the most fervent supporter of the Council. Pride also drives the Order to force its methods and ideals on the other Traditions and causes many Hermetics to believe only they truly understand what it means to be a mage.
Internally, the Order is infamous as a shark tank of political machination, crushing bureaucracy, inflexible discipline, and exhausting apprenticeships. Perhaps less rigid and obtuse than in centuries past, this reputation remains well earned by the Hermetics. Consisting of 13 houses under the banner of the Order of Hermes, the praxes and methods of its members are widely varied but united under a common goal.
Thus, despite their many flaws and many setbacks, the Order emerges from the ashes of the past as a phoenix, bursting with fire and vitality. The shattering of the Order acts as the shattering of shackles, freeing the remaining Hermetics to rebuild on the storied foundations of conviction, learning, brilliance, Word, Will and Force. From the ruins rises a new Order, never giving in, never giving up, and never losing sight of their ultimate goal; the fabled ideal of the City of Pymander, guiding all of humanity to Ascension.
A tidal wave of change has washed over the Order of Hermes, resulting in much loss. But not all the loss is mourned. With the fall of the old guard, so too have fallen many of the old ways. As any Hermetic will tell you, an Order mage does not manifest change. They become change. And change the Order must.
The Code of Hermes and Peripheral Corrigenda remain the bedrock of the Order, and an examination of its tenets are key in helping guide the magi of today’s Order into tomorrow.
I swear everlasting loyalty to the Order and its members. The Order's enemies and friends are my enemies and friends, and I shall not spurn a friend nor succor an enemy.
The Order possesses a long-held reputation for its vicious political infighting, which bears responsibility for many of its catastrophes. Despite many who still believe Initiates gain strength from learning and adapting to politics and favor mongering, an attitude of cooperation currently flourishes within the Order. Younger members perfect their art instead of wasting time on political intrigue. When the Houses work together, the Order becomes stronger, and that strength is necessary to reach Pymander.
I shall not through action or inaction endanger the Order, nor consort with devils or undead, nor anger the fae.
The second Massassa war devastated the Order and left too many Houses in ruins. Ever since House Tremere’s betrayal, the Order swears to never rest until every last Tremere vampire is ash. Ostensibly this vow exists to right an ancient wrong and nothing more, but things are rarely so simple. The Second Massassa War was less about purging an evil and more about plundering Tremere chantries for lore to help combat the Avatar Storm. The end result was little knowledge gained, many good mages lost, and House Tytalus corrupted by ghouled magi. The Order must walk a fine line of deciding how important the destruction of the Tremere is and how far to go to achieve it, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
As the self-proclaimed maestros of summoning Umbrood, infernal temptation has always been, and remains, a salient danger to the Order. Throughout its history mages of the Order have fallen to infernalism and worse. Mages of the Order would be wise to make special effort to learn from prominent falls such as Faust and Crowley. Many of these infernal entities have spent ages mastering guile, subterfuge and cunning. Haughty mages assume corruption is easy to identify and avoid, and these attitudes allow the insidious infection of infernalism to spread. The Order is infamous for its hubris. The fall of House Jannissary stands as a prominent example of this.
I shall not deprive any Order mage of magickal power nor through action or inaction attempt to bring harm to an Order mage, except in justly declared and open certamen.
If the Order wishes to survive, let alone have any chance at winning the Ascension War, it must keep this tenet prominently in mind. The lessons of Doissetep must be learned and learned well. For centuries, the Masters and Archmasters there schemed against each other, thwarted each other, and otherwise completely ignored this tenet until nothing remained between them except resentment and seething hatred. When things finally came to a head, the Conflagration tore the realm apart and devastated many other realms.
I shall not spy by any means or manners upon another Order mage’s private works, nor read an Order mage’s mind, nor invade or observe another Order mage’s sanctum, save to guard against a clear, direct, forceful, and imminent threat to the safety of the Order.
Once upon a time, the Order of Hermes had their own secret police. As the sleeping world should have taught, this resulted in nothing good. The Order gave far too much power and far too little oversight to House Jannissary, and corruption inevitably followed. Abuses occurred, innocents suffered, and the House itself fell to infernalism. The Order’s magi must learn to trust and respect each other and to curb the excessive disregard of this tenet exercised by so many in the past.
If called before a Tribunal, I shall abide by its verdicts. If called to sit on a Tribunal, I shall vote wisely, respect the vote of others, and support the Tribunal’s verdicts.
Since the founding of the Order, House Quaesitor stands as its legal bedrock. One of the few remaining Hermetic Archmagi, Ishaq ibn-Thoth, controls the House. Being an unflagging cornerstone of the Order and having as their Primus an Archmagus, many Hermetics look to them as an example of how to move forward. Whether or not they can live up to these high ideals and expectations remains to be seen, as they have traditionally shunned the responsibilities of leadership to maintain the perception of neutrality as the judges of the Order.
Upon reaching the fifth degree or higher, I shall train apprentices and instruct them in this Code. I bear the entire responsibility for my apprentices and shall duly admonish, restrain, discipline, or arrest an apprentice who endangers the Order, and shall yield same apprentice to the Order's lawfully appointed agent or Tribunal.
Traditionally, neophytes of the Order must run a gauntlet of demanding and exhausting tasks. An initiate is expected to master several languages and memorize not only the Code of Hermes and Peripheral Corrigenda, but also commit the infamous Hornbook to memory. Succeeding at all of this merely means being worthy to become an Apprentice. At this stage you serve under a mentor and a grueling years long apprenticeship begins. At the end, the apprentice is set on a dangerous task, often to directly interfere with the Technocracy. If successful, they earn the right to challenge for recognition as a full Magus. This challenge can, and often times has, resulted in the death of the apprentice. Many apprentices become mere tools for political favor or are assigned frivolous tasks for which they are not prepared. The new generation of mentors often eschew these practices, believing the road forward need not include the Machiavellian intrigue of the past. The rigorous training remains true, but new modern ways to teach both force and Forces are replacing the churn of apprentices experienced by the Order in the past.
I solemnly swear to pursue the Enemies of Ascension vigorously and actively and to unmake their works in this world and all others.
Rumors abound of the Technocracy changing from within and attempting to alter many of its previous methods and pogroms. Much like the Order itself, many of the old guard Technocrats are gone. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change the minds of many Hermetics when it comes to deciding the Order’s stance regarding the Technocracy. Ask most Hermetics their opinion and they’ll respond, “In the end, it’s either us or them.” To alter the collision course of these two archnemeses requires a vast amount of effort and change. To the Order, the Ascension War only ends with the fall of the Technocracy.
I solemnly swear to uphold this sacred Code of Hermes and venture any risk or sacrifice to protect it. Should I breach it, may all mages of the Order rise as one united and hunt me down and destroy me forevermore.
Thus, is the final tenet of the Code, and thus does every Hermetic passionately believe. Only by working together, not against each other, by embracing the change they claim to be, only by risking much can the Order succeed in reaching the City of Pymander and guiding the world to Ascension.
Hi Backers,
I'm going to take a moment here to talk about something in the Concierge Code! We've got an Add On for this project that is currently on sale for a lower price elsewhere, so I want to let you know about this Add On Alternative.
As part of this campaign, we're offering some of the core World of Darkness 20th Anniversary PDFs as an Add On option for $15 each. Add Ons are a great way for backers to bulk up their rewards, fill in a few holes in their collection, and add money to the funding total which unlocks more Stretch Goals.
However - in this instance I'm going to suggest you don't add on one of these titles, the V20: Dark Ages PDF. Instead of adding it on for $15, you should check it out on DriveThruRPG, where it's on sale this week for only $2.50!
Vampire 20th Anniversary Edition: Dark Ages - on sale now! <LINK>
This is part of Onyx Path's 10 Year Anniversary Sale. Every month this year they're celebrating a different game line. February is World of Darkness month, and this week they're focusing on Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition! While the V20 core rulebook itself predates Onyx Path (and thus is not part of this sale), PDFs from most of the rest of the V20 game line are currently on sale for 10% of their original prices, for their 10th anniversary. That means it’s 90% off!
So, even though I like building our funding amount and unlocking Stretch Goals, I can't replicate this pricing as part of the campaign and don't want you to miss out on this amazing deal. Luckily, we're still a few weeks away from finishing this campaign and processing pledges, so you are able to update your pledge and Add Ons and can take advantage of this deal. I'll let you know if any of the other titles that we're offering as an Add On go on sale before the campaign concludes, but it's good to be aware that there are some amazing deals going on over at DriveThru all throughout 2022 in celebration of 10 years of Onyx Path!
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The Euthanatoi, whatever their cultural influences, have several things in common and these foundations are the basis of their paradigms.
The Great Wheel Turns. Closely related to the idea of fate, the Euthanatoi believe that there is a correct course, a forward motion to events. That doesn’t always mean progress as historians would describe it, but the Wheel turns and there’s a natural end to all things, from human lives to political systems and philosophies. Everything runs its course and it’s simply wrong to let anything linger after its allotted time. Without death, there can be no change, only collapse: stagnation, fear, and hardship. That also means that nobody should die before their time. As Ranjit proved in the plague that started the Himalayan War, those destined to live require as much aid as those destined to move on.
Although the Euthanatoi are best known for ending lives, that’s not the extent of their duties. Euthanatoi can, and do, break down corrupt systems no longer fit for purpose, and masters of Entropy can unravel poisonous, rancid ideas. The fallout from ending a life can be vast, and the consequences of destroying institutions and concepts greater still. These works are for the wisest and most judicious of mages, who know to undertake them carefully and slowly. A player’s character could be one of the aforementioned patient mages working towards this goal, or a young firebrand still learning balance and restraint, determined to change things now.
Rebirth. After death comes rebirth. The concept goes by many names from reincarnation to conservation of energy but the Euthanatoi know for sure that death is not the end. It’s a closing door, a return to the earth. This belief offers consolation when the agents of the Wheel must take a life: they’re not ending, only facilitating a transition.
The Diksha. Every Euthanatoi has died and returned. They have, in a sense, put their money where their mouth is. They understand what it means for a life to end and what awaits on the other side. In an ideal world the Diksha is carefully orchestrated, overseen by an attentive Acarya and undergone only when the Shravaka knows how to navigate it. In practice life is messy, and many mages find their way to the Euthanatoi after a near death experience from which they struggle back alone.
Asceticism. The executioner’s role is a hardship. It’s suffering. It’s willingly taking on a job that most people can’t bear to do. Doing so without pride or passion is an important part of the Chodona. Euthanatoi strive to moderate their feelings, never straying into excess — but they also take a quiet pride in their work. Keeping the Wheel on its path, despite the weighty burden of doing so, is a kind of beauty and a source of joy. That doesn’t mean all Euthanatoi are teetotalers or straight edge (though some are), or that they’re all supremely self-aware. It means they know they walk a tightrope between depression and sadism and they’re pretty good at making sure they don’t tip off to either side.
Mentorship. The Euthanatoi rely on their fellow Tradition members more than most outsiders realize. The bond between teacher and student lasts a lifetime and keeps both mages from straying off the path of duty into hubris and malice. This may sound like a behavior, not a belief, but it’s rooted in the concept of duty: when a Euthanatos goes solo, it’s usually a sign that they’re straying from the Chodona.
Whichever sect of the Euthanatoi your character comes from, the best resource for developing how they see the world are the myths and folklore of those cultures. Study Hindu Vedas and Indian epics, read Greek and Celtic myths, learn about the civilization of Great Zimbabwe and listen to Shona funeral songs. Remember there’s no such thing as a ‘standard’ Euthanatos. They’re informed by the culture they come from, or one that they’ve studied, as well as their own brushes with Death and Fate.
When the Euthanatoi interact with the world of the living they use wisdom, faith, high ritual, and an array of other tools. When they interact with the dead, they speak their language. The dead crave little and need less but the currencies they accept are respect and Quintessence. Sacrifices denote the first and can be a vessel for the second. Whether the sacrifice is a burned offering, a good bottle of whisky, or blood, it’s the respect behind it that matters.
Some Euthanatos rotes originate in a single sect and make their way through the whole Tradition. Most are examples of simultaneous evolution: similar needs and philosophies give rise to the same effect under different names.
Blood for the Ghosts (••Entropy/ ••Prime/ ••Spirit)
This effect’s name comes from classical Greek myth, but the practice of offering sacrifices and gifts to those already dead recurs in Celtic and African traditions too. The mage offers up a sacrifice of fresh, warm human blood — or any other vessel for Quintessence — and calls forth ghosts or orisha from the world of the dead. The sacrifice makes them biddable, and in some traditions obedient, and a mage can converse or interact with them. Ghosts summoned with this ritual give information more freely, and sometimes without asking for anything in return.
Causing a ghost to take a material form requires Spirit 3. Determining whether a spectral informant is lying needs an additional Entropy 1 effect.
The Last Sacrifice (••••Entropy/ ••Spirit)
Death is not the end, only the beginning of the next stage. When an agent of the Wheel kills someone, they like to make sure it sticks and that their target doesn’t linger as a ghost. This effect is most often a gesture of respect: a final gift to bid farewell to the spirit and send them on their way. Depending on the mage’s sect the sacrifice might take the form of coins for the ferryman, elaborate funeral rites and cremation of the body, or the gift of grave goods for interment with the corpse. Some Euthanatoi understand it as a deal, or even a way of paying off an otherwise unquiet spirit.
Whatever the intent, it works. After a properly delivered Last Sacrifice, a spirit moves on to its next stage of existence, not hanging around as a ghost. Spirits dismissed in this way never become wraiths (or spectres) and therefore can’t return to the world of the living, even briefly. Dead men tell no tales.
Hello Member Mages,
A Milestone! We've crossed the $100,000 Funding mark! Astounding and outstanding!
ACHIEVED! - At $100,000 in Funding [Minimum] – Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders II – Additional orders, from the Bata'a to Solificati (and some in between) will be detailed will be added to this expanded PDF supplement.
That achievement will allow the creative team to expand their plans for the Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders stretch goal supplement, which will now include more additional orders to be detailed. Have you got an order you don't want forgotten? Let the developers know in the comments who you'd like to see touched on in this supplement!
And now, let's set up our next milestone celebration and Stretch Goal supplement expansion!
At $105,000 in Funding – Lore of the Traditions Streaming Overlay Set – A set of overlays for your online M20 game will be created, for your use when running your Lore of the Traditions online game. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.
At $110,000 in Funding [Minimum] – Faces of Magick III – This PDF Supplement will be expanded one final time, filled with legendary mages to use in your chronicle.
So, first up during this mid-campaign week, another milestone achievement will unlock some online play overlays. Over this past year, I've played online more than every previous year combined, and it's nice to celebrate our journey through this campaign with these tools that help make that a little easier, or a little more fun.
The big supplement expansion goal ahead of us, though, is a final expansion to the size of the Faces of Magick book. If we unlock this Stretch Goal, it'll expand a third and final time, giving the creative team even more room to really get in and explore some legendary mages.
We've done really well, but we're right in the middle of the standard Kickstarter pledge plateau, so these may be a bigger challenges that you'd assume. Please continue to spread the word by sharing info about this campaign in your social circles and on your social media. Let's see if we can't get more faces in our backing group and more Faces of Magick in our stretch goal rewards.