Mage/Theme/Legacies/People of the Hour

The People of the Hour

He never was the type to stay put, always riding off to somewhere with that damn motorcycle of his. Once he came back with that ridiculous fashion, but apparently the punks on the street thought that's exactly what they wanted. He's a good-for-nothing troublemaker for sure, but you can't help but wonder what he'll introduce the next time he comes rolling in town.

Reach Out to the Moment

Grow up, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, and die. Such was the certainty of life in the 1950s, but the 60s saw people jump off that well-paved road and plunge into the thorns, and in the 70s they were screaming iron words and carving out bloody trails in them. The People of the Hour were born in that same chaotic blur, founded by a young Enchanter tearing apart at the banality of daily life. Skirting at the edges of what her Awakened peers would tolerate, the Enchanter eventually summoned down Arcadia itself, struck a bargain, and went off to better the present.

The 80s and the 90s saw much of that chaos and fervor of the past decade or two die out, but the need to break away from the pattern and seize the moment still calls out to the hearts of many, and that need is what keeps the People of the Hour relevant to the Awakened of today. The Awakened know that their will can shape the world, and so the Spoilers continue to this day to reach out to tomorrow so that today becomes a wonder.

Origins

Parentage: Acanthus, Free Council, Unnamed Nations

Nicknames: Daredevils, Spoilers

Background: All Spoilers desired to not just survive but live in the moment, and make today better than yesterday. Aside from this commonality, two Spoilers in the same room could come from vastly different walks of life with no shared trait whatsoever. Most tend to come from the middle class, as they are often who feel disenfranchised by the present and can afford to do something about it.

Appearances: Flair and gusto define a typical Spoiler's wardrobes. Some might look like they came straight out of some vintage thrift shop, while another might walk around with the avant-garde stuff people expect only on a fashion runway. Either way, a Daredevil can be expected to generally not care about how expensive their choice is, but only that they like it.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Time 2, Subterfuge 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Socialize, Drive, Persuasion, Athletics, Streetwise.

Initiation: Spoilers are active in various charities, activist groups and social clubs, and a mage frequenting such organizations might come across a Daredevil willing to initiate them. The tutelage often consists of the mentor plunging his would-be pupil straight into his current project, stirring her up and seeing if she can seize what she sees in the future to change the present.

Organization: The teacher-student bond is the only organizational structure the People of the Hour practice, and even then the mentor is only there to see how her pupil applies her lessons. Sometimes the teacher lets his student loose right after initiation, to see how he grows without rules. Regardless, the Legacy's ideals allow even two Spoilers directly opposed in their vision to recognize each other as kindred spirits.

Theory: Time may be of the essence, but that is no reason to rush through life. The People of the Hour command the secrets of the future to better the present, pursuing tomorrow with a passion but never forgetting that they're doing it to make today a better moment.

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Time

Yantras: Flipping a coin, rolling a dice, or invoking chance in some other way and using the result to guide action or decision (+2); Subterfuge roll success related to casting (+2); unique fashion article to anyone else in the area (e.g. septum piercing) (+2); taking a non-calculated risk (+1, +2 if done purely for the thrill of it)

Oblations: Performing an act of random chance; helping someone who has lost something; trick someone in a manner that is harmless; abruptly change the subject but get everyone to go with it

Attainments

First: Fifty-Fifty

Prerequisites: Initiation
Too many people are paralyzed by the worry whether their action is the optimal one or not. The Spoiler is certainly not one of them, for she is confident that she can ask herself to know just that. This Attainment mimicks the "Momentary Flux" spell, cast on the Spoiler herself. Reach is assigned to instant use. Because the People of the Hour focus on the present, this Attainment does not help the mage on anything that would constitute an extended action.
Optional: Fate 1
A Daredevil would say an action can only either succeed or fail, so he might as well just do it. He backs up such statements by replicating the "Quantum Flux" spell, cast on himself. Reach is assigned to instant use.

Second: Smooth Cruise

Prerequisites: Time 2, Subterfuge 3
The Spoiler has a tomorrow to grasp and a today to improve, and the little obstructions in her life seem so insignificant compared to that. This Attainment emulates the "Green Light / Red Light" spell, cast positively on the Spoiler herself. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.
Optional: Fate 2
A daredevil he may be, but the mage need not always shoot in the dark. He can at the least find the general direction to shoot at by mimicking the "Serendipity" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use, and allowing the Daredevil to substitute a Skill of the same category for rolling to achieve his task. This effect only works on objectives that the mage at least intends to finish the day he uses it. It also does not work on objectives lingering from yesterday and further.

Third: Avant-Garde

Prerequisites: Time 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
Lady Peacock, founder of the People of the Hour, directly summoned a Fae of Arcadia for counsel. While few of the Legacy can match her tremendous fortune, a fearless Spoiler can push at the boundaries of safety to reach out towards Arcadia and part its thorns with bare hands, revealing her own Vision of the future she sees and the present she wishes. This Attainment augments Supernal summoning. The Spoiler needs to prepare a summoning circle, but does not need to do so in a Demesne or a Supernal Verge. Targeted Summoning cannot be used in conjunction; the summoned Vision is always an Anachronism with Fate as its secondary Arcanum.
Summoning the Vision is still an extended action, using Gnosis + Time as its dice pool. As an Attainment, the summoning is warded against Abyssal intrusion. The Spoiler still suffers aggravated damage in a dramatic failure, but does not invite the Abyss.
The Vision's Trial is that the Spoiler must have genuinely exhausted what she can or thinks she can do at the moment. If there is even one "last-ditch method" that the mage knows she can take but is reluctant to do so because of the risk, the Vision will simply not answer her. However, the mercurial whims of the Fae mean that it is difficult to pinpoint just exactly what they deem an impossibility or not. Suicidal risks and inviting the Abyss as an option are usually an exception, but not always.
The entity is still vulnerable to Fallen corrosion, taking Corpus damage from exposure to the Fallen World. However, the Vision always returns safely to Arcadia even if it perishes outside the summoning circle after its time runs out. Unless she personally caused it, the Spoiler does not suffer Wisdom degeneration from the Vision's death. The Vision normally appears as a series of hallucinatory images of potential futures and possible presents around the Spoiler's vicinity. Should it take a more concrete form, it appears as an exact double of the Spoiler. In this form its Attributes equal the lowest of the Spoiler's own in their respective categories. All other traits follow the usual Rank-derived limits for Supernal entities.
The Virtue and Vice of the Vision mirror that of its summoner. The Vision will only act to reveal itself to the Spoiler, and she must use magic to command the Vision to act otherwise. Should anyone else attempt to hijack the Vision or otherwise control it, it responds with a Clash of Wills on which it scores automatic successes equal to its Rank. Lastly, while the Vision does not force itself on the Fallen World, it rewards those who pursue the future it represents. The Spoiler can choose to take "Realize the Vision I have seen" as an Obsession. This ignores the usual Gnosis-derived limit for the number of Obsessions. Unlike normal Obsessions, this Obsession grants Mana each time it gives an Arcane Beat for partial progress, not just for its resolution.
Optional: Fate 3
The Daredevil lives up to his nickname, apparently fearless in diving into the uncertain and the unknown. He replicates the "Fools Rush In" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.

ALTERNATE: Third: Avant-Garde

Prerequisites: Time 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills

Some more recent members of the People of the Hour think that Lady Peacock was kind of full of herself, and that reaching into the Supernal as a last-ditch effort is kind of the opposite of the entire philosophy of the Legacy. They anchor themselves and their souls more firmly in the here and now, walking the world and being fully present, trusting that they will wander into the fortune meant for them. This functions as Shifting the Odds (p. 136), with Reach assigned to finding their requisite needs within an hour and Advanced Duration.

Optional: Time 3

By being so fully present in the here and now, the Daredevil guards herself against temporal manipulations. This functions as Constant Presence, with Reach assigned to instant cast and Advanced Duration. Any attempts to change or alter the Daredevil, her past, or her destiny through temporal manipulation trigger a Clash of Wills. Daredevils who reach this level almost invariably keep this Attainment perpetually active.

Fourth: Catch as Catch Can

Prerequisites: Time 4, Athletics 4, and a third initiation skill at 2
The more infamous talents of a Spoiler allows her to simply do over her action, based on the principle that what she does now is more important than what she will do or has done. This Attainment emulates the "Shifting Sands" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and going back a full scene.
Optional Fate 4
The Daredevil doesn't just ride the vagaries of fortune; he surfs through it, jumping from one moment to another with a series of good luck that others interpret as him being "in the flow." By spending a point of Mana, he replicates the "Superlative Luck" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. This effect does not benefit rolls of extended actions.

Fifth: Stacking the Deck

Prerequisites: Time 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
The most wildest of Spoilers seemingly make the world gravitate around herself, the future apparently going out of its way to serve her agenda. With a point of Mana, this Attainment emulates the "Present as Past" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Scale. Should the Spoiler face a Clash of Wills triggered by the Time Arcanum, she scores automatic successes equal to her Time dots.
Optional Fate 5
The Daredevil stacks the decks of fate in his favor, receiving ace cards when no one else does so that he may continue whatever antics he performs while living the moment. He replicates the "Miracle" spell as an instant action.

Credit

Credit for a significant portion of this adaptation belongs to 21C Hermit on the Onyx Path Forums, whose conversion can be found here.