Breath (Faith)
Also known as: Ātma, Mana, Qi, Essence, Hesychasm, Chakra, Anima, Māyā, Ṛddhi, Prāṇa, Life Force, or simply "Soul".
"Breath" is the ultimate binding force in the universe. Almost all things constitute of it, to a lesser or greater degree. And enlightened souls and beings of higher power can even manipulate it to their will: Twisting at the fabric of reality.
Like Faith: Breath is naturally open-ended, only successful tests advance it, it uses the same practise cycle, and it is not affected by wounds or other external penalties. (See the rest of the Breath article for more info).
Immortality: Those with Great Souls are biologically immortal. Though they may yet die from injury or magic, their lifespans are vast and they are nearly ageless; for their Divine Breath purges all disease from their body. Raise Steel and Health both by +1 during character burning.
Drawback: Mortals endowed with this trait are irrevocably changed forever. They seem to have an insatiable sense of wanderlust: To seek danger at every turn, to risk everything on unlikely odds, to start revolutions, or to abuse their powers and lord over the weak. This may be represented in a few different ways—the most common being a special additional emotional attribute with it's own special rules, but Scions get a fourth belief about a grand motivation undercut by hubris instead.
Restriction: Special Lifepath Trait. (See the character burner for more info).
Before continuing, it is recommended that if you are a GM reading this then go and re-read the "Religion" chapter in the Burning Wheel Codex (pg 270), if you have it, so you can more easily see where the differences are between this system and normal Faith. And remember that like everything else in this game, Breath is subject to the the "Say 'Yes', or Roll", "Let It Ride", and "Test-Mongering" paradigms.
Common Traits
Almost every character in the game who obtains the Great Soul trait will do so via a special lifepath, and they will also very likely have some sort of Halo trait, the Vigour of Youth trait (pg 200), a drawback trait (typically with an emotional attribute tied to it), and some options from which they may choose one. This is explained in more detail the Kindred Burner.
Replacing Faithful
Breath does not replace the default 'Faithful' trait. But that trait no longer opens an emotional attribute, either. It still opens a special fourth Belief slot for you though: You should write the vows of your faith in this slot and discuss with the GM what mechanical bonus the upholding of those vows may grant you. For examples, see the 'Vows of Aecer' section of the Codex pg 452. Faithful also makes you a 'believer' for the purpose of your god using miracles on you.
So aspects are 'sets of channellings' (basically divine interventions, BWG pg 524) that stick to a theme. Each are listed with a name, a set of obstacles, effects and interesting failure consequences—in addition to Forte-based Tax (see below). "Subtle" aspects never activate your halo, "Obvious" powers always do. Unless otherwise stated, effects only last for the duration of a single intent. In a way, everything in the aspect lists are just iterations on the primordial mantra within a theme, so you can get very creative and make up new channellings in the moment—so long as you conform to the theme of the aspect. It's a very open-ended magic system—and from a certain perspective, there's nothing it can't do—so the aspects are just a nice way to frame the constraints.
Help
Most effects are not cumulative if two or more Kindred target the same person with the same power repeatedly; but they can Help each other with the test instead and share in the success or failure conditions, as per the usual rules, so long as they both have access to the same aspect. Helping and failing means you both have to Tax independently though.
Advancement
Note that most example channellings have an Ob in the 2-5 range, and recall that Breath only marks advancement on successful tests. So once you reach Breath 5 those challenging tests will get rarer. This is by design! You should have to go away and meditate on a mountain-top for a year, or get very lucky, or have to save up lots of artha if you want to advance your Breath beyond a 5 or 6.
[description]. Permanently open-ends FORTE and all Forte-rooted skills—which literally only includes Drinking—so, to compensate, you may also add +1 to your MW calculation. But this is a very useful for a Kindred nonetheless, because Breath can Tax your Forte on failed tests.
[description]. Permanently open-ends AGILITY and all Agility-rooted skills: Including Sleight of Hand, Etching, Sewing, and many weapon skills.
Great Soul ⸻ Dt
You are touched by divinity. A being raised above other mortals. You may be a spirit or demigod, an enlightened being, an incarnate of the gods given power through ancient rites of bondage, a scion of the dragons whose holy lineage burns bright, a host to an evil power, or a forlorn child. This trait opens the "Breath" emotional attribute at rank B3, though you may call it something else that is more fitting for your culture. Breath may be advanced while Character Burning or during play. In that process you will also have to design your Mandala (i.e. choose your Domains) and list your associated Channellings and other unique powers, and answer some questions that may advance your starting Breath exponent.
Like Faith: Breath is naturally open-ended, only successful tests advance it, it uses the same practise cycle, and it is not affected by wounds or other external penalties. (See the rest of the Breath article for more info).
Immortality: Those with Great Souls are biologically immortal. Though they may yet die from injury or magic, their lifespans are vast and they are nearly ageless; for their Divine Breath purges all disease from their body. Raise Steel and Health both by +1 during character burning.
Drawback: Mortals endowed with this trait are irrevocably changed forever. They seem to have an insatiable sense of wanderlust: To seek danger at every turn, to risk everything on unlikely odds, to start revolutions, or to abuse their powers and lord over the weak. This may be represented in a few different ways—the most common being a special additional emotional attribute with it's own special rules, but Scions get a fourth belief about a grand motivation undercut by hubris instead.
Restriction: Special Lifepath Trait. (See the character burner for more info).
Working Miracles
The miracles of Breath work in largely the same way as Faith's "Divine Interventions" (BWG pp 522-527), except that the power comes from within, not without, and the powers that you can use and how you can use them depend firstly on how you became enlightened, and secondly on what the means for you. That is, what type of 'Kindred' are you and which so-called 'Aspects' did you choose?Mantras / Names
For Breath to be woven into a miracle—for the power to be channelled through the appropriate chakras and called into being—it must be set in place by a mantra. This is a spiritual chant or prayer, a name, or an axiom that calls the essence into shape. Ultimately, there is only one mantra, the one that forms the universe as we know it. The mantras that enlightened souls may sing are just verses, elisions, and refrains plucked from that one and eternal hymn. This is arguably the most important but oft-overlooked part of using these mechanics, like saying a prayer for Faith. It must be spoken or sung out-loud or physically woven with a dance or kata by the enlightened character. But you are free to describe it however you wish and make it as thematically appropriate as you like.Maṇḍalas / Aspects
These function a bit like the "Spheres of Gods" (BWC pg 271), save that they are chosen through your Kindred lifepath. Since there are potentially an infinite number of aspects, each with their own unique powers, a lot of the creative heavy-lifting has already been done for you! Each lifepath provides a list to choose from and a link to where you can read all about the powers. That said, there's nothing stopping you from designing your own custom aspect and example channellings, with the aid of the GM, so long as it sticks to the general theme of your character or their origin. The following is the general form that all example channellings will take:The Primordial Mantras
Everyone with 'Breath' (i.e. the Great Soul trait) has access to these powers in some form or another. When used, they must conform to the 'aspects' that you chose for your divine power and they must be given a name. Typically they last for the duration of a scene or an intent, but the 'Superpowers' option is a catch-all for most other intents, and many examples are given in the list of every aspect. [You can also make up your own aspects and example powers with the aid of your GM]. Choose your aspects at character creation, and earn one more each time you raise your Breath exponent, up to a maximum of five. Every aspect is listed with “Obvious” or “Subtle” in parentheses, and this refers to whether or not the use of the channellings within that aspect will 'alight your halo' as an extra consequence—regardless of success or failure. (Though an Ob 2 Breath test can always be used to intentionally alight your halo for the scene—while acting under pressure—regardless of your other aspects). An aspect can also grant a trait-like effect, such seen for the soul discipline effects. These are listed under the normal table of examples, and you should add them to your traits list.
| Core Channelling Types |
|---|
| Verse, Strain, Syllable (Boon = Ob 2) Typically Ob 2. Open-ends an ability for the scene, alights your halo while acting under pressure, or produce a simple narrative effect similar to "Spooky Stuff" for Spirit Binding (BWC pg 311), which is sometimes set at Ob 3. |
| Stanza, Chorus, Antiphon (Blessing = Ob 3) Typically Ob 3. Grants +1D or reduces an obstacle penalty by 1 when an item, tool, or weapon is used for it’s intended purpose or with a related skill. |
| Hymn / Dirge (Aid / Curse = Ob 4^) Typically Ob 4 and marked with a caret (^). Grants +1D / +1 Ob to a pertinent ability, and the caret indicates that a further +1D / +1 Ob can be added for each marginal success (usually up to a maximum of +3D / +3 Ob), or that marginal successes increase the scale of the effect. Unlike many other channellings, the bonuses or penalties from an Aid / Curse can also 'wait' to be released at the right time, or they can be ‘drip-fed’ over multiple tests. |
| Song, Canticle, Fugue, Paean (Special Obs) Typically Obstacle 5, but if they can be affected by many modifiers and may go up to Ob 8 or 9, or higher. If they are marked with an asterisk (∗) or a plus sign (+) then such modifiers are added independently and the Obstacle can vary a lot depending on the intent. This is a ‘catch-all’ for most other game-breaking, rules-bending, and fiction-altering effects you might be able to produce within the limits of the aspect. These obstacles are set by first considering all the other example channellings in the same list, and then asking: does the intent seem more or less potent than them? If you think it should be actively contested then make it a versus test against something. If it should be passively contested then pick a stat or an attribute to use as the Ob. Breath should almost never replace a normal skill test, but it can enhance one or allow one to reach for intents it might not otherwise be able to strive for without the aid of magic. Most powers only last for the duration of the intent, so if the intended duration is longer the Ob should increase. Conversely, most of them can be performed almost instantaneously, so if the wind-up to the test is drawn-out then the Ob can be lowered. Can it be used on any target they can see or hear, only targets in their presence (paces = Will), or only by touch? Touching should reduce the Ob a bit, even if it’s a strong effect. Does it just seem like it should be really difficult, or is it stretching the definition of what the domain normally covers? Then the GM can add a penalty or deny the intent entirely. If you don’t think you can judge the specifics of the request, but request feels valid and it’s clearly not a major miracle, then just default to Ob 5. |
| Epyllion, Anthem (Miracle = Ob 10+) Typically Ob 10, but the GM is free to increase the Ob by 1-3 as a PITAP (a ‘pain in the ass penalty’) and another +1-3 Ob for far-fetched intents that really push the limits of the aspect or the magic system. These are the big ones. The stuff out of legend. A divine manifestation. These obstacles are reserved for intents that will likely have consequences for an entire region, or perhaps even the whole world! Regardless of success or failure, there will be consequences to such acts. |
How Many Aspects?
At character creation you will have to pick about three aspects from a list of about twenty, effectively declaring what your preferred magical specialisations will be. Every aspect in the list will roughly conform to a theme, so you might draw a comparison here to a choice of "class" or "caste" seen in other TTRPG systems. The amount of aspects you have learned is always equal to your Breath exponent, which usually starts at a B3. But if your Breath begins at a B5 then take five aspects from the list instead. If you have Grey Breath then pick another two aspects, and if it's White then pick a third. If your Breath advances or shade-shifts during a session then wait until the end of the current adventure before picking another new aspect. If it advances during downtime then you may take the new aspect right away.Common Aspects
The list of "about twenty" aspects isn't all as threatening as it sounds, because eleven of those aspects are always the same for all Great Souls. Ten of them are the "Soul Disciplines", and their function is much more low-key and passive—acting more like traits in a way—but they still count as aspects and take up slots. Each one effectively just permanently open-ends a stat or an attribute and all skills rooted in it. Since the skill-to-stat roots distribution is not equal, some of them also have extra effects to compensate. Since Steel is already open-ended, there's also one for mortal wounds as well—bringing the number up to ten—which simply raises your MW by 2.The Soul Disciplines (Subtle)
This is a set of 10 separate aspects that each relate to a different stat or attribute. In a way their effect is more passive than a normal aspect, and they function more like traits, but they count against your maximum aspect total. Each one permanently open-ends a stat or attribute and all the skills rooted in that stat. In some cases, because not all stats get an equal amount of roots, there's an extra effect too, to help compensate. And one of them adds +2 to your mortal wound instead. They are as follows:
[description]. Permanently open-ends SPEED and all Speed-rooted skills—which pretty-much only includes Stealthy, Climbing, and Dance—but this is an incredibly useful discipline for a warrior, because Speed is tested all the time in combat.
[description]. Permanently open-ends SPEED and all Speed-rooted skills—which pretty-much only includes Stealthy, Climbing, and Dance—but this is an incredibly useful discipline for a warrior, because Speed is tested all the time in combat.
[description]. Permanently open-ends FORTE and all Forte-rooted skills—which literally only includes Drinking—so, to compensate, you may also add +1 to your MW calculation. But this is a very useful for a Kindred nonetheless, because Breath can Tax your Forte on failed tests.
[description]. Permanently open-ends AGILITY and all Agility-rooted skills: Including Sleight of Hand, Etching, Sewing, and many weapon skills.
[description]. Permanently open-ends POWER and all Power-rooted skills—which pretty-much only includes Brawling and Ditch-digging—but remember that Power can also be used in Fights to grapple, or against materials to break down walls or to perform other feats of strength.
[description]. Permanently open-ends WILL and all Will-rooted skills: Including Animal Husbandry, Bureaucracy, Poetry, and most social skills.
You see fast moving objects in detail. You can follow a specific card as it’s shuffled in a deck, read a road sign as you gallop past on a horse, see the precise path of a projectile and where it lands, and so on. All of your senses and wits are heightened to the n-th degree. Permanently open-ends the PERCEPTION stat and all Perception-rooted skills—which includes Appraisal, Engineering, Doctrine, Observation, all wises, and most academic skills!
Important Note: For skills rooted in two stats, you must take both of the pertinent disciplines. For example, to permanently open-end Hunting (Per/Agi), you must take the Discipline of Finesse and the Discipline of Wits. And remember that each discipline is also an aspect, and thus counts against your maximum limit.
Synergy (Obvious)
These channellings relate to the nature of your so-called Aegis; a ‘guardian spirit’ or ‘little god’ that protects your soul and manifests in your halo. The Aegis may also be known as Tupla (which is a Tibetan concept which means ‘emanation’, ‘manifestation’, or ‘thought form’), an Acostre (which means 'shroud of cloth'), a Syntagma (which means 'constituent part of'), or a Vahana (which literally translates to 'that which carries or pulls'). It is a divine or infernal shard that’s lodged in your soul; it is an integral part of yourself, or perhaps an extension of it. All Incarnate and Forlorn souls have one—ultimately that’s what gives them their supernal powers, and what catalysed the events that lead up to them unleashing their Great Soul; but not all are aware of it, it may lay dormant indefinitely. Only via this path of investment and its channellings can one meet their inner-self and properly harmonise with it. When you learn this aspect you should decide on some formal aspects of its appearance in various abstract and physical forms, especially its animal form: choose an animal or some other creature or living thing, or design an abstract being by yourself and describe it when you take this Aspect. [The only restriction is that it may not be a reptile, bird, or draconic beast]. You should also decide with your GM if it is sentient and animal-like and mostly under your control—acting more like a spirit familiar—or whether it is sapient and talkative and partially-independent—and thus played by the GM as a special type of NPC. Alternatively, the relationship can grow over time and it can gain more and more intelligence through play.
Example Channellings
Restriction: You must be an Incarnate to learn this aspect. (An Incarnate who does not take the Synergy Aspect still has an Aegis, it is just dormant).
Example Channellings
| Summon Vahana ⸻ Ob 2-3 SUCCESS: Your tulpa takes on a companion form, representative of a part of your personality—a spirit animal, so to speak. It appears in your halo while it alights; then becomes material at your request, taking a physical action. It then functions as a sort of extension of your hand or body: you can sense anything it senses with a physical action and you may speak with it’s voice (making it an effective scout). For Ob 3 it takes on a larger form that can be used as a mount or draft beast (then you will still need to make a Riding or Driving test to control it, but the base Ob is always 1). It can only be harmed with spirit weapons and magic, but you share the same PTGS and mortal wound; so if it gets hurt, you will to! Anyone who sees it will surely know it’s a magical being, for it bares some mark of its divine nature (e.g. twin tails, golden fur, one-eyed, hybrid, strange aura, etc). Pick something from the Creature Codex for help to get a base stat-block for the creature: the exponents of its stats and skills may differ from yours, but the shades (and thus the artha expenditure) are shared. FAILURE: |
| Façade ⸻ Ob 2-5 SUCCESS: Awareness of pain recedes and ceases to impair you as much as the inner spirit absorbs it for a time; causing you halo to gleam ever-brighter! Temporarily removes one wound of your choice, but it will return after you complete your intent. (And it keeps bleeding in the interim, meaning it might be worse by the end of the scene too). Use Ob 2 for a superficial, Ob 3 for Light, Ob 4 for Midi, Ob 5 for Severe. Cannot be used on Traumatic or Mortal wounds. If this is used more than once per scene, the aegis will release the first wound and absorb the new one. For example, using this at first on a superficial wound and then using it on a midi wound a bit later will first return the +1 Ob from the superficial and then remove the -2D penalty instead. FAILURE: The wound you tried to remove temporarily increases in severity by one instead—from Light to Midi, say—and you must test Steel. |
| Guidance ⸻ Ob 3 SUCCESS: Ask your guardian angel for literal or metaphysical guidance. They might talk to you directly, or may give you cryptic dreams; or they may simply be light guide you in dark places, when all other lights go out. (May also work like “Reveal Unto Me This Fact” (BWC pg 311) for ‘no contest’ setting stuff—directions, weather, lay of the land, etc.) FAILURE: [pending] |
| Panoply ⸻ Ob 4^ SUCCESS: Your acostre takes on a more abstract physical form as your halo alights, and then shrouds you and protects you, rendering you seemingly invulnerable, as it solidifies; taking a physical action. You gain +1D of full body armour, and another +1D for every marginal success, up to a maximum of +3D. The dice are the same shade as your Breath, but break on 1s like ‘Run of the Mill’. These dice can stack with natural or worn armour, up to a maximum of 7D in each location, but in this case the shade of these dice match the shade of the other armour instead. FAILURE: [pending] |
| Armiger ⸻ Ob 5 SUCCESS: Your aegis takes on the form of a weapon or shield. It appears in your halo while it alights, wreathed in arcane rings, then solidifies in your hand; taking a physical action. Choose its type and stats from the ‘Superior Quality’ weapons list, including ranged weapons, and wield it with the appropriate weapon skill. Alternatively, use this channelling to enhance one of your currently equipped weapons or a piece of ammunition to function as a Spirit Weapon. FAILURE: [pending] |
| Doubt ⸻ Ob 5 SUCCESS: Your patron spirit snaps you out from any illusory, mind-controlling, or other unnatural mental influence effect that afflicts you. It cannot remove curses though. FAILURE: The natural duration of the effect persists and you may not attempt to Doubt anything else for the rest of the session. |
| Astral Projection ⸻ Ob 6 SUCCESS: While meditating, let your perceptions release completely out of your physical body and into a dematerialised version of your vahana; creating a sort of mental point of view that is completely separate from your body and which can traverse almost anywhere in the world at near-instantaneous speeds. The spirit animal can then materialise basically anywhere that you’ve visited before, but while it is immaterial it is not really ‘real’ and, as such, has no stats whatsoever. Thus, even the barest amount of magical protection or enough local thinning of the weave will repel the astral projection. But otherwise, this makes for quite an effective way to scry or spy, or check up on a friend, or whatever, since your senses remain roughly in-tact. Returning to your physical body takes a physical action and ends the effect. FAILURE: The vision fails and you are ‘out cold’ and cannot be easily roused for the rest of the scene. |
| Intercession ⸻ Ob 8 SUCCESS: Your syntagma becomes momentarily indestructible within your halo and blocks, deflects, or absorbs an incoming mundane or magical strike absolutely. Basically instantly negates all damage from a single incoming external source. This channelling is unique because it can be used at any time, instantaneously, but the failure consequences are quite harsh: Instead of taxing you must instead make a Steel test as the inner spirit is damaged and your Breath is temporarily reduced by an amount equal to the would-be damage blocked (e.g. if you would have taken a Midi wound then your Breath is reduced by 2 dice). This must be healed like any other wound, but it’s a wound in your soul and only the most powerful of magics may count as treatment. Without aid, you must simply heal on your own. If this ‘wound’ reduces your Breath to zero then you lose the Great Soul trait instead—you survive, but your aegis does not. (A mortal wound counts as -5D for this purpose). FAILURE: Make a Steel test as the inner spirit is damaged and your Breath is temporarily reduced by an amount equal to the would-be damage blocked (e.g. if you would have taken a Midi wound then your Breath is reduced by 2 dice). This must be healed like any other wound, but it’s a wound in your soul and only the most powerful of magics may count as treatment. Without aid, you must simply heal on your own. If this ‘wound’ reduces your Breath to zero then you lose the Great Soul trait instead—you survive, but your aegis does not. (A mortal wound counts as -5D for this purpose). |
Restriction: You must be an Incarnate to learn this aspect. (An Incarnate who does not take the Synergy Aspect still has an Aegis, it is just dormant).
Failure Consequences
Almost every channelling of your Breath comes with two failure consequences. The first comes from the "divine afflictions" section of the Codex for Faith (pg 273): Which is most-commonly a Forte-based Tax test, as the unspent chakra back-flows and tries to dissipate through their flesh. If the character overtaxes on this test then they'll suffer an immediate cardiac arrest and take automatic damage equal to Ob of the channelling plus any margin of overtax. Or if the context of the situation demands it, you could use one of the other suggestions mentioned in the commentary section further below in this article.Using Breath in Conflicts
Unless otherwise stated or implied by the intent, using Breath does not cost actions during a Fight (though they must still be bound by a Mantra / Name) (see also 'Prayers' on BWG pg 526). An exception is when working Carefully, in which case it will cost 1 action—like casting a spell—but you get +1D to the test. Another exception is when the channelling requires that you touch the target: In a Fight this means you should make an attack at the hands weapon length, and then immediately follow up with the Breath test. In Range and Cover a channelling may be woven by using up a free shot or by purchasing an action with a marginal success. If two actions are purchased instead, then add +1D. In Duels of Wit the power must be scripted as an action, like a spell, but you can’t work carefully.Burning Halos
One with a Great Soul will also have a Halo. This is a colourful and partially-material manifestation of your character’s inner numen. The visual design of the halo may be influenced by your character's Mandala and the intent of the current task, so you can use it to flavour your descriptions. Some are flashy aureola, others may be subtle velificantes; some are animated or change each time they manifest, others are static. For incarnates and hosts, a version of their tulpa or demon usually appears in their halo too. Regardless of their aesthetic, they are always obvious to onlookers, revealing to them that you are a supernatural being.Transcendental Power — Breath 10
As an exalt grows in power, they will approach an Breath exponent of 10. At exponent 9 they gain the 'Aura of Martyrdom' trait. And at exponent 10 their mortal soul becomes unstable as the shard of supernal power within them is instilled with primordial energies: This causes the destruction of the character's physical form—as they ascend to become a demigod, dragon, or lych—immortalising them as a saint or a fiend. At this point, you will no longer realistically be able to keep playing as a godly being, though the character might still exist in the world.Additional Commentary on Breath
Thematic Sensibilities
Loke is a high fantasy but ultimately grim setting, using a rules-set that is normally very low magic and gritty. To help emphasise what would otherwise be a great disparity, it is recommended that the players and the GM agree on some or all of the suggested changes in the Extra House Rules article. And second, that players are happy to vote-for and have voted-on traits which are explicitly more powerful than those found in the standard traits list. Upgrading a character trait to a die trait or call-on in your second or third trait vote should not be an uncommon occurrence. And in fourth and fifth votes it's reasonable to even get traits that grey-shade an ability, if it's important to your character and something you've clearly been working on improving.Divine Afflictions
'Empower Thine Enemies' only usually works if the enemy is standing right front of them or are otherwise directly affected by the intent. 'Tax Thine Allies' can work really well in group games (especially when players Help each other). 'Awful Revelation' works better if you think of it less like a vision of something terrible, and more like the character is surprised at themselves for failing. 'Enmity' as a failure consequence almost never makes sense and often feels cheap or melodramatic, it only really works when the channeling was directly intended to affect a relationship. 'Isolation' can work, especially for Incarnates with tulpas or Hosts with demons who end up hating them, but the method of atonement and sacrifice will be heavily context dependant. 'Infamy' works best if it's paired with an additional terrible consequence but taken at a local scale, rather than gaining infamy with a particular cult or creed.Another option is to start what the PbtA systems called a 'Clock'. This is a count-down timer. It typically has a 4 or 5 steps on it, and each step has a progressively worse consequence. For each Breath test a player fails, the GM can move one more step along the clock. Perhaps all this flagrant use of magical powers catches the attention of a local deity; or the PC's old mentor hears about it and want to come teach them a lesson in humility; maybe an enemy force is able to send an inquisition after you, or turn the towns favour against you; or a local regent decides they'd like to recruit you to their guard, or kill you if you refuse to bow to them. It can be a lot of fun to play with more lasting consequences as these.
Sources of Advantage Dice
There may be other sources of bonus dice for Breath too, but these are the main ones:Help
Enlightened characters may normally only help one another with Breath tests when their Aspects cross-over with the intent. In this case, the usual Help rules may be applied, but remember that they are tied to all failure conditions including Tax (and then all Helpers must Tax independently, because it's a purely internal test). After accruing 3D of help, you must use the "Join us in Prayer" rules instead (BWG pg 526), but with total Breath divided by 20, rather than Will.Working Carefully
You may work Carefully when channeling Breath to get a +1D bonus, but remember that (outside of Fight or RnC) this allows the GM to introduce an additional time-based failure consequence, or to simply raise the stakes. Also remember that if you fail after working carefully, you can negate that extra consequences by spending a Persona and using "Focus".Cults
Cults have ratings from 1D to 3D, depending on their size and influence. A cult’s rating may be added to a single Breath test of the patron's choosing, once per session.A cult requires two things: An Affiliation with an organisation that worships you on a regular basis, and a Reputation within that organisation as its patron. The dice granted to an Breath test by the cult is equal to the lowest of the two ratings (e.g. a 2D Cult costs 50 rps in total). It also functions like the usual rules for Affiliations and Repuations, except that the GM can invoke the "Creepy Clause" (BWC pg 261) as failure consequences when circling up members of your own cult.
Mechanically—from the patron’s point of view—a cult just works: It is a daily source of extra power. But from the cultists point of view; they are collectively praying, making sacrifices, performing austerities, and so on; all in the name of generating those bonus dice for you. As such, cults must be maintained. Usually as part of a Resources maintenance test by adding the Cult's rating to the Ob, or by using your Breath to answer their prayers every once in awhile.
Finally, using any Breath powers on your own 'Believers' works at −1 Ob.
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