Character Specialisation

In Open Palms, characters specialise in many different ways, by a variety of means.

Incipience - Skill Specialisation

If you have been using a skill unusually, creatively, or both, you may discover an Incipience, as the way the skill works for you is about to change. These will be presented as a card with a new version of that skill, as well as the conditions to unlock it. Once unlocked, that becomes the way that skill works for you from then on.

For example, if you routinely use your Official Stamp to create Contracts for temporary favours, acting as a small-scale power-broker, you might receive the following Incipience: Power Broker.

Skill specialisation is permanent, but not mandatory: You can retrain away the skill at any time, or simply choose not to fulfil an Incipience when you get it. They are not rewards from the refs for preferred “styles” of play - if you feel you have been doing something creative and we haven’t noticed, please reach out and let us know! Chances are we’ve just missed it.

OOPAs

OOPAs are powerful, and customisable. A player might have a preferred item, and choose to make it the Housing of a powerful occult Core in order to further specialise their character. While not bound to the player (or character), this can be an effective way to gain a mechanical advantage linked to your preferred style of play.

Rituals

A character can be under the effects of one Ritual at a time, each of which provides a different, typically long-lasting effect. At game start, this can include preventing up to one wound per event, but many more can be discovered in play.

Contracts

Binding others to you via Contracts is both specific to the signers of the contract, and can be a great way to specialise a character. (For example, a Devil contracted to serve as a bodyguard will have a major impact on how your character moves through the world.)

The Copa de Cambio

The reward for the bar’s Murder Mystery Nights, the Copa de Cambio grants the drinker a single, one-word wish, which it fulfils according to its own mysterious whims. This will primarily affect the drinker’s physical and metaphysical attributes, rather than skills. While the effects in-character will be somewhat unpredictable, the refs will discuss the mechanical effects with the player involved, to make sure the results are both fun and balanced.

An example result might be a wish for FIREARMS, leading the drinker’s arms to be permanently made of fire; if the player wants a primarily combat-based effect, they might be able to add FLAME to any call. By contrast, if they want an effect linked to (for example) astral projection, they might find that they can manipulate shapes in the flame to communicate with those in the waking world while they travel the Aether. (These examples are weaker than a typical result would be!)

The Wider World

Players can join cults, own buildings, start businesses, and otherwise interact with the wider world. This will mostly affect Downtime, though major changes to the status quo in the game’s world may well be reflected in what goes on during events.