Performomancy

Also known as Musician's Audiomancy.

A.k.a. Rockstars, Guitar Heroes, Music Men.

Music is your blood, your air and your voice. Throughout the history of man, there have been musicians who changed the world with the power of song, from the bards of Medieval Europe to the loud and proud protest songs of the sixties.

You want the power to change the world. You want to be the next musician of the age, the horn of Jericho, the bugler who ended the second world war with a somber tune, the next...well, you.

If enough people listen to your songs, you get that power. Maybe it's the song. Maybe it's your singing or playing or writing or instrument. Or maybe it's the masses of fans before you, swaying and singing along with you as you crave the soul of tomorrow out of lyrics and vibarations in the air.

Whatever the magick is, you do it for your fans and they do it for you.

Symbolic Tension: The symbolic tension of Performomancy is that you become special through the ordinary, mundane acts of hearing that your everyday, normal people that are your fans. The only reason your face is on the posters, your name is up in lights and you get special privileges very few have is because a huge load of 9-to-5, nameless average joes mandate it to be so.

Note: GMs are invited to stretch the scope of the following charging rules to fit in with how 'big' the Rockstar is and how many fans his music has. For example, you may say that a Music Man working out of his garage with a microphone and some friends may get a Significant charge for entertaining a crowd of about two hundred people but a Performomancer who has become a national celebrity gets only a Minor charge for an audience of one thousand. You may rule that for every 10, 100, 1,000 or 10,000 people being entertained in a single concert, that's one charge of the appropriate type.
Another thing to remember is this applies to the scope of the adept's power as well. So a Guitar Hero of world-wide fame could magickally affect a medium-sized town of people easily, but a club-circuit Music Man would either be out of luck on that front, or need way more charges.
The wordings on the following rules have been kept vague in some places for these exact reasons.

Generate a Minor Charge: Perform musically for a crowd of fans that is fairly big, or perform a special private concert for an individual or smaller group of individuals on a special occasion (playing at the wedding of a guy who saved your life, for instance). Note that to successfully charge, your performance must be good enough for the fans to enjoy it. This means no technical difficulties bad enough to ruin the show, no significant hold-ups, you must succeed in at least the majority of the appropriate performance rolls and the good time had by your fans have a dark shadow cast over it or ruined. So if the police break the concert up violently, the bikers employed as security tragically kill a black man during the show, a killer tornado hits the stadium, the drinks get spiked with laxatives or you get boo-ed off stage, it's a no-charger.

Generate a Significant Charge: Similar to the minor charge, only this time the audience of fans enjoying the show must reach ten times what you'd need for a minor charge. You can also get one for special private performances for a historically or mystically significant individual or a group of historically or mystically significant individuals (such as a Godwalker or the President of the United States). As per the minor charge, the show must run fairly smoothly and it must be enjoyed.

Generate a Major Charge: Perform for a truly epic crowd of fans or have your performance become a hallmark of historical or mystical significance. This means you're there to play one of your songs as background music to the fall of the Berlin Wall or the ascension of a Godwalker or something suitably awesome.

Taboo: You must be an idol to your fans and you can't be mean to them. That means if someone identifies himself as a fan of your music (just your music; being inspired, entertained and appreciative by your painting, magickal abilities or witty remarks won't count), you can gotta leave him with a fairly good impression of you and/or maybe do him a small favor if he asks. Usually, you just sign an autograph and thank him for coming out. If the fan is pushy, exploitive or dangerous, however, you can push back a bit. For example, if a hitman admits he enjoyed your last album before trying to shoot you, you can knock him out or disarm him, but you can't have him killed. You can get a restraining order on that stalker, but you can't sue him for money or have his legs broke.

Blast Style: The victim of the Performancy blast suffers injuries appropriate to the lyrics of one of your songs. If you got one song, for instance, about a guy who gets in a car accident which emotionally devastates his family and friends, the target of the blast gets injuries typical of a car accident victim. If you got a song about a girl who cuts herself to deal with loneliness, the target suffers blade wounds that look self-inflicted.

Random Magick Domain: Big, flashy displays of fame, emotions and communication. Influencing your fans is also a typical effect.

Starting Charges: 6 minor charges.

Charging Tips: Get good at playing an instrument, singing or dancing. Have a good manager. Have stage charisma. Spread word about your band. If you're small time, try to get into the club circuit and/or play at social function gigs, like a prom or a wedding. If you're big time, go on tour. Expect either a significant charge each week or month and/or between 2 to 5 minor charges a week or month, depending on how well-known and talented you are. Non-downtime charging (the type where you actually roleplay and...roll) should generally earn a few more charges per show, if the GM feels it's okay.

Note: Even more so than other schools, Performomancy encourages its students to have their own custom name for their formula spells, usually appropriate to the genre` of music the adepts plays. For instance, an Emo Guitar Hero may name his blast How Could This Happen to Me? while a Heavy Metal Performomancer may name his blast Hand of Doom (it's a Black Sabbath song, look it up). PCs and GMs, take note.

Minor Formula Spells:

Can You Hear Me, Major Tom?
Cost: 1 Minor Charge.
Effects: Someone you choose when you cast the spell gets a message of your choice when he next listens to your music. The person being chosen must be someone you know the name and face of, but the music can either be live or recorded when he listens to it. No-one else will be able to hear the message hidden in your song.

Real Good Time
Cost: 3 Minor Charges.
Effects: Anyone listening to you playing music or singing live must make a Soul roll or be immediately swept up in a good mood and feel like having fun by drinking, dancing or romance. This probably makes a lot of social interaction rolls get a +10% shift with regards to those affected. No-one who can't hear your music (such as the deaf or those with earmuffs) are affected by this spell. You can't charge up from concert using this spell, duh.

Intercourse With You
Cost: 2 Minor Charges.
Effects: You gain the Soul skill Sex Appeal at the level of your casting roll for 1 hour. If you already had an equivalent skill, it's increased further by the casting roll while the spell is in effect. This can cause the skill to go higher than your Soul stat.

I'm Your Biggest Fan
Cost: 2 Minor Charges.
Effects: Openly praise an ally's skill, which must be higher than an equivalent one of yours, and cast the spell. Your ally's next roll in that skill can be flip-flopped or re-rolled as per the player's choice. E.G. Your friend Jessica has the skill Martial Arts at 45% and you have the skill Struggle at 25%. You pat her on the back, say "I really admire your kung-fu." and you cast I'm Your Biggest Fan. Next combat, Jessica can flip-flop or re-roll her next Martial Arts attack.

Hit By a Rolling Stone
Cost: 1 Minor Charge.
Effects: This is the Performomancy Minor Blast.

Significant Formula Spells:

Don't Download This Song
Cost: 1 Significant Charge.
Effects: Anyone listening to you sing or play music live when you cast this spell will immediately become reluctant to commit immoral or illegal acts, such as murder, theft, rape and arson, for 3 hours. Trying to do so requires a Soul check and triggers Self-6 and Isolation-8 madness checks.

Tone Death
Cost: 1 Significant Charge.
Effects: This is the Performomancy Significant Blast.

You Know My Name
Cost: 3 Significant Charges.
Effects: For a number of minutes equal to the casting roll, anyone who meets you will instinctively know the general summary or 'feeling' of the kind of person your actions and abilities define you as. They won't get any real specific info popping into their head, but they will somehow understand that you're a guy who grew up somewhere rural, plays a musical instrument, got a high school education, could perform some type of supernatural feat under the right circumstances, has a soft spot for single mothers and so on. They just won't know how or why.

Sing Along
Cost: 2 Significant Charges.
Effects: A number of your fans, up to the sum of the casting roll if there are that many near enough when the spell is cast, will instinctively help you in any way they can, short of dying and killing for you. This includes giving you a gun, calling the police, trying to talk down the guy with a knife at your throat and letting you into restricted areas, among other benefits. This effect lasts for 1 hour.

In Perfect Harmony
Cost: 2 Significant Charges.
Effects: Instantly stops a riot that is either in direct and immediate danger of starting (casting the spell as a reaction to the GM just getting a riot roll result of 51+) or has recently started (within about the first 30 or so minutes). The people just wind down, quit smashing stuff and start dispersing.

What You Hear
Interestingly enough, some Music Men invert expectations by becoming creepily obsessed with their fans. An Australian Iconomancer had to move house twice and change his name because the Performomancer singer he was charging off kept dedicating her songs to him, sending flowers and giving him free tickets to her shows.