Hi! I did a quick search and couldn’t find an answer to my question, so apologies if it’s covered somewhere else.
The Cult claim “Ancient Obelisk” says
“-1 stress cost for all arcane powers and rituals.”
Now, rituals I get. Arcane powers though? My initial reading is that it could make playbook abilities like Ghost Veil and Tempest cheaper, and Bound in Darkness free. On a second reading though, Tempest, at least, definitely says you must “Push yourself” to use it.
So, my question is does Ancient Obelisk make Tempest cheaper? Do you still get the bonus die from a push? Or does “arcane powers” mean something else altogether?
Hey there,
I had the same question, but to me the answer sounds a little bit different: in my case I’d concede the -1 stress also in the case of Tempest, because after all “push” is just a label for a mechanic which consists in burning 2 stress for using an arcane power. So the reduction makes sense to me. Moreover, I’d apply the same reduction in all cases when a “push”-maneuvre is used for adding +1d or adding +1 effect while dealing with arcane powers in general. The description of “ancient obelisk”, while being vague, seems to be encompassing enough.
I still check the forums, so any opinion is on time as far as I’m concerned
At my table we decided that for the purposes of stress use a “push” is a push and always costs 2 stress. But if you had, for instance, an ability that cost a push and then extra stress to increase or add to the effect, you’d always get the benefit of that extra stress spend for free - if that makes sense.
i.e. You make a ritual that creates a new ability: Cloak of Night. Push yourself to shroud yourself and the immediate area with stygian darkness, spend 1 additional stress to - terrify those caught in the dark, summon tendrils of living shadow, step instantly to another area of shadow that you can see.
If you’ve nabbed the Ancient Obelisk, whenever you Push to use Cloak of Night, you can always get one of the ‘extras’ for free.
Considering the versatility of a well prepared Whisper (considering crafting charms, familiars, preparing rituals in advance, etc) getting twice as many uses out of Tempest kind of felt a bit OP.
