Merits & Flaws

Most metaphysical societies, the Technocracy included, employ a mentor /apprentice system. During a members’ early years, an elder member is assigned to, or chooses to, teach a new and inexperienced member. During the later days of membership, an elder is expected to pass on their experience to the younger generation. In addition to the usual training programs a given group may purse, a new recruit often winds up in the care of a seasoned member of that group. And in the case of this Flaw, you’ve got a real winner on your hands.

When you mentor an apprentice a mentor, you’re responsi­ ble for someone (whatever his formal title might be) who makes your life difficult. You can’t just kick this person to the curb, but must instead provide discipline, guidance, training, and quite often a support system (room, board, research space, and so forth) so that the newbie can become a successful member

of your sect. An apprentice, however, is not a houseplant; even the most cooperative apprentices demand time and attention, and their deeds – good and otherwise – reflect upon your own social status. The more troublesome ones, by extension, can drive a mentor toward curmudgeonly solitude.

As a Flaw, this Trait reflects the range of potential appren­ tices and the effect they have upon your life:

• (1 point) A cooperative and dedicated ideal student who takes up very little of your space and time, reflects well upon you, and seems eager to learn from you while being reluctant to argue very much.

• (2 points) A typical student who needs a fair amount of hand-holding; makes occasional mistakes of protocol and discipline; and takes up a fair amount of time, space and patience. Even so, this person remains attentive and more or less respectful, providing plenty of reasons for you to be proud of him.

• (3 points) A rather clueless student whose presence consumes a significant amount of time and attention. This apprentice can be clumsy, obnoxious, thick-witted, and occasionally problematic in social situations and training exercises. He’s got promise, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get him to realize his potential.

• (4 points) A seriously challenging student whose behav­ ior and dedication leave a great deal to be desired. This apprentice may have talent, but the burdens begin to outweigh the potential benefits of his instruction.

• (5 points) An obstinate, haughty, disrespectful ass whose presence is more trouble than it’s worth. Dangerous to himself and everyone around him (yourself included), he’s a disgrace to the society you share. Why are you training this person, again? There might be a light at the end of the tunnel someday, but it’s gonna take a lot of work and sacrifice before this apprentice amounts to anything more than a waste of your time.

Again, this is a person for whom you are responsible. Unless you dedicate lots of time, attention, and often mone­ tary resources toward bettering his condition, your apprentice could get worse as time goes on. Conversely, you might be able to mold a troublesome apprentice into an exemplar of your society. From a game-system standpoint, you can lower the value of this Flaw through dedicated work – the obstinate five-point troublemaker could eventually become a one-point ideal student if you put in the time, work, and roleplaying to make him so. Storytellers: Allow your player to buy this Flaw down through experience if and when she makes an effort to straighten up a problematic apprentice, but also feel free to raise the Flaw’s drawbacks if the player lets things slide too often and too far.

Despite the usual preconceptions of age and experience, an apprentice could be older than his mentor. He may have

originally belonged to a different sect (say, a Verbena defecting to the New World Order or Bata’a), and has a head full of ideas about how things “should” be done – ideas that run counter to your own teachings. Or he might be a new mage who Awakened in middle age, and who therefore has problems taking orders from an experienced mage he considers to be a kid. Even the best students make mistakes, and so no level of this Flaw is without headaches – that, after all, is why it’s considered a Flaw!

Once again, this character-based Trait represents a full-fledged Storyteller character whose personality, needs, problems, and agendas make him far more than just a list of dots on a character sheet. In an experienced roleplaying trope, you might let another player run this apprentice, as either a supporting character or as their main mage. In such cases, of course, the student will be less powerful and experienced than the teacher, unless he began his Awakened life as a mage from a different group. In any case, the apprentice ought to be a major part of the chronicle, and may eventually even become the center of the tale (as in the Harry Potter saga) if and when the apprenticeship goes well. A rotten apprenticeship, on the other hand, could still earn that character a starring role in the chronicle: as an antagonist whose close history with the mage just makes the fight nastier for everyone involved.