How Craft Works

Craft is the name for the magic that the Blood wield. In theory, the same Craft is available to Jewel-less Blood as is available to those who bear Jewels as dark as the Black. For the most part, the difference between them is not in the range of effects possible, but in the strength of the effects. Jewels are a reservoir of the power of the Abyss, dictating how much of that power any given Blood may conjure at one time. In theory, if a White Jeweled witch could hold as much power in one moment as a Black Jeweled witch could, she could apply that power to create the same effect the Black Jeweled witch could, because the Craft they wield is the same. It is only because the White Jeweled witch has a smaller reservoir of power to pull from that her Craft effects will never be as strong as those of darker Jewels. On BR, it is generally believed that each Jewel rank descent allows its bearer double the reservoir of the Jewel rank preceding it. A power bolt created with the Craft from a Yellow Jewel could have twice the destructive power of one created with a White Jewel. A Summer Sky shield would be four times as strong or last four times as long as one made from a Tiger Eye Jewel, because the Jewels are two levels apart.

However, because it is essentially the same Craft applied at every Jewel level, even the lightest Jewel can create some truly staggering effects if they are properly trained, or canny or resourceful enough. Sometimes, in fact, Blood with lighter Jewels can accomplish feats that their more darkly-jeweled counterparts struggle to replicate. Imagine the difference between opening a tap on a water cooler, and opening a tap on a dam that holds back a river. You’ll get water both ways, but a finer control is possible with the smaller reservoir. Darkly jeweled Blood can sometimes learn an impressive degree of control and finesse, but it will always require more training and focus than their Light Jeweled brethren require, and is often still not as delicate or precise as Light Jeweled efforts.

Those Blood who do not receive a Jewel, and those who survive having both of their Jewels broken, lack the reservoir necessary to store the power of the Abyss for their personal use. They are still conduits, may still touch and manipulate that power, but only in the smallest measure. They are limited to what is known as Basic Craft.

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Basic Craft

Basic Craft is that Craft which all Blood may instinctively learn through unguided experimentation and practice. The more intricate and demanding Craft listed in the Crafts Type list unilaterally requires training of some kind; only Basic Craft is available to Blood before they are taught how to focus and apply the power stored in their Jewels. Those who do not have Jewels, those who have had both Jewels broken, and those whose Jewels have been taken from them will be limited to this Craft.

Communication Craft	Those without the use of Jewels can receive psychic threads and communicate along that channel once it is opened, but they usually cannot initiate psychic threads.
Emotional Projection	This is a lighter skill than Emotional Manipulation, which affects a target's emotions by force. This is a passive effect, that merely presents an emotional state that may not be the Caster's true state. It is useful for summoning pity or making one's self seem more confident or aggressive.
Heating & Cooling	This is also an abbreviated form of the more complex Craft available to Jeweled Blood. A caster may heat a meal or themselves, but their range and the duration of effect available to them is severely truncated.
Psychic Sensing	The fact that they are Blood is all that is required for a caster to be able to sense the psychic scent and impressions of other Blood, including their caste, emotional state, and their depth in the Abyss in relation to the caster.
Shielding	Those without Jewels are limited to the most basic of shields. They are enough to keep the weather off of a person or perhaps deflect an arrow or two, but not enough to deflect significant impacts.
Telekinesis	Many Blood intuitively figure out how to move things around with their will alone before they ever reach their Birthright Ceremony. While limited to Basic Craft, however, this Craft is only capable of moving lighter objects (up to 25lbs/11 kg or so), and does not permit fine control over its movements.
Vanishing & Conjuring	The psychic cabinet available to the Jewel-less is much smaller than that of their counterparts. It is typically used for small personal items rather than supplies or large items.
Witchfire	This is the same Craft available to Jeweled Blood, but is limited in focus, intensity, and duration. Those without Jewels can light a candle or a campfire, but the effect requires concentration and cannot be used for sustained effects. Once a campfire is burning, it will burn as long as it has natural fuel, but a Lamp that typically runs off of Craft will only be lit for as long as the caster concentrates on keeping it so.
Witchlight	The Jewel-less may create instances of witchlight, but the effect requires concentration and will not sustain itself once the caster has been distracted. Also, the intensity of the witchlight summoned may only reach the equivalent of a candle-lit room.

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Craft Strengths & Weaknesses

When creating a new character and trying to decide on Craft Strengths and Craft Weaknesses to call out, players may use the following Craft Types list to help define their character's abilities. This list is far from exhaustive, and is meant to merely be a framework to help players understand the kinds of effects possible and to showcase some common uses. If a character has a Strength or Specialty in a particular kind of Craft, it’s generally taken to mean that the character has received extra training in that area. Alternatively, the character might be a “natural” at that kind of Craft, and required less training than normal to reach adeptness. While a character will never reach the same level of raw power as someone with darker Jewels (their reservoir does not grow, no matter how much they train), they can nonetheless surpass their peers of the same Jewel level if they have a Strength/Specialization.

You may occasionally run across a Character's sheet that lists an Advanced Specialty. This is a semi-rare boon that is typically only available through purchase or prizes during special events on BR such as the Thanksgiving Shop and Winsol Auctions. When applied, it represents a character’s success in managing the power consumed by a particular skill. When this particular skill is performed, it consumes only half the Jewel power that it normally would. If the character desires it, the skill may be therefore performed with twice the impact it normally would for normal the amount of power consumption.