Exemplari
To call being Exemplari a profession feels disingenuous to what that term truly means and the power that it truly holds. They are adventurers, explorers and perhaps the greatest, or most terrible, of 'public services'. But not all such types, those want to do adventurers, whom long to play at hero or long to wield the power and reputation some of those whom bards sing and story-tell of are Exemplari. It is a confusion all to common. All Exemplari are those sorts of individuals, yet not all such individuals are Exemplari.
For Exemplari is not merely a profession or even a calling. It is a fated existence, the mark of Father Destiny and Mother Creation upon an individual that simply cannot be suppressed or hidden or washed away. The stories bards and scholars tell of such individuals, they are not built just of effort in the case of someone who is truly Exemplari. They come to pass because they simply must. Because the very essence of Creation itself demands it. Because a small, infinitesimally small amount of Aetherwylle inhabits the flesh, blood, bones and very essence of that individual. It cannot be drawn out, harvested, reaped or expelled. It merely exists within the fabric of their very existence. Such stories do not merely occur to or around them, but because of them. In some deep twisted way upon the fabric and infinite game of cause and effect of reality, their mere existence demands such events occur. No mere passengers upon reality, in some notable, small but notable amounts, they write parts of it.
Quoted from an unknown source's research notes in the tome 'Discussion and Theories of the Metaphysics between Dreams and the Material' by one Kenia Umbrix, an elven scholar with nearly two centuries of experience, and a well renowned expert in the sciences of the Weave and what is colloquially known as 'Woven Physics'.
Career
Qualifications
Whilst all Exemplari end up some sort of adventurer, be it mercenary, explorer, monster hunter or any other of a dozen or more professions that could entail, they all share a unique quality, something that simply cannot be trained, earned or even really learned. They are touched not by Arcanis (though some might also be thusly marked). Nor by the gods (though some might have this as well). No, Exemplari are touched by Mother Creation and Father Destiny directly. At least the remnants of their presence. They have the lightest touch, woven into their very existence, immutable, untaintable, somehow resilient in ways we cannot fathom, of Aetherwylle. As they become more comfortable and more aware of this mark of greatness, it may begin to manifest in many ways, and provide them unique abilities and have measurable effects upon the world around them.
Career Progression
Varies greatly
Payment & Reimbursement
Varies greatly
Other Benefits
Though little may be understood of the nature of their birth, their rise or their strange powers, what is known and well documented is this. Their existence, much like the existence and practice of true Arcane Magick, strengthens and empowers the Dreamweave. It swells around them, and there are documented cases of the presence and strange abilities of Exemplari averting disasters on level with a true Breach of Reality. Regardless of the studies, regardless of the concerns, regardless of the theories, their importance to the fabric of Valerick's very reality cannot be misunderstood. Much like Magisters, our world needs these individuals, for better or worse. For the Dreamweave needs them and without them, as without Magisters, eventually it would fail, and our world would simply cease to be. Though they are an anomaly even the most advanced of our understandings of Woven Physics cannot fully explain or understand, what is clear is simple. They are necessary to continued existence.
Notes from a more detailed thesis by Kenia Umbrix, delving deeper into what the existence of such powers and individuals means and the effects they have on the Dreamweave and the connection between Weave and Material reality.
Perception
Social Status
Exemplari inevitably become subjects of tall tales, legends and stories. There is no guarantees if they are the villain, the hero, or merely a presence of note, like a storm or a sudden spilling of ink amongst the parchment of the story. But they inevitably find their way into such lore. It is an unavoidable crux of their fate. Thus though their status may start anywhere from being nobodies or unimportant or even troublemakers, they are inevitably destined to leave their marks very clearly and with great flourishing signatures on the world and to become something of icons in one way or another. The journey to that of course, is the stuff the bards tales will be made of.
Demographics
Anyone of any walk of life, seemingly, can be born with this gift (or perhaps some might argue the weight of this burden). It has only been documented in theoretical senses of course and by eye witness reports of impossible things occurring in the presence and even by the will of certain individuals, things even the likes of Arcane Magicks or the Prayer-Powers of those blessed to wield them by the Ascended that they worship simply cannot accomplish.
Show spoiler
As you might expect by this description there are some schools of thought that believe, and perhaps rightfully, given what some thus titled were said to be capable of perhaps it is not Creation but Destruction that has touched them, and perhaps what they actually carried was a pure bit of the Void within them. However mostly this theory is dismissed out of hand, for though in theory some limited command of unreality, of raw formless chaos could allow you one to do all the same things, the taint of the Void is not believed thusly resistable that any mortal being and their soul could retain stability long enough to even achieve adulthood thusly imbued.
History
META TIME MY FRIENDS
The astute among you might realize my world calls its followers Exemplari. This is actually purposeful. The history of this 'profession' is both written and yet to be written and that is because it is meant to be a homebrew ruleset for TTRPGs, in specific since I use PF2e as my base, it will be taking the place of Hero Points. For no basic re-rolls shall these bestow, no no. This is much more unique, and much more tangibly noticeable. Some might call it time magick or manipulation and to a degree, certainly it might look that way. Some might describe it as divine intervention or chaotic manipulation and both could be valid descriptions. What it really is simply, is the idea that some select few (see Player Characters) for good or for ill, for alignment matters not, are born with not just a thread within the Dreamweave, the blanket of reality, but instead also have a 'presence' not unlike fingers on the strings of an instrument perhaps. They can, in small limited ways, pluck at the threads of reality like one playing a guitar or harp, shifting and altering slightly the weaves in the moment, shaping Fate.
Using this instead of Hero Points is a slight upgrade but is not on par with my settings Legendary {x} condition nor with PF2e's Mythic rules and such. But its certainly a nod to both, the idea being this is a world where stories and voice have meaning, and creation and fate are tangible things that interact with and on rare cases can be directly interacted with by mortals. Eventually the intention is to flesh out a progression including unique little 'abilities' more flavored towards each class/profession of course. However for now the basics
- Every character has 1 Fate when you start a game using Exemplari rules. Using it means it is gone, and does not return unless like Hero Points your GM awards it for something deemed significant or epic enough, OR until you level up. These points are not meant to recover over Rests or as Daily preparations or between sessions because again, they are NOT Hero Points they are not mere re-rolls. If you desire your players to have those then simply use them.
- Each character can only have 1 Fate at any given time. This maximum increases by 1 at levels 6, 12, and 18.
- Each character starts with one potential use (once I come up with them and have the articles updated to include them and make a list for the other PF2e classes) for this Fate Point, one potential way to tip Fate's scales based on their class/profession at 1st level, and will get another based on that at 8th and 16th level respecfully. Beyond this, every character has two other ways to use this, subsequently listed as the next two points on this bullet list.
- Impossible Survival: This can be used the instant you should take damage from any source that should send you down and into any amount of the Dying condition, or indeed if you should simply hit Dying (4) and simply die. You use your Fate Point and narrate the impossible however you wish to portray it, even up to moving your character up to 1/2 their movement speed if it better fits what you wish to narrate, and you fully and wholly just take no damage. As if you were not struck, though to all perceptions of those around you, very clearly you were, you should have been. Yet you stay standing, seemingly unharmed.
- Nudging Fate: You may declare this upon any creature making any d20 roll within 30 feet of you. They get no save, there is no defense, for they are entirely unaware of what is happening. Should you do so you immediately mark off your Fate and declare Positive or Negative. Whatever they rolled in regards to the level of success or failure, it either increases 1 step or decreases 1 step as appropriate.
FOR GMS, this is meant for the most part to be a thing solely for PCs and is a great tool for running less dangerous more 'story focused' games in the setting of Valerick, and can also let you be a little less gloves on with your players at early levels in a setting that I intend to have a high level of danger. That said, understand this should be very very rare in the setting. Even if you are letting your players use this, they should only encounter others like them in this regard maybe once, twice at most, over an entire full length level 1-20 (or whatever level you might run your campaigns too) campaign at the very most and even that is a stretch. Fate should also be hard to get back. It should require basically cheating fate without use of Fate (like the Exemplari pool) in some way. Surviving a harrowing encounter on single digit hp whilst landing a critical strike to just put down the foe. Natural 20 against some sort of magick effect that would have been devastating and they only could succeed on a 19 or 20 for example. It needs to be something where they were at the edge of reality's ability to hold on to their continued existence, the risk was that extreme. Otherwise it can only come back through 'experiencing the story that will form around them as if magnetic' or in other words by leveling up. Beyond that getting Fate back should be a harrowing and obscenely high risk high cinema moment.
We know not what causes their births, why they exist or how they come to be. All we do know is that Fate, the Dreamweave itself seems smitten to their existence, as if in some small part, they are bonded, are one and the same. Truly a remarkable phenomenon and one of the great mysteries of our world
Type
Public Services
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