"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heuristicism is a really strange meta-discipline, which deals with rules, triggers, contingencies, and control. Any magic, even the most mundane, is useless to us if there is no way to control it. Heuristicism offers a way to manipulate and control even absurdly complex systems which can grow out of gramarie. Although it's not especially useful in its own right, heuristicism is possibly the single most important discipline (except maybe for arcanodynamics) for building amazing and wondrous things. It's no understatement to say that without heuristical circuits, gramarie wouldn't be nearly as ubiquitous and marvelous as it is.

Heuristicism can be improved with visual and tactile aids during the preparation to simulate the connections that are being made. Braided cords are often tied around objects to be connected in a circuit, and grinding stones can be employed to score components with matching marks, improving the sympathetic connection between them. Props like this count as masterwork pieces of equipment, and provide a +2 circumstance bonus on the Autohypnosis check made to prepare a heuristical principle. A particularly famous circuit material is the Dmu Thag, a superplanar cord supposedly woven by an ancient race of giants when they built a machine to break into heaven.

Key Skill: Autohypnosis


HEUR 101: Intro to Heuristicism
Grade: Baccalaureate
Prerequisites: None
Target: Two or more pieces of gramarie
Preparation Time: 1 hour

This principle joins two or more works of gramarie together into a heuristical circuit. The things you can join with this principle include: eldrikinetic engines, yggdratectural spaces, semi-spaces, fluxes, and demiplanes, arcanodynamic transformers, and imachinary illusions. These pieces do not need to be touching, but this principle creates a bubble with a radius of up to 5ft. Each piece to be joined must touch or be be contained within the bubble to be considered part of the circuit. You can also choose to exclude particular pieces when you first prepare this principle. The circuit field is tethered to a point in space, or to a particular object or creature. If one of the components moves outside the field or is destroyed, the circuit falls apart (although it reestablishes if the component returns).

When you set up a circuit, you can choose the path that puissance takes through it, and you can redefine any choices which were originally made when the individual components were set up. For example, if you have a circuit which includes a polarcane magnetic flux, when you prepare this principle you can choose to change the direction of the magnetic force inside the flux. These are called logical decisions. If anything in the circuit generates puissance (typically an arcanodynamic transformer), you can control the flow of the puissance inside of the circuit as a logical decision as well. For example, you can route the puissance from there to an eldrikinetic engine, or to another transformer, and so on.

As part of this principle, you make an Autohypnosis check. Logical decisions can be changed by anyone who is within the bubble of the circuit and who makes a Autohypnosis check of equal or greater result than the original check. Attempting to control a circuit is a standard action which provokes attacks of opportunity. Circuits are visible on the Ethereal Plane, where they look like silver cord joining the components together.

You can join two heuristical circuits together, but only to channel puissance between them. You cannot make logical decisions for one circuit by controlling an adjoining circuit.

If you try to tether a circuit to an unwilling target, they are allowed a Will saving throw to resist it at the end of the preparation. The Will DC is 10 + 5 for every HEUR principle you know.


HEUR 245: Nonstatic Instruction
Grade: Magisterial
Prerequisites: HEUR 101, Autohypnosis 8 ranks
Target: Heuristical circuit
Preparation Time: 1 hour

This principle targets a heuristical circuit whose bubble you are inside. It places a control point into the circuit, at the location and in the form of your choice. This is a point where anyone can access the circuit and make a decision for the components that are inside of it as if they were controlling the principle. No Autohypnosis check is needed, since this is intended to allow the untrained to control parts of the circuit. They can also control the flow of the puissance in the circuit, and can change the path it takes or turn the flow on or off from the control point. Making any single decision from a control point is a standard action, so large circuits can benefit from having multiple control points in them. When you prepare this principle, you can choose exactly what authority each control point in the circuit has, and what decisions or changes they can make to the circuit. To place a control point you must make an Autohypnosis check as part of preparing this principle which meets or exceeds the original check of the circuit.


HEUR 266: Unorthodox Triggers [Specialist]
Grade: Magisterial
Prerequisites: HEUR 101, Autohypnosis 8 ranks
Target: Heuristical circuit
Preparation Time: 1 hour

This principle targets a heuristical circuit whose bubble you are inside. You can place a single trigger and response in the circuit, which is a particular decision that is reached in the logic of the circuit (turning a component on or off, changing a component's effect, redirecting puissance, and so on). The trigger can be any plain language circumstance which would be reasonable for a contingency effect. This trigger and response, once created, is embedded in the circuit. To place a trigger you must make an Autohypnosis check as part of preparing this principle which meets or exceeds the original check of the circuit.

By making an Autohypnosis check inside of a circuit which beats the circuit's check by 5 or more, someone could discern any sets of triggers and responses in the circuit. This is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity.

The wording of a trigger and its response can be modified by other trigger and response pairs, or by someone controlling the circuit.


HEUR 302: Abnormal Behaviour
Grade: Doctorate
Prerequisites: Any two HEUR principles, Autohypnosis 15 ranks
Target: Heuristical circuit
Preparation Time: 1 hour

This principle targets a heuristical circuit whose bubble you are inside. As part of this principle you must also prepare a principle which has an immediate effect such as an alchemetric transformation or a kaleidomantic filter (the time required for this principle is in addition to the preparation time of HEUR 302, but you only need to prepare it a single time). You may program this active principle into the heuristical circuit, to be activated at some physical location within the bubble of the circuit. By routing puissance to this embedded principle, you can cause it to start preparing itself just as if it was being prepared for the first time. This has a drain of 1 ebb per round while the principle is being prepared.

Any relevant decisions for the embedded principle, such as target, shape, effect, number of times prepared, and so on, are valid logical decisions which can be made when you first prepare HEUR 302 or which can be controlled through programming triggers or a control point. If the principle requires raw materials, they must be within the heuristical circuit bubble at the time that the embedded principle is activated.

The embedded principle remains embedded after activation, and can be prepared by the circuit multiple times if all the other requirements are met.

To embed a principle you must make an Autohypnosis check as part of preparing this principle which meets or exceeds the original check of the circuit.


HEUR 328: Exotic Intelligence [Specialist]
Grade: Doctorate
Prerequisites: Any three HEUR principles, Autohypnosis 15 ranks
Target: Heuristical circuit
Preparation Time: 1 hour

This principle targets a heuristical circuit whose bubble you are inside. You must prepare this principle as many times as the heuristical circuit was prepared to begin with (based on the radius of the bubble). As part of this principle, you must make an Autohypnosis check which meets or exceeds the original check of the circuit. If successful, you install an artificial intelligence into the circuit which is a real thinking consciousness. The consciousness has an Intelligence between 3 and your own Intelligence -2, chosen when you prepare this principle. The intelligence can have any alignment you like, as well as any number of goals, aims, and ideals. You can also establish parameters for behavious which the intelligence is not allowed to break, or rules that they are required to follow.

Once established, the intelligence cannot be modified or changed. It takes on its own personality and mannerisms, although it is bound to your original rules. It has control over every aspect of the circuit, and can make all relevant logical decisions as it sees fit as a free action. The intelligence created has a Wisdom and Charisma score equal to its Intelligence score, and can take purely mental actions. It has no Hit Dice, but can take 10 on any kind of mental skill check. It has telepathy and mindsight within the heuristic bubble, but otherwise no senses. An intelligence like this (commonly called an EI) can make up to 100 logical decisions in the circuit per round.

If someone tries to control the circuit through a control point or with a Autohypnosis check, the intelligence is allowed to make an opposed Intelligence check in order to stop the attempt from succeeding.

The intelligence can also maintain the circuit if it is disrupted. Even if a component is removed, the intelligence can keep the rest of the circuit running as long as they don't depend on the function of the missing component. However, every time a component is removed from the circuit, the intelligence must make a Will save against a DC of 10 or be destroyed.