I recently started playing Anima: Beyond Fantasy and encountered a term not explained much in the book, Gnosis is a value which comes up in summoning as a restriction on what you can and cant do to some beings. so Im wonder what in the world is Gnosis? How is it determined and what else does it impact?
\$\begingroup\$
\$\endgroup\$
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
\$\begingroup\$
\$\endgroup\$
5
You will find most info about it on p276 of the core book. It is roughly a measure of how supernatural you are.
Normal people have 0, PCs start at Gnosis 10. You start having special advantages and powers at Gnosis 25.
It is supposedly fixed at birth and cannot be increased - although there are ways, including the Chimera spell of the Creation school (p130).
answered May 21, 2013 at 19:24
-
2\$\begingroup\$ Just want to add that Gnosis also resolves how powerfull a creature can be, since most monster special abilities are restricted by gnosis. Also, when you reach certain value of Gnosis (40-45 if I remmember correctly) (although 'reach' may be a wrong term...) you start to be inmune to certain things, specially time-changing related things. \$\endgroup\$– RandomMay 22, 2013 at 10:49
-
\$\begingroup\$ Incidentally, unless you're a mage, you probably don't need to care much about gnosis. In fact, even if you are a mage you probably don't need to care about it, unless a spell you know uses gnosis as a limit. The Path of Creation references it most, if I recall correctly. \$\endgroup\$– GMJoeMay 31, 2013 at 8:00
-
\$\begingroup\$ @GMJoe Well, you need Gnosis 25 to cast spells above 80, and Gnosis 40 to cast spells above 90, so yes, it matters for most mages. Also, high Gnosis gives you good advantages that are interesting for any kind of characters \$\endgroup\$ May 31, 2013 at 13:48
-
\$\begingroup\$ @Scrollmaster When I said "most mages," I was assuming that PC mages in most campaigns (and most NPC wizards, for that matter) don't reach the point where high and divine magic is likely to come up unless the campaign manages to get to a very high level; The Zeon costs, intelligence requirements and path levels required are prohibitive. Even if a mage does get to that stage, the ways in which characters may usefully increase their gnosis are very limited, and either involve giving up one's humanity or divine intervention. Perhaps your experience differs from mine, however; YMMV. \$\endgroup\$– GMJoeJun 3, 2013 at 6:46
-
\$\begingroup\$ Why do you say that it is fixed at birth? The text in chapter 24 of the Core Rulebook seems to indicate that there is some starting amount involved in creation, yes, but it also seems to indicate that it can increase with phrases like "The fact that a natural being reaches these levels implies that they are much more relevant to reality" \$\endgroup\$ Nov 17, 2014 at 19:53