Introduction
Hey guys, hope you all enjoyed the holidays. I just got back from travelling to see family and decided to introduce my wife to the Mistborn series with The Final Empire on Audiobook. Now, I’m not a big reader but this series has made me put in the effort to try reading more - well, audiobook-ing more.
For those of you who have not read Mistborn and have no idea what a Mistborn is, let me explain the concept briefly and I’ll do my best to keep this post spoiler free for anyone who might currently be reading the books or maybe becomes interested after reading this post.
This is not a ‘character build’ - this is a concept I want to share. I think the magic system in Mistborn is very cool and I hope others find it interesting even if they haven’t read the books themselves.
Spoiler Warning - This post contains mild spoilers for book 2 (IIRC) concerning an additional metal, if it’s possible to do spoiler tags someone let me know and I’ll edit this post to hide that part.
Concept
In Mistborn, there is a magic system called Allomancy. Using Allomancy requires you to first of all, be born an Allomancer, secondly, to undergo a traumatic event that triggers your powers (called ‘snapping’) and finally, the ingestion and ‘burning’ of metals to activate your powers.
Different metals relate to different powers and most people are born with no power at all. In the book, you have Mistings (people born with an affinity for only one metal) and Mistborn (people who can burn any Allomantic metal) - but in terms of playing a character in an RPG, being a Misting would be very limiting so we’re going to build a Mistborn.
Metals
Here I’ll explain what the basic metals are and what they do when they are burnt. They come in pairs so I’ve grouped them together accordingly.
Iron - Blue lines appear, perceivable only to the Mistborn which point to nearby sources of metal. The Mistborn can pull on these lines (mentally) to pull them towards himself.
Steel - Same as above, except the Mistborn pushes the source of metal rather than pulling. In the books, these powers uses the weight of the user vs the weight of the object to determine whether the user or the object moves. Push on something heavy, you move, push on something light, it moves. Light objects, such as coins, are used as projectiles and to hurl the Mistborn into the air to cover great distances.
Tin - Enhance all of your senses, taste, sight, hearing, touch and smell are all heightened
Pewter - Enhance your strength, your endurance and ability to shrug off injuries/ignore pain
Brass - Sooth emotions, wipe away someone’s anger, guilt, sorrow etc
Zinc - Riot emotions, enflame someone’s rage, fear or pride etc
Bronze - Sense other Allomancers who are actively using Allomancy (probably not relevant in OL)
Copper - Hide your Allomancy and the Allomancy of those nearby from Bronze Seekers (also not relevant in OL)
Atium - Allows you to see ghosts of your opponent’s future actions so you can react to their moves before they make them. Also bolsters your general speed, balance and reflexes to enhance this ability.
Duralimin - Does nothing on its own but when burnt alongside another metal, it burns both metals instantly for a huge power boost. For example, burn with Pewter for an insane burst of strength or with Steel to send an object hurtling away from you at otherwise impossible speeds.
Putting this into OL
Iron and Steel - Telekinesis, flavoured so that you can only affect metal and only move it towards or away from you in a straight line. Keep in mind the weight of the object vs the weight of the character and keep the speed constant - the lighter object is hurled away at speed, not controlled by the player.
Tin and Pewter - Bolster. I wasn’t too sure on this one at first but it seems the best fit. Bolster your perception when you ‘burn tin’ and bolster your Might when you ‘burn pewter’ - to be faithful to the book you can burn these at the same time, but according to OL you can only sustain one boon and bolster one attribute at a time, maybe some house rulings for this. I decided against blindsight since that only affects sight and is absolute, Tin enhances all senses and still requires some light to work, however faint.
Brass and Zinc - Bit more complicated, depending on the effect you want: Charmed, Demoralised, Fear, Truthfulness. Brass and Zinc allows you to achieve almost any method of manipulation by tugging on emotions and enflaming others - use whatever boons/banes seem appropriate as long as they use this emotion-based flavouring.
Atium - I think Haste is the best fit for this one - you get an increase in defence and also the increased speed and reflexes to take additional actions. The effect isn’t as dramatic as in the books but a Mistborn burning Atium is nearly unstoppable so I’m willing for this one to be nerfed.
Duralimin - Luck Points. Spend your ‘Duralimin points’ to boost another one of your metals.
Why I love this concept
- Mistborn is a fantastic series with a really interesting and unique magic system
- This character utilises a great example of self-limitation to add flavour (telekinesis only affecting metals and only pushing forward or backwards relative to the user)
- It was surprisingly simple to do, no feats were needed which means you can further tailor your Mistborn however you want - fighter, spy, socialite, Jack of all trades. Make them an expert in a certain metal and enhance the traits associated with it etc.
- Luck points equalling Duralimin was too perfect to pass up
Sorry this post is so long and isn’t even a proper build - I just wanted to throw around the concept and wondered if replicating a Mistborn’s powers would even be possible. I’d be open to suggestions on better ways to achieve this character concept maybe with feats and the like rather than just boons and banes.
I might update this post with a proper build tomorrow but it’s getting pretty late so I’m leaving this here for now : )
