Backgrounds for PC Excellence and Magic

Any background not listed here, you should assume that you cannot get favored.

As a rule, no charm that serves as a direct prerequisite for a background can serve to advance more than one background. One can't buy Wise-Eyed Courtier Method and then use that to justify favored backgrounds for both Influence 1 and Backing 1. It is customary to keep a +info describing which charms you're using to favor which background.

Additionally, you must have charms to favor every dot in a background - if you've purchased Resources 0 to 3 unfavored, then you wish to purchase Resources 4 favored, you need four charms devoted to favoring Resources 4. On the bright side, this gets you the favored XP discount retroactively, so going from Resources 3->4 would cost not 5 XP, but 1 xp, since you would get back the extra XP you paid for Resources 1 through 3.

Allies

To qualify for Allies as a favored background, one must excel in the magic of social charms targeting single people. For Solars, Abyssals, Sidereals, and Terrestrials, this involves charms stemming from the Presence ability; for Lunars, this means Charisma, Manipulation, or Appearance-based charms under the Interaction heading.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Allies favored. As usual, no character may have more than 5 dots of Allies, not may they double up on the background, and no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Artifact

To qualify for Artifact as a favored background, it must be built by a PC for you - no ifs, ands, or buts. This follows the normal rules, which means it can be extremely time consuming. To accelerate this process, you can buy craft charms. A useful bootstrapping technique to accelerate it further is building a manse with the Guardian and Bound Servant Force features, giving you easy access to high-power crafting assistance on your own terms.

Note that this does mean that PC crafters can save you 2 to 4 XP fairly easily, if you make it worth their while.  This also explicitly allows crafters to make Artifacts for themselves at the favoured rate.

Backing

To qualify for Backing in an organization as a favored background, you have to have charms that enhance your ability to influence that organization. Normally, this involves Bureaucracy and/or Socialize charms. Lunars don't have Socialize charms, so any charm that enhances their ability to influence a social unit is suitable.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Backing favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Connections

To qualify for Connections in an organization or context as a favored background, you have to have charms that enhance your ability to influence that organization or charms that enhance your ability to figure out what that organization is up to. Normally, this involves Bureaucracy and/or Socialize charms as well as Investigation charms. Lunars don't differentiate between charms that benefit Presence and charms that benefit Performance, so any charm that enhances their ability to influence a social unit is suitable.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Connections favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Contacts

To qualify for Contacts as a favored background, you have to have charms that enhance your ability to see through bullshit and/or win people over one by one. Normally, this involves Investigation charms and Presence charms, though some charms are more flexible. Lunars don't differentiate between charms that benefit Presence and charms that benefit Performance, so any charm that enhances their ability to directly win someone's loyalty is suitable.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Contacts favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Cult

To qualify for Cult as a favored background, you have to have charms that enhance your ability to work a crowd, influence the belief systems of cultures, and/or appear divine. Normally, this involves Larceny charms for disguise and Performance or Socialize charms to work a crowd or society. Lunars don't differentiate between charms that benefit Presence and charms that benefit Performance, so any charm that enhances their ability to work a crowd or a social unit or appear like a god is suitable. Even Deadly Beastman Transformation allows them to become overtly inhuman enough to convince others of their divinity.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Cult favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Face

The Face background is not in play on this MUSH.

Familiar

The Familiar background has specific charms for each 'splat' that permit it's growth. These charms generally involve an XP cost; these charms no longer cost any XP beyond that normally required for the charm, and additionally they serve asjustification for Familiar as a favored background up to level 5.

Followers

To qualify for Followers as a favored background, you have to have charms that enhance your ability to work a crowd or directly trains or enhances followers. Normally, this involves Performance charms or any charm with the Training keyword. Lunars don't differentiate between charms that benefit Presence and charms that benefit Performance, so any charm that enhances their ability to make dramatic social performances is suitable.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Followers favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Henchmen

To qualify for Henchmen as a favored background, one must excel in the magic of social charms targeting single people. For Solars, Abyssals, Sidereals, and Terrestrials, this involves charms stemming from the Presence ability; for Lunars, this means Charisma, Manipulation, or Appearance-based charms under the Interaction heading.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Henchmen favored. As usual, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Influence

To qualify for Influence as a favored background, you have to have charms that enhance your ability to identify the key players in, or directly manipulate, a social structure. Normally, this involves Socialize charms. For Lunars, this can include Charisma: Social Unit Charms, Manipulation: Social Unit Charms, Appearance: Social Unit Charms, and Perception: Person Examination Charms.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Influence favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Liege

You can't have Liege as a favored background, no way no how.

Manse

To qualify for Manse as a favored background, it must be built by a PC for you - no ifs, ands, or buts. This follows the normal rules, which means it can be extremely time consuming - and extremely difficult for a high level manse! To accelerate this process, you can summon enormous work-forces using Sorcery, Necromancy, Bureaucracy and great sums of money, or through the old-school method of simply enslaving an entire nation, Phaeroh style. You can also use Craft charms or specialized Crafting artifacts.

Note that this does mean that PC crafters can save you 2 to 4 XP fairly easily, if you make it worth their while.

Mentor

To qualify for Mentor as a favored background, one must excel in the magic of social charms targeting single people. For Solars, Abyssals, Sidereals, and Terrestrials, this involves charms stemming from the Presence ability; for Lunars, this means Charisma, Manipulation, or Appearance-based charms under the Interaction heading.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Mentor favored. As usual, no character may have more than one Mentor, and no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Reputation

Unlike every other background, getting Reputation as a favored background is very straight-forward. Whenever you accomplish something significant, at the ST's discretion, you can earn another dot of Reputation favored. Great heroes and villains naturally accomplish fame-worthy deeds.

Resources

To qualify for Resources as a favored background, there's only two real options: having a strong understanding of the marketplace as it functions in Creation, and the ability to procure or produce valuable goods. That means Bureaucracy, Craft, and/or Larceny charms. Lunars don't have charms in any of these abilities, but charms that allow them to directly manipulate a market, such as Terrifying Lust Infliction, or that assist their crafting, such as Clay-Wetting Practice, or that assist theft, such as Thieving Magpie Prana, can serve in their stead.

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Resources favored. As usual, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Savant

To qualify for Savant as a favored background, you must be wise and learned and have a strong understanding of the lives of people thousands of years dead. Lore and Intelligence charms serve for this purpose. Infernals with the Past Life background can buy Savant favored up to a ranking of their Past Life dots minus 1 (i.e., Past Life 4 can favor up to Savant 3).

• For every charm a character has that meets these prerequisites, they may buy one level of Savant favored. As normal, no charm may help qualify for more than one background.

Spies

You can't have Spies as a favored background, no way no how.

Underworld Backgrounds

Ghost-specific backgrounds generally kind of suck. Some of them are quite useful, some of them are ridiculously lame. Here are the rules on them:

Ancestor Cult / Cult

Ancestor Cult is automatically favored, but you can't buy it up past 3 without ST approval. The Essence Tokens you receive evaporate under sunlight like all grave goods.

Grave Goods

Grave Goods, like Breeding, can't be bought up at all.

Underworld Cult

Underworld Cult is automatically favored, but you can't buy it up past 3 without ST approval.

Backgrounds for Plot Events

These rules aren't really there to encourage people to 'grind plots' for 'phat lewt'. It's more of common sense thing: if, during a scene, you steal or procure an artifact or such and you pick it up, it's favored. This only applies to artifacts level 2 or below, or common artifacts from the core book at level 3 or below.