Hi all. It has been a while since I've been on this forum. I have a few questions.

First off in regards to Gnosis is there any possible way to raise it or is it stuck at whatever it started at. I know that if you get a high enough elan with certain beryls and shahads you are reborn as a between worlds being with a gnosis of 25 but is there any other way? My players and I thought maybe we could do a gnosis to level ratio so that when they reach certain levels there gnosis would increase.

Second when it comes to the burning check do the individual values add up? Such as if the first attack got up to 120 on the burn check which isn't enough for any state but then another attack gets 130 in the burn check does the two add up to 250 or do you reset to 0 with each attack so the attack has to do it all by itself and then you just wait turn by turn for it to get worse?

Okay last thing. Amidst playing we ran into a rather annoying circumstance. A character was hit with a stinger from a red ant and managed to cut through his armor to score a hit of 9 damage; or at least it would have if he did not have a damage barrier. His damage barrier reduced it to 0 damage but the stinger also has a poison with a VR of 100 for the state of coma. The argument is whether that character has to make the VR check or not. He thinks that because he didn't take any damage he should not have to make that check. However by looking at similar examples such as the technique Manipura from the Sattyagraha tree in dominus exxet it says that all though the technique does not deal any damage if the dice say it should have then the opponent must still make the PhR check. When I cross-referenced that to the rules of poisoned attacks in creature powers it says that if it causes damage then they must make the VR check. So basically what I want to know is does the poison user have to actually damage the player after the barrier for them to make a VR check or does it only require that the dice say he would have dealt damage if the barrier was not there to force them to take the check?

First up, I'm fairly certain the Burn check is per-attack. Also, don't forget that it heals at half the normal rate.

Second: Gnosis is a "secret" value. You don't tell your players! You use it as a defense for your Big Bads, and your players can't touch them until you say so. It's got a spot on the character sheet, sure, but I see that as an oversight. Also, Gnosis NEVER changes. The idea is that you're supposed to be able to say "oh, yeah, you always had that ability". You can adjust it, but the players aren't supposed to know it exists.

As far as the poison goes, how does it infect? Blood? Ingestion? Touch? Smell? That should help clarify your answer.

Yeah I know that gnosis should be kept secret from players but they are also the ones who help me improve the game and all of us were wondering. I am not entirely sure on the poison but I think it is by blood because it says that if the Red Ant his the player with it's stinger then they must make a VR check of 100.

Gnosis never change through levels. There are some spells (chimera for example), which change the Gnosis. Also, you can say, that some "events" (bathing in the blood of a creature with absurd high gnosis) can change the gnosis (there are no rules for this, but I like it XD).

To the poison: I would say, that the Ant must make damage for the VR check. But Damage barriers only count, if the base damage of the weapon (+ strength bonus) are lower than the barrier. Example: If someone has a damage barrier of 40 and I attack him with a weapon which has a base damage of 60 (strength bonus included), I always get behind his damage barrier, even if I make less damage than 40. If I attack him with a weapon with a base damage of 30 (strength bonus included), I make never damage, even if I have a difference of 200 on the combat table (which would be a damage of 60). So, damage barriers don't absorb damage, they prevent any damage of "weak" attacks.

So long,

There are plenty of ways to increase Gnosis but as mentioned you should always keep it a secret from the players.

A part of the joy of being a GM is to see how they struggle with those with severely hight gnosis than them. Ultimately it is up to the GM how the characters ascend to the higher ranks of Gnosis (If you are playing a high level game). My current campaign is in it starting phase (around level 3) but i plan to offer them pacts with aeons, gods and such. This of course will have their negative consequences but is a good opportunity for role-playing.