I went and dredged up one of those 4e Fanzines to see what people were doing back in the day. The 11th edition caught my eyes with their Mythic Taoism traditions and was confused by a few of its rules. Hoping that anybody who has read that Hermes Portal and understands it, I have a few questions based mostly around Talismanic magic and Internal Alchemy
Does the Talismanic Virtue grant multiple ching to derive fu from? I see "all fields" show up in this section a few times and don't fully understand it
What does the +2 "Mystic Understanding" of Internal Alchemy actually grant? I recognize the Purity version from 4e Hedge Magic but don't see what a mystical understanding actually does.
I fully understand the listed issues but I am now having difficulty understand parts of External Alchemist. What are the virtue values for each level of alchemist (Apprentice, master, grandmaster)? Are the "magic items" described at the end of the chapter similar to the Transformation abilities of Natural Magicians or their Enchantment abilities?
On the topic of Hermetic Portal: was it the name of the fanzine for 4th Ed and the contributors/editors chose to switch the name to Sub Rosa for 5th Ed?