From ce25101a4e0ac8f9c04774d2f7dd614a4e2fbfba Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: gothos Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:27:18 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Found esoteric knowledge of long-forgotten Power Words in an abandoned wiki --- MECHANICS.md | 18 +++++-- README.md | 2 +- .../power-word-directionally-correct.md | 39 ++++++++++++++ .../power-word-per-my-last-email.md | 45 ++++++++++++++++ spells/finance/power-word-write-off.md | 43 ++++++++++++++++ spells/legacy-systems/power-word-blocked.md | 38 ++++++++++++++ .../marketing-optics/power-word-on-brand.md | 38 ++++++++++++++ spells/procurement/power-word-approved.md | 51 +++++++++++++++++++ 8 files changed, 268 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) create mode 100644 spells/analytics-forecasting/power-word-directionally-correct.md create mode 100644 spells/compliance-risk/power-word-per-my-last-email.md create mode 100644 spells/finance/power-word-write-off.md create mode 100644 spells/legacy-systems/power-word-blocked.md create mode 100644 spells/marketing-optics/power-word-on-brand.md create mode 100644 spells/procurement/power-word-approved.md diff --git a/MECHANICS.md b/MECHANICS.md index 21b6678..152fbf2 100644 --- a/MECHANICS.md +++ b/MECHANICS.md @@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ introduces it. | Save | Represents | Introduced in | |---|---|---| | Tenure | Seniority, leverage, and political protection — resisting a personnel-targeting or persuasion effect | `spells/finance/reduction-in-force.md` (also: `nondisclosure.md`, `charm-stakeholder.md`, `all-hands.md`, `objection-handling.md`, `org-design/hostile-takeover.md`, `stakeholder-management/activist-campaign.md`, `stakeholder-management/poach.md`, `legacy-systems/rip-and-replace.md`, `finance/impossible-deadline.md`, `compliance-risk/golden-parachute.md`, `org-design/return-to-office-mandate.md`, `org-design/move-hq-to-austin.md`, `procurement/acquihire.md`, `compliance-risk/bind-subordinate.md`, `stakeholder-management/reply-all.md`, `stakeholder-management/expand-territory.md`) | -| Solvency | Whether the org can absorb a shock without collapsing, rolled when a resource pool (e.g. Runway) hits 0 or when a shifted liability lands | `spells/finance/burn-rate.md` (also: `compliance-risk/indemnification.md`, `org-design/hostile-takeover.md`, `compliance-risk/cease-and-desist.md`, `finance/short-position.md`, `procurement/bid-war.md`, `compliance-risk/litigation-blitz.md`) | +| Solvency | Whether the org can absorb a shock without collapsing, rolled when a resource pool (e.g. Runway) hits 0 or when a shifted liability lands; also used directly as a materiality yardstick (a fraction of current Solvency setting the ceiling a lesser effect can reach) | `spells/finance/burn-rate.md` (also: `compliance-risk/indemnification.md`, `org-design/hostile-takeover.md`, `compliance-risk/cease-and-desist.md`, `finance/short-position.md`, `procurement/bid-war.md`, `compliance-risk/litigation-blitz.md`, `procurement/power-word-approved.md`) | | Maintenance | Whether a legacy system holds together for another stretch of time, keyed to Technical Debt score | `spells/legacy-systems/animate-legacy-system.md` (also: `legacy-systems/power-word-forced-restart.md`) | -| Discovery | Whether a warded record, process, or claim resists a formal attempt to verify or compel disclosure of the truth behind it | `spells/compliance-risk/document-retention.md` (also: `procurement/three-bids-and-a-buy.md`, `marketing-optics/greenwash.md`, `compliance-risk/chapter-11.md`, `marketing-optics/crisis-management.md`, `marketing-optics/smear-campaign.md`, `procurement/vendor-lock-in.md`, `marketing-optics/work-from-beach-home.md`, `analytics-forecasting/leak-the-roadmap.md`, `legacy-systems/add-new-column.md`, `marketing-optics/viral-tweet.md`, `analytics-forecasting/performance-review.md`, `stakeholder-management/reply-all.md`) | +| Discovery | Whether a warded record, process, or claim resists a formal attempt to verify or compel disclosure of the truth behind it | `spells/compliance-risk/document-retention.md` (also: `procurement/three-bids-and-a-buy.md`, `marketing-optics/greenwash.md`, `compliance-risk/chapter-11.md`, `marketing-optics/crisis-management.md`, `marketing-optics/smear-campaign.md`, `procurement/vendor-lock-in.md`, `marketing-optics/work-from-beach-home.md`, `analytics-forecasting/leak-the-roadmap.md`, `legacy-systems/add-new-column.md`, `marketing-optics/viral-tweet.md`, `analytics-forecasting/performance-review.md`, `stakeholder-management/reply-all.md`, `analytics-forecasting/power-word-directionally-correct.md`) | ## Derived Stats / Scores @@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ introduces it. | Condition | Effect | Removed by | Introduced in | |---|---|---|---| | Insolvent | Incapacitated-equivalent; the org cannot act | Chapter 11 is now a spell that directly interacts with this condition (it doesn't remove it, but suspends its consequences); no spell removes it outright yet — we keep meaning to look into that | `spells/finance/burn-rate.md` (also referenced by: `compliance-risk/chapter-11.md`, `finance/short-position.md`) | -| Documented (status, not condition) | Satisfies any other spell/effect's prerequisite that requires accurate documentation, regardless of whether documentation actually exists | N/A — persists with the system | `spells/legacy-systems/animate-legacy-system.md` (also granted by: `marketing-optics/greenwash.md`, at higher levels; `analytics-forecasting/performance-review.md`) | +| Documented (status, not condition) | Satisfies any other spell/effect's prerequisite that requires accurate documentation, regardless of whether documentation actually exists | N/A — persists with the system | `spells/legacy-systems/animate-legacy-system.md` (also granted by: `marketing-optics/greenwash.md`, at higher levels; `analytics-forecasting/performance-review.md`, `compliance-risk/power-word-per-my-last-email.md`) | | Misaligned | Multiple creatures agree something was decided or compelled, each privately certain of a different, often mutually exclusive interpretation of what that was | Not removed — resolves only when the affected creatures act and the divergence becomes visible | `spells/stakeholder-management/power-word-buzzword.md` | ## Damage / Effect Types @@ -108,9 +108,17 @@ spell that requires no saving throw and instead gates its effect on some threshold unrelated to the target's resistance — a callback to D&D's Power Word Kill/Stun/Heal, which likewise skip the save. Unlike the classical versions, ours don't need to be high-level or actually -powerful; the joke works just as well undersized. Examples: +powerful; the joke works just as well undersized. The gating threshold is +the whole joke — it should be something structural (a materiality +threshold, a seniority difference, whether a prior record exists) rather +than a reskinned saving throw. Examples: `legacy-systems/power-word-forced-restart.md` (a cantrip), -`stakeholder-management/power-word-buzzword.md`. +`stakeholder-management/power-word-buzzword.md`, +`compliance-risk/power-word-per-my-last-email.md`, +`procurement/power-word-approved.md`, `finance/power-word-write-off.md`, +`legacy-systems/power-word-blocked.md`, +`analytics-forecasting/power-word-directionally-correct.md`, +`marketing-optics/power-word-on-brand.md`. ## Explicitly Not Tracked Here diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 66fb95e..a148ce1 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ same phenomenon twice. ## Status -62 findings recorded and awaiting peer review, spanning levels 0-9 across +68 findings recorded and awaiting peer review, spanning levels 0-9 across all eight disciplines: - **Compliance & Risk:** Indemnification, Cease and Desist, Golden Parachute diff --git a/spells/analytics-forecasting/power-word-directionally-correct.md b/spells/analytics-forecasting/power-word-directionally-correct.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e88b9f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/analytics-forecasting/power-word-directionally-correct.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Power Word: Directionally Correct" +level: 2 +domain: analytics-forecasting +tradition: Divination +--- + +# Power Word: Directionally Correct + +*2nd-level Analytics & Forecasting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, cast the moment someone asks for the exact +number
+**Range/Area:** Self
+**Components:** V (a number, spoken with confidence disproportionate to +how it was derived)
+**Duration:** Until someone with access to the underlying data checks
+**Classes:** Data Analyst, VP of Strategy, Product Manager + +This spell requires no saving throw. Its effect is gated on whether the +stated number has the correct sign and order of magnitude — not on +whether it is actually accurate. A number that is up when it should be +up, by roughly the right amount, satisfies this spell completely, +regardless of the precision anyone believed they were being given. + +A creature that later checks the underlying data and finds the number +wrong in magnitude, not just precision, may retroactively succeed on a +Discovery saving throw against this casting — though by then the number +has usually already been used in a decision. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 3rd level or +higher, you may cast this on a range rather than a single number, +expanding what counts as "directionally correct" to include nearly any +outcome short of the opposite sign. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"It's directionally correct, we can tighten it up later."* +— said in every meeting where "later" is not on the agenda diff --git a/spells/compliance-risk/power-word-per-my-last-email.md b/spells/compliance-risk/power-word-per-my-last-email.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bc82df2 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/compliance-risk/power-word-per-my-last-email.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Power Word: Per My Last Email" +level: 1 +domain: compliance-risk +tradition: Abjuration +--- + +# Power Word: Per My Last Email + +*1st-level Compliance & Risk* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action
+**Range/Area:** Touch, or the reach of a reply-all
+**Components:** V (five words, appended to the top of a forwarded +thread)
+**Duration:** Instantaneous; the underlying point, once reasserted, +cannot be un-asserted
+**Classes:** Manager, Project Manager, Anyone Cc'd Correctly the First +Time + +This spell requires no saving throw. Its effect is gated entirely on +whether a prior instance of the point being reasserted was actually sent, +in writing, to the same recipient. If it was, the recipient's obligation +to have acted on it is treated as established beyond dispute — regardless +of whether they read it, understood it, or had the standing to act on it +at the time. If no such instance exists, the spell fails completely, and +forwarding an old thread with this incantation attached only reveals that +it doesn't. + +This spell deals no direct damage itself. It functions primarily as a +prerequisite: a creature targeted by it becomes Documented (see Animate +Legacy System) for the purposes of any later Performance Review or dispute +over who was responsible for a delay. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 2nd level or +higher, you may cast this spell preemptively — sent the moment a request +is made rather than after it goes unanswered — in which case it functions +identically but is universally recognized as passive-aggressive rather +than merely aggressive. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Per my last email, following up here — let me know if you +have any questions!"* — reply, sent 40 minutes after the original, to a +recipient in a different time zone who was asleep diff --git a/spells/finance/power-word-write-off.md b/spells/finance/power-word-write-off.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b758b7f --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/finance/power-word-write-off.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Power Word: Write-Off" +level: 3 +domain: finance +tradition: Evocation +--- + +# Power Word: Write-Off + +*3rd-level Finance & Cost-Cutting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, typically cast at the end of a fiscal +quarter
+**Range/Area:** Self; one loss, expense, or bad debt currently on the +books
+**Components:** V, S, M (an accounting entry, consumed)
+**Duration:** Permanent; the amount no longer appears anywhere a casual +reader would look
+**Classes:** CFO, Controller, VP of Finance + +This spell requires no saving throw. Its effect is gated entirely on +whether the targeted amount falls under your organization's materiality +threshold — a number the caster sets and adjusts as needed, rather than +one imposed from outside. If the amount qualifies, it is removed from the +organization's reported financials instantly and without disclosure. If it +does not qualify, this spell has no effect, and the amount must be +reported honestly, an outcome most casters go to some length to avoid +triggering. + +Unlike Capitalize the Loss, this spell does not defer the loss to a future +turn — it simply removes it from view. The underlying loss is not actually +reversed. It still happened; it is only no longer visible to a creature +who isn't looking specifically for it. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 4th level or +higher, you may lower your organization's materiality threshold +retroactively, in the same casting, to ensure a specific amount +qualifies. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Given the immaterial nature of this adjustment, no +restatement is required."* — footnote, page 87 of the annual report diff --git a/spells/legacy-systems/power-word-blocked.md b/spells/legacy-systems/power-word-blocked.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f76df28 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/legacy-systems/power-word-blocked.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Power Word: Blocked" +level: 1 +domain: legacy-systems +tradition: Necromancy +--- + +# Power Word: Blocked + +*1st-level Legacy Systems & Zombie Projects* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, typically cast during standup
+**Range/Area:** Self
+**Components:** V (the word "blocked," followed by a dependency named +just specifically enough to sound real)
+**Duration:** Until the next standup, or until someone with the authority +to check follows up, whichever is later
+**Classes:** Engineer, Anyone With a Ticket Assigned to Them + +This spell requires no saving throw. Its effect is gated on whether the +named dependency is real: if it is, you were already blocked, and this +spell changes nothing. If it isn't, this spell functions perfectly +anyway, absolving you of the ticket's lack of progress for the duration — +and no creature present, including your manager, is in a position to tell +the two outcomes apart without independently verifying the dependency, +which essentially never happens inside the duration. + +This spell does not require you to have attempted to resolve the blocker +before casting it. + +***At Higher Levels.*** This spell does not become more effective when +cast using a higher-level slot; a more senior engineer is not blocked more +convincingly. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Still blocked on the API team — following up again +today."* — standup notes, week three diff --git a/spells/marketing-optics/power-word-on-brand.md b/spells/marketing-optics/power-word-on-brand.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1403525 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/marketing-optics/power-word-on-brand.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Power Word: On-Brand" +level: 2 +domain: marketing-optics +tradition: Illusion +--- + +# Power Word: On-Brand + +*2nd-level Marketing & Optics* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, or a single word muttered in a design +review
+**Range/Area:** Sight; one creative asset, message, or decision under +review
+**Components:** V ("brand")
+**Duration:** Instantaneous; the veto is not revisited
+**Classes:** CMO, VP of Brand, Anyone With Final Sign-Off + +This spell requires no saving throw. Its effect is gated entirely on +whether the caster holds final sign-off authority over brand — not on +whether the targeted work is actually inconsistent with any documented +guideline. A caster who holds that authority may veto or approve the +target purely by invoking this word; a caster who does not hold it may say +the same word with no effect whatsoever. + +No brand guideline needs to be cited, consulted, or shown to exist for +this spell to succeed. If one is later produced to justify the casting +after the fact, it is frequently written specifically to match the +decision already made. + +***At Higher Levels.*** This spell does not become more effective when +cast using a higher-level slot; the guidelines do not get any more real. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"This just doesn't feel very on-brand to me."* — sole +feedback, design review, six weeks of work diff --git a/spells/procurement/power-word-approved.md b/spells/procurement/power-word-approved.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a39e20 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/procurement/power-word-approved.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Power Word: Approved" +level: 2 +domain: procurement +tradition: Conjuration +--- + +# Power Word: Approved + +*2nd-level Procurement & Resourcing* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action
+**Range/Area:** Touch, one pending decision, requisition, purchase order, +or approval check, provided its cost or impact falls under the threshold +below
+**Components:** V (the requester's name, spoken by someone who already +knows the approver socially)
+**Duration:** Instantaneous
+**Classes:** VP, Founder, Anyone Who Golfs With the Approver + +This spell requires no saving throw and bypasses any approval process it +targets entirely — Headcount Approval (see Conjure Headcount) included, +but not exclusively. Its effect is gated on two thresholds, both of which +must be met: whether the requester's relationship with the approver +crosses a familiarity line the approver would not describe out loud, and +whether the decision's cost or impact falls under some small fraction of +the organization's current Solvency — large enough to cover routine +requisitions, purchase orders, and headcount lines, but never openly +defined, and adjusted after the fact if anyone asks. Neither threshold +evaluates the decision's actual merit or business justification. + +A decision whose cost exceeds this threshold cannot be approved by this +spell at any level, regardless of the caster's relationship to the +approver; it has to go through Bid War, Vertical Integration, or an +equivalent spell that actually engages with the organization's real +approval structure. + +A request denied to another creature under ordinary process may still +succeed for you under this spell, cast on the identical request, without +either of you acknowledging that anything unusual occurred. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 3rd level or +higher, the materiality threshold widens and the bypassed request may +retroactively apply to a Hiring Freeze already in effect, exempting it +after the fact — though it still cannot reach anything large enough to +require Board sign-off under any circumstances. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Not sure how this got approved so fast, but not +complaining!"* — Slack message, requester genuinely unsure