Game System:Advanced Qualities

Acute Senses

Some people have the eyes of a hawk, or the ears of a bat. Though the ones with visible features like that are generally of the demon persuasion. Characters with this Quality have one sense that is more refined and sensitive than the rest. Normally, the five senses are wrapped into the Perception Attribute. When bought as a Quality, an Acute Sense gives your character a +3 bonus to any Perception-related roll that relies on that sense (or group of sense). Acute Sense has four iterations: Scent/Taste; Hearing; Touch; and Sight. Note that having Acute Touch, while seemingly useless, offers its bonus not only to touch-related things, but also rolls to keep your balance. Also note that Acute Scent does not allow you to track by it. For versatility rather than enhancement, see the Extended Sense Quality, below.

Cost: 1/group

Age

Some beings have been alive and active for several life spans; they could be True Demons, ancient undead, or simply have Dick Clark's genes. Ancient characters are very powerful, having refined their abilities with centuries of practice. This Quality assumes that the character has some other powers or natural abilities, like vampirism or demonhood, which allowed him to survive this long (such powers must be purchased separately). Each level of Age adds one century to your character's life span. Truly ancient supernaturals (a millennium old or older) have ten or so levels of Age, and are extremely dangerous. As such, they are not appropriate as characters in most games (but more than fun for antagonists for Staff to pit the characters against!). The Age Quality only refers to periods during which the character was active. Many supernatural beings have long periods of "down time," times when they were in stasis (a fancy term for chillin' in a big way).

As you get older, you learn more (at least that's the theory). Each Age level grants one point per level of Intelligence to put into skills, to a maximum of four per level. Age is not without its downsides though. Over time, enemies and secrets are accumulated, and these always seem to outlast friendships and renown. For each level of Age, the character must take one level of either Adversary or Secret and gains no character points for these Drawbacks.

Cost: 2/level

Anagogic

Some people call it The Sight, others call it being in-tune with the paranormal. It doesn't matter what you call it, your character's got it. They're anagogic. The character can see magic and traces of supernatural power. He can also tell if someone is preparing to cast a spell and see at a glance if an item is magical. He can even see a faintly glowing residue indicating that magic has been used in an area during the last few hours. If the being spends a minute or so inspecting someone closely and makes a Perception + Empathy roll, he may be able to tell if they're supernatural. Apply a penalty to the roll depending on the supernatural being in question based on the adjacent table. Though anagogic characters cannot sense robots and people who've been genetically altered as such, robots read as nothing (while normal humans read as human) and genetically altered people read as off (you don't know what, but something's wrong). Failure on a roll means the target reads as normal (as long as it's not rather obvious they aren't).

A Perception + Occult roll can determine if a spell is being cast, or has been cast. Noticing a spell currently being cast applies no penalty. To sense the residue from a spell that was cast before the character arrived, apply a penalty of -1 to the roll for every half hour that has passed since the casting. Of course, if the location is riddled with occult symbols and black candles… well… you'd have to be an idiot not to notice, right?

The same Perception + Occult roll can be used to figure out if an object or place is magical. If a magical object is level 4, the character gains no bonus nor suffers a penalty. Apply a -2 penalty for every level below 4 (the mystical energies are weaker to detect) and a bonus of +1 for every level above 4 (the mystical energies are strong in this one). To know if a location is mystical, a normal roll will suffice. Such places are usually dead ringers, anyway, and should set-off an anagogic character's mystical senses reflexively.

Any mystical obfuscation (such as natural abilities or spells that hide or obfuscate the target's supernatural nature) should apply, either by raising the penalty on the roll, or nullifying the roll all-together (depending on the effect's power).

Cost: 3

Anamnesis

Everyone reincarnates — at least, that's the theory — but only a few people are gifted with the ability to recall their past lives with vivid clarity. You have been reborn, again and again, life after life; and what's more, on some occasions, you can reach into your subconscious and pull from it memories from before your current life; memories that most would not be able to access. As a result, you sometimes can acquire a level of competence in a skill you normally don't have. Once per scene, the player picks a skill and makes a Willpower (doubled) roll. Each Success Level attained on the roll provides a +1 bonus to one skill, even one you have no ranks in, for the rest of the scene; the skill must be picked before the roll. Languages is a special case: Anamnesis can add to the Languages skill (but not grant access to more languages); or it can provide 1 point of Fluency in a language of choice per Success Level. Accessing knowledge from your previous life takes one turn, as you concentrate on your soulful past and reach within to procure the knowledge or ability you seek.

Cost: 5

Beast Mind

Many people have psychic powers. However, psionics are usually of the human (or humanoid demon) persuasion, and thus their powers work on those whose thought process is the same or similar to their own. Animals, having a different type of thought process, are exempt from such powers. Shapeshifters who assume a hybrid half-man half-beast form are somewhere in between, and psychics find their minds accessible, but with much more effort. Some psychics, however, have transcended this limitation. Upon gaining this Quality, the character's psychic powers (Emotional Influence, Hypnosis, Insight, and/or Telepathy) work as normal on animals (although in some cases at a much more limited level, as animal minds are more simplistic). Beastmind also does away with the -3 penalty of attempting to use psychic powers on shapeshifters in their hybrid form.

Cost: 2

Creature Feature

Some demons (or creatures; not everything that goes bump in the night is demonic) have certain features, or bonuses, or some little thing that makes them exemplary at one or two specific tasks, or at avoiding the downside of certain things. A Creature Feature is something physical, but not necessarily easily discernible, that augments the character's ability to perform a certain task, or eliminates a certain type of penalty or debility. This bonus often comes in the way of something based off of an animal (a pair of glide-capable armpit wings, or gills for breathing underwater); but it doesn't necessarily have to be based on an animal to belong in this category. It does, however, have to manifest physically.

Due to its mandatory physical manifestation, Creature Feature is often accompanied with some level or another of the Unusual Appearance Drawback. Be sure to talk to Staff when setting something like this up; some powers may not require/support it (such as Squirm) while others may make it all but mandatory (Prehensile Tail). Talk to Staff, you'll be glad you did.

Adhesive Grip: Either because your character's hands and feet are equipped with small spurs that seek out holds in surfaces or because he can secrete some sort of sticky substance from them, or some other reason we didn't think of at the moment, his grip is super-strong and can attach itself to just about anything. The character receives a +4 bonus to all climbing and gripping rolls; as well as any roll to maintain (not initiate) a grapple. In addition, the character can wall-crawl (as long as he's not wearing anything thicker than socks on his feet). He can move at full speed along any vertical surface and half-speed when upside down. Dodging does not benefit from the bonus, but he can do so while remaining on the surface he's climbing and/or sticking to.

Cost: 2

Foot Pads: The character has padded feet. How the character got padded feet is up to the player, and could be for just about any reason. Regardless, whenever the character is not wearing shoes (socks and other thin materials don't afect this ability) the character gains a +4 bonus to any and all Dexterity + Acrobatics (or Larceny) rolls for stealth, as hearing the character is nigh-impossible.

Cost: 1

Extensible Limb: One or more of the character's limbs -- arms, legs, tails, even tongues -- can stretch out to manipulate objects or strike opponents at range. The distance available is equal to the character's usual arm-length + (DEX x 2) yards.

Cost: 1/limb

Extra Limbs: The character has a number of extra limbs, be they extra arms, tentacles, or even extended prehensile tongues or intestines. The limbs may be attached in weird places or even concealed in fleshy pockets until needed.

The character gains +3 for the Grapple Maneuver, and also to maintain it; in addition to adding +2 to STR for the purposes of Lifting Tests. In addition, she gains the minor benefits of extra limbs (such as the ability to hold a flashlight while re-loading a shotgun and digging out their car keys simultaneously). This Quality does not grant additional actions.

Cost: 2

Gills: Either because he's part fish, or because of some mystical ability, the character possesses a set of gills along his ribcage (or on his neck, or behind his ears — hey, logic be damned, right?). These gills allow the character to breathe freely under water, or any other liquid that contains oxygen and can support marine life (you might want to stay away from vats of toxic waste, but a swamp is probably okay). He cannot drown (unless his gills are blocked while submerged) though he still suffers visual penalties (Darksight could help with that).

Cost: 1

Patagia: Your character has patagia — a membrane that goes from the waist to the elbows — and is able to fly… well, after a fashion, anyway. She can't take to the air unless she's already up high; she can, however, dive readily and ride wind currents or thermals. The character can glide at a speed equal to her (Constitution x 3) yards per turn in level flight. Gaining altitude reduces speed to Constitution in yards, while a steep dive might get as fast as (Constitution x 10) yards per turn (although the player will need to make a Dexterity + Acrobatics roll, with a penalty of -1 per turn the dive lasted if the character need to pull up suddenly). In addition, the character gains +4 dice to any Dexterity + Acrobatics roll to reduce Falling damage, as long as his patagia are accessible. Having Webbed Limbs can add a +2 bonus to aerial maneuvering rolls. Characters wearing a shirt won't be able to use their patagia.

Cost: 3

Prehensile Tail: Your character's a monkey! No, really, he has a tail just like a chimp's! An additional limb has been added (or maybe he always had it) to the small of your character's back. It's flexible and agile, and he can use it to manipulate objects and take other actions that require a fair amount of agility. The tail is treated in all ways like a third limb, but gets a -2 penalty to Strength rolls and a -1 penalty to Dexterity rolls. It can't perform very complex things (such as picking a lock with tools), but it does add +3 to any Dexterity + Acrobatics roll to keep your balance or reduce falling damage. If your (Strength - 2) is enough to support your weight, you can hang about from your tail just as you could from your arms.

Cost: 1

Spring Legs: Maybe he got experimented on, or maybe the spirit of the jackalope is with him always. For whatever reason, your character has extraordinary strong legs. It may come as a shock, but this comes in handy for a lot of things. For starters, you get a +4 bonus to your Strength to determine jumping distances, movement per turn, and you also add the same bonus to your damage modifier for the Kick maneuver (on top of its natural modifier) and to the Leaping Dodge maneuver. Having powerful hind-legs can really be a boon, just be careful not to jump straight into something solid — you could hurt your head!

Cost: 2

Squirm: Some creatures (or, shudder, people) may have a natural — or unnatural — ability to contort and bend in ways that should not be physically possible. The character's bones are pliable and malleable, and he can dislocate and relocate them at will with almost no pain (and dislocating body parts is often popular amusement for these beings). Confining them is almost impossible. Although they cannot change their shape or mass, they can contort into disquieting shapes with unnatural ease. The character gets a +4 to any rolls to escape, squirm, contort, etc (usually a Dexterity + Acrobatics or Larceny roll). A roll is only necessary if the character could not fit or attempt the task without this ability (or if it's a resisted roll against a grapple or hold). If a normal person could conceivably do it, no roll is needed; it just takes some time (depending on the attempted task).

Cost: 1

Webbed Limbs: Your character's fingers and toes are webbed, like a duck's. That means he's a total freak, for one thing, and people are going to either be horrified, or laugh uncontrollably. Ahem. But aside from that, the bonuses are pretty sweet. Having webbed appendages means the character gains a +4 bonus to any and all Strength + Acrobatics (or Sports) roll for swimming, making him much faster than probably even the best of olympic swimmers.

Cost: 1

Webbing: For some reason, either due to demonic heritage or perhaps the wonders of mutagenic science, the character can create webs to bind fallen foes, seal off openings or even lower herself from a great height.

This ability may take many forms according to the character: an Aragna might spit silken webbing, while other demons might spin gouts of foul-smelling adhesive from unclean hands, and a cyborg might weave plastic-like, artificial-seeming strands to bind their foes.

Regardless of how it's made, the material is extremely sticky and strong, with the equivalent of 10 points of Natural Armor (Total) and 10 Life Points. Those caught by the Webbing's adhesive coating must succeed at a resisted Strength (doubled) roll against the web's Strength of 6 (doubled) -- or a Muscle Score of 18 -- to escape.

A character trying to catch someone in a web must perform a standard DEX or PER + Thrown roll which can be dodged, but -not- blocked or parried. The webbing is transluscent enough to be difficult to see in shadowy or dark areas (-2 to any Perception + Notice rolls to spot it).

Cost: 4

Demonic Heritage

You are not a demon, but somewhere way back in your family tree, someone was. You don't get lots of nifty abilities like they had, but unlike a vanilla human, you do have a little more going for you. You can raise either your mental or physical attributes (you must choose which at Chargen) to a max of 6, instead of 5. However, you also read as not quite human to people able to discern natures (Such as Anagogics or those with Insight, or spells which determine a being's nature).

Cost: 2

Emotional Influence

Following is a set of powers available to the character, each depicting a certain level of expertise in supernatural emotional manipulation. A character must buy levels in the order presented and each level costs 1 character point +1 per pair of emotions the player wishes to have control over. Thus, a character who can only control someone's Desire/Repulsion buys each power at 2 points per level. Someone who wishes to control all the variant emotions must buy each level at 5 points per level. It's possible to expand one's prowess beyond a certain set of emotions after character creation, but the player must have the experience to back pay any levels already possessed.

If the target of a power wins the roll, it has no effect; he is too willful, rooted in his emotional stability, or perhaps possesses special resistance to your powers; you must also wait at least a full hour before attempting another Emotional Influence roll against that target, and that roll comes with a penalty equal to the extra Success Levels of his previous Willpower (doubled) roll (though if more than a day passes, the rolls return to normal, with no penalties). It can become quite a chore to emotionally manipulate someone very willful, and if the character with Emotional Influence outright fails a roll (he rolls 8 or less) he cannot influence that target again for a full month. Emotional Influence does not work on animals; characters trying to use Emotional Influence on shapeshifters in their feral forms suffer a -3 penalty on the attempt.

Regulate: At this first level, the character may stir his target's emotions, either heightening them to a fevered pitch, or blunting them until the target is all but desensitized. This power does not allow the character to create an emotion that is not being significantly felt — only to heighten or (by heightening its opposite) dull an emotion already present. Thus, this power varies in effectiveness depending on the character's range of emotional control (how many pairs he has access to). Nevertheless, with this power a character can turn mild irritation to frothing rage, or dull desperate lust to casual interest. The character has no control as to whom or what the emotion he Regulates is directed at.

The player rolls Willpower + Influence against the target's Willpower (doubled). The net Success Levels of the character's roll determine the duration of the altered state of feeling in the following order: (1) one minute; (2) half an hour; (3) one hour; (4) one day; (5+) one week. Effects of this power might include penalties or bonuses to resisting certain things such as Fear Checks.

Instigate: Having learned how to control the flow and intensity of emotions, the character now learns to create an emotion from nothing, forcing another to feel something that they aren't currently feeling. This means that even a person currently totally devoid of any anger or triggers for anger can be made to feel a burning rage inside. As with Regulate, the character rolls Willpower + Influence against the target's Willpower (doubled). The effects of this power are the same as with Regulate; but now the character does not have to have been feeling the emotion beforehand. If the target was already feeling the emotion, the character automatically gains an additional Success Level. The character has no control as to whom or what the emotion he Instigates is directed at.

Detach: A character that acquires this level of Emotional Influence can truly devastate a target. By psychically reaching into their minds and messing with their emotions, the character can completely detach a person from a single emotion (that they must have control over). The character rolls Willpower + Influence against the target's Willpower (doubled). Each net Success Level eradicates any possibility of the character experiencing any version of that emotion for one day.

Direct: As the character grows in psychic power, so does the precision with which he can exercise his control over others' emotions. This power allows the character to fine-tune his use of the powers he possesses. He can now choose what the emotions he is controlling are aimed at. He can Regulate and Instigate Desire for a specific item or person or thing, instead of just plain Desire in general. He can also decide to Detach a certain person of an emotion, but only if it comes from a certain source, thus making someone cease feeling Anger at them, but not eradicating their ability to feel Anger in general. This power requires no roll. The character can simply fine-tune other powers in these ways.

Diffuse: At this final level, the character acquires the power to manipulate the emotions of not just one person, but several simultaneously. This power allows a character to create instant mobs, quell riots, and instigate people into orgies with just a little psychic nudge. It allows the character to use any of the other powers of Emotional Influence within (Perception x Willpower) yards, instead of over a single person. Player Characters resist with the normal rolls, and Success Levels apply as they do with other powers; for everyone else, roll the highest Willpower present (doubled), and apply effects accordingly.

Cost: 2-5/level

Extended Sense

Characters with this Quality have one or more senses that process stimuli beyond the normal ranges of detection for humans. For example, a character may be able to see heat as well as visible light or see with no difficulty in the dark; to hear high frequency pitches like a dog or be able to apply echolocation; to recognize pheromones like a bee or track by scent like a wolf. There is no fixed mechanical effect for this broader sensitivity, but Staff and Narrators should accommodate the character's gift when narrating sensory details.

If this Quality is taken in conjunction with the appropriate Acute Sense, the character's heightened awareness also applies to the unusual ranges of that sense. Every significant expansion of a single sense costs 1 Quality point, and character may take more than one such instance, and are encouraged to come up with their own. Each instance will have it's own simple and self-explanatory rules, decided on a case-by-case basis by Theme Staff.

Common iterations include:

• Extended Sense (Dark Sight)
• Extended Sense (Thermal Sight)
• Extended Sense (Infrared Vision)
• Extended Sense (Scent Tracking)
• Extended Sense (Pheromone Scent)
• Extended Sense (Echolocation)
• Extended Sense (High Frequencies)
• Extended Sense (Radio)
  

Cost: 1/extension

Hypnosis

Some demons, undead, or powerful psychics have the power to control the minds of others. Against single opponents or those without much in the way of will, this ability can be devastating. Like most other powers, Hypnosis comes in levels. Different than other powers, each level grants the character one specific power related to Hypnotism that they can make use of. A character must buy levels in the order presented in the list, and each level costs 5 character points. Using Hypnosis on someone requires eye-contact to initiate it but, unless otherwise noted, is not required to maintain it. A character may only take a single Hypnosis-based action per turn but may take other actions if they have multiple actions in a turn.

Needless to say, if the target of a power wins the roll, it has no effect; he is too willful, stubborn, or perhaps possess special resistance to your psychic powers; you must also wait at least a full hour before attempting another Hypnosis roll against that target, and that roll comes with a penalty equal to the extra Success Levels of his previous Willpower (doubled) roll (though if more than a day passes, the rolls return to normal, with no penalties). It can become quite a chore to control someone very willful, and if the character with Hypnosis outright fails a roll (he rolls 8 or less) he cannot hypnotize that target again for a full month. Hypnosis does not work on animals; characters trying to use Hypnosis on shapeshifters in their feral forms suffer a -3 penalty on the attempt.

Paralyze: At this level, your character can cause someone to hesitate for a few moments, plenty of time to launch an attack with impunity. The hypnotist makes a Willpower + Influence roll; the victim resists with a Willpower (doubled) roll. Unless the victim beats or ties the result, he is helpless for a number of his actions equal to the hypnotist's Net SLs, and has zero defense rolls against any attack during that time.

Example: Jeff Swirlyeyes is a Hypnotist with a 5 Willpower and a 5 Influence, who starts his initiative at 16. He attempts to paralyze Bruce Sheepish who has a Willpower of 2 and begins his initiative at 15. Bruce punched Jeff last action, so he doesn't need to roll to establish eye contact. He rolls his Paralyze and gets a 17, for 5 SLs. Bruce rolls his willpower, doubled, and gets an 11, for 2 SLs. Bruce is paralyzed and unable to defend himself for 3 actions. That means he can take no actions this turn (he would normally have had actions at 15, 10, and 5). Jeff has two more actions, which he uses to punch Bruce twice. Even though Jeff isn't the best at hand-to-hand, Bruce cannot dodge, so his attacks land and he damages Mr. Sheepish. If Bruce only had 1 action this turn, he would remain paralyzed into the next turn (and possibly the one after that) until 3 actions of his had been bypassed.


Hallucinate: Your character can create illusions and muddle the victim's senses. This uses the same roll as with Paralyze, but if the character wins, the victim finds the illusion compelling, and will get lost and convinced by the hallucination. The character can render himself invisible or appear to be someone else; he can create illusions that affect any and all senses; but the illusion only lasts for a number of turns equal to the hypnotist's Intelligence score. Once that time is up, a new roll must be made. Note that eye-contact is only necessary when initiating the illusion, but not to maintain it.

Shroud: Like The Shadow, you have the power to cloud men's minds. This power does not require eye-contact. Instead, roll Willpower + Influence versus a Willpower (doubled) roll of the person with the highest Willpower within (Willpower x Perception) yards of your character. If successful, anyone within that area will completely ignore him as if he were not there. They see the character, but he does not register in their minds. If someone with a higher Willpower than the previous opposition enters the scene, the roll must be made again (reflexively). Making loud noises or attacking them will break the effect. This power lasts a number of turns equal to the character's Intelligence score. A character can decide not to affect anyone he wishes, and can include in the effect a number of people equal to his Willpower score.

Command: At this level, the supernatural being can command the victim, forcing him to obey almost any order. Every time your character tries to command the victim, use the same roll as with Paralyze. If the victim loses, he must comply. Some commands may go so totally against the victim's self-preservation instinct or moral code that he gains bonuses (+1 to +5) to resist (at Staff or your Narrator's discretion). Directing someone to jump off a skyscraper is morally questionable and could weaken or destroy any control your character has over him. Note that you need eye-contact to give the command, but it's not necessary while it's being carried out.

This power isn't always completely effective. Greater memories may return in pieces as dreams, or through sensory triggers like a familiar odor or spoken phrase. Even so, months or years may pass before the subject regains enough of her lost memories to make sense of the fragments. The character rolls Willpower + Influence, resisted by the subject's Willpower (doubled) roll. Simply gaining a higher roll than the subject is enough to pacify them for the amount of time it takes to perform the verbal alteration, provided the character does not act aggressively toward the victim. The above-right table depicts the kind of control the character can achieve, based on the net Success Levels she gains in the contested roll.

Cost: 5/level

Immortal

Not as in "cannot be killed" but more as in "not getting any older here." Some supernatural beings don't age normally, staying the same apparent age for centuries or millennia; some humans have had chemical or biogenetic experiments go wrong (or right) and gained eternal life, or maybe made a pact with some demon with a wicked sense of humor. Maybe you're just part of a group of gifted people who do not age and must face each other in mortal combat by sword, beheading each other as they make their way to the Ultimate Prize. Regardless, this doesn't cost points by itself (let's face it, much as we'd like to think differently, few games are going to span centuries), but Immortal characters can gain the Age Quality if their characters have been around for a few centuries.

Cost: 0

Increased Essence Points

Your character not only has an enhanced Essence Pool due to having the Magic Quality, she has reached far deeper than other sorcerers and found her center, and thus can pull forth more power than normal. For each level taken, the character adds 5 to her Essence Pool. This Quality requires that the character have the Magic Quality, and cannot be taken more times than she has levels in the Magic Quality.

Cost: 1/level

Increased Life Points

Some supernaturals are much harder to kill than your average innocent bystander... or bull elephant. They could have redundant organs or their guts are just harder to rip out. These critters have more Life Points than the normal formula would allow for someone with their Strength and Constitution. Each level of this power adds an extra ten (10) Life Points.

Cost: 1/level

Inhuman

Your character is more than human. This trait only applies if the character has, or has the potential to have, Attributes above 5 (or certain other traits that are otherwise limited, such as Hard to Kill, above the human norm). Inhuman is a Quality that allows a character to take that step that carries them beyond the threshold of normal mortals. It is never taken by itself; it must be included in a package (usually for characters that are Demons or Empowered Warriors, though it may see use in less supernatural packages, such as Superscientist). It only confers the ability to go above the limits — actually going above those limits requires buying the traits.

Cost: 1

Intangible Form

The character can alter their physical makeup so as to become something else that doesn't have a stable shape. This affords the character a certain level of pseudo-intangibility (despite the full-intangibility suggested by the Quality's name). This can occur in one of two ways: the character can become something of a Liquid variety; or he can become something of a Gaseous variety. This isn't meant to limit the types of forms characters may take: the Byblos Demon use the rules for Gaseous Form, even though they turn into living -shadows-.

If the character possesses the Gaseous iteration of this Quality, he can dissolve his body into a gaseous state, be it mist, smoke, foul miasma, or some semi-tangible shadow-like shape. While in this shape, the character can glide through the air at his normal walking speed, and cannot be harmed by physical attacks such as fists, claws or bullets. Energy attacks such as fire or radiation affect him as usual, as do most psychic or mind-based powers (save those requiring eye contact). He may not attack physically while in this form, and though the shape will hold together in most winds, more powerful winds or magical winds made specifically to harm will inflict damage.

Characters possessing the Liquid variation of this Quality can liquefy their body, dissolving into a thick liquid (mud, blood, or the like) that can move about as it likes. The liquid-form character can flow through small openings without difficulty, although it has difficulty moving uphill. While in liquid form, the character can flow along level or downhill surfaces at its normal walking speed, and cannot be harmed by physical attacks such as fists, claws or bullets. Energy attacks such as fire or radiation affect him as usual, as do most psychic or mind-based powers (save those requiring eye contact). The character may not perform physical attacks while in liquid form.

Cost: 8

Insight

There are people with a talent for seeing what lies beneath others' rough exterior; people who can see past the superficial and discern, no matter how vaguely, that something else lies just under the surface. Then there are people who make those people look like social idiots. A person with Insight is one of the latter. Insight is the supernatural ability to gaze beyond the surface of a person and see their deepest recesses. Some say it's like looking into someone's soul; still others attribute it to a reading of auras. It doesn't matter how you define it, the results are the same: just by looking at someone, you can gain insight into their nature, hopes, and dreams, as well as what defines them.

First things first: this only works on sentient beings (people, demons, artificial intelligences, and mystical constructs). It falls to Staff and the Narrator to decide what constitutes 'sentient', but those are the basics. To successfully gain insight into a target, make a resisted Perception + Empathy against the target's Willpower (doubled) roll. If the target wins the roll, you get no information; he is too willful, stubborn, or perhaps at the moment too shut-away from the world; you must also wait a full day before attempting another Insight roll against that target, and that roll comes with a penalty equal to the extra success levels of his previous Willpower (doubled) roll. It can become quite a chore to read someone very willful, and if the character with Insight outright fails a roll (he rolls 8 or less) he cannot read that target again for a full month. Insight does not work on animals; characters trying to use Insight on shapeshifters in their feral forms suffer a -3 penalty on the attempt.

If the player wins the roll, for each success level above those rolled by the target, the character gains access to a piece of information. Information comes depending on its importance in the following order: Drawbacks, and then Qualities. You only get one Drawback or Quality per success, and they come in order of the highest rated, moving on down. If the target has Addiction (-2) and Honorable (-3), the insightful would see the latter before he saw the former. At any point during the 'analysis' of a target, the character can use up one Success Level to determine two of the following (in any combination): deepest fear (not phobia); deepest desire; real name (if applicable); current emotional state; level of health. This Success Level cannot be used to ascertain a Drawback or Quality.

A character can perform subsequent Insight rolls to gain more information (skipping over any information he might already have acquired) until he's learned all there is to learn, or the target spurns his attempts (re: wins several resisted rolls consecutively, as described above). Some beings have protection against this sort of intrusion. See the Resistance Quality for details.

Cost: 3

Invisibility

Seeing is believing. Except if you're confronted with someone with this Quality. Characters with this trait can become invisible; and we're not talking Predator super-camouflage; we're talking full-on, completely see-through. Being invisible gifts a character with many possibilities; and depending on the level taken, the character may benefit from a few of them, or all of them.

For starters, anyone trying to detect an invisible person must roll Perception + Notice with a penalty of -5, against the invisible person's Dexterity + Acrobatics (or Larceny). Acute and Enhanced Senses help, but if that sense is Sight, only half the bonus applies (you may see small disturbances or footprints made by someone invisible, but it's not the same as hearing or smelling them, for which you don't need sight at all).

Anyone trying to grab or hit an invisible person must not only succeed in this roll, but also rolls the attack at a penalty equal to the Success Levels of the invisible person's Dexterity + Acrobatics (or Larceny) roll (it doesn't matter that they lost). This sequence of rolls must be repeated each turn, as the invisible person might move, change tactics, etc. The above-right table gives a run-down of what's possible with each level of Invisibility, and how much each level costs.

In addition, the character is undetectable by modern visual security and methods of surveillance (such as video, photography, light sensors), though thermal sensors and motion detectors based on touch still function as normal (a laser grid might not detect you and you won't appear on camera, but if you step on the weight-sensitive alarm trigger or your temperature's too hot for the sensors not to notice, you're busted). Needless to say, we're not going to go into the gory details of what an invisible person can do but... well... there's always the girl's locker room.

Cost: 8-16

Magic

Your character is a witch, sorcerer, wizard, shaman, or other type of spell caster. She doesn’t just have the force of will to bend reality and the knowledge to do so accurately; she also has sheer power and talent backing her up. She adds her levels in this Quality to Willpower + Occult rolls to cast spells. In addition, she gains a much larger Essence Pool. Use the following formula: [Willpower x (Magic +1) + Constitution] to determine her full Essence Pool. She has a Grimoire, which allows her to cast spells without the aid of a magical tome, though it does not allow her to Quickcast. At character creation, she has a number of spells which cannot have an added Power Level higher than half her (Magic x Occult). She also gains access to other Magic Qualities.

Cost: 4/level

Medium

You possess the natural affinity to sense and communicate with spirits, ghosts, and shades. Though you cannot touch them, you can sense them, see them, hear them, and otherwise interact with them and, through pleading and cajoling, draw them to your presence. You may call upon them for aid or advice, but there will always be a price. The downside is that you're like Whoopie Goldberg in Ghost — everyone and their dead grandmother might want your help. To call spirits to your aid, make a Willpower + Occult roll. Success Levels determine the speed with which the ghosts might reply. Note that spirits are under the provenance of Staff and Narrators. You can also try to perceive hidden spirits, or ghosts that don't want to be seen with a Perception + Occult roll (no penalty, unlike characters with Anagogic; your powers of supernatural perception are much more limited).

Cost: 2

Natural Armor

Kinetic damage, which is what the Natural Armor Quality covers guarding against, comes in two varieties: Bashing and Lethal. This trait comes in three flavors, each one giving different degrees of natural armor for each of the two types of damage. Depending on which you choose your character to have, he may be more resilient to one or the other or both. The chart depicts the different combinations one can take. Each point spent on Natural Armor purchases one of the combinations in the chart. You may ONLY purchase one type of Natural Armor, Bashing, Lethal, or Total. You cannot buy levels of Bashing only, then levels of Lethal only. When buying more in the future, can only buy the one type you have already purchased. These are cumulative.

Cost: 1/level

Natural Weapon

A natural weapon cannot be disarmed. It's implicit that it's a part of the character, either physical or through a mystical bond. Even those natural weapons that can be launched or thrown at an enemy either replace their ammunition immediately, or can be called back or re-summoned. Thus, the only way to disarm someone with this trait is to quite literally dis-arm them (or de-limb them, depending on what shape the weaponry takes). It's also implicit that natural weapons are retractable. If a natural weapon cannot be retracted, reduce the total cost by 1 (so a level 3 natural Lethal weapon that cannot be retracted would cost 5 points, instead its usual 6). Upon purchasing this Quality, decide if your character uses his Natural Weapon with Brawl (claws, horns, spikes) or Melee (mystical-bonded sword) for hand-to-hand; and if you also purchase it as a ranged weapon, weather it uses Marksman (launched stingers) or Thrown (detachable forearm blades).

The most common type of natural weaponry does Lethal damage (claws, fangs, spikes, mystically-bonded swords). Each level gives the natural weapon a different multiplier, making it deadlier the higher the level. Level 1 starts it at (Strength x 3), and makes its way up by one per level (so a level 3 natural Lethal weapon would do (Strength x 5) Lethal damage). Each level of natural Lethal weaponry costs 2 points.

Some creatures have natural weapons that are less effective, and only do Bash damage. The damage modifiers remain the same, but the damage is Bashing (with all that that entails). Each level of natural Bash weaponry costs 1 point. Still other creatures can launch their weapons at their foes. If such is the case, the weapon can be used hand-to-hand or at range (use the corresponding skills for each type of attack). Regardless if it does Bash or Lethal damage, add +1 to the cost per level.

Cost: 1-3/level

Poison

The character is capable of injecting poison into a foe, whether through venom glands or poisonous body fluids such as saliva. For the poison to enter the victim's system, the character must inflict at least 5 LP of Lethal damage, or find some other way that ensure's the substance's injection (to the satisfaction of Staff and/or the Narrator).

Different poisons have different effects: pick an attribute to affect (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, or Willpower). Victims of the poison roll (target Attribute + CON) -- or CON (doubled) if the target Attribute is Constitution -- against the poison's STR (doubled). If the victim wins the roll, they are unaffected by the toxin.

However, if they submit to the toxin, the target Attribute begins to drop in rating, hampering the character's actions with it. If the Attribute is reduced to 0 (zero), the character can take -no action- involving active -or- passive use of that Attribute, until the effect wears off.

Some poisons are deadly. In these cases, after the target Attribute is reduced to 0 (zero), the poison begins eroding the character's Constitution (if CON was the original target, treat it as if it were reducing CON all over again). If the victim's CON reaches 0 (zero) during this second phase, they die.

Poison is bought depending on how strong it is and how fast it acts. At base levels, a poison's STR is bought at 2 per point spent (2:1), is -not- lethal, and reduces a victim's Attribute by 1/day. If the poison is deadly -or- if the poison reduces a victim's Attribute by 1/hour, the cost of each level of poison STR is worth 1 point (1:1). If it's both deadly -and- acts per hour, each level of STR costs 2 points (1:2).

Every poison has an antidote; and it can be synthesized with the poison itself or with the blood of whoever or whatever the poison came from, or -- in rare cases -- has a natural antidote that exists in nature.

Cost: 1-2/level

Protection

Certain people -- or beings -- are less easily harmed by certain things. Not as encompassing as the Natural Armor Quality, this trait only protects against certain sources of damage, offering a more personalized type of soak against the chosen source of damage.

This trait only adds to soak and thus is only effective against attacks that damage a character's Life Points. Each level of this Quality gives the character a +6 bonus to soak any damage from the source attributed to the Quality, both Lethal and Bashing. A character may possess more than one iteration of this Quality, given Staff permission.

Common iterations of this Quality include:

• Protection (Magic)
• Protection (Bullets)
• Protection (Falling)
• Protection (Heat)
• Protection (Cold)

Cost: 1/level

Psychometry

Your character possesses a preternatural sensitivity to objects and the energies others leave when they touch them. He can gain information about items and places uses this ability. Characters with psychometry often get impressions from simply bumping against a wall or touching the steering wheel of a car — many beings with this power wear gloves most of the time. Anything that cannot be read by Telepathy because it isn't considered "sentient" is most likely subject to being psychometrically studied (we're talking robots, dead body parts, etc). These visions are determined by Staff or the Narrator (based on the chart which follows).

To use this ability actively, your character must touch the object and roll Perception + Notice (Acute/Enhanced Touch applicable). The exact result depends both upon the roll and upon the history of the object being touched. Assume that each Success level offers one piece of information. While one Success Level tells the character only that "a man held this knife last," three reveal that he was "petty, middle-aged, and afraid." Four Success Levels discover his name, and five or more reveal his connection to the watch as well as some of the things he did with it in his possession. Keep in mind that Staff or the Narrator might modify the "read" depending on the needs of the storyline.

Cost: 4

Pyrokinesis

Pyrokinesis. The ability to manipulate and control fire with one's mind. But before we get into what it does, let's clarify what it doesn't do: it does not allow the character to start a fire. Taking this trait does not make a character a firestarter. You want to start fires? Take a fire-based Supernatural Attack; or easier still… light a match. It really is that simple. Despite the fact that a pyrokinetic can't start fires willy-nilly, that doesn't make them any less powerful than someone who can. Imagine, if you will, a fireplace. Now imagine you can snuff that fire out or intensify it to become a raging inferno with only a thought. Imagine you can play with the fire; twirl it about your fingers and make it dance in fantastic shapes; and burst at your enemies in controlled but unkempt tongues of pyre. That, is pyrokinesis.

Being able to manipulate flames means two things: a.) the character can raise or lower the intensity of an existing source of fire, making a candle into an inferno and vice versa; b.) the character can make the fire move and dance at his whim, curling, licking and otherwise creating shapes that it would be almost impossible to find flames making in nature.

To raise or lower the intensity of an existing flame, the player rolls Willpower (doubled). Each Success Level intensifies or diminishes the flame by one level according to the adjacent table. It's not possible to intensify a flame above the fifth level (at that point, if there's anything to burn, the inferno will intensify itself) and diminishing any flame below the first level snuffs the flame out completely. Altering the intensity of a flame takes one turn. Keep in mind that if the fire has no fuel, it will either go back to its original intensity or snuff itself out within a number of turns equal to the pyrokinetic's Willpower.

As one of the most entertaining (and potentially deadly) abilities a pyrokinetic has, manipulating the physical aspect of flames can be used both as exquisite, beautiful entertainment, and also as a devastatingly explosive combat measure. In the first instance, no real roll is needed. Unless the character is trying to perform something truly artistic with the flames at his command in which case a Perception + Art roll may be required to gauge the beauty of the burning creation.

As a bonus ability, a pyrokinetic can — by rolling Willpower (doubled) — raise the temperature of an area equal to (Perception x Willpower) yards by 10 degrees Farenheit per Success Level on the roll. He can use the same roll to lower the temperature, but never below the original temperature of the room. A pyrokinetic cannot make a room colder — just control how much hotter it gets. People with vulnerability to intense heat might suffer damage from such a change — see the Vulnerability Drawback for details. An area's temperature must be known before the player makes the roll; and anyone making a Perception + Notice (Acute/Enhanced Touch comes particularly handy in this situation) roll at a penalty set by Staff or the Narrator can tell that the pyrokinetic is the source of the change in temperature.

Cost: 8

Quickcast

Your magic-worker has honed her magical skills like a cowboy in the Old West hones his quick-draw. She can now attempt to Quickcast any spell that allows it. Some spells are not available for quickcasting. Quickcasting a spell occurs on the character’s Initiative and is always the character’s first action. Some spells do not allow the character to perform certain actions (attacking, moving, anything but casting) during the same turn as it is being cast. A character can only cast one spell per turn, regardless of the magnitude of their spellcasting pool and/or simplicity of the spells in question. You cannot have Quickcasting without at least two levels of the Magic Quality. Power Level 0 spells can usually be cast quickly enough that it does not require having this Quality.

Cost: 5

Regeneration

Regardless, your character heals very fast, compared to everyone else. Your character adds a bonus equal to his level, not cost, in this trait to resist poisons and drugs. At the first level, your character cannot re-grow limbs. You just don't heal that fast. If you lose an arm or a leg or an eye, you'll have to find some other way to replace it or make it grow again, it won't do it on its own. At higher levels however, your healing rate is rapid enough that you can effectively regrow digits, eyes, and entire limbs. This takes longer than just healing your Life Points, though. The larger the body part, the longer it takes; body parts are categorized in small (eye, finger, hand, ear) and large (arm, leg). At level 2, you regrow small body parts in (10 - CON) days, and large body parts in (15 - CON) days. At level 3, you regrow small body parts in (5 - CON) days, and large body parts in (10 - CON) days.

Cost: 2/level

Resistance

Certain people -- or beings -- are less easily affected by certain things. Unlike the Natural Armor or Protection Qualities, Resistance does not offer any bonus to Soaking damage. Instead, this Quality gives a bonus to resisting the effects of certain powers or sensations. This trait only applies if the situation calls for a resisted roll -- or a roll brought forth by the source to which the Resistance Quality is applied -- and adds a bonus to the roll equal to the level of the this trait.

If you want to be able to Soak damage from the same source (for cases such as 'magic', where the source is capable of both creating an effect and levying damaging attacks), that the appropriate iteration of the Protection Quality. A character may possess more than one iteration of this Quality, given Staff permission.

Common iterations of this Quality include:

• Resistance (Magic)
• Resistance (Psions)
• Resistance (Torture)
• Resistance (Toxins)
• Resistance (Disease)
  

Cost: 1/level

Special Sense

There is something you can sense -- maybe through one of your actual five senses, or maybe beyond those -- that allows you to discern something about a person or an object, or perhaps find something specific or identify a certain type of... something. A Special Sense, depending on how special, can be worth 1 or 2 points, which is decided by Staff once the player has expressed the desire to possess a Special Sense, and both the player and Staff have worked out the details.

Cost: 1 or 2

Supernatural Attack

Maybe your supernatural can expel fire out of some unmentionable orifice, or spit gobs of acid, or something equally nasty. This type of attack is not dependent on the critter's Strength (unlike Natural Weapon). The more damage the attack does, the more it costs. How far the attack reaches also plays into the cost. Close combat attacks (use Brawl to "hit" the enemy) are cheaper than ranged attacks (use Thrown to "shoot" the attack). Upon choosing this Quality, the player must describe the attack and its nature, and how/why it fits the character. In addition, she must pick whether it is an attack based on cold, heat, chemical, psionic, or magic (if a supernatural attack doesn't fall within the first four categories, it's automatically considered magical).

The damage is considered Lethal (and soaked accordingly, adding any additional Lethal soak from Protection). If a character assaulted by this power has a version of Endurance or Resistance Quality appropriate to the one chosen by the character using this attack, they add that to their soak as well. A Supernatural Attack works on how well the character can hit the target. At level one, the character does (5 x net Success Levels) Life Points of damage on an attack. Each level above one raises that multiplier by 5 — level 2 is x10; level 3 is x15. Each level of this Quality costs 3 character points if it's a hand-to-hand (Brawl) attack. If it's a ranged (Thrown) it costs 5 character points per level; a character cannot have more than 4 levels in this Quality.

Cost: 3-5/level

Swarm

If you have this trait, we can safely assume you're not human. Maybe once upon a time you were, but now? You're made up of something else. A lot of something elses, in fact. This power allows the character to break up his body into a number of smaller wholes, each one fully alive and possessed of its "owner's" sentience. The make-up of these individual parts is up to the player to decide: most resemble small animals such as rodents or snakes.

When a character wishes to disperse into a swarm, he must concentrate (taking no other action for the round). At the end of the round (or when he suffers damage, if he does so before the end of the round), he will break up into his component parts, which may then scatter as desired. At this time, the only way to be fully rid of the character is to find and destroy every individual part, a difficult prospect, indeed. However, unless the character also possesses the Regeneration Quality, he will suffer terribly if he attempts to reform without all his pieces. Once re-assembled, the character can heal damage more quickly by consuming more matter (that of his component creature). The 'assimilation' of the matter occurs at a rate equal to the character's (Constitution x 2). Usually, beings with this ability keep "food" back home to help speed up the healing process should they be hurt.

Each level allows the character to divide his Life Points by a greater number, thus ensuring more and smaller, harder to hit targets that are susceptible to less damage and with a greater chance of escape. There are four levels to this power. A character cannot take a level in this power that would create individual parts worth less than 2 Life Points each (the character must have at least twice the amount of Life Points as the dividend being applied). The prior table shows what dividend to apply and its cost according to level. Any remaining Life Points after they have been divided constitutes one "full" part, and will always be the last one slain.

Cost: 3/level

Telekinesis

Telekinesis. A power that needs no introduction — we're gonna give it one anyway. A telekinetic is someone who has the amazing ability to move things with the sheer power of their minds. These people are psionics with physical connotations, and those that have honed their skills and practiced their telekinetic abilities can be truly awe-inspiring and powerful individuals. Fortunately, this power is fairly straight-forward when it comes to how it works, mechanic-wise.

A character can telekinetically affect anything within [(Perception + Willpower) x 2] yards. Moving things with Telekinesis is much like moving things normally, it's just that different Attributes come into play. When moving things with their minds, the psionic replaces Strength and Dexterity for Willpower and Perception, respectively. To move something, determine whether the character can lift it (use Strength Table, but replace 'Strength' with 'Willpower'). Unless there's a specific task involved, the character can move anything he can lift freely, just like anyone else. A telekinetic can have a number of things levitated simultaneously equal to his Intelligence score.

If the character wants to perform a certain task using his telekinetic abilities, the same Attribute replacements apply; and just roll it normally. If the character wants to strike someone with a levitated baseball bat, roll Perception + Melee. In effect, any roll that would require Strength, applies Willpower instead; and any roll that would require Dexterity, applies Perception instead.

Attacking is the same as normal (with the attribute change), except in the case of attacking with a pure telekinetic assault. A character on the receiving end of a Perception + Brawl attack rolls his defence at -2. However, doing damage this way is difficult. Not only is it Bash damage, but the telekinetic's Willpower is considered one point lower for purposes of damage. Grapple attempts, being 'thrown' with this power, and other such combat-type things are resisted exactly the same way (i.e. same roll) by the target as they would if it were hand-to-hand.

Characters don't 'dodge' with telekinesis (if they want to physically get out of the way, they still have to use Dexterity), though they may deflect attacks with it by trying to telekinetically affect whatever is coming at them. This is done the same way as normal. A telekinetic can, if his Willpower is high enough, fly. Calculate speed using Perception and Willpower in place of Dexterity and Strength. However, maneuvering in mid-air and dodging attacks while in mid-flight still require the use of Dexterity (not Perception).

If a telekinetic uses his powers for more consecutive turns than he has points in Constitution, he must make a Willpower + Constitution roll. Failure drops any telekinetic effect (yes, even flight), as the character suffers from sudden psychosomatic exhaustion. If the roll succeeds, make a new one for every following turn the character continues using his powers, with a cumulative -2 roll each turn, until he fails (or stops using the power). A character who fails this roll cannot use his powers again until has has rested for at least (5 - CON (minimum 1)) hours.

Cost: 8

Telepathy

Some beings have the power to communicate and intrude on the minds of others. Against those without much in the way of will, this ability can be incredibly informative. Like most other powers, Telepathy comes in levels. Different than other powers, each level grants the character one specific power related to Telepathy that they can make use of. A character must buy levels in the order presented below (from top tp bottom) and each level costs 3 character points.

If the target of a telepathy attempt wins the roll, it has no effect; he is too willful, stubborn, or perhaps possesses special resistance to psychic powers; the telepath must also wait at least a full hour before attempting another Telepathy roll against that target, and that roll comes with a penalty equal to the net Success Levels of the target's previous Willpower (doubled) roll (though if more than a day passes, the rolls return to normal, with no penalties). It can become quite a chore to telepathically read someone very willful, and if the character with Telepathy outright fails a roll (he rolls 8 or less) he cannot use telepathy on that target again for a full month. If the target is another telepath, and she wins the roll, she recognizes the attempt on part of the character and immediately knows who it was if she can see them visually. She can also immediately return the favor (use any of her powers) without needing eye-contact. Telepathy does not work on animals; characters trying to use Telepathy on shapeshifters in their feral forms suffer a -3 penalty on the attempt.

Rapport: The character can speak into the minds of others. While doing this, he can also hear any thoughts directed at him in response. A telepath can mentally communicate simultaneously with a number of people equal to his Intelligence. The range is limited to within (Perception x Willpower) yards of the character. If a target is not willing to participate, or is ignorant of the attempt, the telepath rolls Willpower + Influence, and they roll their standard Willpower (doubled) roll to resist. Success establishes communication.

If a person the telepath has communicated with before attempts to initiate a conversation, but is not a telepath themselves, the telepath rolls Perception + Empathy. A single success is enough to hear the other person's attempt to communicate, and henceforth, communication is possible as usual. The language of the mind is universal among intelligent beings; and telepaths suffer no linguistic barriers when using Rapport with others.

Characters with this ability don't so much as 'hear' thoughts as they experience them. It's not just the current, worded thoughts of the target that the prober can access. Depending on the successes, the prober can fully experience aspects of a target's life, retrieve important information, and otherwise glean invaluable insight into the mind and psyche of his target.

Synch: The telepath has learned to synchronize his mind with other people's. This power allows a telepath to truly fine-tune the connection between his psyche and the minds of those closest to him. Upon acquiring this power (or at any point there-after), the telepath chooses a number of people equal (or less than) his Willpower score. He can now use the abilities of Rapport reflexively with regards to any of them, and the distance is now measured in miles. There are many things that can scramble this connection, including radio waves, other psychic energies, and R.E.M. sleep. It's hardly foolproof.

However, a telepath with this power can also 'share' his senses with anyone he's in telepathic communication with; and it works vice-versa (he can experience what they are experiencing). Roll Perception + Empathy. Each Success Level allows the character to experience (or make the target experience) one of the five senses. If a target is not willing to participate, or is ignorant of the attempt, they roll their standard Willpower (doubled) roll to resist, detracting Success Levels from the telepath's roll. A telepath can 'send' his senses or experience someone else's; but cannot do both simultaneously.

Blast: Telepaths are usually very passive and subtle people, at least when it comes to their special abilities. However, a character who has reached this level of psychic power has gone beyond passive and discovered a manner with which to defend himself… or attack others. The character can immobilize a target with a bolt of psychic energy. Depending on the strength of the attack, the victim could collapse to the ground, writhing in pain, at the mercy of his assailant. This power necessitates eye-contact [within (Perception x 2) yards] or touch.

The telepath rolls Willpower + Influence against the target's Willpower (doubled). For every net success, the target spends one turn immobilized by unspeakable wracking pain. Victims can roll Constitution (doubled) with a penalty equal to the character's Willpower score to take a limited action on a turn (crawling, speaking, etc.) but suffer a penalty equal to the telepath's (Willpower + net SLs) on any full actions. Constitution checks must be made each turn the victim wants to act, until the effect expires. Telepaths must wait a full turn between each use of Blast (unless it's ineffective, in which case it falls under the normal rules).

Astral: At this level, the character can enter a trance-like state in which the material and physical no longer encumber him. He rises from his body invisible and intangible, like a wraith or a ghost. Disembodied, he can glide through walls and ceilings and overhear any conversation he could if he were solid. He is undetectable but for people with the Anagogic or some specifically defined Extended Sense Quality, or other psychics. Any psychic within a number of yards of the character's astral form rolls Perception + Notice against the characters Willpower + Larceny. Detection is not so much visual as it is a 'sense' of 'feeling' that there is someone else in the room. A character cannot astrally project further than (Perception + Willpower) miles from his body. He cannot stay out of his body for more hours than he has points in Willpower. If that time lapses, he returns immediately and suffers (Willpower x 2) Life Points in damage from the psychosomatic effects. He can sense when his body is in danger, though returning immediately causes the same damage as being forced back.

Alternatively, the character may create an 'astral realm' into which he can pull another character. This requires a Willpower (doubled) roll against the same roll from the target. If the telepath is successful, he can pull another character into an astral realm for a number of minutes equal to the net Success Levels achieved on the roll (though the target may subsequently choose to stay longer). Astral Realms follow the rules of the person who created them; though with a sufficiently strong will, those rules can and may be broken. For more information on how Astral Realms work, see Astral Realms.

Cost: 3/level

Unique Kill

Some supernaturals can't be killed by conventional means; something extraordinary is needed. Some demons need to be beheaded, for example, or their bodies must be burned to ashes. That doesn't mean your guy doesn't take damage normally, and can't be incapacitated, he just doesn't die from it. If the character isn't destroyed in the correct way, he eventually heals from any injuries and rises again. This Quality only applies if there is one specific way to kill the supernatural. While it's true that vampires can only be dusted in certain ways, those ways are fairly numerous. Having that many "limited ways" to be aced just doesn't make the grade. Vamps don't enjoy the Unique Kill Quality.

Cost: 5