Guidelines and Houserules

• Monthly Posting Experience: Every month, assuming at least some posting, you get 20 XP. If you are on a hiatus or have very slow or nonexistent posting for a portion of the month, your Monthly XP shall be reduced accordingly, but this usually has to be fairly egregious (One or fewer posts for a week in general).

• Side-RP Experience: Side-RPs are now rewarded at a flat rate of 1 XP per RP, regardless of other factors.

• Art Experience: I'll try and use the following rubric: Sketch of a single character (1 XP). Sketchdump (3-5 XP, based on size of the sketchdump). Colored character, charcoal portrait, or extremely detailed sketch (5 XP). Colored, elaborate art, like the Calendar drawings (8 XP). Large, colored, multi-character scenes such as the cast roundups (2 XP per character, rounded up to the nearest 5).

• Resources Experience: For notes or other practical/useful things drawn in large part from the preceding RPs, I reward at the rate of 1 XP per 1,000 words, or about 2 pages if they're in a different formatting. Work that is predominantly original but still falls in the 'GM/Player Resources', this rate may be increased to up to 1XP per 500.

• Bonus Experience: Completing a RP series will net 1 additional XP per 3 RPs in the series. Completing an adventure grants 8 XP. In both cases, I will sometimes substitute merit dots (Status or Allies, most frequently) at slightly higher value for all or part of the XP award.

Swarms: Swarms have full attribute and skill spreads just like normal character, though their Strength is always 1. Characters who transform into Swarms maintain their usual statistics, except for Strength. Barring supernatural circumstances, swarms do not have armor, though they have Defense. Beyond that, Swarms have some special rules:

• When attacked by something that isn't fire or a similar AoE weapon, the swarm takes only half the rolled successes in damage, rounded up.
• Supernatural swarms have a diameter equal to (Blood Potency+Protean or Wyrd x2) yards.
• If the swarm so desires, everyone inside the area is attacked with a dice pool equal to a vampire's Protean dots or a changeling's Wyrd dots. Defense does not apply, Armor does not apply unless it covers the victim's entire body. These attacks cause bashing damage, unless otherwise modified (by Claws of the Wild, usually).
• Alternatively, the swarm can coalesce on one victim. This is a Dexterity+Brawl+(Protean/Wyrd) attack. Defense applies, Armor does not unless it covers the victim's entire body. This attacks cause lethal damage, unless otherwise modified (by Claws of the Wild, usually).
• It does not cause the Irrationality Derangement anymore.

Herd, Harvest: This is an alteration/errata for how Herd (VtR Core) and Harvest (CtL Core) merits work. It represents the ability of the vampire or changeling to tap a reliable source of Vitae or Glamour, whether an exclusive club to which the vampire has sole feeding rights, or a particular grove of hedge fruit for a changeling. A character may have only one instance of Herd or Harvest (so changelings have just one merit instead of one for dreams, hedge fruit, and emotions each). It also obsoletes the Location merit for Lairs.

Herd and Harvest have two effects. First, at the beginning of each adventure, the character adds their rating in Herd or Harvest to the minimum starting Vitae/Glamour. So a changeling with Wyrd 3 normally has starting glamour of 3-12, and if he had Harvest (Pacts) 3, he'd have starting glamour of 6-12. Thereafter, during the adventure proper, provided the character has access to their Herd or Harvest (which is located in a specific area and is not usually mobile, though exceptions exist), they add their Herd or Harvest merit to their feeding/glamour-harvesting rolls.

Temporary Health: A significant number of characters (Elemental changeling, werewolves, vampires with Resilience, etc) have powers that increase their health, either directly (Elementals), or by way of increasing Size or Stamina (werewolves, vampires with Resilience), for the duration of the scene. RAW, at the end of the scene, the health levels vanish, and any damage in them is applied to the regular health track. So, if an Elemental with Health 8 and Wyrd 5 was using his Seeming blessing, he would have an effective health of 8+5=13; if he took ten lethal damage during a combat, at the end of the scene his temporary health points vanish, and he suddenly has 10L damage in an 8-health track, so the damage wraps around, he suddenly has 6L, 2A damage, and promptly falls unconscious.

Essentially, all temporary health does is delays when the damage wraps around/kills you -- you still get hit with either several points of aggravated damage or even with death at the end of the scene. If the character can heal themselves, then good, but not all characters can heal themselves easily: changelings need special contracts or goblin fruit, and werewolves and vampires need to have essence/Vitae reserves enough to do it. Furthermore, if the enemy has been dealing Aggravated damage, which is excruciatingly hard to heal, then you are probably out of luck. So at the moment, temporary health isn't really all that useful, and has an excellent chance of getting you killed -- just at the end of the scene instead of immediately.

So this is how we will do things instead. Temporary Health continues to function, broadly speaking, as before. It increases your health (either directly or by way of greater Stamina or Size) for the scene. At the end of the scene, the temporary health vanishes, and takes any damage applied to it with it. This still means that your health meter is full of damage, so if you have taken a lot of bashing or lethal damage, you fall unconscious -- no damage wraps around, however. If you had taken a great deal of aggravated damage, this would still kill you -- so if and only if the disappearance of temporary health would leave you with a health meter full of aggravated damage, one point of aggravated damage is down-graded to lethal damage. So you're very nearly dead, but not quite. In either case, you are left stable -- no bleeding out.

Thus, after using temporary health, you may still collapse if you don't heal -- but you won't take extra aggravated damage and you won't die.

Stacking Armor: In order to limit how much benefit a character can get from armor (relevant since the Mages in particular can theoretically get up to four different armor boosts), a character cannot benefit from more than two sources of armor at a time. If there are more sources of armor in play than that, the two highest are used for the character's Armor value. Supernatural enhancements to an existing source of armor (an application of Artifice 3: Blessing of Perfection to a kevlar vest, say) counts as its own source of armor but only if the thing they are modifying is also being counted as an armor source -- so someone with that Artifice-enhanced Kevlar Vest could not then benefit from a Mage's Mystic Shield.

Examples
A Mage can wear a kevlar vest, and then use Lore 2: Mystic Shield, and the two combine. But if he further enhanced himself with the bone-armor of Flesh 3: Flesh and Bone, he'd have to choose which two of the three sources of armor (kevlar vest, Mystic Shield, Flesh and Bone) gave him the armor boost.

A Changeling can wear full plate mail, and then use Stone 5: Red Rage of Terrible Revenge, and get armor boosts from both of those. But if his full plate mail had been previously enhanced with Artifice 3: Blessing of Perfection, the Changeling would have to choose between benefiting from the plate mail and the Stone 5 contract or the plate mail and the Artifice bonus. He would not be able to choose to benefit from only the Artifice armor bonus and the Stone armor bonus, since the Artifice modifies the Plate Mail.

Fighting Styles & Multi-Attack Merits: Not so much a house-rule as a warning, but expect any fighting styles you purchase to be scrutinized carefully for balance (call it Tsuyo-Backlash). In particular, any ability that grants you multiple attacks, and to a lesser extent, automatic successes, is liable to weakened. In general, I'll consider fighting styles, all five abilities, as comparable to a single 5th level Gift or Discipline power (they cost about the same as far as XP goes), and will balance from that idea.

Multi-Aspect Merits: For merits which have multiple parts, you purchase each part individually. So, if you wish to buy a Sanctum, which has the aspects of Size and Security, upgrading each aspect costs as though it were it's own merit (so if you have a Sanctum with Size 3 and Security 4, and you wish to raise the Security to 5, it would cost you new dots (5) times 2, for a total of 10 XP). This mostly only comes up with the 'Haven/Sanctum/Haunt' type merits, but other multi-aspect merits would also get this treatment.

Pooled Merits: Certain Merits (again, usually of the Haven/Sanctum/Haunt variation) can be spread amongst multiple characters. In this case, the cost of the next dot of the merit is based on the total dots invested in that merit, not on the number of dots you presently have. So if you are 'buying into' a Haven in which another character has already invested dots to make it Size 3, your next dot costs as though it was the 4th dot you buy, even though for you this is your first investment of Haven. Essentially, the XP cost for pooled merits stays the same no matter how many people contribute to them, but the advantage lies in the ability to distribute the costs.

Exceptional Successes on Extended Rolls: In the normal rules, in order to get an ES on an extended roll, you need to hit five higher than total number of successes required. This has some negative side-effects, I can explain the math if anyone actually cares, but instead we are going to go by the final roll in any given extended roll. If on the last roll, the one which gives you the number of successes you need, you also roll a 5, then that is considered an Exceptional Success. This should have the effect of making ES as easy or hard to get on an extended roll as on all other kinds of rolls.

Surprise: When dealing with Ambushes and similar situations where someone is consciously attempting to apply the Surprise rules, instead of being a straight Wits+Composure roll, it is a Wits+Composure vs. Dexterity+Stealth of the ambusher. In the case of multiple ambushers, only those who remain undetected are given a surprise round. Those who are detected need to wait till initiative is rolled in order to act.

Recharging Expendables: If you buy one-use items such as Changeling Trifles or Werewolf Talens, you get a fresh set at the beginning of each adventure. So if Ilkin bought a Token merit and uses it to have some Goblin Fruit with him, he starts every adventure with three Goblin Fruit, regardless of whether or not he ate them all (or ate none of them) during the previous adventure. This only applies for limited-use items bought with experience (Merit dots, usually), and such items can't be hoarded. Also, you set exactly what trifles or talens you get when you spend the XP, and you can't later change it (so if Erin decides buys the token Merit for two Amaranthines and a Stabapple, she can't decide to replace one of the Amaranthines with a Promise Leaf next adventure).

NON-WEREWOLF SHAPESHIFTERS -- Aspects: Aspects cost dots x6. To purchase a 4-dot aspect, therefore, costs 24 XP

Resources represents how much money the character has. In general, we don't get bogged down in specific numbers. Incomes vary, and it's rarely worthwhile specifying how much money a given character has. Instead, better to think of Resources as a characters 'economic class'. Are they homeless street dwellers, middle-class, or ludicrously wealthy? Note also that Resources represents the kind of lifestyle/economic class the character could have, as some NPCs or PCs may live more frugal lives than they in fact have.

Resources is primarily used to purchase equipment (most of which can be found in the NWoD Corebook, in Armory and Armory Reloaded, and in the Hunter Corebook). Under certain circumstances, it can also be used to add a bonus to social rolls (either straightforward bribery or a promise of a significant 'donation' to a relevant organization), but this can only be done once per adventure. Resources of 6+ are not available to PCs.

The Luxury Merit can provide a lifestyle compatible with either Resources 5 or 7, but does not provide any manner of discretionary income (so the character can eat out at nice restaurants, but can't buy a car, say). Also, someone other than the character is pulling the purse-strings, and may close them at their discretion.

Resources 0 -- Underclass
A character with Resources 0 is basically broke. They might be homeless and unemployed or they might be day laborers paid off the books. They have no discretionary income, live off ramen and canned goods, are either homeless or live in the most squalid of tenements, and have no car. Alternatively, such characters may be students with their basic needs provided for but with nothing more, or they may simply live utterly feral lifestyles outside of human society.

Resources 1 -- Working Poor
A character with Resources 1 scrapes by just barely. They have a meager source of income that comes from some kind of non-skilled job with an hourly wage, often only part-time, so they might be checkout clerks, janitorial staff, or medical orderlies. They have a tiny discretionary income, slightly better diets, usually live in very shabby apartments, and if they have a car, it's some ten-year-old clunker that may or may not work on any given day. They may also be students but with some outside source of income such as a job that provides them discretionary funds.

Resources 2 -- Working Class
A character with Resources 2 has is no longer living from hand to mouth, though life is still hard. They have a steady job, usually either a blue-collar job in manufacturing or construction or the like, or some kind of service job as a lowly office drone or secretary. They're able to afford some of the pleasures of life (going out to eat at restaurants, visiting the movies), will live in a small but decent apartment or if they're married or older in a small house in the suburbs, and can afford a car, albeit still probably a used one.

Resources 3 -- Middle Class
A character with Resources 3 has a middle-class lifestyle and all it entails. They probably perform some kind of skilled labor, probably white collar, though serious blue-collar professionals are also here. They live in either a good apartment or a small but well-kept house, can afford at least one car and may have two, and can splurge on some luxuries such as stamp-collecting or travel abroad.

Resources 4 -- Upper Middle Class
A character with Resources 4 has the lifestyle of a respectable, well-paid professional. Doctors, engineers, lawyers, corporate middle-managers are all likely to have this sort of lifestyle. They can probably afford a good apartment in a nice part of town, or a large house out in the suburbs, can have a new car, wear expensive clothing, and can afford to indulge themselves quite a bit. A twice-yearly cruise in the Caribbean, an expensive coin collection, and so forth.

Resources 5 -- Rich
A character with Resources 5 is by any reasonable standards rich. They might be aristocrats, successful business executives, or in the upper ranks of the legal or medical professions. Their personal wealth numbers in at seven figures, and multiple homes, multiple cars, domestic servants, bespoke suits and designer dresses, and truly expensive hobbies such as art collection are all common. There are very few things they cannot afford and very few doors that are barred to them. The Luxury 2 merit grants this sort of lifestyle, with strings attached, and this is the highest lifestyle available to PCs.

Resources 6+ -- The Super-Rich
Characters with Resources 6+ are truly, insanely wealthy. This is what people think about when they think of 'the rich'. CEOs of large corporations, software gurus, movie stars, or else have access to the finances of large organizations. They live in luxurious mansions with small armies of servants, may have a personal jet, a collection of Impressionists, or perhaps a fleet of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. Resources 6 implies total assets of about eight digits (that is, thirty or so million pounds), Resources 7 implies total assets of about nine digits (up to a third of a billion pounds), and Resources 8 means the character is a billionaire. Such incredible wealth, however, usually comes with severe limitations on how it can be used, as much of it is likely invested in various matters, is under the watch of bankers and government bureaucrats, and generally not very mobile. That said, casual expenditures are a matter of no thought for such a character, and with enough time and effort, truly incredible amounts of resources can be channeled towards a goal -- companies or land can be bought, entire teams of lawyers or scientists hired, trusts and charities set up, and so forth. The Luxury 4 merit grants this sort of lifestyle, at about Resources 7.

Allies now takes on some of the former duties of Status, and basically represents a character's influence in a broad group/category of people, such as (Police) or (Medical), and his ability to take advantage of that influence. A lot of things that were formerly covered under Status in NWoD Core have been shifted to Allies, as in most cases there simply aren't enough differences between, say, Allies (Police) 3 and Status (Police) 3 to justify the confusion of having two different merits for it.

When taken in most mortal institutions (such as Criminals, Government, etc), Allies represents any sort of influence, with or without membership. Mechanically, it makes no difference whether a character has Allies (Clergy) 4 because he's a ranking priest or simply because he donates a great deal of money to the church. The effect is the same.

When taken in supernatural institutions (such as the Invictus or the Mysterium), Allies represents influence without membership. Basically, the distinction between having friends in the Mysterium and being part of the Mysterium is usually relevant in a way that the difference between being friends on the police force and being part of the police force usually isn't.

Mechanically, all Allies provide a flat bonus equal to (Allies) to a specific roll, and may, with a Attribute+Skill+Allies roll, allow the character to take certain actions, with possible actions listed for low (1-3) and high (4-5) levels of the merit. Note that certain actions are simply beyond the reach of even Allies 5, at least if used in isolation. No amount of Allies (Police) will call off a murder investigation, nor will Allies (Mysterium) 5 prevent them from trying to get their hands on the Holy Grail or Excalibur.

List of Allies Merits (Mortal)

Allies (Criminal)
Roll: Manipulation+Streetwise+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to: Streetwise rolls made to discover people, places, or things.
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may: Purchase black-market goods without the need for a Streetwise roll, most notably weapons (see Armory for the necessary amount of Allies to purchase a given item), though they still need to pay the Resources cost. May arrange for meetings with minor criminal figures (bookies, drug dealers). May influence mild-to-moderate criminal activity (altering the timing of a burglary, say).
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may: Initiate or shut down mild-to-moderate criminal activity (order a burglary, ease off a protection racket) or influence major criminal activity (redirecting a shipment of guns or drugs). May borrow muscle (thugs or gang members). May arrange for meetings with senior criminal figures (mob bosses, hitmen).

Allies (Police)
Roll: Presence+Persuasion+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to: Academics rolls to learn about previous crimes, or about people with criminal records.
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may: Gain access to crime scenes or criminal records, find out information about ongoing criminal investigations. May influence mild-to-moderate investigations (delay a burglary investigation, direct attention to an illegal gambling den).
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may: Initiate or shut down mild-to-moderate investigations (make trespassing or B&E charges vanish), or spring people from jail for the same or influence major investigations (Stall a murder investigation). May alter criminal records.

Allies (Medical)
Roll: Manipulation+Medicine+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to: Any Medicine roll to diagnose or heal, provided the character can bring the target to a hospital or call in a nurse or doctor to come to him.
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may: Gain access to medical records. May visit patients regardless of visitor policies. Can borrow or use legal and publicly-accessible medical equipment or pharmaceuticals.
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may: May alter medical records. May borrow or use restricted pharmaceuticals or medical equipment (borrow an X-Ray machine or hospital-quality anesthetics).

Allies (Mental Health)
Roll: Manipulation+Medicine+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to: Any Medicine roll to diagnose a Derangement. A character regularly seeing psychiatrists and such-like receive a bonus of (Allies/2) to resist triggering a derangement.
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may: Gain access to psychiatric records. May visit patients at a mental institution. May get a prescription for drugs.
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may: Alter psychiatric records. May visit patients held at secure mental institutions. May 'borrow' restricted or otherwise dangerous drugs off the books.

Allies (Museums)
Roll: Intelligence+Academics+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to: Research rolls related to the museum's area of expertise (usually history, art, or science), provided the character visits such a museum.
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may: Visit the museum during off-hours. View exhibits that are normally not on display. Have an object of the appropriate sort examined and tested.
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may: Borrow minor-to-moderately significant exhibits. Have objects professionally restored or repaired.

Allies (News Media)
Roll: Manipulation+Socialize+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to: Researching information that may have been in the news, past or present.
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may: Learn about ongoing stories, gain access to newspaper records. May influence minor-to-moderate stories (alter someone's biography in an obituary).
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may: Initiate or shut down mild-to-moderate stories (hide a local politician's infidelity, publish a 'rational explanation' for a Masquerade breach) or influence major stories (suggest a suspect for a murder story). May temporarily borrow a printing press or radio broadcast equipment for private use.

Allies (Local Government)
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Allies (Clergy)
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Allies (Neighborhood Organizations)
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Allies (Theater)
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Allies ()
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Allies ()
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Allies ()
Roll: Attribute+Skill+Allies
Provides a benefit of (Allies) to:
At low levels (Allies 1-3), the character may:
At high levels (Allies 4+), the character may:

Status now works less as it does in the earlier books and more how it works in the latter ones such as Clanbook Mekhet or the Hunter Book. Thus, for our purposes, Status is the characters ranking inside some multi-character organization, usually a supernatural one. This may be a Vampire Covenant, a Changeling Court, a Werewolf Pack, some manner of cult, etc. Status usually involves having some kind of job or duties, and the character's involvement in some sort of larger organization with superiors, inferiors, or both.

Status usually conveys three benefits:
Firstly, when dealing with other members of the same group, the person with higher Status gains a social bonus equal to the difference in relative Status, assuming their ranks are at all relevant.
Secondly, most Status merits give a bonus at the 1st, 3rd, and 5th dots, which may be free merits or cost-breaks on things, or even access to unique supernatural powers. Others simply grant a single bonus at 1st dot, but this is a more significant one.
Thirdly, having Status usually has some associated rank or title or duty with it, which may have benefits of its own.

Status, especially in larger organizations and at higher levels (3+) may only be bought with GMly permission, as such characters are the movers and shakers of supernatural society.

List of Status Merits

Status (___________ Reputation) denotes not formal membership in some organization, but rather a widely spread reputation of some sort.
At Status 1, the character's Reputation can be used as a social bonus even with people who are not part of the same group, provided the character's fame has spread far enough (essentially think of it as a supernatural-only Fame merit)

Status (The Harbingers)
At Status 1, the character gains either a 1 dot New Identity merit or a Streetwise specialty in (Black Market)
At Status 3, the character may purchase Fae Tokens; if they already could, they may purchase the Token merit at the cost of (new dots x1) as opposed to (new dots x2).
At Status 5, the character gains the Dream merit at 3 dots.

Status (The Seelie/Unseelie Courts)
At Status 1, the character participates in a Commendation pledge with the relevant monarch, and receives the Freehold Blessing of Independence, gaining a +1 bonus to all rolls made to directly oppose the True Fae, whether by fighting them, lying to them, or simply hiding/running away from them.

Mantle (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Dusk, Dawn)
More specific ties to the faerie world are covered by the Mantle merit.

Status (Werewolf Packs)
At Status 1, the character
At Status 3, the character
At Status 5, the character

Status (The Kindred Court)
At Status 1, the character

Status (The Invictus)
At Status 1, the character may purchase the Mentor, Retainer, Resources, or Herd merits at the cost of (new dots x1) as opposed to (new dots x2).

Status (The Carthians)
At Status 1, the character may purchase the Allies, Contacts, Lair, or Herd merits at the cost of (new dots x1) as opposed to (new dots x2).

Status (The Circle of the Crone)
At Status 1, the character gains access to Crúac blood-magic.

Status (The Lancea et Sanctum)
At Status 1, the character gains access to Theban Sorcery rituals.

Status (The Mara)
At Status 1, the character gains the (Swimming) specialty in Athletics
At Status 3, the character may purchase river-based Allies or Retainers at the cost of (new dots x1) as opposed to (new dots x2).
At Status 5, the character gains either a 4-dot haven or +4 dots of Lair in the form of some bolt-hole or hidden haven along the Thames.

Status (Scratch's Machine)
At Status 1, the character
At Status 3, the character
At Status 5, the character

Status (The Guardians of the Veil)
At Status 1, the character
At Status 3, the character
At Status 5, the character

Status (The Mysterium)
At Status 1, the character
At Status 3, the character
At Status 5, the character

Friend merits denote that you are allowed to take this NPC along on adventures. In other words, when I ask you to choose 2 NPCs at the beginning of the adventure, and you want to take Seventeen, one of the players needs to have a Friend (Seventeen) for that to happen.

A Friend merit costs 1 dot per 100 XP that the NPC has, with major templates counting (vampire, mage, etc) for 100 XP and minor templates (ghoul) counting for 50. This can and does bring the cost of certain Friend merits above 5, and the merit's cost advances in the usual way (so a 6-dot merit costs 42 XP total).

A Patron merit works largely as a Mentor merit does. It represents a relationship with a NPC that is noticeably powerful and influential (someone like Lujza Dvorzsak, Sophie Penrose, the Jack-of-Crows, Othello, Civitas, Angela Citysmith, etc), who is willing to use that power and influence to benefit the PC. The merit is rated from 1-to-5, which represents how much the NPC cares about the PC (at 1, the PC only faintly registers on their radar, at 3 they know the PC quite well and care about their well-being, and at 5 their interest can be described as nearly familial). Patrons do not personally go out on adventures, nor do they always use their resources the way the PC would like, but they usually have the PC's best interests at heart and will usually help the PC if asked to.

The Contacts merit acts as a flat bonus (equal to Contacts dots) to Streetwise or Politics rolls required to know people, get in touch with people, or learn rumors. So if Bo meets a vampire and asks 'who's that?' or Erin is trying to arrange a meeting with a demonologist, they would add Contacts to the relevant rolls.

Professional Training would continue to act as 'Contacts', but only in the field in question -- so Sergei and Sasha would have Contacts, but only when dealing with criminal matters.

Retainers use a specific and unique system, derived from the Hedge Beast rules from Autumn Nightmares. As a general rule of thumb, a Retainer is loyal to the character, obeys them and is always at their disposal, though they often do have their own opinions on matters and can go against a character if they feel very strongly about something. This is rare, however.

Retainers have a set number of attribute dots, skill dots, merit dots, power stat (Wyrd/Blood-Potency/Etc), and dots in supernatural powers based on the number of dots in the Retainer Merit. They otherwise have abilities appropriate to their template (a vampire Retainer can blood-buff and heal themselves with Vitae, etc), but are not assumed to have any 'starting' dots in either attributes, skills, or supernatural powers (a one-dot Vampire retainer has only a single dot of Disciplines, not the usual three for a starting character). Retainers do not start with a single dot in every Attribute, though human or human-derived retainers are required to have such (a retainer that is, say, a dog or a robot may not have an attribute dot in every attribute).

At Retainer 1, the retainer has: Attributes 15 points total, Skills 18 points total, Merits up to 5 points, Power Stat 1, one dot of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 2, the retainer has: Attributes 18 points total, Skills 21 points total, Merits up to 7 points, Power Stat 1, two dots of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 3, the retainer has: Attributes 21 points total, Skills 24 points total, Merits up to 9 points, Power Stat 2, three dots of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 4, the retainer has: Attributes 24 points total, Skills 27 points total, Merits up to 11 points, Power Stat 2, four dots of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 5, the retainer has: Attributes 27 points total, Skills 30 points total, Merits up to 13 points, Power Stat 3, five dots of supernatural powers.

Retainers of 6+ continue to advance along this progression, gaining 3 attribute dots, 3 skill dots, 2 merit dots, and one dot of supernatural power per level of Retainer, and having a Power Stat of (Retainer/2, rounded down). A PC may have a Retainer 6+, but only with GMly permission and as a result of story-actions (a Retainer 5 ghoul being Embraced, say).

Incorporeal entities (ghosts or spirits) may also be Retainers, but use the following system instead. Supernatural powers may be either Numina or dots of Influence. Spirit Retainers are Rank 1 at Retainer 1-3 and Rank 2 at Retainer 4-6, with appropriate caps on maximum Influence.

At Retainer 1, the retainer has: 1/1/1 attributes, one dot of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 2, the retainer has: 2/2/1 attributes, two dots of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 3, the retainer has: 3/3/2 attributes, three dots of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 4, the retainer has: 4/4/3 attributes, four dots of supernatural powers.
At Retainer 5, the retainer has: 5/5/4 attributes, five dots of supernatural powers.

Retainers of 6+ continue to advance along this progression, gaining +1/+1/+1 to all attributes and one dot of supernatural powers per level of Retainer.

Basically, there are a very large number of 'home' merits across the various books. The purpose of this is to make all of them cross-compatible. We'll call the basic merit "Lair", since no one is using it. There's a series of components that anyone can buy, stuff relating to the basic place itself, and then there are specific sub-merits can only be purchased by certain groups. Mechanical bonuses apply only to those who have spent experience on the Lair.

This should cover the overwhelming majority of relevant merits. If there's something specific you want to add, let me know.

General Merits (May be purchased by anyone)

SIZE: This is your basic "how big is the Lair" merit. You also may not have more dots in Library, Workshop, or Ritual Area than your dots in Size.
No dots: Your Lair is the size of a large closet, or college dorm room.
•: One or two rooms or equivalent space, a small apartment.
••: Three or four rooms or equivalent space, a large apartment or small family home.
•••: Five to eight rooms or equivalent space, a large house, a warehouse or church.
••••: Nine to fifteen rooms, or equivalent space, an abandoned mansion, a network of subway tunnels
••••• Countless rooms, huge amounts of space, an isolated estate in the countryside, a tunnel network beneath an entire graveyard

TRAPS: Various little nastiness that you've sprinkled around your Lair. Each purchase of the Trap merit is a single trap, and you may sprinkle as many traps as you have XP.
• A trap that inflicts one point of lethal damage to a target (concealed knife, caltrops) or three points of bashing damage to a small area (electrified floor, mild poison gas).
•• A trap that inflicts two points of lethal damage to a target (spring-loaded knife, concealed pistol trap) or inflicts six bashing damage to a small area (falling sandbags, fire-hose trap), or a trap that incorporates fire and thus has a chance of igniting targets and the house (see p. 180 of the World of Darkness Rulebook).
••• A trap that inflicts three points of lethal damage to a target (falling ax, poisoned needle on a doorknob) or eight bashing damage to an area (collapsing staircase), or a trap that damages a portion of the Lair, reducing its Size by one (explosives; anyone caught in the blast takes two lethal damage).
•••• A trap that inflicts four lethal damage to a target (shotgun trap, pit with spikes) or 10 bashing damage/two lethal damage to an area (concussion grenade trap, deadfall trap), or a trap that reduces the Lair Size by one to three dots (anyone caught in the area suffers three points of lethal damage).
••••• A trap that inflicts five points of lethal damage to a target (spring-loaded sharpened stake, blowtorch trap) or 12 bashing damage/three lethal damage to an area (bouncing Betty, acid spray), or a trap that completely destroys the Lair, no matter how large (anyone caught inside suffers four points of lethal damage).

SECRECY: How hard it is to find the place, and how hard it is to link it to you. No dots means it's a house on the street, and you own it in your own name, while five dots might be something underground and away from prying eyes. This merit establishes a threshhold of 5 successes per dot to find the lair or learn about it (characters may learn about lairs without this merit at a threshhold of a single success). It further grants all owners a +1 to Stealth rolls per dot to hide themselves or objects within the lair.

SECURITY: How defensible the place is. No dots is a standard home, while five dots is basically a bunker. This merit establishes a threshhold of 5 successes per dot to break into the lair (characters may break into lairs without this merit at a threshhold of a single success). It further grants all owners a +1 to initiative per dot to the owners of the lair, while they are in the lair.

LIBRARY: You have a large library on some manner of subjects (London occult history, vampire biology, spirits, etc). Each dot links to a single specialty, and provided you can consult the library, you recieve a +2 to Academic, Occult, or Science rolls to research the subject, and cut the time for extended research actions in half.

WORKSHOP: You have a workshop with lots of tools. Each dot links to a single specialty (such as Woodworking, or Computer electronics), and provided you have access to the workshop while working, you recieve a +2 to any Crafts, Computer, or Science rolls to make, fix, or destroy objects.

Supernatural Lair Merits (May be purchased by any non-mortal)

OCCULTATION: You make your Lair extremely difficult to enter by magical means. Each dot inflicts a -1 penalty on any attempts to scry, teleport, or otherwise interfere with your lair.

RITUAL AREA: You've created an area that is particularly conducive to a specific kind of supernatural activity. Each Ritual Area links to either a single Discipline/Arcana/Key/Contract/Rites series, or to a specific theme (Ghosts, Scrying, etc). Each dot provides a +1 bonus to uses of that supernatural activity in the area, to a max of +3 for 3 dots. You may have more than one Ritual Area in your Lair, but total dots in Ritual Area may not exceed the Lair's Size.

Awakened Lair Merits (May be purchased by Mage characters only)

HALLOW: A supernatural area that provides arcane power. Full details in Mage: Corebook. NOTE: Hallows of 3-dots or higher may attract unwanted attention from other Mages, or from things such as Abyssal Entities.

Uratha Lair Merits (May be purchased by Werewolf characters only)

LOCUS: A supernatural area that provides spiritual power. Full details in Werewolf: Corebook. NOTE: Loci of 3-dots or higher may attract unwanted attention from other werewolves or from spirits.

Lost Lair Merits (May be purchased by Changeling characters only)

HOLLOW: An area in the Hedge. Functions identically to the merit in the Changeling: Corebook.

Sin-Eater Lair Merits (May be purchased by Geist characters only)

HAUNT: As detailed in the Geist: Corebook, you may purchase Fluidity and Residue. Utility is folded into the above.

Vinculums: Two restrictions:
1) Each 'drink' costs the vampire 1 Vitae.
2) Vitae is a potent addition to drink/food and any character gets a Wits+Composure check to detect it and stop consuming before getting a sufficient dose. (It's a bit like noticing that someone's spiked the punch bowl with LSD).
--The corollary to this is that the amount of 'vitae' that constitutes a drink for the purposes of a Vinculum is a significant amount, about a cup.

Vampires & Sunlight: Vampires do not take damage from sunlight exposure any more. Instead, so long as there is even a pinprick of direct sunlight on their skin, they take a penalty to all rolls equal to 10 minus their Humanity. So a Humanity 7 vampire like Caelan would take a -3 penalty to all rolls, while an old, evil vampire like Vincent Moon would take a -9 penalty to all rolls.

Exactly how this penalty manifests varies, but it generally feels like a kind of burning on the vampire's skin (think a very bad sunburn). The exact feeling can vary, however. Some vampires describe it as a kind of sluggishness instead, a forcible reminder that they're a moving corpse.

Rules for staying awake are also relaxed. In order to remain active during the day, the vampire may either net a single success on a Humanity roll, or spend a single Willpower (you can roll first, and then spend 1 WP if you fail). You can then stay awake all day. Staying awake like this doesn't preclude having to spend 1 Vitae in order to 'wake up' the following evening, however.

Larvae (servitor vampires, like the ones you met in the Tanner's Lair) and Draugr (vampires who drop to Humanity 0, like the Tanner himself) still take damage, and are the source of myths regarding burning in the sunlight.

Vampires and Bloodlines: This isn't really a house-rule so much as confirming something I'm doing anyway. Specifically, any vampire can learn any Bloodline Discipline, provided they pay out-of-clan XP costs and can secure a teacher. Only a vampire that is part of a Bloodline can teach the Bloodline Discipline, and they get in-clan XP costs for it.

In other words, any vampire can learn Insomnium, but only someone like Caelan or Abonde, one of the Alucinor, could teach it. Traditionally, there is a price associated with each level of the Bloodline Discipline, as unrestricted spread of Bloodline Disciplines is a good way of earning the wrath of the bloodline's elders.

This has two main ramifications. First, if a PC really wants to learn a bloodline discipline, it can be arranged, though it'll take some work. Secondly, it means that most of the really old Elders will know a smattering of low-level bloodline disciplines, since they've had a couple of hundred years to learn them and pay off any relevant favors.

Vampires & Reflections: The present nature of vampires & mirrors is flipped. Vampires do appear in mirrors, on camera, and so forth. They may spend 1 Willpower point to blur their reflection in all such media for the duration of a scene (looking off-kilter in mirrors, not showing up properly on cameras, etc).

This is trumped by certain Banes (see below) or by the Hollow Mekhet weakness.

Vampires & Social Penalties: The Humanity cap on interaction is replaced by a penalty based calculated as (10-Humanity)/2, rounded up. So a vampire with Humanity 7 (10-7=3/2=1.5, rounded up to 2) suffers a -2 penalty to all social interactions with mortals only.

Vampires & Torpor: Torpor is inherently unpredictable, and so I am going to ignore the Torpor duration tables. Old and inhuman vampires sleep longer than young ones, but strange things happen. Likewise, any blood may be sufficient to revive them. Rationale: As it is, if a non-vampire has a full health track of lethal damage, they can be back up at the end of the scene with some medical attention or a spell. If a vampire has a full health track of lethal damage, most of ours will be out for several years at the least. This lets vampires beaten into torpor get back on their feet faster.

Coils of the Dragon: Coils cost a flat 25 XP. One cannot learn a 4th Tier Coil until one knows at least 6 other Coils. New Coils are as follows:

The Coil of the Blood

First Tier: Blood Seeps Slowly
The Dragon’s undead body doesn’t demand as much Vitae to animate itself as do those of other, less enlightened Kindred. The player need spend only one Vitae for his character to wake for a number of nights equal to the vampire’s Resolve. So, a Kindred with a Resolve of 2 loses a Vitae every other night for rising.

When rolling for starting Vitae, the vampire’s minimum Vitae is equal to Blood Potency+Resolve, instead of just Blood Potency.

Second Tier: Blood of Beasts
No matter what the vampire’s Blood Potency is, she can take sustenance from animals and humans.

Third Tier: Perspicacious Blood
The character gains three Vitae for every two Vitae she takes from a human, and receives double the Vitae consumed from Kindred or other supernatural vessels.

When rolling for starting Vitae, multiply the result by 150% (up to usual maximums) to represent that the vampire is a more efficient predator and thus has more vitae to spare.

Fourth Tier: Immutable Blood
The Kindred becomes immune to the effects of vinculums. She is no longer subject to a vinculum when drinking another vampire’s vitae, though her own blood still causes vinculums to form.

The Coil of Banes

First Tier: Sun's Forgotten Kiss
The Kindred’s Humanity is considered 3 higher for the purposes of Humanity-based penalties in sunlight.

Second Tier: Mortal Burns
Fire causes lethal, not aggravated, damage to the Dragon. Note that, for a Dragon with Resilience, this means that fire damage can no longer be downgraded by that Discipline.

Third Tier: Shedding the Scales
The Dragon can spend a Willpower point to suppress one Bane (Minor or Severe) of their choice for the rest of the scene. There is no limit to the number of Banes that a Dragon may suppress, provided that willpower is spent for each one.

Fourth Tier: The Embrace of Helios
The vampire no longer suffers Humanity-based penalties in sunlight.

The Coil of the Beast

First Tier: Chastise the Beast
The player spends a Willpower point for his character to resist a frenzy of any kind automatically. The player may choose to roll Resolve + Composure as usual for his character to resist frenzy, spending the Willpower only if the roll fails.

Second Tier: Lure the Beast
The Kindred is able to ‘Ride the Wave’ more effectively. Riding the Wave does not cost a Willpower point, and it requires a base of only three successes, not five. While Riding the Wave, the Kindred is able to tell friend from foe, prioritize targets, and may end the controlled Frenzy at any time.

The Kindred must succeed at a Resolve+Composure roll to perform an action not directly related to combat. Actions that further combat, such as aggressive Disciplines (such as Vigor or Protean 3), buffing, rearming, or reestablishing surprise do not require a roll.

While Frenzied the Kindred cannot use any tools or maneuvers that require finesse. Simple savage weaponry, such as improvised weaponry, mauls, swords, and axes are basic enough that the Kindred can still recall their application. Certain fighting styles, those based around uncontrolled savagery, may be applied in combat with Storyteller approval.

Third Tier: Infuriate the Beast
The Kindred is able to derive greater power from his unleashed Beast. In a Frenzy (regardless of whether the character is Riding the Wave), the Mind Shield effect and the bonus to all physical dice are increased by ½ the Kindred’s Blood Potency (rounded up). Thus, a Kindred with Blood Potency 5 would inflict a -5 penalty to all mental effects targeting him (instead of -2) and gain +4 to all physical dice rolls (instead of +1).

Fourth Tier: Saddle the Beast
The character can “ride the wave” for a number of turns per night equal to her Resolve dots without rolling to activate the frenzy. These turns may be consecutive, or they can be scattered intermittently throughout the night in any way the character likes. Turns spent in frenzy this way do not contribute to the cumulative -1 penalties on subsequent attempts to ride the wave during that same night.

The Coil of Flesh

First Tier: A Taste of Life
The Dragon may eat mortal food without a Vitae cost, and does not vomit it up at the end of the scene but metabolizes it and dissolves it entirely into their body. The Dragon may thus be affected by drugs or medicines appropriately.

Second Tier: The Face of Man
The character may activate the Blush of Life without a Vitae cost. Similarly, the character’s hair and nails can be made to grow each day, if the Kindred so chooses.

Third Tier: The Bruise of Life
The character’s flesh is able to heal bashing damage exactly as a mortal does: one point of bashing damage heals every 15 minutes. This quasi-natural healing cannot take place, however, if the character is currently has any Health box marked with an aggravated wound.

Fourth Tier: The Denial of Morpheus
The Dragon no longer falls into Torpor when his health bar is full of lethal damage, provided he has Vitae. Instead, as a mortal, he falls unconscious and begins to automatically heal himself with whatever Vitae is in his system, until either all non-Aggravated damage is healed or the Kindred runs out of Vitae, at which point he awakens.

The Coil of the Soul

First Tier: Enliven the Face
Humanity no longer acts as a cap for dice pools involving interactions with mortals. The Kindred has retrained her body to mimic the nonverbal cues of being alive, and it responds almost naturally to the cues of others. She must still expend Vitae to activate the “blush of life,” however.

Second Tier: Salve the Mind
The player may spend a Willpower point to re-roll the Humanity roll to avoid a derangement after a failed degeneration roll (though the Storyteller may demand a suitable explanation for the expenditure and a description of what it represents for the character). The player may not spend a Willpower point in this way on the degeneration roll itself, however.

Third Tier: Quiet the Soul
The player may spend a Willpower point to ignore all derangements the character has gained since her Embrace. This temporary sanity lasts for one scene, and then her derangements come crashing back. If the character has derangements that were acquired before her Embrace, this tier does nothing to mitigate them.

Fourth Tier: Free the Beast
The character can give her mind over to the Beast long enough to commit one heinous act. To do so, the character surrenders to frenzy by riding the wave. In exchange for this taste of freedom, the Beast protects the character from the memory of the event. The Kindred has no recollection of her actions during a frenzy of this sort, and not even the power of a Discipline can unearth a memory of it. No matter how vile the character’s actions during such a frenzy, she cannot be required to make a degeneration roll for actions she is unaware of. If the character later learns (or is shown) what her Beast did with its freedom, the character loses her moral protection and must immediately check for degeneration as normal.

Vampires & Banes: Each and every vampire has 1 Mild Bane and 1 Severe Bane. As a vampire loses Humanity, they may gain Banes instead of Derangements, on a case-by-case basis. In other words, if they fail a degeneration roll, they may gain a Bane instead of a Derangement if the triggering effect for the degeneration was particularly supernatural (such as Diablerie).

Disciplines Errata:

Protean 1: Aspect of the Predator

The most basic ability of this Discipline allows a vampire to project a supernatural mien of savage predatory ferocity.

Cost: —
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll.
Action: N/A

The character gains a bonus to Intimidation equal to their Protean dots. The character may turn off this power if he wishes.

Dominate 4: Conditioning

In addition to its other effects, this power allows the vampire to purchase Conditioned Retainers at 1/2 the normal XP cost, as New Dots x1. If they receive a 1/2 cost-break on Retainers already (most likely due to being members of the Invictus), then the cost of Retainers becomes ((New Dots-1)x1), so 4-dot retainer would cost 6 XP.

This only applies to Retainers created by means of the Conditioning power.

Gutter Magic: Mages now use Gutter Magic, as described in Hunter: The Vigil: Witchfinders, albeit with some alterations to bring them in line with vampires, changelings, and so forth.

• Gnosis: Gnosis remains as the supernatural power-trait. It determines resistances, Mana-per-turn, maximum attribute/skills ranks, and Aura/Nimbus strength. It costs New Dots x8. It no longer determines Paradox pools, but does figure prominently in many spells.
• Paradox: Paradox is now done Witchfinders style (an increasing number of penalties for constant spell-casting). It applies at all level of gnosis.
• Unseen Sense: All mages get Unseen Sense at Gnosis 1.
• Starting Mysteries: All mages start with 4 dots of Mysteries, at least two of which must be in-Path for them.
• Purchasing Mysteries: Mages may purchase Mysteries at New Dots x4 (for Favored Path Mysteries or Universal Mysteries) or New Dots x6 (For non-favored Path Mysteries).
• Maximum Mysteries: There is no Max number of Mysteries a wizard can learn, so long as they have the XP.
• Mystery Dice Pools: The pool for a Mystery is now Attribute+Skill+Mystery instead of Attribute+Skill+Gnosis. Where applicable, contested rolls to resist a Mystery are versus [Attribute+Supernatural resistance] instead of just [Attribute] as is in Witchfinders at present.

Path Favored Mysteries:

• Universal: Lore
• New Mysteries: Electromagnetism, Soul, Flesh
  
  
• Acanthus/Witches Fortune, Mind, Time
  Bonus Dot: Composure
• Mastigos/Warlocks Passion, Shadow, Space
  Bonus Dot: Resolve
• Moros/Necromancers Disease, Twilight, Transmutation
  Bonus Dot: Composure
• Obrimos/Elementalists Foretelling, Health, Supernal
  Bonus Dot: Resolve
• Thyrsus/Shaman Hearth, Nature, Elements
  Bonus Dot: Composure

Paradigms: This is a bit of fluff we'll be borrowing from Mage: The Ascension. In brief, a Paradigm is one's conception of how magic works. All magic is a product of will, but the human psyche isn't well equipped to channel raw magic directly through their minds. A paradigm is an intellectually consistent framework of why magic works that serves as 'insulation' between the Mage and the Magic.

In practice, a paradigm has two parts. First, it's a philosophy or methodology, an understanding of why and how magic works. This can be anything, so long as it's internally consistent, though they usually follow after mortal magical traditions (though hyper-science is also common), because that's how most mages are trained. High Gnosis may be understood as the ability to frame more and more magic in the context of one's paradigm.

Secondly, and more concretely, it's a set of physical actions (formally called Rituals or Methods) and/or physical objects (formally called Foci) that the mage uses to practice his magic. These can be almost anything, but they are always visually recognizeable actions/objects (a raygun, an inscribed Seal of Solomon, a Kiai shout), though the mage may try to conceal the action or pass it off as something else with a Dexterity+Stealth or Manipulation+Subterfuge roll, at a penalty equal to twice the spell level.

If the mage tries to cast magic without their Rituals, Methods, or Foci (usually either because they're trying to be subtle, or because they lack their materials or are unable to use them), then they can still cast the spell, but it suffers a -5 penalty and the spell is considered Vulgar for the purposes of Paradox.

Some sample paradigms:

• Zen Martial Arts
• Entheogenic rituals (mind-altering drugs and vision quests)
• Music (singing spells)
• Yoga/Meditation/Rhythmic Breathing
• Ceremonial Magic: Enochian Invocation (calling angels)
• Ceremonial Magic: Demonology
• Runes and symbols (and the inscribing thereof)
• Mad Science: Electromagnetism
• Mad Science: Nanotechnology
• Mad Science: Genetic Engineering
• Onmyōdō
• Prayer & Religious Practices: Christian Theurgy
• Prayer & Religious Practices: Sufi Mysticism
• Prayer & Religious Practices: Kabbalism
• Prayer & Religious Practices: Mesoamerican Blood-Letting
• Prayer & Religious Practices: African Tribal Shamanism
• Prayer & Religious Practices: Theosophic Meditation
• Prayer & Religious Practices: New Age practices
• Blood sacrifice
• Herbs and hedge-witch potions
• Mirrors and pools of water
• Animism
• Alchemy

Legacies: A Legacy is a group of mages that share a certain philosophy, usually with thematically linked Paradigms, who forge their souls into specific shapes and ideals. They gain a particular affinity with two specific Mysteries, called the Legacy Mysteries; purchasing a Legacy Mystery that is also in-Path costs New Dots x2, otherwise it costs New Dots x4 (essentially a 4th in-Path Mystery). Legacies also have a specific Curse, which afflicts the Mage with some kind of weakness related to their magic -- most commonly a penalty to spellcasting rolls in some specific situation or circumstance.

Legacies are not restricted to any specific Path or Order -- any Mage may join any Legacy, provided they can find either a tutor or a grimoire explaining the process of forging one's soul. That said, some Legacies, especially small or new ones, are heavily affiliated with specific Orders. The Jeffries and Talbot family Legacies are examples of this, the families keeping tight control over their private knowledge. Others, such as the Uncrowned Kings, are known globally and have hundreds of adherents.

Legacy: Resurrection Men
Legacy Mystery: Twilight, Soul
Legacy Curse: Undead can always tell when an individual is a Resurrection Man -- a ghost or vampire can pick out a single Resurrection man out of a crowded auditorium. They also know in loose terms what the Resurrection Man is ("a necromancer"), and while they are not compelled to do anything with the knowledge, Resurrection Men are usually pestered by swarms of ghosts wherever they go.

Legacy: The Jeffries Family
Legacy Mystery: Elements, Health;
Legacy Curse: Paradox accumulates at -2 per spell, instead of -1.

Legacy: Bene Ashmedai
Legacy Mystery: Shadow, Passion
Legacy Curse: The Diabolist is unable to cast magic upon hallowed ground; they further take a -(Gnosis) penalty to cast magic against anyone bearing a holy symbol of any religion (this only applies to purposefully constructed holy symbols, however -- two pieces of wood that happen to form a cross do not count).

Legacy: The Talbot Family
Legacy Mystery: Time, Twilight
Legacy Curse: Non-Paradigm spells are cast at a penalty of -(5+Gnosis) instead of -5.

Legacy: Uncrowned Kings
Legacy Mystery: Flesh, Transmutation;
Legacy Curse: The Uncrowned King must have a calling -- something that involves both mind and body (alchemy is traditional, but martial training, auto-repair, book-binding, hand-crafting furniture, and so forth are all acceptable). The mage must work at his calling for at least twenty hours a week, or else suffer a -3 penalty on all Mystery rolls for one month.

Legacy: Bearers of the Eternal Voice
Legacy Mystery: Mind, Passion;
Legacy Curse: Whisperers suffer a -(Gnosis) penalty to Mystery rolls whenever they are completely alone.

Legacy: The Eleventh Question
Legacy Mystery: Foretelling, Time
Legacy Curse: Questions must have a mystery to solve -- it can be a police case or a scientific research project, or some other mystery, but it must be a serious mystery that challenges the Question's skills. The Question must spend at least twenty hours per week working on this mystery, and during that time, the Question takes a -(Gnosis) penalty to all Mystery rolls that does not somehow relate to their present case. Self-defense and survival always relates, however.

Imbued Items, Artifacts, and Magical Tools: Mages are infamous for using enchanted objects, whether wands, cauldrons, swords, or what-not. These can be divided into Imbued Items (themselves divided into contingent and persistent), Artifacts, and Magical Tools. Magical Tools are described under Improved Spellcasting, but the others are described here.

An Imbued Item (●●-to-●●●●●+) is an item that contains a spell. They cost a number of merit dots equal to the level of the spell, plus one for contingent items and plus two for persistent items. An Imbued Item may only ever contain a single spell.

Contingent items require a trigger for each use. A gesture, a word, anything. They then produce a magical effect -- the user rolls the Attribute+Skill required for the spell, though they do not add a Mystery (not having one). The user must also spend any willpower costs associated, and if they are a mage, they can spend the mana cost as well. Otherwise, they take 1 Resistant Lethal Damage, as the spell charges itself from their life-force. If relevant, the spell has a Gnosis equal to the level of the spell, this can be increased by 1 Gnosis per additional Merit dot.

Persistent items are always active. Only spells with a duration of a Scene or more can be turned into persistent items. These items are automatically active, and determine their Gnosis in the same way as Contingent items. If there are specific parameters for the spell, they are set when the item is constructed (thus a persistent Doppelganger item would only ever imitate one person). 90% of Persistent items are imbued with either Status, Mystic Shield, or Darkened Countenance (invisibility cloaks).

Any Mage with can create an Imbued Item provided he pays the XP, knows the Mystery, and has Crafts and Occult scores equal or greater than the level of the spell. Most Imbued Items use spells at a level of 1-to-3, though potentially at high dot costs due to heightened Gnosis. Imbued Items with 4th or 5th level spells tend to be rare and ornate, and most are have been exposed to the Transmutation 4: Silver spell at some point in their existence, and will have noticeably higher Durability.

An Artifact (●●●-to-●●●●●+) is an Imbued Item that contains more than one spell or that contains a spell of 6th level or higher. An Artifact has a dot rating equal to the highest spell+1, plus 1 for every additional spell. In all other ways (activation rolls, Gnosis -- all spells use the same Gnosis, etc) Artifacts function like Imbued Items, and can be either Contingent or Persistent.

Artifacts cannot be created by mortal hands. Most are of Supernal origin, though some come from the Abyss, or from archmasters of truly legendary power. They tend to be powerful (6+ dots, and 10+ dot artifacts are not unheard of), nearly indestructible, and are very rare. Most cities will have at most one or two Artifacts, and even London has fewer than a dozen spread out among the Orders. They are precious, and the Awakened have killed, betrayed, and in a few places even started wars over the possession of Artifacts.

Improving Spellcasting: Over the centuries, mages have developed a number of methods for improving their spells, gaining greater power and control over magic. A few of the most common follow.

If dealing with spells wherein higher dice pools confirm no bonus, such as Lore 2: Mystic Shield or Hearth 5: Hallowed, bonus to spellcasting rolls can instead grant a higher effective Gnosis for that spell alone, at a rate of +3 bonus = +1 Effective Gnosis, rounded up.

∆ Blood Magic: It is a well-known fact that the energies of blood and death can empower magic. The anguished cries of the soul, the willing sacrifice of blood, the energies released by death can all be harvested to put darkly-tinted power behind a spell.

When casting a spell, a mage can inflict damage upon either himself or upon a willing (or incapacitated) living target, gaining +1 to his spellcasting roll for each point of Resistant Lethal damage inflicted (to a maximum of +5). Killing the sacrifice grants another +5 bonus to the spellcasting roll, which stacks with that for inflicting damage. If the sacrifice is some manner of living supernatural creature -- another mage, a changeling, a werewolf -- then killing them grants a further bonus to the spellcasting roll equal to twice the victim's Power Trait (Gnosis, Wyrd, etc). Animal sacrifice grants a bonus equal to the animal's size to a spellcasting roll (to a maximum of +5), and only upon the animal's death. Additional sacrifices provide diminishing returns: Additional animal sacrifices grant a +1, human sacrifices a +2, and supernatural sacrifices a +4 per for the next three deaths, and +0, +1, and +2 thereafter.

A spell may only be empowered by a single type of sacrifice -- the death of higher-order beings simply overwhelms and washes away whatever charge is provided by the death of animals and/or mere mortals. The exception is that the mage can always sacrifice their own blood to further a spell, in addition to any other sacrifices.

• Bleeding oneself or a willing victim is not a breaking point.
• Animal sacrifice may or may not be a breaking point depending on how humanely the animal is slaughtered.
• Bleeding an unwilling victim is a Wisdom 3 breaking point.
• Human sacrifice to empower a spell is a Wisdom 2 breaking point.
• Mass human sacrifice to empower a spell is a Wisdom 1 breaking point.

For obvious reasons, practicing blood magic can be a very fast route to Wisdom degeneration, insanity, and execution by the Guardians of the Veil. Animal sacrifice, bleeding oneself, or only bleeding (and never killing) willing volunteers are all practices which are acceptable but will raise eyebrows if engaged in often. Torturing or killing people to empower one's magic, however, is the kind of thing that the Consilium takes very seriously.

∆ Assisted Spellcasting: Many hands make light work, and this can be just as true in the realm of spellcasting as it is in more mundane activities. By delegating aspects of the spell to subsidiary casters or even mortal assistants, the magus can raise and control far more power than would normally be possible.

First, the mage may recruit mortals, teaching them a few actions or a mumbled incantation, and simply getting a great many of them. While this can raise a great deal of power, it's inefficient and rapidly runs into diminishing returns unless done on a truly massive scale. The first three assisting mortals each grant a +1 bonus to the spellcasting roll. Afterwards, every time the total number of assistants is multiplied by 3, a further +3 bonus is added to the spellcasting roll. Thus, nine mortal assistants grants a +6 bonus, twenty-seven a +9 bonus, eighty-one a +12 bonus, etc.

Alternatively, the mage may use skilled occultists or supernatural creatures, including other mages. Such characters must have a combined Occult+Supernatural Power Trait equal to the level of the spell, and must have been trained in the proper procedures (a process taking about a day of intensive study per spell level). The first three assisting occultists grant a +2 bonus to spellcasting rolls per person; further assistants grant a +1.

Finally, the mage may rely upon the members of their Cabal. Mages who are part of the same themed and oath-bound Cabal add their Gnosis to the spellcasting roll when acting as assisting spellcasters -- Cabals of powerful wizards can achieve incredible effects. No more than three such mages may assist a single spell as afterwards the clashing paradigms and power-flows cancel out any positive effect, even if a Cabal has more members are available. Cabal members are assumed to have studied one another's paradigms and spells over the course of months and even years, and are able to assist any spell not explicitly kept secret without prior training.

∆ Magical Tools: A Magical Tool is a special object that enhances a single kind of spell. It might be a sacrificial dagger made of blood-specked obsidian that helps summon demons, a hickory wand that can be used to aim bolts of arcane energy, or a leather drum that when beat would summon rain.

A Magical Tool (●-to-●●●●●+) is a merit that represents an object that grants a bonus equal to the Merit's dots to a single kind of spell. For instance, the aforementioned obsidian dagger would be a 5-dot Magical Tool merit, and would grant a +5 bonus to spellcasting rolls for the Shadow 4: Summon/Banish Demon spell. The hickory wand, meanwhile, could be a 2-dot Magical Tool merit, and would grant a +2 bonus to spellcasting rolls for the Lore 4 version of Evil Eye, that deals Lethal Damage.

Creating a Magical Tool requires minimum Crafts and Occult scores of equal to the merit's dots, and the expenditure of the necessary XP. The creator does not have to be a mage, but they do need to have a solid understanding of magical theory (hence the Occult score requirement).

Magical Tools of 1-to-3 dots are common in occult circles, and most wizards will make a few Magical Tools of their own for their most commonly-used spells. Magical Tools of 4-to-5 dots, however, tend to be rarer, and are often passed down to from master to apprentice, sometimes for centuries. Magical Tools of 6+ dots exist, but are the kinds of things which are locked away in guarded vaults or entrusted into the care of Hierarchs and Councilors alone.

A Magical Tool can be any object imaginable, though most follow traditional norms. Wands and staves, old-fashioned weapons such as knives or swords, cups, pentacles, mirrors, coins and amulets, and so forth are all common, though there's theoretically nothing stopping one from enchanting a digital camera or an iPad. The more powerful the Magical Tool, the stranger and more occult it looks -- a 2-dot wand may simply be a length of polished wood, but a 5-dot wand will have metallic bands engraved with alien runes, and an emerald embedded into the tip. Most Magical Tools of 4-dots and higher have been exposed to the Transmutation 4: Silver spell at some point in their existence, and will have noticeably higher Durability.

A Mage may not have more merit dots worth of Magical Tools than their Gnosis+2 – they simply are unable to incorporate any more than that into their paradigm.

New Mysteries:

Electromagnetism
Intelligence
Mana: Spending an hour sending electromagnetic signals by means of a short-wave radio or such grants Mana once per day. Wiring a building or constructing a complex electronic device, and then sending it forth to be used grants Mana.

This is the Mystery of Electromagnetism, sometimes called the Mystery of Galvanism or the New Mystery of the Elements. This is a very modern Mystery, developed by technognostic mages in the last hundred years, but popular all the same. It is magic that deals with electromagnetism, such as radio waves, electrical signals, magnetism, and so forth.

Receive (●)

Cost: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Investigation+Electromagnetism

With this spell, the technognostic mage is able to perceive electromagnetic transmissions and translate them in his mind. He can watch television based on satellite signals, listen to the radio, or take a call, all in his own mind. Public or broadly-accessible transmissions (such as radio or television) are available for a single success, as are transmissions directed specifically to the mage (such a call to his cell-phone). Police transmissions, cell-phone calls that neither originate nor end near the mage, and military transmissions require an increasing number of successes. This ability does not grant the mage any particular ability to decipher encoded transmissions.

Listening to an hour-long transmission in the comfort of one's one mind grants Mana, once per day. With a willpower point, the mage may allow another person to receive and comprehend transmissions.

Transmit (●●)

Cost: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Lasting
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Science+Electromagnetism

The mage is now able to send transmissions as well as receive them. He may place a call, make a general radio transmission, or transmit a video. He may attempt to imitate another type of transmission (faking a Police APB, say), though this requires a Manipulation+Subterfuge roll. He may also boost transmissions received with the previous spell.

The strength and range of the mage's transmissions depend on his Gnosis.
Gnosis 1: The transmission has a range of 50 miles, or may pierce 100 feet of solid earth, or Security 1 shielding.
Gnosis 2: The transmission has a range of 100 miles, or may pierce 200 feet of solid earth, or Security 2 shielding.
Gnosis 3: The transmission has a range of 500 miles, or may pierce 400 feet of solid earth, or Security 3 shielding.
Gnosis 4: The transmission may reach anywhere on the same continent, or may pierce 800 feet of solid earth, or Security 4 shielding.
Gnosis 5: The transmission may bounce off satellites and reach anywhere on earth or in space, or may pierce 1600 feet of solid earth, or Security 5 shielding.

If more than one limitation applies, simply add up the Gnosis required. If one is 400 feet below ground, and also wishes to send a transmission 50 miles away, one must have Gnosis 4 or better.

Edit (●●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Sensory
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Computer+Electromagnetism vs. Security or Intelligence+Computer of the System Operator (if any)

With this spell, the technognostic mage may alter existing transmissions, or control electronic devices. He can command a security system to ignore his presence, order video cameras to not record his presence, command a computer to disgorge a file, or turn a cell-phone off with a look. A single success suffices for most such uses, though if dealing with a secure system or an active controller, the mage must either exceed the system's Security dots or beat the System Operator's Intelligence+Computer roll. Objects obey the mage for the rest of the scene, and combined with the Receive and Transmit spells, the mage can control them at a distance once the initial spell has been cast, or can download information directly from a computer into his mind, say. However, objects cannot act outside of their parameters. An electrical fan can turn on and off, but it can't hop around.

Magnetize (●●●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Sensory
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Science+Electromagnetism

With this spell, the technognostic mage is able to magnetize any metallic object with range, granting it up to (Successes) strength. Magnets are covered on Page 63 of Mage: The Awakening: Tome of Mysteries. The mage may create magnets that attract or repel, and which exert pressure in all directions or only in one (as an electromagnet). The mage may also create a magnet with lesser Strength than what he rolled, if he so chooses.

Electromagnetic Pulse (●●●●●)

Cost: Mana + 1 Willpower
Action: Instant
Duration: Lasting
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Science+Electromagnetism

With this spell, the technognostic mage is able to send out an electromagnetic pulse from himself with a radius of (Successes x3) yards. All electronic devices within this area are irrevocably destroyed, dropping down to Structure 0 instantly, though certain military devices are shielded against EMPs. Electronic life-forms (such as Sparky or Lisa/01) instead take the mage's Gnosis+Successes as bashing damage.

Soul
Composure
Mana: Spending an hour in introspective meditation grants Mana once per day. Acts of great morality (selfless labor for others, such as working in a soup kitchen or as a church volunteer in an urban ghetto) and immorality (murder, torture) generate Mana.

This is the Mystery of the Soul, one of the oldest and most controversial of all Mysteries. Practices involving the removal and manipulation of the soul stretch back into the mists of history, and unscrupulous mages have long taken, ransomed, and even consumed souls. Thus, the Mystery has a decidedly dubious reputation in the modern day, as the province of Reapers like the Tremere. At the same time, it is the Mystery of the Soul that allows the damage caused by such evil mages to be repaired. Thus the practitioners of the Mystery of the Soul are a highly polarized group, consisting of Nefandi, reapers, and other criminal mages on the one hand, and the most respected defenders of order on the other.

Soul Marks (●)

Cost: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Composure+Investigation+Soul

This spell allows the practitioner to examine a soul. Used upon a person, it merely confirms the presence or absence of a soul. If used upon a soul detached from a body, either free-floating in the Twilight or stored in some manner of container, the spell proves more informative.

• It can determine the ‘health’ of the soul, informing the practitioner whether the soul is saintly (Morality or the equivalent 8+), normal (Morality 4-7), tarnished (Morality 1-3), or monstrous (Morality 0).
• The spell can determine whether the soul has suffered recent violence – that is, whether the soul’s owner failed a degeneration check within the last week.
• Finally the spell can determine the nature of the owner with a successful Int+Occult – mortals have normal souls, mages have overly-bright souls, werewolves have soul-spirit fusions, and vampires, changelings, and fetches all have things that look and act like souls, though whether they in fact are is a matter of debate.

The difficulty, of course, is very few agree to have their souls removed for such an investigation. Examining an ‘interesting’ soul unmoored from its body grants Mana once per day.

Soul Jar (●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Lasting
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Composure+Crafts+Soul

The spell creates a soul jar, an object that is capable of indefinitely holding one or more souls. Soul jars can take just about any form, though sealed containers of some kind are traditional; one also encounters gemstones or dolls being used as soul jars. The soul jars contain the stored souls in such a way that they can’t escape, though soul jars with large numbers of souls tend to ‘leak’ magical energy, creating odd, ghost-like effects.

This spell may also be used to put a free-floating soul into a soul jar, or to remove a soul from such a jar. The soul does not get a roll to resist. Breaking or opening a soul jar frees all souls contained within. Freed souls automatically return to their owners, although this may take a little time depending on the distance the soul must traverse.

Soul jars are subtle, occulted things, even when they ‘leak’. Any attempt to magically locate a soul jar must gain successes exceeding that of the caster’s Gnosis.

A mage can only create soul jars enough to hold Gnosis+Soul souls at any given time – whether this is many small soul jars or a single large one is up to the mage.

Sever the Soul (●●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Extended (one hour per roll; target number is the victim’s Willpower)
Duration: Scene
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Composure+Occult+Soul vs. Resolve+Composure+Supernatural Resistance (yes, a three-part resistance)

The spellcaster is limited to a number of rolls equal to his own Resolve+Composure (not his total dice pool). For obvious reasons, this spell is best used on a sleeping or otherwise incapacitated target.

This spell is the heart of the reaper’s magic. With it, the practitioner is able to remove the soul of an unwilling victim, tearing it out and casting it into the Twilight. The loss of a soul tends to lead to dark results, most commonly madness, the loss of supernatural powers, and death.

A soul so removed takes the form of a wisp or flicker of energy in the Twilight. Unless first placed in a soul jar, souls automatically return to their owner at the end of the scene, rejoining in a flash of light visible only in the Twilight.

Soul Bind (●●●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Lasting
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Composure+Occult+Soul

This spell allows a magus to attach a soul to some place it does not belong. This can be a different, presently soulless individual, or some kind of soulless entity such as a corpse or a golem (in such a case, the creature must incorporate a soul jar into its construction).

Attaching a soul to a different person grafts it in place, essentially allowing that person to have a soul once more. For all intents and purposes, the individual is a now a normal person with a normal soul, and with the Morality/Wisdom/etc level of the soul’s previous owner. The soul-recipient may experience flashes of the soul-donor’s memories or emotions, and in cases of serious morality mismatch, insanity may result – putting a saintly nun’s soul into a Scelestus rarely ends well.

Placing a soul into an inanimate being – dead body, computer, construct, what-have-you – causes the being to come alive. They gain Mental attribute dots equaling the caster’s Gnosis, and Social attribute dots equaling half the caster’s Gnosis, rounded up – in both cases, distributed as the caster sees fit (5th dot and higher costs double, and attributes may exceed human limits). The being gains a Morality score equal to that of the soul. Physical attributes depend on the body; skills must be taught. This spell does not give any particular control over the new being, though most mages plan ahead and have means of controlling their creations.

Soul jars used in the creation of automatons continue to count against the mage’s soul jar limit.

Soul Consumption (●●●●●)

Cost: Mana + 1 Willpower
Action: Reflexive
Duration: Lasting
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Composure+Athletics+Soul

With this dark spell, the reaper consumes a soul, devouring it for the power contained within. It may be used either on free-floating souls, or on soul-jars. For each dot of morality that the soul possessed, the Reaper can gain one of the following:

• One point of Mana
• One point of willpower
• A +2 bonus to the reaper’s next spellcasting roll (max of +10)
• Heal one point of lethal damage or three points of bashing damage; two morality dots consumed may heal one point of aggravated damage.
• Stop the mage’s aging for one month.

The reaper can expend the consumed soul’s morality dots in any fashion he likes – the soul of a Morality 7 teenager can be consumed to gain three willpower points, a +4 bonus to the reaper’s next spellcasting roll, and to stop their aging for the next two months.

Supernatural souls are more potent, and may be treated as having effectively triple their Wisdom/Harmony/Humanity dots in Morality, for the purposes of soul consumption.

Consuming a soul is a Wisdom 1 breaking point, and if known marks the mage as a reaper, to be hunted down and executed by the Consilium.

A reaper may only consume one soul per turn, though the consumption is reflexive.

Flesh
Resolve
Mana: Spending an hour taking care of one’s body (such as by giving oneself a haircut) grants Mana once per day. Enacting a permanent change to one’s body such as a tattoo or piercing generates Mana, as does self-harm.

Where the Mystery of Health is concerned with healing the body, the Mystery of Flesh is concerned with changing it. This is the Mystery of ascetics and transhumanists, of trendy punk kids and venerable monsters only tangentially human. To them, the body is a tool, and sometimes a weapon.

Many practitioners of the Mystery of the Flesh tend to have a distinctly unromantic view of their bodies, and often an unhealthy one – anorexia, self-harm, and forced sleep-deprivation are all common among initiates. Others treat the body as a temple, caring for it with all the fervency of a priest caring for his church – followers of this approach are actually often followers of a religious paradigm, derived from Zen martial arts or crusading holy knights.

Skin Deep (●)

Cost: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Lasting
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Resolve+Crafts+Flesh

This spell allows the initiate of the flesh to make superficial alterations to their flesh. None of these alterations go more than skin-deep, but the mage can change their skin tone, their hair color, their eye color, the length of their hair or fingernails, they can add or remove shallow scars, and make minute alterations to facial structure (altering the tilt of their eyebrows, slightly widening or narrowing their nose – nothing that requires changing bone structure).

The mage is not limited to mundane alterations – if they want to give themselves naturally green hair or grow tiny ridges across their face, they can do so. The changes to the mage’s body are essentially permanent, or at least till the mage alters their features once again.

This spell is primarily cosmetic, but it can provide +1 to +2 bonus dice on certain rolls, if used in a targeted way – if the mage is trying to seduce someone who has a particular fondness for redheads, it can add to Persuasion (Seduction) rolls if the mage alters their hair-color; ducking into alleys and quickly changing hair and skin color can provide a bonus to Stealth (Shadowing) rolls, etc.

Body Regulation (●●)

Cost: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Resolve+Athletics+Flesh

This spell allows the mage to regulate their metabolism and reflexes, speeding it up or slowing it down, as they desire. While this spell is active, the mage is able to speed or slow their metabolism by a factor equal to their gnosis.

Speeding their increases the speed of healing, dividing the time needed to recover from wounds by their Gnosis (so a Gnosis 4 mage would heal lethal wounds in 12 hours instead of 48). This stacks with the Quick Healer merit. Slowing down their metabolism so that they require less air, water, and food – multiplying the amount of time they can go without by their Gnosis. It also multiplies the duration of any poison by their Gnosis+1 (so a if the poison normally deals damage every 10 minutes, a Gnosis 4 mage would have it deal damage every 50 minutes -- granting that much more time to find an antidote).

Creative players will be able to think of other possibilities (allowing for extremely rapid weight gain or weight loss, etc).

Flesh and Bone (●●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene, or 24 hours
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Resolve+Crafts+Flesh

Where previous spells of the Flesh were subtle, Flesh and Bone allows the mage to make gross, violent changes to the human form. With their fingers, they can swim through flesh, grab and twist bone, and shove internal organs about. It is a visceral, bloody magic, and one that can be used in multiple ways.

• As an attack, the caster now deals Lethal damage with their unarmed attacks – a slap can tear flesh away, a punch can collapse bones.
• The mage can do extremely rudimentary healing – seal up a wound, align a bone, etc. This is a crude measure (the mage simply lacks the fine control to do more), but they can convert a single Aggravated wound into a Lethal one, though only once on a given person per set of wounds.
• The mage can shove about flesh and bone to give himself or another a bone carapace (with an armor value of Gnosis and a defense penalty of one-half Gnosis, rounded up – stacks with Mystic Shield or mundane armor), or bone weapons such as jutting spikes or quills (dealing lethal damage equal to one-half Gnosis, rounded up, and used with the Brawl skill).
  
  Used on someone else, this requires an extended Dexterity+Crafts roll and 3 Mana per alteration, with a target number of five times the recipient’s Stamina, each roll requiring one hour. Such alterations ‘decay’ at the rate of 1 point of Gnosis per two days (so bone-armor would lose one point of armor value every two days), vanishing completely at Gnosis 0.
  
  Used on oneself, it requires only an instant action and 1 Mana per alteration, and the effect lasts for a scene (essentially, the mage memorizes the specific changes applied to their body, and is able to call them up with what amounts to muscle-memory).

The primary downside of bone-armor or bone-weapons is that they are extremely obvious and inhuman, and so are rarely used – though some mages do find subtle uses for it, such as a hidden elbow blade. Creative players will undoubtedly think of more uses.

If the mage wishes to extend the duration of the spell to 24 hours, they must spend an additional point of Mana during the casting.

This spell may be purchased again at 4 dots, in which case the unarmed attacks deal lethal damage, quick-healing can convert 2 Aggravated damage into Lethal, and alterations decay at the rate of 1 point of Gnosis per week.

Doppelganger (●●●●)

Cost: Mana
Action: Extended (one roll per hour; 15 successes) the first time, Instant thereafter (see below)
Duration: 24 Hours
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Resolve+Subterfuge+Flesh

At this point, the adept of the flesh has sufficient control to enact very fine changes over their body. They can imitate others with near-perfection, or create entirely new people out of their imagination. The only limitation of this spell is that it cannot violate the conservation of mass – a skinny, five-foot-four girl is not going to be able to imitate a six-foot-four bodybuilder.

If creating a completely new identity, the caster simply gains 3 automatic successes to subterfuge rolls pretend to be a new individual (such rolls usually only come up if someone suspects shapeshifting is already occurring).

If imitating an existing individual, the caster gains 1-to-3 automatic successes to subterfuge rolls, depending on how much information they have about the target’s looks. Meeting the person or having a single photograph grants 1 automatic success; multiple photographs or long-term acquaintance grants 2 automatic successes; dozens of photographs and video feeds from all angles and in all states of undress, or having the target at hand grants 3 automatic successes. Simulating the target’s dental patterns, fingerprints, or retinas can be done, but requires detailed medical information (dental patterns, say) and a successful Intelligence+Medicine roll.

The first time this spell is cast to imitate a given individual, it takes one hour per roll. Afterwards, the mage simply ‘remembers’ the pattern and appearance of the individual and can slip into it with an instant action.

Perfection of the Form (●●●●●)

Cost: 1 Mana + 1 Willpower
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene, or 24 hours
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Resolve+Athletics+Flesh

This spell allows the master of the flesh to improve their body, toning muscle, improving nerve connections, strengthening bone, and so forth. They become more than human, stronger, faster, and more durable than mere mortals.

The caster gains a number of bonus attribute dots equal to their Gnosis, which are distributed across the caster’s Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina scores. No more than 5 bonus dots can be added to any given attribute. These attributes can be increased past the human limit of 5.

If the mage wishes to extend the duration of the spell to 24 hours, they must spend an additional point of Mana during the casting.

Alternate Spells

Aura Read (Mind ●●); Replaces Psychosis

Cost: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Turn
Range: Sensory
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Empathy+Mind, minus Composure

This straightforward spell allows the mage to see the target's aura. At its base, the spell provides the mage with the shade (pale, vibrant, etc) and a single color (orange, green) of the target aura. For every two points of Gnosis past Gnosis 1, the mage gets an additional color.

If confronted with some manner of arcane occultation, such as a changeling's Mask or a vampire's Obfuscate, the mage's successes on Aura-Read must exceed that of the protective spell.

Oneiric Vault (Mind ●●●●●); Replaces Erase

Cost: 1 Mana + 1 WP
Action: Extended (one hour per roll; requires twice the Mage's Willpower in successes)
Duration: Lasting
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Intelligence+Subterfuge+Mind

This obscure spell allows the mage to lock away some portion of their mind inside an 'Oneiric Vault,' a subconscious construct that is one part magic and two parts brainwashing. To begin, the mage must decide what it is that they desire to lock away. This might be a fact, a memory, an emotion, a personality trait, Mental or Social Attributes or Skills, or any combination of the above -- there is no real limit to how much of their minds the mage can put away, from a single fact to everything (rendering the mage an amnesiac... which can be desirable if the mage has ruined their own lives badly enough).

The mage must set a triggering condition for the Oneiric Vault to be unraveled. The condition may be obscure, but it must be possible. The chosen portion of the mage's psyche is then put inside the Oneiric Vault. During the mage's waking life, that portion of their mind is gone. The mage cannot use it, it cannot be affected, and the mage may not even be aware of it. All but the most powerful magics will fail to notice it -- Telepathy (whether from Auspex 4 or Mind 3) or changeling Court contracts will only notice the locked away psyche upon an ES. Depending on the amount or kind of information locked away, even an ES can return seemingly confusing results (an ES on a Fleeting Spring 1: Cupid's Eye may show a strong desire to kill, but not explain how it fits with the apparently sweet-natured mage being examined). The hidden portion of the mage's mind is freely accessible while the mage is dreaming -- this can cause the mage to have dreams that seem radically out of sync with their day-to-day personalities and memories.

The usual duration for this spell is one week per dot of Gnosis rating of the mage, and may be ended at any point by activating the triggering condition. The mage may double the duration of the spell by spending one point of Willpower per additional week during the casting. Any time during the duration of the spell, the mage may renew the enchantment with a new casting. Cast under these conditions, the mage does not need to roll, merely to expend the mana and willpower. However, fracturing the mind for extended periods is extremely stressful. If the vault lasts a number of days greater than twice the mage's gnosis, the mage must roll Resolve+Composure when the vault ends, with a penalty equal to the number of weeks the vault has lasted. Failure results in the mage gaining the Multiple-Personality Derangement, with the vaulted portions of psyche being formed into a new personality.

Using the more extreme applications of the spell (cutting out personality traits or emotions) is a Wisdom 5 breaking point.

Crossing the Threshold (Twilight ●●●●●); Replaces Aspect of the Banshee

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Touch
Dice Pool: Composure+Occult+Twilight

This spell allows the necromancer to open a door or gate into the lands of the dead. The precise effect differs depending on where the spell is cast.

• If cast at an Avernian Gate, the Avernian Gate opens.
• Otherwise, the spell opens a door that allow passage into the Twilight.

The spell functions regardless of what specific dimension the necromancer is in -- it works equally well in the mortal world, in the Twilight, or in the Underworld (provided the necromancer is near an Avernian Gate at the time). The spell allows a number of Size 5 people equal to the necromancer's successes to pass through, or a smaller number of larger objects. The necromancer is also able to bar unwanted visitors -- such ghosts or corporeal creatures must roll Power or Presence+Resolve, and exceed the necromancer's Gnosis to pass through.

The gate lasts for one scene, but can be closed earlier by the necromancer with an instant action.

Command the Foundations (Elements ●●●); Replaces Immersion

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Sensory
Dice Pool: Dexterity+Crafts+Elements

This spell grants the elementalist control over an existing manifestation of their element. The elementalist is able to move the element about, fashion it into simple forms, bid the element to stay or to advance, and in general form it to his will. The amount of the element that the mage is able to control depends on their Gnosis.

Gnosis 1: 20 lbs of earth or water; a five-square-yard fire; a 5 mile-per-hour wind or a five-square-yard cloud
Gnosis 2: 50 lbs of earth or water; a ten-square-yard fire; a 10 mile-per-hour wind or a ten-square-yard cloud
Gnosis 3: 200 lbs of earth or water; a fifteen-square-yard fire; a 20 mile-per-hour wind or a fifteen-square-yard cloud
Gnosis 4: 500 lbs of earth or water; a twenty-square-yard fire; a 40 mile-per-hour wind or a twenty-square-yard cloud
Gnosis 5: 2000 lbs of earth or water; a thirty-square-yard fire; a 60 mile-per-hour wind or a thirty-square-yard cloud

Each addition point of Gnosis doubles the weight of earth or water, doubles the area of fire or cloud, and adds 20 MPH to wind-speed. The elements are able to move at a speed determined by the caster's successes. Earth moves at a Speed of (successes), Water at double that, and Fire or Air at quintuple that (wind has its own speed).

Creative players will undoubtedly come up with clever ways to use elements; the above numbers and the mage's gnosis should serve as a guideline for such uses (currents in water would have a speed equal to half that of a wind; wind would inflict penalties equal to Gnosis to ranged attacks, etc).

Schrodinger's Step (Space ●●); Replaces Dimensional Push

Cost: Mana
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Range: Self
Dice Pool: Wits+Athletics+Space

This spell makes the mage's location spatially uncertain, frustrating attacks. The mage may be here, or there, or a half foot to the side, dodging bullets and evading blows by not actually being present at any given location until the action is resolved. Of course, there are limits to how much uncertainty a human body can take, and how much space and time can be twisted into a pretzel.

Mechanically, this functions as a bonus to Defense equal to the Mage's Gnosis, which applies equally to both firearms and melee attacks, but otherwise is normal defense (going down if confronted with multiple attackers). Visually, the mage appears to dodge attacks by miniscule distances, evading bullets by millimeters and letting swords swing an inch from his nose.

If the mage wishes to extend the duration of the spell to 24 hours, they must spend an additional point of Mana during the casting.

Mystery Errata:

Lore

Mystic Shield (●●): Extending the duration to 24 hours costs a second point of Mana, not 1 WP.

Resolute Spirit (●●●●): May only be used 1/Scene

Disease

Foretelling

Glimpse (●): May be cast as a Reflexive action for 1 Mana; it boosts Initiative by Gnosis instead of +5.

Fortune

Oath-Crafting (●●●●): A character may have only one Oath upon them at a time. Oaths are equivalent to Changeling pledges, and may be affected by powers that can alter such pledges (such as Spellbound Autumn 5 or Abjurism 5)

Hearth

House Rules (●●●●) and Hallowed (●●●●●): Attempts to breach or bypass the wards (with spells or mundane rolls) must exceed the caster's Gnosis in order to succeed.

Passion

Health

Miracle (●●●●●): This spell may raise the dead, but only if they have been dead for no longer than (Gnosis) days.

Mind

Static (●): Instead of total immunity to mind-reading and a -3 versus emotional/thought manipulation, this power instead inflicts a (Gnosis) penalty on any attempts at mind-reading/control/manipulation.

Nature

Shadow

Twilight

Necromantic Slave (●●●): This is replaced by the Death 4: Revenant spell, and works equivalently. A single success raises the corpse and instills it with a Passion, and further successes can improve the Revenant. The witch cannot have more than (Gnosis) revenants active at any one time.

Command Appearance (●●●●): This roll is penalized by a ghost's Resistance; however it may also be used to command a ghost in the immediate area of the caster, even if witch does not have that ghost's Anchor. (In other words, if suddenly attacked by a ghost, the witch may command it).

Elements

Casting the Towers (●●●●): Ignore the separate roll to hit; rather, this spell is penalized by the target's Defense, and incorporates the attack roll into the casting roll.

Space

Omniscience (●●●) and Spatial Window (●●●●): These have the same range limits as Translocation (●●●●●)

Supernal

Siphon (●●●): This spell inflict Resistant Lethal damage.

Time

Transformation

Gift Errata: This Werewolf thread will become the Law of the Land, at least with regards to Core-Book Gifts. And this Werewolf Thread will do the same with regards to gifts from the Rage (we'll use Blending 2.0).

I heartily encourage the werewolves to stick to Errata-ed Core and Rage gifts and Signs of the Moon for their Gifts.

There are a few things which I would alter, however.

Mother Luna Gifts: Keep the present Anybeast (ML2) and Skinstealing (ML4) power, rather than use the proposed switch and edit. This keeps disguise powers uncommon for a werewolf, and maintains the separate identity of other supernatural shapeshifters like the Children of Anansi.

Signature Renown: Each series of Gifts is now associated with a single Renown, as in the above. When dealing with Gifts outside of the Errataed Core Book, we will assign them a Signature Renown. The current Signature Renowns are:

• Cunning: New Moon, Evasion, Stealth, Technology, Cunning, Blending, Darkness
• Glory: Gibbous Moon, Inspiration, Strength, Rage, Glory, Scheherazade's Gifts, Battle, Pack
• Honor: Half Moon, Warding, Shaping, Weather, Honor, Predator, Weakness
• Purity: Full Moon, Dominance, Elemental, Nature, Purity, Stalking, Endurance
• Wisdom: Crescent Moon, Knowledge, Insight, Death, Wisdom, Ending, Information
• Primal Urge: Father Wolf, Mother Luna, Alpha

When raising Renown, you can either gain a free Affinity Gift, or a gift with that Signature Renown (so a Bone Shadow raising Wisdom can learn an Information Gifts).

I've also put the Signs of the Moon gifts into the proper Renowns, but this was a fairly obvious tweak.

Form Errata: This Werewolf thread will similarly go into effect. Mostly these are fairly minor tweaks, but note that they do not stack with Partial Change (in other words, a werewolf in human form cannot improve his senses with Partial Change anymore, since he essentially has half-wolven senses already). Gauru is noticeably improved to make it the 'giant monster' form.

One small tweak; Gauru armor is not bulletproof (with the armor, health bonuses, and regeneration, war-form werewolves are incredibly tough as is. So I don't see any reason they should be even further resistant to bullets, as compared to blades).

Death Rage: Death Rage is going to be converted to a system more like Vampires' Frenzy. At present, it's a single Resolve+Composure roll with provocations determined by Harmony. The catch is that it is fairly easy to succeed at a Res+Comp roll at the XPs we deal with, so Death Rage is largely a non-factor, while provocations rarely come up. Given how prominent 'out-of-control werewolf' is in the mythology, I'm tweaking that.

Like Frenzy, Death Rage is now an extended action, wherein the player rolls Resolve+Composure once per turn, until they either get the requisite number of successes (1-to-10) and are under control, or until they get 0 successes on a roll and enter Death Rage. All provocations apply to all werewolves, regardless of Harmony, but in practice I will very rarely call for rolls for the lower two groupings of provocations (humiliation, injury, insults, challenges to authority) unless the situation is fairly egregious (think the end of Stephen King's Carrie).

Paranoid players may want to actually invest in a Mercy Gem.

Fetishes: Now that werewolves are getting several form buffs and better senses in human-form, I'm going to tweak the Salmon Charm (the +2 Wits fetish). It now costs 1E to activate for the scene.

Ritual Dice Pool: When using a ritual, you add the your Ritual dots to the dice pool, so it is Harmony+Ritual instead of just Harmony.

Expanded Mask:

The truth of Fae miens and seemings are hidden from the mortal world, covered by a Mask that disguises them. This Mask also extends to to Fae magic and Contracts, providing mundane illusions that cloak the truth of the matter. Like the personal Mask that each changeling possesses, this Mask is not a choice - a changeling cannot choose to have a mortal see magic for what it is. Unlike the personal Mask, the magical Mask is erratic, and can be more easily pierced. A changeling's personal Mask can only be pierced by other changelings and the Ensorcelled, and is otherwise impenetrable unless the changeling burns it off at great cost. The magic Mask can be pierced by all those who can see through the Mask in general, but can also be pierced by other supernaturals and certain mortals under various conditions. A wise changeling does not treat the Mask as impunity to use magic as he likes, as this often leads to strings of curious mortals and other, more serious trouble.

As the Mask provides a human guise for an inhuman changeling, it provides a rational explanation for a magical event. The mortal exposed to a Contract will see something mundane, if unusual, that would create the same end result. For example, a changeling who dug out a tunnel with the Contracts of Den would be assumed to be using a tool to do it. A changeling who transformed into a wolf would be thought to have had a violent dog with him, or that he was simply a crazy man who was acting like a wolf. A changeling who shifted her features with the Contracts of Mirror would be assumed to be putting on (or taking off) an exceptionally well done mask and makeup job. The Mask does not otherwise change a mortal's understanding of events. If a changeling audibly animates a large bookcase to attack the mortal, the mortal is quite aware that he is being assaulted, and that the changeling's command is somehow responsible. The mortal simply assumes a machine is moving the bookcase, or sees the bookcase as a human lackey.

Truly outlandish displays of magic may create flaws in the Mask. A changeling who bursts into flames will simply be seen as a man on fire, which is a perfectly mundane explanation. But if a mortal cannot reconcile how the changeling survived being on fire - if the changeling had no protective clothing, nor any other means to explain the discrepancy - the illusion may begin to unravel. If nothing else, it creates a puzzled mortal who might investigate.

When a human observer clearly sees an obvious magical display, he is affected by the Mask to a degree that depends on his Willpower dots. Onlookers use the following chart to determine the effects, depending on their Willpower. An onlooker gains +3 to Willpower when observing an event that is, on its own, impossible to justify. A changeling who is made of flames may cause suspicions and confusion, but can still be explained as a man on fire. A changeling who turns into a whale in a swimming pool, however, is simply too outlandish for the Mask. The witness gains another +2 to Willpower if the Contract leaves behind a lasting, visible effect, such as a fully grown oak tree where there was none before. This Willpower boost is only for the purposes of determining observers’ reaction to the Mask, and cannot take effective Willpower higher than 10.

Each use of obvious magic is treated as a separate instance for the purposes of the Mask - thus, each obvious display of magic gives a mortal more and more chances to notice something is wrong. Subtle magic, as it does not alert a mortal to anything unusual, does not require a Mask. If a mortal sees a changeling that has turned into a dog, they have no reason to think it is anything but a dog, and if a device breaks because a changeling looked at it, there is no reason to think the events were correlated by anything but coincidence.

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The results are as follows:

Willpower 1–2: Most humans at this level have suffered great trauma or are impaired in some way. As such, they are more sensitive to the Fair Folk than other humans, though not in a way they would like. When confronted with an overt display of fae magic, they are immediately aware something is wrong, though they have no way to identify why they feel this way or what is causing it. The human may (but is not required to) roll Wits+Composure. On a failure, nothing happens. On a success, they can pierce the Mask for a scene, but see all Fae things as nightmarish versions of themselves: even the most innocuous sprite appears twisted and horrifying. Victims of this react in great terror, and others dismiss their visions as insanity.

Willpower 3–4: This is the level of the average to slightly below average human in the World of Darkness. The Mask completely covers their senses. Onlookers always rationalize the event once they are away from the scene, and have no inkling that anything was wrong or incongruous. While they may be swayed by direct evidence of something amiss, they are likely to brush it off as a hoax or otherwise explainable occurrence. Attempts to convince them that magic or the supernatural are involved incur a –4 penalty. They may wish to believe, but are simply unable to see anything that isn't perfectly mundane.

Willpower 5–7: Humans at this level have above average strength of will, but the Mask still dominates the majority of their senses. Like most people, they will rationalize the event into a mundane occurrence. However, the character may roll an Intelligence + Composure roll at a –3 penalty if actively questioning the truth of the event (finding evidence that something is incongruous, for instance, or the Unseen Sense Merit). Success on this roll allows the character to recall or see the magical display for what it really is. An exceptional success renders her temporarily Ensorcelled for the scene.

Willpower 8–9: Humans at this level have exceptional self-control. A subject still rationalizes an event, but is automatically aware that something is wrong, though they cannot pinpoint what or why. The character must have reason to directly question the truth of the event. Attempting to remember requires an Intelligence + Composure roll at a –2 penalty. Success on this roll allows her to see or remember the magic with perfect clarity. An exceptional success renders her temporarily Ensorcelled for the scene.

Willpower 10: The rarest of the rare, humans with this level of Willpower are practically made of iron. Though she cannot pierce the Mask that covers a changeling's Mien, the subject clearly sees any display of fae magic for exactly what it is.

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Photographs or other recordings have less reliable protection. While none will show the Fae's true mien (unless it has been deliberately revealed via dropping the Mask) displays of magic appear erratically on film. Some show the event clearly, though they are often dismissed as digitally altered or some other hoax. Some show the reality perfectly - sans the magic - leaving a bizarre photo without context. Most seem generally mundane, save a few minor details that show something is amiss. Though these details are often missed on a casual viewing, they have a habit of hopping out at odd times.

The Mask over mundane magic has no effect over changelings, other supernaturals, or the Ensorcelled. While most Ensorcelled come from changeling pledges, some humans become temporarily or eternally Ensorcelled through other means. Things that may cause a mortal to become temporarily Ensorcelled may include inebriation, psychotropic drugs, having an active Derangement, exhaustion, occult circumstances (such as stepping near a Hedge Gate on Halloween), or having pierced the Mask on a previous occasion. These methods are anything but surefire, and someone hoping to find the fae world by drowning himself in whiskey is likely to gain nothing but a hangover. The ability to pierce the Mask lasts only as long as the altered perception, and is oftentimes brushed off as a hallucination.

In contrast, the Eternally Ensorcelled can never stop seeing the truth of the fae world. What might cause this? Being affected one too many times by Contracts, or piercing the Mask too often. Being violently exposed to the fae world, such as seeing a grotesque hobgoblin. Stumbling into the Hedge, or encountering a True Fae. Crippling insanity. A quirk of heritage: some people are simply born that way. Some children can pierce the Mask, though they may lose this ability when they grow up. Whatever the cause, they need no Pledge, and the Lost are often wary of them.

To use obvious displays of magic in front of the unensorcelled is a Breaking Point at Clarity 6 and above. The changeling is forced to confront that the majority of sane, sound-minded humans saw a wholly different version of events then the ones the changeling performed herself. The contradiction puts a strain on the changeling's mind, and forces her to wonder if what she sees is real - is something toying with her even now, or is she just completely mad? The fact that the drunk and the insane are the ones most likely to agree with her does not help the situation. Though there are some sane mortals who can see the truth of things, the uncertainty of the situation leaves the changeling ever wondering.

Kith Blessings: At Wyrd 7, the Artist's Kith Blessing of Impeccable Craftsmanship only extends to non-combat Dexterity rolls. Sneaking rolls, first aid rolls, lockpicking rolls are all fair game, but firearms are not.

Derangements & Clarity: Developing a Mild Derangement is no longer a Clarity 3 Breaking point. Developing a Severe Derangement remains a Clarity 3 Breaking Point, however.

New Goblin Contracts: Here's a few new goblin contracts that I've developed, with some help from Isabella. They are free for the players to purchase:

Bottom's Predicament (•••)

For understandable reasons, Shakespeare is often the favorite author of the Lost, and A Midsummer Night's Dream is his most popular work. Thus, whatever original name this ancient enchantment had in years gone by, (and it is a very old enchantment), modern Changelings invariably call it Bottom's Predicament.

With this spell, a changeling sorcerer is able to give the target the head of an ass (or a frog, or a goat, or a leopard, or what-have-you), or at least some of the features thereof. This transformation is only visible to the Fair Folk (and to the target), but even the unensorcelled notice the target taking on some unattractive habits.

Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Animal Ken+Wyrd-Target's Composure
Action: Instant
Catch: The target is asleep.

Dramatic Failure: The curse rebounds on the caster, giving them the head of an animal, and a -3 penalty to all social roll.
Failure: The curse fails to take effect.
Success: The target takes on some of the features of an animal, chosen by the sorcerer. A man cursed to become more like a swine loses his sense of personal hygiene and becomes needlessly greedy and gluttonous, while a man cursed to become wolfish turns ruthless and cruel (note that this is based on a folkloric perception of the animal, not on the animal itself). No matter what the animal, however, the traits are always unpleasant to those around them. The target suffers a penalty equal to (Successes) on all social rolls until the sun next crosses the horizon (until the next dawn or dusk, that is).

To the Ensorcelled, the target's head also seems to take on some of the features of the animal (the more successes rolled, the greater the likeness). Those cursed to become like pigs become jowly, their eyes sunken into their flesh, while those cursed to be like toads find their skin turning warty and their eyes bulging out. The unensorcelled may notice some mild changes but will never think them anything odd or supernatural. The target may be mildly concerned, but unless they are Ensorcelled, they too consider it unimportant.

Unfortunately, Shakespeare's faeries were never the most perceptive of sorts, cursing the wrong people and succumbing to love potions, and so the user of this contract suffers a -2 penalty to all Wits rolls for the duration of the effect. If they use it on more than one person, then they receive further penalties, which stack.

Exceptional Success: Aside from inflicting higher penalties, if the sorcerer rolls five or more successes then the Ensorcelled will perceive the target as having not just the likeness, but the very head of an animal. The unensorcelled still see nothing wrong, and even an unensorcelled target will take it in stride and soon forget about it.

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
+1 to +3 | The proposed transformation is symbolically appropriate (a glutton into a pig, a warrior into a wolf)
-1 to -3 | The proposed transformation is noticeably symbolically in-appropriate (a glutton into a stork, a warrior into a rabbit)

Circe's Curse (•••••)

Unlike it's "little brother" spell, Circe's Curse is no laughing matter. It draws its name from the ancient story of Odysseus, who landed upon the island of Circe, a daughter of Helios (or perhaps Hekate). She turned his men into swine, and Odysseus escaped only with divine help. There are other stories like it, such as the famous tale of the Frog Prince, or the lesser known story of the White Cat.

Of course, in these less supernatural times, the thought of a faerie sorcerer keeping someone transformed for months or years is absurd, and changelings (mostly) don't believe it. Still, better safe than sorry.

In order to use this contract, the changeling must be within (Wyrd) yards of the target, and must either look them directly in the eye, or must say their name loudly – this does not have to be their True Name.

Cost: 4 Glamour + 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Manipulation+Wyrd vs. Resolve+Supernatural Resistance
Action: Instant
Catch: The target has transgressed -- in a spectacularly sacrilegious manner --against the caster. Robbery or murder is insufficient, unless combined with something such as the abuse of an oath of hospitality, parricide, cannibalism, or some similar defliement (look at Morality 1 sins and Ancient Greek tragedies for a good idea of the kinds of things that trigger this catch).

Dramatic Failure: The curse goes awry, partially transforming the spellcaster into an animal, changing hands into paws, twisting backs and deforming tongues, inflicting a -3 penalty to all physical and social rolls for the rest of the scene.
Failure: The curse fails.
Success: For the rest of the scene, the target is turned into an animal. They may be transformed into any animal from a mouse up to a horse. Unless transformed into something like a monkey or a parrot, the target loses their ability to speak and loses its opposable thumbs (and thus any ability to easily use tools or weapons).

Aside from a change in Size (and the accompanying bonuses to stealth), they retain all of their attributes, skills, and traits. A man turned into a frog becomes an exceptionally sturdy frog. They also retain all supernatural abilities. That said, their lack of thumbs or speech may render many powers and skills impossible to use. A cat may not fire a pistol, for instance, at least with any hope of hitting something, and communication barriers prevent Vainglory 5: Words of Memories Never Lived from being used for much.

Fortunately, their curse comes with a certain level of inviolability. The Wyrd considers Circe's Curse punishment enough. First, if anyone harms the target before the end of the scene (inflicting 1 or more lethal damage), then the curse is broken. And if the caster harms the target before the end of the scene, then the curse rebounds back to them, transforming them into some manner of animal instead (though with the same inviolability). For this reason the transformation cannot be such as would automatically kill the target (turning someone into a fish on dry land, say).

Exceptional Success: At the end of the duration, the spellcaster may pay the cost of Circe's Curse to extend it for an additional scene. The caster may extend it indefinitely, providing they are willing to pay the glamour and willpower. Of course, if the catch applies, then the curse may be extended indefinitely... leading to legends such as those of Circe herself.

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
+1 to +3 | The proposed transformation is symbolically appropriate (a glutton into a pig, a warrior into a wolf)
-1 to -3 | The proposed transformation is noticeably symbolically in-appropriate (a glutton into a stork, a warrior into a rabbit)
+3 | The changeling sorcerer uses the target’s True Name in their spell.

Phantasmagoria (••••)

In the late 18th and through the 19th centuries, phantasmagoria was a kind of theater, where a performer would use a magic lantern to project various terrifying images upon a wall, depicting ghosts or demons or skeletons cavorting. The cleverest of performers projected the images onto smoke, and used multiple small, moving projectors to create a semblance of movement, three-dimensionality, and ghastly liveliness to the spectacle. One early 19th century Belgian inventor, Étienne-Gaspard "Robertson" Robert, staged his phantasmagoria in the abandoned crypt of a Capuchin Monastery, and was once stopped by the police before he could bring back the spirit of Louis XVI.

Of course, Robertson's phantasmagoria were only technological tricks (probably). With this power, however, a changeling can take shadow-puppets and give them a semblance of life and mobility, turning them into three-dimensional illusions that can affect all of the senses, and obey the changeling's whim.

To use this power, the changeling must first have some suitable shadows at hand (meaning that this power cannot be cast in absolute light or darkness, where there are no shadows). The shadows need to have at least a vague resemblance to the desired illusion, so most changelings that use Phantasmagoria either carry paper cutouts and flashlights, or else grow skilled at making shadow-puppets with their hands.

Cost: 3 Glamour (+1 Willpower, optional)
Dice Pool: Subterfuge+Wyrd
Action: Instant
Catch: The changeling uses the shadow puppets created by a magic lantern projector, which must remain running so long as the illusions are active.

Dramatic Failure: The changeling loses themselves in shadows and illusions, momentarily losing their grip on reality. This is a Clarity 6 Breaking point.
Failure: The shadows remain stubbornly shadows, and not illusions.
Success: The shadow-puppets transform into three-dimensional illusions, encompassing one or more senses. Anything at all is possible, from simply creating a painting on a wall that had not been there before, to simulating a full-scale SWAT team assault. A changeling can create a rotting corpse, a bed of roses, the Lord Mayor of London, a fire-breathing dragon, himself, his Keeper, a bathing nude, a sword, whatever his imagination can encompass.

Each use of this power creates a single discrete illusion no larger than (Successes x Wyrd) in cubic yards. This is either a single object or person, or a small group that stays very close together (such as the aforementioned SWAT team). Each illusion must have a single, coherent subject. Thus one could not summon both a bed of roses and a SWAT team with a single casting of this power, though one could summon a SWAT team with their armored van, for instance.

Illusions may encompass up to all 5 senses, but they are intangible and unable to affect the real world. Anyone interacting with an illusion may roll Wits+Investigation(+any supernatural sensory tricks such as Auspex) to realize its unreality (opposed by the illusion's Successes). Illusions cannot physically harm anyone, though they can be distracting, inflicting up to (Successes) penalty on sensory rolls (an illusory orchestra can make it difficult to hear).

Illusions can be made to move. If the caster is present, he may direct the illusions with but a thought. He can also leave 'programming' instructing a river to continue to flow, or an illusory guard dog to patrol a corridor. Illusions have no ability to respond to stimuli.

Illusions last for the remainder of the scene. If the changeling spends one point of willpower, however, the illusions last until the next dawn or dusk.

The drawback of dealing with such illusions, however, is that the changeling divorces themselves from reality and the idea of what is true and what is not. They automatically dramatically fail the next perception check they are called upon to make.

Exceptional Success: Extra successes are their own reward, creating illusions that are difficult to tell for what they are.

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
-1 to -4 | For each sense past the first that the illusion encompasses.
+3 | The illusion is static and unmoving.
+2 | The illusion is used to frighten.

Poison Present (••••)

From Snow White with her poisoned apple and Sleeping Beauty (or Briar Rose) with her poisoned spindle, poisoned presents appear repeatedly in folklore and fairy tales. Of course, they've a long and proud pedigree before then, poison and witchcraft intertwined in story and myth. Medea poisoned her rival for Jason's love with a poisonous gown, and when the Bible pronounces 'Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch to Live', one alternative translation for 'Witch' is 'Poisoner'.

They tend to be wicked types, these poisoners, cruel and vindictive. They're never poisoned by their own venoms, for poison knows its own. In the oldest myths (such as that of Medea), poisonous gifts lead to a direct and very nasty death, but the more modern version simply puts the victim into a death-like sleep, one from which they may never awaken.

For obvious reasons, using this contract tends to lead to degeneration rolls, and knowledge of it is prohibited in most right-thinking freeholds. That said, there's always some foul Hedge-witch or cat-faced Hob willing to teach it, for a price.

Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Medicine + Wyrd
Action: Instant
Catch: The poisoned object is a gift to the victim, offered and freely accepted.

Dramatic Failure: The changeling botches the roll, poisoning themselves (still at a Toxicity equal to their Wyrd).
Failure: The object is not poisoned.
Success: This is a straightforward contract. With a touch, the changeling poisons a single object of no more than Size 3 (such as an apple, a comb, a spindle, a dress). The poison has a Toxicity equal to the changeling's Wyrd. The object remains poisoned for 24 hours, and has symptoms similar to that of a heart attack.

When the object is used (an apple is eaten, a spindle touched, a dress put on, etc), some part of it lodges deep inside the victim's body (a splinter in a finger, a slice of poisoned apple in their throat). This triggers the poison, prompting the target to roll Resolve+Stamina, minus the poison's Toxicity. If they fail, they fall into a deep, enchanted sleep, a death-like coma for the next (Successes) Days - during which time they require no food, water, will not die from exposure (though they will if physically attacked), and are essentially in stasis. They may also be awakened if the poisoned object is somehow removed from their body (which usually requires an Int+Occult and a Dex+Medicine roll in opposition to the contract's successes).

A few strange limitations apply to the poison's effectiveness. First, the caster is never affected by their own poison (as a product of their own wicked natures, they are immune to it). At the same time, the poison can never be forced on a target. A sword can be poisoned and given as a gift, and the recipient will then accidentally cut themselves and so poison themselves; but the sword cannot be poisoned and then used to stab someone. The poisoned apple must be willingly bitten, it cannot be force-fed. This contract is a tool of murder, not a weapon.

The recipient of a poisoned gift may notice that something is off with a subconscious Wits+Occult roll, though the poisoner can soothe their fears (if they are present) with a Manipulation+Subterfuge roll. If the recipient succeeds on their roll, then they notice that something is 'off' about the object and will not want to use it, though they are unlikely to make the leap to 'poison'.

Finally, the drawback of this goblin contract links into the link between poisoners and hags and crones. For one week after poisoning the object, the changeling suffers a -4 penalty to any rolls to seduce, beguile, entertain, or otherwise use their physical beauty (negating any Striking Looks bonus in the process). Additional uses of the contract extend the duration.

Exceptional Success: The Toxicity of the poisoned gift is equal to the changeling's Wyrd+2, and if the target fails their resistance roll, they are enchanted into sleep for (Successes) Weeks.

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
-2 | The object is very modern (invented within the last century) -- a cellphone, a can of soda.
+2 | The object is old and mythologically potent (at least five hundred years old in style) -- an apple, a gown.

Lost in the Woods (••••)

Getting lost is an integral part of many faerie tales. Little Red Riding Hood strays from the path, Hansel and Gretel’s trail of bread crumbs are lost, Baba Yaga’s captive needs directions to get home. With this curse, the changeling can ensure that the target gets lost, and worse, that anyone with them gets led astray as well. If the targets are lucky, that’s all that happens to them… otherwise…

To use this contract, the target must either be within visual range of the changeling, or the changeling must have a personal belonging of the target. They may decide to simply let the target get lost, or else may have the target’s feet lead them to a location of the changeling's choosing.

Cost: 3 Glamour + 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Survival + Wyrd vs. Composure + Supernatural Tolerance (the roll occurs when the target sets out on a journey, not when the glamour and willpower cost is first paid).
Action: Instant
Catch: The target is travelling through woods or caves or some other area where there are no signs or roads or other markers.

Dramatic Failure: The spell inverts, drawing someone to the caster -- someone the caster would undoubtedly prefer stayed far away, such as an angry hobgoblin, a jealous ex-lover, or even a Loyalist. Such characters gain +5 to any Survival roll to try and find the character, and their travel times are halved. They may find him even if they are not actively looking for the caster just then, seemingly tripping over him as if by accident.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Success:The roll occurs when the target next sets out on a journey – if they travel nowhere within the next 24 hours, the curse expires. If the target is travelling with a group (who share a point of origin and a destination, not simply that the target is taking a bus), then they gain a +1 bonus to their contested roll per additional person with them.

If the target is simply enchanted to get lost, then for the duration of their journey, all travel times are multiplied by (Successes+1). If it normally takes the target a half hour to drive across the city, and the changeling gets 4 successes, then suddenly the target takes two and a half hours to get where they are going. If the target is tracking anything, then their Survival rolls are further penalized by (Successes), in addition to the travel time increase.

Alternatively, the target finds themselves arriving at an area of the changeling’s choice. The target is not compelled to do anything when they arrive, but they do arrive. The chosen location must also be within a reasonable distance of the target – a target driving in New York may be led to a warehouse in Queens but not to a church in Omaha.

The drawback is that meddling with time and space in such a way is dangerous; within the next month, an important message will fail to reach the target in time. This may be a plea for help, a lawyer’s subpoena, or simply an electrical bill, but its loss will noticeably and negatively impact the changeling’s life.

Exceptional Success: The curse lasts for the next two journeys the target makes – either making two journeys slow, or foiling the first attempt of the target to leave the chosen location.

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
+4 | The target has been specifically warned to stay to a path or to follow directions.
+2 | The target is travelling to some place they have never been before.
-2 | The target is travelling to a local landmark (City hall, the local public library).
-4 | The target is travelling to a well-known, national landmark (the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben).

Speak of the Devil (•••••)

Speak of the Devil, and he will come. Names are power among the Lost, and names are a greater power among the True Fae. Why do people never call the True Fae by their names? Why are they always the Fair Folk, the Good Neighbors, the Gentry, the Keeper? Some of it is for fear, assuredly, But not just fear of giving offense. There’s also fear that if the True Fae hear their names, from as far away as Arcadia, then they will come and find out just who is talking about them.

The Gentry are the most famous practitioners of this magic, but they are not the only ones. With this contract, a powerful changeling can enchant their name as well, letting them know when people are talking about them.

When using this contract, the changeling has to specify a specific name that is used for them – not necessarily their True Name, but one by which they are known. The contract lasts for one lunar month.

Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Politics + Wyrd
Action: Extended (10 successes; each roll represents ten minutes of incantation)
Catch: The character is using their True Name.

Dramatic Failure: Something goes disastrously wrong, and the changeling’s name echoes across the world. In Arcadia, their Keeper hears its echo, and knows precisely where the changeling is at the time of the failed incantation. The Lost had best make themselves scarce, and quickly.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Success: The contract lasts for one month, and has a radius equal to (Wyrd) in miles, and covers both the mortal world and the Hedge.

Whenever anyone in the area says the changeling’s name (the one chosen by the caster of this contract), the changeling is made aware of it. It must be that specific name, though it can be just a portion of it – if the full name is Thomas Wright, then ‘Wright’ would qualify. The effect is only triggered if the people are talking about the changeling, further. Even if there are a thousand people named ‘Thomas’ in the city, the contract only picks up when Thomas Wright the Changeling is being spoken about.

The first time any character says the changeling’s name in a scene, the changeling is merely made aware that ‘someone has said their name’. The second time any character says the changeling’s name in a scene, the changeling knows their rough direction (to the nearest cardinal or semi-cardinal direction) and rough distance (to the nearest quarter-mile), as well as whether the speaker is on earth or in the Hedge. The third time any character says the changeling’s name in a scene, the changeling know their precise direction and distance.

The drawback to binding one name to the wind is both potent and subtle. By becoming more like the True Fae, able to hear their names on the wind, the character grows more susceptible to thinking like the True Fae, and suffers a -1 to all Clarity Degeneration rolls for the duration of the contract.

Exceptional Success: The third time any character says the changeling’s name in a scene, the changeling is also given a rough idea of who is saying the name, “a middle-aged Caucasian policeman” or “a toad-faced hob” or “a Swimmerskin that looks like an otter.”

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
-3 | The name is incredibly common: “John Smith” or “Michael Thompson”
0 | The name is normal but not incredibly common in the area: “Sean Gillespie” or “Miss Bell”
+2 | The name is very uncommon or noticeably foreign (in areas without large foreign communities): “Horace Murthwaite” or “Sergei Valentinovich Zaitsev”
+4 | The name is some kind of faerie-tale name or title: “Mary O’Brine” or “The Jack of Crows”

The Beggar Woman's Gift (•••••)

One repeated motif in faerie tales and myths is that the questing hero does a favor for someone mild and unassuming -- a rabbit caught in a snare is freed, an old woman is given the hero's meal -- and in return he receives some potent boon or blessing. With this contract, the changeling can bestow such a magical trinket onto another person, an unassuming object that nevertheless contains a sliver of their own power -- though by so doing they are themselves lessened.

Cost: 3 Glamour + the activation cost of the chosen clause
Dice Pool: Crafts + Wyrd
Action: Extended (The selected Clause's level x2 successes; each roll represents one minute of fiddling with the object)
Catch: The chosen recipient of the gift is not yet an adult (under 18 in most Western countries, though the definition may alter based on the culture -- unmarried is another common definition), and does not know about the supernatural world.

Dramatic Failure: As a Dramatic Failure for the transferred contract.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Success: The changeling takes an object of no larger than Size 3 (a comb, a broom, a piece of bread) and imbues a single Contract clause into it, and then gives the object to the recipient, who must be another changeling, a mortal, or some other kind of faerie-entity (hobgoblin, fetch, etc). Thereafter, the next time the recipient uses the object (combs their hair, eats the bread), they are able to activate the contract -- even if they themselves are a mortal. They can set all parameters of the contract as if they were using it normally, but they use the changeling's dice pool for the activation roll and the cost of the contract is already paid.

The object may not be given away to anyone else -- only the chosen recipient can use it. Further, if the object is stolen or otherwise illicitly taken, then it does work... but the stored contract's activation results in a Dramatic Failure.

This gift last indefinitely, until the stored clause is used or until the changeling who gave it spends 1WP to revoke it. However, so long as the gift exists, and for a further 24 hours afterwards, the changeling is unable to use the stored clause -- they gave it away and it will take some time to find its way home.

Exceptional Success: When the stored clause is used, it gains a +4 to the activation roll.

Suggested Modifier
Modifier | Situation
-2 | The object in which the clause is stored is particularly ornate or valuable -- a golden ring, an iPhone
+2 | The object in which the clause is stored is particularly homely or worthless -- a broken comb, an old pair of sneakers
+5 | The recipient has just done an act of kindness even though it came at their own expense in some way; this does not apply if the act was carried out specifically so as to benefit from this contract.

Contracts Errata:

Dream 4: Cobblethought

In brief, this contract can be used to produce simple objects or phenomenon. A wall, a flash of light, a rock, a wind, a sword, etc. Nothing alive (or seemingly alive) and no complex objects (moving parts or the like).

If producing a physical object, Successes determine how much is produced, according to the table Here. If producing a phenomenon, it can apply a penalty or bonus equal to (Successes). If targeting someone (usually with a damaging effect like a fireball or such), it subtracts both Defense and Armor.

It lasts for (Successes) turns. On an ES, it lasts for (Successes) minutes instead.

Darkness 2: Night's Subtle Distractions

The Success and Exceptional Success effects now read as:

Success: An area within (Wyrd x 10) yard radius of the Changeling gets darker and quieter. Shadows twist and grow, the sun hides behind a cloud, lights flicker, etc. The darkness inflicts a -2 penalty on all visual perception and ranged combat rolls.

The changeling is always immune to his own darkness, and can make up to (Wyrd) other people immune as well, provided they are in physical contact with him and remain so. The clause lasts for one scene.

Exceptional Success: The penalty increases to a -3.

Eternal Winter 3: Riding the Devil's Jawbone

The Success and Exceptional Success effects now read as:

Success: The character blankets everything within (Wyrd x 2) yards under a cloak of intense cold. Anyone other than the character within that field, which moves with him, suffers a –(Successes) die penalty to all actions while in the freezing aura. Multiple changelings invoking this clause do not increase the level of cold, and particularly warm clothing or fur can reduce the penalties (usually by 2).

Penalties immediately disappear when the aura fades or when a person steps outside the aura, but return at full current strength if the person is again caught inside it. The aura moves with the changeling, and lasts for the rest of the scene.
Exceptional Success: Extra successes are their own reward.

Omen 3: Reading the Portents

The Success and Exceptional Success effects now read as:

Success: The changeling describes a course of action and asks what it will result in for a given character -- it can be the changeling, or anyone else within sensory range. The Wyrd gives the changeling a brief vision that states whether the action will result in Woe, Weal, or is neutral/mixed blessing for the target character, along with a cryptic explanatory clue.

So, if a course of action would cause a character to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, the Wyrd would return 'Woe' and flash a vision of drowning in dark waters. The Wyrd is also capable of judging things, so if a course of action causes the target to have a flat tire, buy a lottery ticket at a gas station, and then wins the lottery, then it returns a result of 'Weal' and gasoline-scented money.

In game terms, a changeling who uses Reading the Portents may re-roll a single dice pool during the remainder of the adventure, provided that the dice pool is in some tangential way related to either the course of action or to the character who's portents are being read. A changeling may have only one unused re-roll at a time -- they can use this contract five times to test out different courses of action, but will 'bank' only a single re-roll.

Usually, this power sees a fairly limited time into the future -- most Woe or Weal come to pass within a matter of days or weeks, though particularly potent or certain destinies can be seen from years out.

Exceptional Success: The Wyrd offers a further clue, either an idea of how to bring about / avoid a Woe/Weal outcome, or a further explanatory note for mixed/neutral outcomes.

http://ws.earthsprite.com/index.php?...ver's Kiss

The Action, Success, and Exceptional Success sections now read as follows:

Action: Instant

Success: The character causes a light rain, possibly out of a clear sky. The rain is too mild to inflict penalties, but can be used to help put out fires, water plants, provide drinking water, ruin evidence, or wash away trails (inflicting a -2 to Investigation or Survival (Tracking) rolls in the latter two cases). The rain lasts for one scene.
Exceptional Success: The character can cause the rain to end earlier, if she likes.

Eternal Spring 4: Yesterday's Birth

The Cost, Success and Exceptional Success effects now read as:

Cost: 3 Glamour or 3 Glamour + 1 Willpower dot
Success: The target object grows to full adult size, as it would under optimal care. The object ends its growth as if it were in the height of Spring, so plants are flowering. Insects lay grubs in this time (if they are able), which also grow. Subjects of this Contract require a great deal of sustenance during or after the growth, equivalent to about three full days’ worth. Plants in soil of only moderate fertility or less may drain their resources and soon begin to wither.

This clause can be used on non-invertebrate animals, but the changeling must pay one Willpower dot. This cost cannot be averted by invoking the clause’s catch. This contract cannot be used on humans.
Exceptional Success: The target object or animal is in the peak of health, and does not require additional sustenance. Furthermore, plants will continue to grow even in sub-par soil.

Eternal Spring 5: Mother of All Deaths

The Success section now reads as follows:

Success: Plants around the changeling grow at an extraordinary rate, quickly enough for vines, roots and the like to grow around people and entangle them. Each turn, the character may designate one grapple attack on any creature or target within 10 feet of a plant in her sight in addition to her normal action. She may sacrifice her normal action to designate two grapple attacks, and if she does that she may also sacrifice her Defense for a third.

Plants have a Strength equal to the Changeling's Wyrd, a Brawl equal to (Successes), and a +1–3 equipment bonus for the plant (vines are excellent, branches less so). They can only grapple and hold, they cannot deal damage.

This lasts a number of turns equal to the changeling’s Wyrd rating. Over the next hour, all but one year’s worth of the new growth dies off.

Requiem Devotion Directory

A huge number of Devotions. The following Devotions are in-use in the game so far, as is:

Desecrate
The Look
Objet d'Art
Quicken the Flowing Blood

The following devotions are in use in a tweaked form.

Kingmaker
(Behind the Throne Devotion, Majesty ●●●, Obfuscate ●●●)

Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Manipulation+Subterfuge+Majesty versus target's Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Instant

This Devotion allows a vampire to activate Entrancement, and to give its benefits to someone other than herself. If the standard use of Entrancement makes your character the target's best friend, Kingmaker lets anyone she chooses be the target's best friend. This can work just like Entrancement, only with the benefits accruing to someone other than the Majesty user.

If the person being given the benefit of Entrancement is also using Entrancement on the same target, there is no further effect. Using this power does not break Obfuscate's Cloak of Night, though it does give the character a -3 to any Contest of Wills rolls.

This power costs 15 experience points to learn.

Faceless King/Queen
(Kingmaker Devotion, Majesty ●●●●●, Obfuscate ●●●)

Cost: 1 Willpower + Cost of Summoning (1 Vitae) or Sovereignty (1 Willpower)
Dice Pool: Presence+Subterfuge+Majesty versus target's Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Instant

This Devotion allows a vampire to activate Summoning or Sovereignty, and to give its benefits to someone other than herself. In either case, the power is 'attached' to another character within visual range. Otherwise, the powers function normally. A target reached by Summoning knows that they travel to the presence of an individual chosen by the vampire, while people affected by Sovereignty are unable to challenge an individual chosen by the vampire.

If the chosen individual is already using Summoning or Sovereignty, then Faceless King/Queen consumes the Willpower cost but does not activate -- one cannot 'stack' Sovereignty on a vampire. Using this power does not break Obfuscate's Cloak of Night, though it does give the character a -5 to any Contest of Wills rolls.

This power costs 24 experience points to learn.

New Theban Sorcery Rituals
New Cruac Rituals
New Gilded Cage Rituals

These rituals are all pretty good, and though you should still check, these will probably go through.

More New Gilded Cage Rituals

These rituals are more hit-or-miss. Some are good, though a few (like the physical-attribute-booster) are very overpowered.

Bloodline: Lasombra
Obtenebration, Revised

Elizabeth Sheridan is one of the Lasombra, so these things are allowed. We are using the Revised Obtenebration thing for both Khaibit and Lasombra, and all the Devotions are as applicable... however, instead of Tentacles & Tenebris or Shadow Tentacles, we will be using the following Shadow-Tentacle Power.

Arms of the Abyss
(Obtenebration •• or •••••, Protean •••)

Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant or Reflexive

In it's (Obtenebration ••, Protean •••) version, Arms of the Abyss produces a matched set of tenebrous tentacles, sharp ribbons of darkness about six feet long, emerging from any point of darkness or shadow within (Blood Potency) yards of the Lasombra. The Lasombra must consciously will them to act, essentially operating them by remote control (and spending an Instant action to do so), and thus use his skills and attributes, however they use the Lasombra's Intelligence, Wits, and Resolve in place of Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina respectively. Used in combat (Intelligence+Brawl), the tentacles use deal lethal damage, and have a damage bonus equal to the Lasombra's Obtenebration. Left to their own devices they wave and coil around nearby objects but do not take any action, though they can provide limited Concealment.

The (Obtenebration •••••, Protean •••) version may also be used to create independent tentacles, save now they deal Aggravated damage. They may also be activated as a reflexive action when the Lasombra enters its Shadow Form, in which case they sprout from the Lasombra's shadowy form.

In each case, Arms of the Abyss can attack both physical and Twilight creatures -- thus a Lasombra in Shadow Form with Arms of the Abyss can attack into the physical realm.

The (Obtenebration ••, Protean •••) version costs 18 XP, and the (Obtenebration •••••, Protean •••) costs 27 XP. A Lasombra with the first version can spend 9 XP to upgrade to the second version once their Obtenebration reaches fifth level.

Bloodline: Daughters of Cacophony

Ms. Adelaide Prescott is a Daughter of Cacophony, though in her case she has alternate prerequisites for her Devotions (due to being a strange Gangrel off-shoot). Most Sirens are Daeva and use the Devotions present in the PDF.

Bloodline: Kiasyd
A forum post with a good version of Mytherceria

Abonde is one of the Kiasyd, a peculiar faerie sort of vampire, nor is she the only one in London -- Frances Black is another (London's probably one of the handful of cities in the world with more than a single Kiasyd). The bloodline is effectively as described in the first PDF, however, I am tweaking their Appearance and Weakness, and I am using the following version of Mytherceria for their Bloodline Discipline (it's basically Sammi's thing from the thread, but I tweaked a few little things, added durations, etc).

Appearance: Essentially, the stereotypical Kiasyd looks like described in the PDF, however in practice there is less uniformity in their appearance. Every Kiasyd will have one or more fae features (unusual pallor being the most common, followed by oddly-colored eyes or hair, an unusually willowy build, pointed ears all fairly common, and some very odd possibilities like polydactyly -- multiple fingers -- occurring occasionally). Kiasyd tend to look weird, but not uniformly weird, and their weirdness tends to increase as they grow in Blood Potency. Abonde (BP 7) looks like she stepped out of a storybook, for instance.

Weakness: All Kiasyd gain a single Mild derangement, which upgrades itself to a Serious derangement when they hit Humanity 5 or less. The most common examples are Obsessive Compulsion relating to study or the collection of books, Dehumani-zation, Depersonalization, Magical Ideation, Supernatural Fascination, or Waking Nightmare.

Kiasyd also suffer from a weakness to iron, and particularly cold iron. The former always deals Lethal damage (even if it would normally deal Bashing), and the latter always deals Aggravated damage to them. Simply touching iron is unpleasant for them, and can cause rashes or apply mild penalties for extended contact. Luckily for the Kiasyd, this does not apply to steel. Unluckily, this weakness is very widely known.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammi So, I'm not Matt, but I am a bit of a fan of the Kiasyd, so I took a crack at it. Also, this thread would belong better in the Vampire forum. Mytherceria My favorite oWoD Discipline, and one of the high points of Disciplines throughout both iterations of Vampire. For all that I really liked it, my vision of what it should be is a bit different than the one found in Guide to the Sabbat (but that's a good thing, because if you just wanted to rip off the one in oWoD, you wouldn't need to be asking for help). The Kiasyd have a bit of a reputation for knowing everything. While they don't know everything, they do have a disturbing level of insight into the meaning behind things, a fact that combines with their intellects to pretty much substantiate the rumor. What they don't have as much of a reputation for, but what should surprise nobody, is that there's another side to this. The Kiasyd can also use that insight to play tricks, giving Fate little tugs to ensure that things go their own way. ● Folderol It becomes increasingly difficult to deceive the Kiasyd as they absorb more and more knowledge. This power reveals lies told to the Kiasyd in several different ways, which varies from vampire to vampire. Some Kiasyd perceive lies via their teller's tongue glowing an unnatural color, while others' eyes well up with blood tears when lied to. The manner varies from Kiasyd to Kiasyd, but the effect is always the same — he knows you have lied to him. This power may be used on written text, but no more than once for any passage of text. It also doesn't avail the user at all against supernaturally-empowered lies. Cost: None Dice Pool: This power involves no dice roll. Action: This power is considered "always on," though it can be turned on or off as a Reflexive action The Kiasyd adds their Mytherceria dots to any Wits+Subterfuge rolls to determine if someone is lying. Notes: I thought about changing this, since Mekhet get decent lie-detection at Auspex 2, but Auspex 2 is just a polygraph, not a perfect detector, and requires extensive scrutiny. It also only works on living creatures with auras, and allowing this power to work on text and without viewing the aura (such as watching a politician on TV) gives it a legion of additional uses that fit the Kiasyd very well. And if someone happens to have both Disciplines, the possibilities are greater. Neo's Notes: This gets tweaked a little for greater simplicity. ●● Fae Sight The fae can see and manipulate the flows of Fate, and the Discipline of Mytherceria grants some of that facility to the Kiasyd. While they cannot manipulate Fate at this level, the Kiasyd can study Fate's weave, picking out important strands that they need to pay attention to and knowing which ones can be discarded. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy + Mytherceria - subject's Composure or Resistance Action: Instant Before rolling for this power, the Kiasyd must make an extended study of a person, place or object in the Kiasyd's presence, requiring at least five minutes of interaction with the subject (or studying the object or place). Dramatic Failure: Insight comes, but in a completely misleading way. The Kiasyd gains a -3 penalty to the next perception roll in the scene as he follows his misinterpreted clues toward bad conclusions. Failure: The Kiasyd can see Fate's strands, but they're a meaningless jumble. Success: This power lets the Kiasyd ask the Storyteller a simple question per success. The Storyteller is bound to answer, but needn't elaborate at all. A question about how the Prince gained the throne may be as simple as, "He took it," while a question about what caused the previous Prince to not be Prince any more may be more enlightening. Exceptional Success: Additional successes allow more questions, and more questions are always better. Notes: Same name, different power. Anybody with Auspex 2 can pierce the Mask, so porting Fae Sight directly would be redundant. Instead, here's another information-grabbing power. Neo's Notes: This stayed the same. Answers are likely to be very cryptic, but they are true. ●●● Twist Fate As with the previous power, this one opens the Kiasyd's mind to the tapestry of Fate. Now, however, the Kindred can tug on certain strands, making life easier for himself. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: None Action: Reflexive The Kiasyd may spend 1V as a reflexive action to get the 9-again quality for a single roll, either an Instant Action or one roll of an Extended Action. Notes: Again, the original level of Mytherceria was kind of redundant. Auspex 3 senses impressions on objects and the Carthian Devotion Cleansing Impression removes them (the Carthian Devotion Message in a Bottle can also create them, and uses Dominate, so Carthian Kiasyd have a very nice little power set going). Neo's Notes: Simplified the power. Essentially, it's a fairly minor bonus that can be applied to a lot of places. 9-Again isn't very powerful, but this can still be versatile. ●●●● Hidden Meaning Everything has meaning, say the Kiasyd. They're usually right. Characters with this level of Mytherceria usually know what that meaning is, too. This power is usually applied to text, and most non-Kiasyd only know of it as the way that the Kiasyd always seem to know exactly what the author was trying to say (especially useful when reading Joyce or Proust or a hideously dry and convoluted text written in Cockney rhyming slang and transcribed in mirrored cuneiform by an ancient vampire suffering from degenerative mental illness). However, it is equally useful for movies, pictures, classical music, interpretive dance, ancient geomantic workings and anything else, as long as there was some meaning that the author was trying to express through the work. Note that it doesn't detect lies, but the first level of this Discipline can, if the Kiasyd chooses to press further (this also expands the utility of the first dot to anything whose meaning can be read, allowing for a Kiasyd to scrutinize doctored photos with the same facility as a false statement). This power is always on, but doesn't work against supernaturally concealed meaning at all unless the user knows there's something more, spends Willpower and makes the roll. Supernaturally concealed meanings include any works that have been occluded by magic or were written by characters with Occultation, Hidden Life or under the effect of similar magic (plenty of other things do too; picture taken of a vampire also has supernaturally concealed meaning, and the total sum of possibilities is too numerous to list here). If a thing has supernaturally concealed meaning, its meaning registers as a face-value interpretation of the work, which makes it almost impossible to find meaning so occluded unless the Kiasyd knows that there should be more. This also allows the first-level power to see through supernaturally-empowered falsehoods. Cost: None (Non-Magical or Non-Concealed) or 1 Willpower (Magically Concealed) Dice Pool: Wits + Investigation + Mytherceria Action: Instant Dramatic Failure: The Kiasyd is entirely mislead about the true meaning, even though he thinks he's broken through the occlusion. The Storyteller is at her discretion to make up something fake that it might mean, and the Kiasyd believes that that is the meaning of the text. Suffice it to say, a dramatic failure at this can be devastatingly misleading. Failure: The Kiasyd fails to see the true meaning and may not try again for the work in question. Success: If the Kiasyd scores more successes than the roll used to conceal the meaning (or a single success if there was no roll), he understands the meaning of the work. Note that this only reveals what the author meant to say; if the author meant to lie, the Kiasyd must then use the first-level power to detect the falsehood of the meaning. Exceptional Success: The Kiasyd not only knows what the author meant to say, his player can also ask the Storyteller one question about the meaning. The Storyteller should elaborate a little. Suggested Modifiers: – The author is a vampire to whom the Kiasyd has a blood tie. (+2) – The Kiasyd knows the author personally. (+1) – Each dot of Occultation or Hidden Life possessed by the author. (-1) Notes: I like Chanjelin Ward, but I don't quite like how they did it, and it doesn't fit my vision for Mytherceria. So here's a Mytherceria 4 that fits my rewrite of the Discipline more (synergizing with Mytherceria 1 and making some aspects of Mytherceria 2 automatic and free). The Devotion below, Riddle Phantastique, serves the purpose of Chanjelin Ward with the cool flavor of Riddle Phantastique. Neo's Notes Clarified, no other changes ●●●●● The Grandest Trick There is no fifth expression of the Discipline of Mytherceria. At least, that's what the Kiasyd tell anyone who happens to be familiar with the rest of their magic. And in truth, this looks to be the case to those outside the bloodline. The Kiasyd have potent powers over the minds of others, able to mask themselves and control thoughts. Almost never does a use of this power that anybody else can see get attributed to Mytherceria, but while it may resemble certain uses of Dominate and Obfuscate, this is a different animal entirely. With Mytherceria 5, the user may lie to reality itself. This potent power operates like the first four Clauses Changeling Contracts of the Forge (Rewriting the Image, Trivial Reworking, Discreet Conjuration, and Hidden Reality), and further details on how this works can be found in the Rites of Spring book. In brief, the Kiasyd can alter physical objects, he may create them out of thin air, and he may induce physical changes in his environment. This power has several limitations. First, the Kiasyd must speak a lie aloud and be heard -- at least by himself. Secondly, the changes must be plausible. This means that they cannot be too outré (the Kiasyd can pull a gun out of his pocket, but not the Hope Diamond), and they cannot violate current or previous observation by man or machine (essentially, it must be plausible that the object or change was present all along). Thirdly, the objects or changes must be of Size 1 or smaller. Fourthly, they cannot be worth more than about $100 or so. Finally, it can only be used on the Kiasyd's person and possessions, or upon objects or places that do not belong to anyone present (as this would violate previous observation). For example, the Kiasyd can cause a pair of bars in a cell to be loose enough to be removed if she tugs on them hard enough. Similarly, she can create a hidden catch that opens a door, cause a normal door to be left unlocked or an electrical outlet that was hidden behind a table. In all cases, the change must be small and relatively reasonable. The Kiasyd cannot create unlikely features such as pit traps or land mines underneath someone’s doormat. Similarly, if leaving a door unlocked would trip sensors that would register this fact, then causing the door to be left open is impossible. Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Presence + Subterfuge + Mytherceria Action: Instant Dramatic Failure: Reality doesn't take kindly to being lied to. It gets its revenge on the Kiasyd in some way that involves poetic justice for the offense. Failure: Reality stays put. Success: The lie takes effect. It lasts till the end of the scene, or the Kiasyd stops paying attention to it. Exceptional Success: The change lasts for the scene, even if the Kiasyd takes her attention away. Suggested Modifiers: – Each person who can observe the change and isn't tricked into believing that it was like this all along. (-1) Notes: The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. This power is inspired by the eight-dot power The Grandest Trick, but is clearly quite different. It might need tweaking, but I wanted to explore what could happen if a Kiasyd could apply the principles behind Dominate 1-3 and Obfuscate 1-4 to everything but the sentient mind. With those other two Disciplines and this one, the Kiasyd have the potential to be supreme tricksters, pulling rabbits out of hats literally, as well as figuratively. And that idea, the ability to discern meaning and twist it to your whim, is really what my vision of Mytherceria is all about. This version of The Grandest Trick also is the ultimate counter to Folderol and incorporates the theme of meaning found in Fae Sight and Hidden Meaning with the theme of trickery found in Twist Fate, and is thus a fitting pinnacle to my version of Mytherceria. Neo's Notes: Tried to make this power a lot more like stuff already written, though it's a broad power no matter how one cuts it. Devotion: Riddle Phantastique Prerequisites: Dominate ●●, Mytherceria ●●●● Applying his mastery of Mesmerism with his affinity for meaning, the Kiasyd may create a work that catches the eye and makes onlookers pay attention to it. The original application of this power (and where it got its name) was labyrinthine murals or riddles posted around the havens of the Kiasyd as wards — an intruder caught in one might not even notice the Obfuscated Mekhet walking up and rewriting his memory with Dominate. However, its applications are broad, and some Kiasyd use it to play the pied piper and entrance unwary victims. It might even be usable with a special blend of incense. Powerful as the entrancement may be, it is as easily defeated as all uses of Dominate, if the victim can simply avoid seeing or hearing (or smelling, touching or otherwise sensing) it. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Manipulation + Expression + Mytherceria vs subjects' Resolve + Blood Potency Action: Instant In the case of most works, an additional action is required to make the work itself. This power merely endows a work with the power to mesmerize, and the user activates it when the persistent work is finished or the transitory work is played or spoken. Dramatic Failure: The vampire thinks the attempt was successful, but not only does it not succeed, it makes anyone who would have been a victim extremely suspicious of the work as well as the vampire who made it. Failure: The work has no special properties. Success: The work is endowed with mesmeric effect for one week per point of the user's Blood Potency. Anybody who witnesses it must make a roll or be entranced. While entranced, she retains her Defense but will not take hostile action. The work is distracting; she takes a penalty equal to the user's successes on any Wits + Composure roll and cannot focus on anything else enough to make any deliberate perception rolls. She also cannot deliberately stop observing the Riddle, though she can try and do non-Perception actions while still observing the Riddle. Perhaps scariest of all, a person under the effect of the Riddle does not need eye contact to be affected by the Riddle's creator's uses of Dominate. If an entranced person is attacked (Dominate counts as an attack) and knows it, the effect immediately ends. Similarly power ends if the person is no longer perceiving the work (if they are physically pulled away). Otherwise, the effect lasts till the end of the scene or for one hour, whereupon the victim is allowed to roll again to break free. Particularly unfortunate victims have been stuck in Kiasyd lairs till they collapsed of exhaustion. Exceptional Success: Additional successes are their own reward. Suggested Modifiers: – The user scored an exceptional success on the roll to design (or play, in the case of music) the work. (+2) This Devotion costs 20 XP. Notes: Okay, so it's a little Chanjelin Ward and a little Riddle Phantastique and a lot of my own vision. I like what Chanjelin Ward does, but think its flavor is bland. I think Riddle Phantastique's flavor is wonderful, but it's too much of a kill button, so here's a power with the common elements of both of them, the flavor of Riddle Phantastique mixed with Mesmerize and most of the purpose of Chanjelin Ward. Neo's Notes: Added durations and made it more explicit. What is it that these people have against Durations, seriously.

Bloodline: Tzimisce
Bloodline: The Strigoi

The Tzimisce are a Ventrue bloodline, with a backstory as in the first PDF. For our Vicissitude Discipline, we will be using the Transviscera Discipline and associated Devotions as in the Strigoi Wii.

We do not have any Tzimisce in the game, however we do have a Nagloper, which is a Nosferatu bloodline hailing from West Africa -- the name is an Khoikhoin word for "Night-Walker," or more generally any kind of evil witch or spirit.

Their Bloodline Disciplines are: Animalism (replaces Obfuscate), Nightmare, Vigor, and Vicisitude.
Their Bloodline Weakness is the same as the Tzimisce: The Nagloper loses one die from all pools for every day that the character fails to sleep in at least two handfuls of her special earth (“special,” because the earth must be from an area important to the character — birth-place, grave site, etc. The specifics vary from Nagloper to Nagloper, but any given character has only one such site). This modifier cannot grow larger than –5, but once it reaches this point it persists until the character has spent a full night in at least two handfuls of appropriate soil

Bloodline: Kiasyd

Chimerstry is as described in the above Kiasyd PDF, and is available to certain bloodlines (the Nelapsi, most notably, who now have the following Discipline spread: Celerity, Majesty, Obfuscate, Chimerstry). However, a couple of edits:

Ignis Fatuus: Cost: None; Now requires a roll of Manipulation+Expression+Chimerstry vs. Resolve+Blood Potency; Those who fail believe the illusion real until someone else demonstrates it to be false (in the case of implausible illusions, 'magic' is the go-to response.)
Fata Morgana: Cost: 1 Vitae; Now requires a roll of Manipulation+Subterfuge+Chimerstry vs. Resolve+Blood Potency; Those who fail believe the illusion real until someone else demonstrates it to be false (in the case of implausible illusions, 'magic' is the go-to response.)
Apparition: This power may be used to let an illusion move at any point in the illusion's existence, not just after it was cast.
Permanency: This power may be used to enshrine an illusion at any point in the illusion's existence, not just after it was cast. All illusions fade away if touched by sunlight or fire.
Horrid Reality: The roll for this is now Presence+Subterfuge+Chimerstry, minus Composure.

Demon: The Fallen
Demon: The Return

The goal here is to create a new mechanical system for the Possessed, that will more closely follow how we actually run Possessed like Eva, Henry, and Chernenko. They key difference from the above two will be that the focus is on the human side.

Why? Three main reasons. First, we currently put a lot of emphasis on demonic forms, which are not in Inferno. Second, this makes them a more standardized template (power stat, fuel state), instead of this weird half-template that relies on willpower. Third, it regularizes their XP expenditures more -- right now the demons are as powerful as creatures with twice their XP. DtF/DtR are still fairly powerful, but not as severely off-kilter.

Rules
The Rules are as follows:

∆Power Stat: The Power Stat for Possessed is called Paragon, and is as described in Demon the Fallen with regards to Faith Expenditure and Revelation.

∆Fuel Stat: The Fuel Stat for Possessed is called Faith, and may be regained in the following ways:

• Malpraxis: Like demons, each Possessed has one or more Malpraxes, equal to their Demonic Rank (see below).
  
  The Vice of the first Malpraxis is determined by their House, and the Possessed sets the Keys to the Vice. The Possessed can determine the Vice and Keys of subsequent Malpraxes, as a Demon. The associated vice of each House is listed further below.
  
  Whenever the Possessed is within (Paragon) Yards of someone carrying out their Malpraxis, the Possessed may roll Paragon+Torment, regaining 1 Faith point per success. If feeding off-screen, the Possessed rolls Torment+(Number of Malpraxes)+Cult Merit (if any) to see how adept the Possessed is at causing or finding a Malpraxis event and then feeding off it -- less scrupulous Possessed tend to have an easier time of this.
  
  
• Pacts: Pacts are supernatural bargains that create Thralls. Each Thrall provides the Possessed with 1 Faith Point per day (which the Possessed always gains at the same time each day – though the specific time can vary, with dawn and midnight being most commons). The Thrall does not gain any inherent bonuses, save that they have the patronage of a Possessed, and may be targeted with certain powers (the Lore of Radiance is particularly good at this).
  
  Ultimately, a Pact is an act of both faith and works. The Thrall must in some fashion be worshiping or propitiating the Possessed, and he must believe in it. The exact actions the Thrall takes are irrelevant -- prayers, burning incense, sacrificing animals -- so much as the faith behind the actions. The Thrall can end the Pact at any time simply by deciding he no longer wishes to take the necessary actions, which forces most Possessed to be scrupulous about maintaining their little cults of Thralls.
  
  
• Faction Methods: Each of the five Factions has an additional means by which to regain Faith. They are listed below, beneath their respective Factions.

∆Morality Stat: The Morality Equivalent for Possessed is called Torment, and is as described in Demon the Fallen.

Contest of Wills & Torment Points: Possessed still have to deal with Contest of Wills like Inferno Possessed. Contest of Wills happens as described, though because Torment is flipped from Morality, the modifiers there are flipped as well, and the Demon's Vice is considered the Vice of their House. The Demon's Dice Pool is Paragon x2.

Torment Points are gone. Degeneration works like normal for Morality. Using the Torment Visage of a demon or the Torment Evocation of a Lore grants the Demon a +1 to the next Contest of Wills roll per form or Evocation. Keep in mind that a full Torment Visage has four Forms, so that's +4. The demon is not required to trigger a Contest of Wills immediately -- they may want to wait to try and accumulate more bonuses -- but the bonus degrades by +1 per day.

∆Innate Powers: Possessed have the four innate powers (Agelessness, Awareness, Immunity to Possession, and Invocation) as described in Demon: The Return. The Awarenesses are distributed a little further down.

Demonic Rank: A character's Demonic Rank is equal to the Revelation Stun (DtF pg. 12). Eminence is a 3/5 Merit that increases the Demonic Rank by +1/+2 (so yes, a Paragon 10, Eminence 5 Possessed has a Rank 6 demon living in them).

Revelation: Revelation functions as it does in Demon: The Fallen.

Death & Exorcism: Possessed have no special rules for death. A dead Possessed is a dead Possessed, and the Demon is banished wherever it normally goes. Exorcising the Demon goes as in Inferno.

∆The Houses: The House of the Fallen is their inherent aspect. The Houses determine the character’s Apocalyptic Forms, Awareness, and Lores. Houses are described in further detail in Demon: The Fallen.

• Devil (The Namaru, The House of Pride)
  The First House created by God, leaders on both sides of the rebellion, the Devils' affinity is for radiance, enabling them to command mortal and Elohim alike, as well as having power over fire. Powerful, charming leaders.
  Awareness: Mortal magics (Ex: psychic abilities, Mage Mysteries, Low Magic)
  Favored Lores: Celestials, Flame, Radiance
  
  
• Scourge (The Asharu, The House of Envy)
  The Angels of the Firmament are the Second House. They were the ones who guided the winds of creation, who granted the breath of life to all living things, and who defined the spiritual connections between living beings. Beings of life, health and air.
  Awareness: Spirit Magic (Ex: Werewolf Gifts, spirit Numina, Spirit Influences)
  Favored Lores: Awakening, Humanity, Winds
  
  
• Malefactor (The Annunaki, The House of Greed)
  The Third House were the makers of form, the shapers of Creation. They defined spatial relationships, the paths from one place to another. Theirs is the power to shape the earth, create paths and to make astonishing artifacts. Beings of earth and magnificent gifts.
  Awareness: Items (Ex: Fetishes, Tokens, Relics, Imbued Items, Artifacts, Anchors and Fetters)
  Favored Lores: Earth, Forge, Paths
  
  
• Fiend (The Neberu, The House of Sloth)
  Once, the Angels of the Spheres set the stars in their great design, using their mastery of portals to travel the great distances required. Now, the Fourth House fears what has become of the design in their absence. Cosmic movers of fate.
  Awareness: Places of Power (Hallows, Loci, Wyrms’ Nests, as well as stored energies)
  Favored Lores: Fundament, Light, Patterns
  
  
• Defiler (The Lammasu, The House of Lust)
  Originally Angels of the Deep, the Fifth House have an affinity with fluidity, giving them power over water, over emotions, and even their own forms. They were the Muses of ancient times.
  Awareness: Inhabitation (Ex: Anything inhabited by an immaterial being, including other Possessed, fetishes, Claimed, and Sin-Eaters)
  Favored Lores: Longing, Sin, Storms
  
  
• Devourer (The Rabisu, The House of Gluttony)
  Once the Angels of the Wild, warriors without equal, the Sixth House can command animals and plants alike, as well as shaping and reshaping the flesh of other beings. They are the Beasts.
  Awareness: Life effects (Ex: Lore of Awakening, Mystery of Health or Mystery of Flesh, healing magic, werewolf regeneration)
  Favored Lores: Beast, Flesh, Wild
  
  
• Slayer (The Halaku, The House of Wrath)
  The House of the Second World, they were The Seventh House. The Slayers have dominion over endings and death, they can destroy the things of the physical world, command the spirits of the dead, and even enter the realm between life and death known as Twilight. They were the shadows in the valley of death.
  Awareness: Death (Ex: Lore of Death, Mystery of Twilight, ghosts, vampires, zombies, death spirits)
  Favored Lores: Death, Realms, Soul

∆Factions: There are five Factions among the Possessed, which are essentially broad philosophical approaches, more like Werewolf Tribes than Mage Orders or Vampire Covenants. The Factions are:

• Cryptics
  The Cryptics have used their time in Hell to think. They feel that if God is omniscient, then his creations would be as perfect as reality would allow, and since Lucifer was God's highest angel, then his rebellion was a part of God's plan. They gather knowledge to determine what is really going on and what they should do next. They dislike the Luciferans and the Faustians, approve of the Reconcilers asking questions (just not enough), and dislike Raveners' destructive tendencies.
  Faction Method: Whenever the Cryptic learns a significant secret, they may roll Paragon and gain their (Successes) in Faith. A significant secret is one that, if revealed, would cause a major change for someone (cause people to be arrested, lose their jobs, end marriages, etc).
  
  
• Luciferans
  The Luciferans still believe that Lucifer was right to rebel against God. Choosing devotion and love to mankind above that toward God. Even though Lucifer cannot be found, they still follow what they feel to be his directives. To raise mankind to its fullest potential, to drag humanity up and let them understand the power of free will and creativity. They dislike the Cryptics, can work with Faustians, consider the Reconcilers to be traitors, and consider Raveners to be enemies.
  Faction Method: Whenever the Luciferan regains willpower from their Vice, they also gain 1 Faith point.
  
  
• Raveners
  The nihilistic Raveners look at the broken world and wasted potential of humanity and believe there's only one option left: destroy everything. Some see it as a way to finally lure out God and his Angels; others see it as an act of mercy to a near- dead world; and many just don't care at all. They are enemies with all the other factions of Demons, though they can tolerate the Cryptics.
  Faction Method: Whenever the Ravener commits a major act of destruction (burn down a building, slaughter an animal of Size 5 or greater, cut down a grove of trees), they may roll their Paragon and gain (Successes) Faith. The Ravener gains a +2 to their roll if they carry out the destruction in a visibly occult and ritual manner, and a +5 if the destruction results in the death of a human being.
  
  
• Reconcilers
  The Reconcilers have used their time in Hell to reconsider their actions and the punishment that God meted out to them. Many have come to the conclusion that they were punished justly and that they must atone for their misdeeds; others simply feel that there is no point in continuing to fight a war they lost long ago against an omnipotent enemy. Now that they are free they wish to do some good, thinking that God might forgive them and allow them to return to Heaven. Even if he won't they might be able to help the humans, even fix things so the humans can have what they can't. They are on good terms with the Cryptics and the Luciferans, but are diametrically opposed to the goals of the Faustians and the Raveners.
  Faction Method: Whenever someone in the presence of a Reconciler fulfills their Virtue, the Reconciler may roll Paragon and gain their (Successes) in Faith. If the Reconciler himself fulfills his virtue, he may roll Paragon+3 and gain (Successes) Faith.
  
  
• Faustians
  The Faustians lust for revenge against God, who exiled them from heaven. Even without the leadership of Lucifer, they still try to awaken the human race to its true potential, but only so humanity can be used as a potent weapon in yet another war against heaven. Their approach is to drag humanity down with Reason and Rationality, to render humanity soulless and hyper-efficient. The plots and intentions of a Faustian are often as subtle as they are dangerous. They have no patience for the Cryptics, and their goals are directly opposite to those of the Raveners and Reconcilers, but they can work with Luciferans (though they don't like to).
  Faction Method: The Faustians gain three additional Malpraxes

∆Apocalyptic Form & Vestments: Each Possessed has sixteen(16) points to spend on eight Apocalyptic Forms; four Regular Forms and four Torment Forms (at least 6 must be spent on Torment Forms). Apocalyptic Forms are in Demon: The Fallen

Transforming into the Apocalyptic Form is an Instant Action, or a Reflexive Action with the expenditure of a Faith point. One action-or-expenditure is required for the four Regular Forms, and another one for the four Torment Forms, though the Possessed can manifest fewer than all four Forms at a time if they so desire.

Each Torment Form manifested gives the Demon a +1 to the next Contest of Wills roll, and Revelation is caused if certain Forms are manifested (wings, coronas of light) or if two or more subtle Forms are manifested at a time (in which case the sheer angelic/demonic presence makes it unmistakable that something is happening).

Apocalyptic Forms are as in Demon: The Fallen, though heavily subject to Errata-ing (no extra actions or insta-kill effects on mortals are allowed).

Vestments: A Possessed may also purchase Vestments from Inferno as Apocalyptic Forms.
-Innate Vestments are 1 Point regular Apocalyptic Forms for Possessed of the appropriate House (Greed for Malefactors, Wrath for Slayers, etc), and 2 Point regular Apocalyptic Forms for Possessed of other Houses.
-Lesser Vestments are 2 Point regular Apocalyptic Forms for Possessed of the appropriate House, and 3 Point regular Apocalyptic Forms for Possessed of other Houses.
-Greater Vestments are 4 Point regular Apocalyptic Forms for Possessed of the appropriate House, and cannot be purchased by other Houses. Greater Vestments do not last the entire scene -- instead, the Possessed must spend 1 WP, and the Vestment appears for (Torment) turns.

Use Paragon for where Vestments call for total Vice Dots, and Demonic Rank for when Vestments call for the main Vice.

∆Lores: Demonic Lores are the Domains in Demon: The Return, and work appropriately. Blended Evocations are priced as Devotions (3 XP per dot required). House Lores cost New Dots x5, Non-House Lores cost New Dots x7. Possessed begin with 3 dots of Lore, at least two of which must be House Lores.

∆Merits: The Possessed have the following merits:

• Eminence (3/5) Adds +1/+2 to the Possessed’s Demonic Rank
• Cult (1-5) This functions as a Harvest/Herd merit for Possessed, granting 1 Faith point at start, and acting as additional dice in feeding rolls when searching for Malpraxes. It represents both individuals with whom the Possessed maintains Pacts, and people willing to help them arrange Malpraxes.
• Acute Awareness (3/4/5) as in Demon: The Return
• Ensouled Item (2+) as in Demon: The Return
• False Name (1-5) as in Demon: The Return
• The Dragon’s Tongue (1/2): As in Inferno (not unique to the Possessed, but extremely common among them).
• Animal Familiar (3), Demon Familiar (Twilight) (4), Demon Familiar (Imp) (5) are all as in Inferno. Familiars are usually weaker than Retainers, but have more powers.