Fördelar

Allmänna fördelar

Allierade

Kostnad: ● till ●●●● | Typ: Social

Allierade är personer som är villiga att hjälpa till med allehanda ting. De kan vara kollegor, vänner, bekanta, eller någon som är skyldig dig en tjänst. Varje värde i denna förtjänst måste vikas för en särskild nisch - en organisation, nätverk eller personer med gemensamma intressen. Exempelvis polisen, rådhuset, organiserad brottslighet, facket, bankväsendet, akademiska institutioner, sjukhuspersonal. För att ha allierade på flera ställen måste du köpa Förtjänster flera gånger, tex: Allierade (Bankväsendet) ●● & Allierade (Dagismammor) ●●●●.

Varje nivå i ett område visar hur mycket inflytande du har inom den gruppen. Första nivån låter dig be om små tjänster som att slippa en p-bot eller se en artikel innan den trycks. Nivå tre kan göra så att en facklig strejk får ett tidigt slut och nivå fem kan vara av allvarligare/mer lukrativ karaktär såsom varningar från maffian eller förtur i Stockholms hyresrättsmarknad. Spelledaren avgör vad som är en rimlig förfrågan och om det är troligt att någon inom den givna gruppen av allierade skulle kunna hjälpa till. Vid tveksamhet kan spelledaren be om ett slag på Manipulation + Persuation + Allierade med eventuella modifikationer för hur riskabelt uppdraget är. En tjänst som skulle kunna få personen i fråga avskedad ger -3 medan allvarliga brott eller livsfarliga ärenden ger -5. Tjänster din allierade kan göra för dig riskfritt och med lätthet ger inga modifikationer. Hur bra det går på detta slag visar hur snabbt och med vilken kraft ett rop efter hjälp besvaras.

Varje individ som du kan be om tjänster behöver inte nödvändigtvis specificeras i förväg, men skäl till varför du har inflytande i detta område kan vara på sin plats. Det kan vara din före detta yrkesplats, en stor tjänst som du gjorde ett hemligt sällskap en gång i tiden.

Hake: Dina allierade har egna liv att leva och sitter inte och väntar på att få komma till din undsättning. Tjänster kräver dessutom gentjänster, som kan komma att bli aktuella vid ett senare skede i sagan.

Klubbare (Barfly)

Kostnad: ● | Typ: Social


Var du än är hittar du och och kan ta dig in på de bästa nattklubbarna och restaurangerna med några ord och kanske en liten muta. Inga rep eller dörrvakter kan hålla dig ute i kylan och du smälter in väl i nattlivet. Subtrahera ditt Socialize-värde från alla försök att peka ut dig som nån som inte hör hemma.

Lokalsinne (Direction Sense)

Kostnad: ● | Typ: Fysisk

Du föddes med ett lokalsinne som gör att du instinktivt alltid vet var du befinner dig. Du kan ge din in på obekanta områden och alltid hitta tillbaka till utgångspunkten samt ta ut väderstrecken utan kompass eller riktmärken.

Berömmelse (Fame)

Kostnad: ● till ●●● | Typ: Social

Du åtnjuter viss berömmelse i samhället du lever i. Du kanske är en artist, idrottsman, politiker eller någon typ av mediapersonlighet. Du är troligtvis idoliserad eller fruktad och särbehandlas därför ofta. Det är svårt för dig att gå någonstans där du inte blir igenkänd, och media och andra skvallerbyttor lurar alltid runt hörnet. Varje nivå lägger till +1 på dina Socialize-slag (i vissa fall även på Persuasion) i möten med de som imponeras av ditt kändisskap.

Hake: Ju mer känd, desto mer igenkänd. Samma modifiering läggs till ett generellt Wits + Composure-slag för att de om något på gatan känner igen dig. Ett makalöst lyckokast för att ett eller fler fans eller beundrare kliver upp för att få autografer eller för att få sig en pratstund…

Fortfärdig (Fleet of Foot)

Kostnad: ● till ●● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Strength ●●

+1 i Snabbhet per nivå. Oberoende av din kroppsbyggd så kan du springa väldigt snabbt.

Förnuftig

Kostnad: ●●●● | Typ: Mental | Villkor: Enbart vid start

Du är utrustad med gammalt hederligt förnuft. Om du vid något tillfälle är på väg att agera dumdristigt eller stick i stäv med ditt annars så goda omdöme hör du en röst i ditt bakhuvud (dvs spelledaren) som varnar dig eller antyder att en viss gärning kanske inte är en så god idé och varför.

Spelledaren kan göra ett reflexivt Wits + Composure-slag (en gång per kapitel). Lyckas det inser du farorna med en viss handling och kan till och med få tips på hur du ska komma på rätt väg igen.

Naturlig immunitet

Kostnad: ● till ●●● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Stamina ●●
Du har +2 på alla slag på Stamina då du försöker motstå smitta, infektion och sjukdom. Ditt immunförsvar är exeptionellt motståndskraftigt och du har sällan varit allvarligt sjuk.

Skönhet (Striking Looks)

Kostnad: ●● eller ●●●● | Typ: Social

Du är otroligt attraktiv i andras ögon. Du drar blickar till sig och rummet tystnar när du kliver in. Nivå ●● ger din figur +1 på alla slag på Presence och Manipulation där du använder ditt utseende för att underhålla, övertala, distrahera eller förvilla. På nivå ●●●● är du himmelskt underskön, modifikationen är +2.

Hake: Ju snyggare desto svårare är det att undvika att bli uppmärksammad. Vittnen lägger lättare ditt utseende på minnet och du kommer att få både välkommen och inte lika välkommen uppvaktning i sociala situationer.

Slagsmålsfint (Brawling Dodge)

Kostnad: ● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Strength ●● och Brawl ●●

Närhelst du begagnar dig av en Fint (Dodge) kan du välja att lägga ditt Brawl-värde till ditt Försvar istället för att fördubbla Försvarsvärdet. Du baserar alltså finten på din träning i undvikande och parerande attacker istället för att förlita dig enbart på din fallenhet för att ducka för attacker. Detta ger kanske ingen fördel till nybörjare, men likväl till erfarna slagsmålskämpar.

Slagsmålsfint kan användas mot alla Brawl- och Weaponrybaserade och kastvapenattacker mot dig, samt mot eldvapenattacker som görs på nära håll. Du kan röra dig upp till ditt Snabbhetsvärde och göra en Slagsmålsfint på en tur.

Språk

Kostnad: ● till ●●● | Typ: Mental
Du kan ett ytterligare språk, utöver ditt modersmål.
● Kan läsa, skriva och tala detta språk men med viss svårighet.
●● Du kan konversera relativt obehindrat på språket.
●●● Ligger på nivå med inhemska talare och är välbekant med nyanser, idiom och ordspråk

Status

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Typ: Social | Villkor: Se nedan

Sjätte sinne (Unseen Sense)

Kostnad: ●●● | Typ: Mental | Villkor: Människa; Wits ●●
Your character has a "sixth sense" when it comes to the supernatural. Perhaps his hair stands on end, goose bumps race along his arms, or a shiver runs up his spine. Regardless of the manner, his body reacts to the presence of unseen forces. He canÕt see or hear anything, and in fact he might not know at first what causes this reaction. It might be a response to a specific type of supernatural phenomenon such as ghosts or vampires, or it might be a general sense that something isn't right. Over time and with a little trial and error, he might be able to qualify what his body tries to tell him.

The specific type of supernatural phenomenon to which your character is sensitive must be determined when this Merit is purchased. It can be something as vague as a creepy feeling when in the presence of ghosts, or something as specific as a sudden chill when a vampire is nearby. The Storyteller has final say on the exact nature and trigger of your characterÕs sixth sense, and can keep its nature secret if desired, leaving you to figure it out during play.

Only mortal, mundane characters can possess this Merit. The pivotal moment of becoming or being changed into a being with supernatural capabilities eliminates it.

Upptäcka fara (Danger Sense)

Kostnad: ●● | Typ: Mental
Du får modifiera reflexiva slag du gör på Wits + Composure med +2 för att upptäcka bakhåll och dylika faror. Normalt görs detta slag innan första turen i en överrumpling (surprise attack).

Din överlevnadsinstinkt är så välutvecklad att den varnar dig när du är i fara. Du kanske är särskilt bra på att se avslöjande tecken i omgivningen eller så har du ett sjätte sinne när det gäller att undvika trubbel.

Allehanda stridskonster

Stridskonst: Bågskytte

Kostnad: ● till ●●●● | Typ: Fysisk (Armory) | Villkor: Strength ●●, Dexterity ●● och Athletics ●●

Du kan använda pil och båge.

Stridskonst: Boxning

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Strength ●●●, Stamina ●● och Brawl ●●

Du är tränad i boxningens ädla konst, kan svinga snabba och kraftiga slag och ducka och parera för dina motståndares attacker. Värdet representerar vad du lärt dig under din skolidrott, som professionell pugilist eller bara fritidsboxare. Varje nivå motsvarar en särskilt manöver du kan ta till för att ge dig fördel i slagsmålet.

● Kroppsslag — Du kan svinga kraftfulla slag som får din motståndare att vackla och kippa efter andan. Om lyckoslagen på en Brawl-attack överstiger din motståndares Storlek förlorar denne sin nästa handling.

●● Ducka och finta — Du är tränad att instinktivt ducka undan din motståndares slag. Använd det högre utav Dexterity eller Wits när du försvarar dig mot Brawl-baserade attacker. (ej för Weaponry). Om en kombination av Brawl- och Weaponry-baserade attacker riktas mot dig under samma tur, använd ditt normala Försvarsvärde för båda.

●●● Kombinationsslag — Din träning och erfarenhet gör att du kan överrumpla din motståndare med en serie kvicka slag. Du kan nu göra två Brawl-attacker mot samma måltavla under en tur i en och samma handling. Den andra attacken har dock en -1 modd. Hake: Du kan inte använda ditt Försvarsvärde samma runda som du avser att använda denna attack. Om du väljer att använda ditt försvar mot en motståndare som agerar före dig i initiativordningen får du inte använda dig av denna manöver denna runda. Du har då fullt upp att parera och ducka undan attacken.

●●●● Slåttermaskin — Du kan svinga slag med en sådan kraft att ett enda slag kan göra din motståndare medvetslös. När du i en Brawl-attack ger så hög skada att den är lika med eller överstiger din motståndares Storlek är det möjligt att han faller ner medvetslös. Offret slår enbart sin Stamina för att motstå. Om han lyckas behåller han medvetandet men förlorar sin nästa tur enligt "Kroppsslag" (ovan). Om han misslyckas blir han medvetslös i en tur per skadenivå. Hake: Samma som för Kombinationsslag ovan.

●●●●● Brutalitet — Din träffsäkerhet och styrka förvandlar dina knogar till dödliga vapen med kraft nog att allvarligt skada eller till och med döda motståndare. Ett brutalt slag ger motståndaren Dödlig skada istället för Krosskada. Hake: Du behöver använda en poäng Viljestyrka för varje brutal attack du gör. Denna Viljestyrka ökar dock inte chansen att lyckas.

Stridskonst: Dubbla vapen

Kostnad: ● till ●●●● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Dexterity ●●●, Weaponry ●●●

Du har lärt dig att slåss med ett vapen i vardera hand.

Stridskonst: Krav Maga (Kamp i närkontakt)

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Strength ●●, Dexterity ●●●, Wits ●●● och Brawl ●●●, Brawling Dodge

Du utövar Krav Maga och har färdighet i en obeväpnad form av defensiva slag. Färdigheten baseras på Brawl om inget annat anges.

● Omedelbart försvar — Du har lärt dig att snabbt neutralisera ett hot för en snabb flykt. Du får en bonus på din Initiativmodifikator som motsvarar ditt Brawl-värde när du slåss mot beväpnade motståndare.

●● Avväpnande försvar — Du skruvar din kropp utanför skottlinjen medan du tar tag i din motståndares handled och drar honom framåt med egen kropp som motvikt och drar vapnet från hans hand. Detta fungerar precis som Avväpna förutom att det går på Brawl. Istället för att slå bort vapnet, tar du det från din motståndare och kan själv använda det nästa tur.

●●● Ogenomträngligt försvar — Du förstår att attack och försvar är detsamma. Du får lägga till ditt Brawl-värde till ditt Försvar eller Undvika (Dodge) mot en enskild attack som görs mot dig. Bonusen för denna manöver kombineras även med Slagsmålsfint Hake: Du måste spendera en Viljestyrka för att utföra denna manöver. Manövern är reflexiv, så du får utföra den och handla (tex attackera) samma tur, såvida din handling inte användes till att Undvika (Dodge).

●●●● Från första stund — Du har tränad din reaktionsförmåga så att du handlar instinktivt. Om ditt slag för initiativ är lika med någon annan i striden, får du automatiskt agera före dessa. Om två personer kan denna manöver får de agera samtidigt och utfallet av deras handlingar bestäms som om den andre ännu inte agerat. Detta kan resultera i att de bägge har ihjäl varandra i samma intensiva sekund.

●●●●● Göra slut på striden — Du rör dig defensivt men vet att slå till mot din fiende i precis rätt stund. Du meddelar att du vill Undvika (Dodge) och får utnyttja Undvikandet till fullo (inklusive bonus från Slagsmålsfint). Du får sedan dessutom göra en reflexiv motattack mot en motståndare vars attack lurades av att du Undvek. (dvs en misslyckad attack). Hake: Denna manöver kostar en Viljestyrka. Efter motattacken förlorar du ditt Försvarsvärde resten av turen.

Stridskonst: Kung Fu

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Strength ●●, Dexterity ●●, Stamina ●● och Brawl ●●

Your character is trained in one of the many forms of Kung Fu, conditioninghis mind and body for the purposes of focus and self-defense. He may have begun his training at an early age, following in the footsteps of family or friends, orhe mayhave joined a school as an adult for the purposes of exercise or protection.

Dots purchased in this Merit allowaccessto special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Iron Skin” until he has “Focused Attack.” The maneuvers and their effects are listed below, most of which are based on the Brawl Skill.

● Focused Attack: Physical conditioning and accuracy allow your character to deliver blows at vulnerable spots on targets. Penalties to hit specific targets are reduced by one. See “Specified Targets,” p. 165. Even when a specific part of an opponent is not targeted, armor penalties to your character’s Brawl attacks are reduced by one.

●● Iron Skin: Your character has hardened his body to physical blows, allowinghim to withstand repeated hits with minimal effect. He has an effective armor trait of 1

●●● Defensive Attack: Your character has mastered the ability to fight defensively. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty. He can move no more than his Speed while performing a Defense Attack maneuver in a turn.

●●●● Whirlwind Strike: Your character can unleash a storm of blows against an opponent. He can make a number of extra Brawl attacks for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2 in a single action. Each extra attack is made at a cumulative -1 modifier. Thus, he can perform a total of two attacks at Dexterity 3 (the second of which is at -1), three attacks at Dexterity 4 (the third of which is at -2), and four at Dexterity 5 (the fourth of which is at -3). All attacks must be on the same target. Drawback: Your character cannot usehis Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

●●●●● Lethal Strike: By focusing his might and concentration, your character can kill or maim an opponent with a well-placed strike. A strike inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage. Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. (Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.)

För Vampyrer

Kakafonigehör (Cacophony Savvy)

Kostnad: ● till ●●● | Villkor: City Status ●

Du har fingret på pulsen till De Invigdas skymda skeenden. Du kan koderna och de subtila uttrycken som gör att vampyrkultur (den äkta) frodas trots Maskeradens rökridåer. Varje nivå av gehöret bygger på den tidigare. Denna Fördel förutsätter att du kan läsa och lämna meddelanden i Kakafonin.

Hake: Kakafonin är inte till för åskådare, du kan inte enbart ta till dig, du måste bidra. Om du inte regelbundet förser Kakafonin med skvaller faller du efter. För att komma tillbaks i kontakt med nätverket måste du bidra med något matnyttigt.

● På uppgång — Du kan läsa tecknen när du ser dem ute. Slå Intelligence + Streetwise för att identifiera meddelandet. Du kan läsa ut ytterligare detaljer så som budbärarens klan, förbund, smak i människor, och ursprung genom att subtrahera en tärning för varje ytterligare detalj.

Om området som iakttogs var del av någons Jaktmarker kan du lägga till deras värde i Fördelen Jaktmark för att upptäcka saker innehavaren inte menade att förmedla. Exempelvis kan synnerligen bleka pundare i området antyda att denne normalt dricker från narkomaner.

●● Backpacker — Du är bekant med alla insändare och kontaktannonser, kodspråk i tidskrifter, affischerings- och klotterväggar som ger de bästa lokala nyheterna om De Invigda. När en ny vampyr kommer till stan kan du skaffa info om dettas föredragna jaktområden och deras alternativa identiteter inom en vecka. Via "På uppgång" kan du ta reda på närmare info via djungeltrumman.

●●● Bära hatten — Du har tjuvheder och är respekterad inom Kakafonin. Inget händer utan att du känner till det. Du är den lokala kulturens nav och därmed även den första att veta när vampyrjägare är i farten. Slå Wits + Politics en gång per kapitel, och för varje lyckad tärning får du svar på en av frågor om samhällsklimatet:

  • Vilka är på uppgång?
  • Vilka är på väg ut?
  • Var är Maskeraden som vekast?
  • Finns det någon människa som är nära att upptäcka Släktet?
  • Vilka jaktmarker är de bästa i stan?

Lockande (Enticing)

Kostnad: ● | Typ: Social | Villkor: Cannot have the Atrocious or Cutthroat Merits

Effect: Your character’s seductive Beast oozes with ease and confidence. Her smoky looks tantalize the imagination. Every movement of her hands makes promises. Any rolls to invoke the seductive Beast gain the 8-again quality.

Drawback: Your character does not get the 10-again quality on any rolls to invoke or resist the monstrous or competitive Beasts.

Hamn (Haven)

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Indelningar: Läge, Storlek, Säkerhet | Typ: (VtR) | Villkor: Invigd (eller ghoul)

(Herd)

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Typ: Social (VtR) | Villkor: Invigd

Jag vet en kille (I Know a Guy)

Kostnad: ● | Typ: Social | Villkor: Carthian Status ●

Effect: When Carthians make Allies (see p. 118), their covenant acts as a sort of support network that bolsters the efficiency of those allies. Once per story, a Carthian may access temporary Retainer dots equal to their Allies. These Retainers act in the Carthian’s interest, just like any other Retainers. (Since Allies gained with Carthian Pull don’t really belong to the character as a Merit, they don’t count for purposes of I Know A Guy.)

Drawback: These Retainers represent the Allies group in question, and will serve its interests first and foremost. If the Carthian wants them to do something contrary to the group’s interest, she’ll need to manipulate, threaten, or otherwise risk her relationship with her Allies.

Mästare (Regnant)

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Indelningar: Gunst, Makt, Tillit | Typ: Social (Ghouls) | Villkor: Ghoul

Omärklig (Unobtrusive)

Kostnad: ●●● | Typ: Social (Ghouls) | Villkor: Ghoul, Stealth ●●

Sexualiserad

Kostnad: ●● | Typ: Social (Ghouls) | Villkor: Ghoul
Antingen är det den Vitae du inmundigat, eller den roll din Mästare tvingat in dig i; hur som helst bor inom dig en sexuell energi som andra inte kan ta miste på. Denna köttsliga spänning kan hjälpa dig att utnyttja lustfyllda personers veka sinne. Den är också helt oavhänging ditt utseende i övrigt. Dina slag på Presence och Manipulation modifieras med +1 när du försöker hota, förföra eller distrahera andra.

Hake: Vissa människor blir obehagliga till mods om de känslor du väcker i är opassande i deras ögon. (Tex om du är väldigt ung, gammal eller av fel kön kan din dragningskraft visa sig vara ett problem.) Haken påverkar inte din effekt på dem, men väl hur de i efterhand reagerar på sitt eget handlande.

Sympatiskt band (Source Sympathy)

Kostnad: ●●● | Typ: Social (Ghouls) | Villkor: Ghoul, Empathy ●●●

Stab

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Typ: Social (Ghouls) | Villkor: Ghoul, Resurser X

Status - Invigd

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Indelningar: Förbund, Klan, Stad | Typ: Social (VtR) | Villkor: Invigd

Taste of the Serpent

Kostnad: ●● | Villkor: Ghoul, Daeva som mästare

Your regnant's blood has changed you. You are a living vessel of indulgence. A gleeful enabler. It doesn't make you a bad person, but it does mean that people should be careful seeking your advice. Not that you associate with the sort of person who's careful.

Effect: If your character helps a human fulfill his Vice, the human gets the Swooning Condition toward your character.

Blodhund (Vitae Hound)

Kostnad: ● | Typ: Fysisk | Villkor: Ghoul

You are an aficionado of Vitae, and can sense what you need in much the same way your regnant can sense blood. You may act as you regnant's prized phunting companion, or even recieve a minor city position pursuant to this talent if you play your cards right.

Effect: Your character can use the rules for Kindred Senses, (p.90). For the purposes of searching by smell, she adds one half of her regnant's Blood Potency, rounded up.

Ärvd ghoul

Kostnad: ●● | Typ: (Ghouls) | Villkor: Ghoul

Relevanta för bortbytingar

Ny identitet

Kostnad: ●, ●● eller ●●●● | Typ: Social (CtL)

Your character has somehow managed to acquire documents supporting a new identity since his return. In this age of background checks, paper trails and bureaucratic scrutiny, this is an incredibly handy resource to call upon, especially for changelings who have returned to find their old lives stolen by their fetches, or who have returned years or even decades after being taken and must forge new lives simply because it is functionally impossible to re-enter their old ones. You are encouraged to work with the Storyteller to determine exactly how your character acquired his new identity. If your character doesn’t seem to have any Merits or relationships that might explain how he got his new identity, presumably he had to ask a favor from someone else who did — if so, what did she want in return? Many great story hooks can come from the process of acquiring a brand-new identity.

The number of dots spent on this Merit determines how convincing and in depth the documentation surrounding this new life actually is. New Identity (●) represents an identity that passes casual inspection, but not much else — a character can go shopping and get around in most daily situations, but any kind of trained scrutiny such as from a police officer or bureaucrat immediately identifies her identity as a fake. New Identity (●●) imparts an identity that will pass most forms of relatively cursory professional inspection, but cannot stand up to a sustained investigation — a police officer who has pulled the character over will not automatically pick up anything unusual if he runs the character’s license plates or calls up her name in a database, but should the character be arrested and the police begin a formal investigation, her identity will quickly unravel. New Identity (●●●●) represents an identity that is essentially as real as any identity can be — it would take a truly dedicated, competent and time-consuming search by trained professionals to uncover any hint that the changeling isn’t exactly whom she claims to be, at least as far as her documentation is concerned.

This Merit may be purchased multiple times at multiple ratings, each time representing a different identity, and an identity may also be upgraded later with the appropriate in-game explanation and experience expenditure. In the case of certain Merits such as Resources or Status, it might also be worth noting which identity these Merits are tied to, since a character may not easily be able to access or maintain them if that identity is compromised.

Relevanta för medium och de bundna

Ceremonier

Kostnad: ●+ | Typ: (GtSE) | Villkor: Bunden
Lista över Ceremonier
Throughout the ages, countless rituals have been devised for the living to contact, placate, or honor the dead. These rituals rarely have much innate power of their own — but in the hands of someone bound to a geist, they can be invested with deathly power. The adoption of these ceremonies, and to some extent the duties that these ceremonies reflect, are in some ways what defines the role of the Sin-Eater.

This Merit represents the number of ceremonies (see page 150) that a Sin-Eater knows and can perform. A character beginning play with three dots of Ceremonies might know three one-dot ceremonies, one one-dot, and one two-dot ceremony, or a single three-dot ritual.

In order to learn a new ceremony, the Sin-Eater must usually find an instructor to teach her, though in some cases (particularly with high Synergy) a Sin-Eater can learn how to “create” a ceremony from scratch. For instance, a character might study a particular culture’s rites for propitiating the dead, and with assistance and advice from her geist, finetune a version of those rites that has some supernatural effect when she performs it.

When purchasing new ceremonies with experience points, they aren’t treated as expansions of this Merit. Learning a new ceremony costs 2 experience points per dot, or three per dot if the character has no instructor available and must devise it on her own.

Dödssyn

Kostnad: ●●●● | Typ: Medial (2ndS)
Your medium can see dead people. The psychic may perceive and communicate with any ghost she encounters. The power allows only perception of and communication with ghosts in Twilight — ghosts tied to the material world and not to any otherworldly spirit world. The power affords no ability to contact spirits from the Shadow Realm that have entered the material world and that exist in Twilight. This Merit does not permit the psychic to aid ghosts in manifesting in the physical world (which requires the Ghost-Calling Merit). Most ghosts instinctively realize when a mortal can perceive them, and psychics who possess this power are often inundated by requests from desperate beings seeking help to resolve their earthly affairs.

A character who possesses the Ghost Ally Merit can acquire a limited version of Death Sight capable of letting her see and communicate with his ally by increasing the normal cost of the Ghost Ally Merit. (See “Ghost Ally,” p. 65.)

Medium

Kostnad: ●●● eller ●●●●● | Typ: Social (BotD) | Villkor: Människa, Resolve ●●
Effects: A medium is a character who can see and hear ghosts. As opposed to characters who possess a sixth sense in the presence of the unquiet dead, she can see the dead clearly — and may have a hard time telling them apart from the living. If she keeps her wits about her, she can turn her sight into a blessing. More often, mediums treat their ability as a curse.

A character with the three-dot version of this Merit is an unwilling medium. When she’s under stress, she can see ghosts in Twilight. Precisely what counts as stress is up to the Storyteller, but taking an action that’s reduced to a chance die, or having to spend a point of Willpower to hold off a negative condition both certainly count. She can see ghosts in Twilight for the remainder of the scene. She doesn’t count as a mortal for the purposes of penalizing a ghost’s attempt to manifest (see Manifestations on p. 210 of the World of Darkness Rulebook for more information). Your character might not even realize that someone else is a ghost, until he does something supernatural. The five-dot version of this Merit offers more control over your character’s ability. She’s also closer to the Underworld; if she purchases the Unseen Sense Merit with regards to ghosts (World of Darkness Rulebook p. 109) it counts as a two-dot Merit.

A medium who undergoes a near-death experience — or who actually dies but is brought back — has a better than average chance of returning with a geist bound to her soul. Her connection to the Underworld is so strong that few geists can resist the chance.

Action: Instant
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: Your character can see ghosts all right, and can until the end of the scene. She can’t stop seeing them, and any ghost she can see is aware that she can see him. They gain a +1 modifier to any Numina that they use against her.
Failure: Despite focusing, she can’t contact the dead.
Success: Your character can see and hear the dead until the end of the scene, or until she chooses to end her vision. She doesn’t count as a mortal for the purposes of penalizing a ghost’s attempt to manifest, and can negate the manifestation penalties of a number of people up to her Resolve by reflexively spending a point of Willpower.
Exceptional Success: Your character can pick out a specific ghost from all those around, and “tune out” all others, only dealing with the ghost of her choice.

Only mortal, mundane characters can possess this Merit. The pivotal moment of becoming — or being changed into — a being with supernatural powers eliminates it.

Memento

Kostnad: ●+ | Typ: (GtSE) | Villkor: Bunden
The golden death mask of Tut-Ankh-Amen. The rifle with which Lee Harvey Oswald (ostensibly) killed Kennedy. The cremated remains of Nurhachi, first sovereign emperor of the Manchu dynasty. Relics and reminders of such potent deaths (and lives) carry with them the emotive resonance of their history. Each one is a symbol of the power of death, held in tangible form, with memory carried in it just like a ghost that clings to some half-faded, decaying vestige of its former living glory. To a Sin-Eater, such memento mori not only serve as artistic and maudlin reminders of mortality, but as focal points of very real and very tangible power.

Every Bound has access to at least one memento: the keystone originally given to her by her attendant geist. Many Sin-Eaters go out of their way to collect additional mementos, often for their utility and sometimes out of a perverse desire to assemble a medley of morbid miscellany. A few krewes even hunt down other Sin-Eaters and their geists for the express purpose of relieving them of their mementos. Due to the utility of mementos, Sin-Eaters are apt to gather as many as they can — but mementos are, after all, signature objects that generally have a unique
provenance. This means the demand for mementos far exceeds the supply, with predictable and sometimes violent consequences.

Mementos generally grant access to a Threshold — a symbolic representation of a specific form of death, such as “death by violence” — which carries with it bonuses when invoking ceremonies related to its form of death. Some mementos provide Keys, which grant bonuses when used by a Sin-Eater who shares the same Key; a Sin-Eater with the Pyre-Flame Key, for instance, gains a bonus when using a Pyre-Flame memento to invoke a Manifestation.

Six different forms of mementos generally make the rounds of Sin-Eater society. The simplest memento is a charm, a small item imbued with a trace of symbolic death-energy so as to assist in unlocking Manifestations. A vanitas is a memento created by a Sin-Eater to symbolize
her personal artistic interpretation of death. A fetter is a ghost’s anchor to which the Sin-Eater has bound the ghost via a special ceremony, thereby granting the item a cold infusion of death via the ghost’s traits. A deathmask is the remnant of a geist given material form; worn by a
Sin-Eater, it provides association with the former geist’s own qualities in the form of innate knowledge from the geist’s past as well as a Key associated with the former geist’s keystone. Memorabilia, the most potent of mementos, are unique relics from powerfully symbolic deaths, such as the aforementioned rings, weapons, clothes, and implements associated with the demise of legendary figures from King Arthur to Elvis Presley. Finally, a keystone is a Manifestation of the pact between geist and Sin- Eater, given to the living by the dead as a symbol of the connection between the two.

A Sin-Eater’s initial keystone (granted by her geist) is an automatic special Memento Merit with a Threshold and two Keys, provided at no cost. Each additional memento counts as a separate Merit purchase. If a player wants to possess multiple mementos, then the Sin-Eater must have multiple Memento Merits to match. A Sin-Eater who possesses a Charm and a vanitas has two separate Memento Merits: the Charm is a ● Memento Merit, and the vanitas is a ●● Memento Merit.

Unlike other Merits, mementos do not improve via use, practice, or the simple expenditure of experience points. Each type of memento represents a signature item with unique characteristics. A Charm, for instance, is a simple object imbued symbolically with some association with death. It is not possible for a Charm to suddenly “become” a deathmask, a remnant of a destroyed geist. In extremely unusual circumstances, a Sin-Eater might discover that an item thought to be a weak memento is actually something of greater provenance (such as a Charm bullet that
later turns out to be a memorabilia, perhaps the bullet that killed Martin Luther King, Jr.). Such an improvement in the value of a memento is fodder for story development, and should not occur simply because the player wants to make a given memento “better.”

In addition to the varied powers of mementos, every memento is in essence a battery of death energy. As an instant action with a Resolve + Occult roll, a Sin-Eater can destroy one of his own mementos while in contact with it in order to release its energy and stanch his wounds. The Sin-Eater absorbs the freed plasm, healing a number of Health equal to twice the memento’s Merit rating. The memento permanently loses its supernatural powers (and, since its unnatural resilience disappears, crumbles into dust).

Specific examples of mementos, and of the particular benefits they provide to their owners, can be found starting on page 192.
• Charm (one Threshold)
•• Vanitas (one Threshold, Willpower refresh)
••• Fetter (one Threshold, one Key, one Numen)
•••• Deathmask (one Threshold, one Key, skill bonuses, plasm reservoir)
••••• Memorabilia (one Threshold, one Key, equipment bonuses, social bonuses)

Spökallians 

Kostnad: ●●● till ●●●●● | Typ: Medial (2ndS)
Unlike the Allies Merit available in the World of Darkness Rulebook, which represents influence in a particular field or area, a Ghost Ally represents a specific being — a ghost who is able and willing to aid the character in her endeavors.

A Ghost Ally is built as follows. First, he has seven dots in Attributes, divided among Power, Finesse and resistance. These Attributes are used to determine the rest of the ghost’s Advantages according to the rules outlined on p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ghost Ally has both a Virtue and a Vice, but no Skills. The Ghost Ally has a maximum Essence pool of 10 that is used to fuel Numina. The Ghost Ally has one Numen, chosen from those listed in the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ally also has a single anchor that must be the character with whom the being is connected.

Finally, a Ghost Ally has a set number of bonus points used to flesh out the restless-dead character. With this Merit at three dots, a Ghost Ally has six bonus points, while the four-dot Merit offers 12 bonus points, and the five-dot version offers 18. These bonus points can be spent as follows: six points per additional Attribute dot, three points per additional anchor and six points per additional Numen. Also, for six points, the bond between ghost and character is made so strong that the character can see and hear the ghost when it is present, even without any psychic abilities. Without such a bond, the character cannot perceive the ghost unless it manifests or otherwise makes its presence known.

Tillhåll (Haunt)

Kostnad: ● till ●●●●● | Indelningar: Nytta, Flöde, Residuum | Typ: (GtSE) | Villkor: Bunden
Prominently figuring in the death-legends of many cultures are caves, tunnels, cisterns, and doorways that lead into the depths of the Great Below. Sin-Eaters know all too well that such places contain the residue of darkness, stillness, and cold that comes with exposure to death. The lingering remnants of ghostly passage, or the association with death and the dead, can give some places a very real connection to the Underworld in truth. The Mayan term for such a place is a cenote, which refers to an underground cavern with a black pool that leads to the Underworld beneath its frigid, accepting waters. Experienced Sin-Eaters know, however, that these passages to the Great Below can and do occur in all manner of silent places; in addition to the usual suspects, cenotes can form in closets, basements, underground storage chambers, crawlspaces, or even in the industrial depths of an abandoned factory floor with labyrinthine passages amid the sunken machinery. More generally, the Bound refer to these places as low places, Avernian Gates. Those that have been claimed by a krewe or a Sin-Eater, though, are called Haunts. Sin-Eaters who have special access to a Haunt can rely on the power of the place to fuel their plasmic needs while also using the cenote as a soft point to cross into the Underworld.

Haunts come in wide and moribund variety. One might be a tiny room with a secret hatch, barely large enough to fit a person, home to a child who became trapped and died down there; another could be a haunted manor that has a grisly subterranean chapel devoted to some Slavic death-god. The utility of a Haunt lies not in its size nor in its opulence, but rather in the power of its connection to the Great Below and in its ease of use. To this end, each cenote has a rating in three different factors: its utility, its fluidity, and its residue. Each factor provides a benefit to the Sin-Eater who has access to the Haunt in question. Each factor is also considered a separate Merit to purchase, with each Haunt having ratings in both categories, although a Sin-Eater need not necessarily purchase scores in both categories immediately.

A Haunt is a useful tool, but it has a strong drawback. Sin-Eaters who sleep in cenotes find themselves haunted by ghostly visions and hideous dreams of death, much like the nightmares that afflict users of memorabilia mementos (see page 209). Sleeping at the heart of a Haunt prevents a Sin-Eater from regaining Willpower due to a night’s rest, as the rest in such a place is far from refreshing.

A Haunt’s utility represents just how much use it can serve apart from its supernatural focus. It generally accords to the size, accessibility, general security, and helpful mundane accouterments that the location has to offer. A cenote with no dots in Haunt Utility might be a small sub-basement that the krewe can access but does not own, unable to provide any benefits beyond its supernatural power. Three dots in Haunt Utility could represent a solid but slightly decrepit haunted house, not legally owned by the krewe but generally unwanted by others. Five dots might represent a small museum complete with library or a plantation house in the swamp, able to provide room and board for an entire krewe, or host a magnificent Flesh Fair.

A cenote’s fluidity represents the strength of its connection to the Underworld. Every Haunt is potentially an Avernian Gate to the Great Below, but some have a particular affinity for such travel. The more that a cenote follows mythic archetypes — containing a limpid pool of black water, an archway, a piece of funerary statuary — the stronger its connection tends to grow. For this reason, Sin-Eaters often decorate Haunts with such morbid representations. Each dot of Haunt Fluidity grants a +1 bonus to all attempts to cross into (or out of) the Underworld at its location, and an additional die toward any ceremonies performed within its boundaries. Note that this bonus is only useful to the Sin-Eater who
possesses the appropriate dots; perhaps the Sin-Eater performs tiny rituals there to make a connection with the cenote, or owns several of the pieces of decorative artwork that create the funereal motif. This bonus does stack with the benefit granted by using mementos while crossing into the Underworld (see page 265).'

Finally, Haunt Residue provides a Sin-Eater with access to additional plasm. While a Sin-Eater can gain plasm by dealing with ghosts or, in desperation, murder (see page 82), cenotes tend to leak ectoplasm into the material world. Ectoplasm that forms at a Haunt almost always does so at night, usually near the “witching hour” (midnight), and generally takes the form of a sticky or slimy residue, clear or yellowish, with a tendency to give off wavering vapors. A Sin-Eater can inhale these vapors to refuel her stores of plasm. Left by itself, plasm quickly dissipates, but powerful cenotes will continue to generate new residue. Each dot of Haunt Residue indicates one point of plasm that the cenote generates each week.

Each cenote has separate ratings in Utility, Fluidity, and Residue. Further, a Sin-Eater may well have knowledge of multiple Haunts; in such a case, each cenote’s set of Merits is purchased and tracked separately.

Special: A krewe of Sin-Eaters may share a Haunt, and indeed many krewes rely on cenotes as meeting places, locations to stash letters for the rest of the krewe, and centers for the performance of great ceremonies. The krewe may keep a Haunt’s location hidden from other Bound, or they may choose to flaunt their power by hosting Flesh Fairs there.

When a krewe purchases a Haunt Merit communally, each Sin-Eater adds his or her dots in the appropriate Merits — Haunt Accessibility, Haunt Fluidity, and Haunt Residue — to the total value of the cenote. The entire krewe then benefits from the improved value of these Merits. For instance, a pair of Sin-Eaters could each donate one dot in each Haunt Merit, thereby granting their krewe a cenote with effectively two dots in each of Haunt Accessibility, Fluidity, and Residue. A shared Haunt like this is usable by anyone who has placed dots into the cenote’s purchase, as well as anyone who is part of a ceremonially-bound krewe with such a purchaser. Of course, this means that some krewes will have shiftless layabouts who contribute little to the upkeep of a cenote’s usefulness — which is a source of strife in more than one krewe.

Should a krewe expel a member from its ranks, all of that member’s shared dots contributed to the Haunt are lost by the krewe; the discord of their ceremonial bond disrupts the flow of energies temporarily. The expelled Sin-Eater retains the Merit dots for his own use, perhaps representing a back-up location discovered or a new place to set up shop, but each Haunt Merit has its rating reduced by one dot. (If the Sin-Eater only contributed one dot in the first place, then that dot is lost.) In the event that a krewe breaks up and each member goes their separate ways, all of the dots of the shared Haunt are refunded to their previous contributors, less one dot each as a result of the breakup, need to find new locations, cost of moving personal effects, hurdles of gaining new access, and so on. Should a Sin-Eater die, all of her contributed dots vanish from the shared Merits of her krewe.

Shared Haunts do not rise in value above ●●●●● in any category, even if the krewe contributes more total dots; excess dots are superfluous, but might prevent the cenote from losing potency if the krewe suffers a sudden loss. A Sin-Eater may also have personal access to a private cenote while contributing to the krewe’s shared Haunt. In such a case, the character simply possesses multiple versions of each Merit. The shared Haunt Utility for the group’s cenote, for instance, would be tracked and purchased separately from the Sin-Eaters own personal Haunt.

Åkalla spöke (Ghost-Calling)

Kostnad:** ●●● | Typ: Medial (2ndS)

Effect: Your medium is capable of more than merely perceiving the dead; he can summon them to his presence and even assist them in crossing over to the physical world. A sufficiently talented medium can call out to an existing ghost and draw it to his location. By doing so, he can also help the entity to “cross over,” aiding it in manifesting in the physical world or in using other ghostly powers that affect the material realm. Mediums who possess this Merit and Astral Projection (p. 36) have the option of physically interacting with ghosts and other beings in Twilight with the expenditure of a Willpower point. Ghost-Calling can only summon ghosts; other supernatural beings existing in Twilight are not affected.

Roll Wits + Occult for your character to make spiritual contact with an existing ghost. Not all deceased persons continue to exist as ghosts, and few ghosts persist more than a few decades after their demise. If a ghost is still in existence, the medium can potentially contact the ghost
wherever it roams. Once the connection is formed, the medium is considered to be a temporary anchor for the ghost, and it can instantly come to his vicinity from wherever it may be. If the ghost is unwilling to come to the medium, he can attempt to compel its attendance with a successful Presence + Occult roll versus the ghost’s Resistance in a contested action. Whether the ghost comes willingly or not, a Willpower point need not be spent for the ghost to travel to its new anchor. A medium cannot control a ghost in any meaningful way. A character with this Merit cannot automatically detect ghosts unless he also has the Death Sight Merit. If he does have that Merit, he receives a +2 bonus on all Ghost-Calling rolls.

When a medium forms a psychic connection with a ghost, the medium continues to serve as the ghost’s anchor for the duration of the scene. If the medium attempts to sever the connection early, a successful Wits + Occult roll must be made versus the ghost’s Power in a contested action,
unless the ghost consents to the severing. When a medium no longer serves as an anchor, a ghost returns instantly to wherever it was prior to the summoning. Severing the psychic connection does not harm the ghost in any way.

While a connection is in force, a medium is considered an anchor for all purposes. Thus, the ghost can manifest in the psychic’s vicinity without need for a roll. A medium may place himself in grave danger if he does not know with what sort of ghost he deals.

Slag: Wits + Occult versus an unwilling ghost’s Resistance to become a temporary anchor to a ghost (resistance is reflexive). Presence + Occult versus an unwilling ghost’s Resistance to forcefully summon one to the medium’s vicinity. Kostnad: 1 Willpower | Handling: Motstånd

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: A psychic connection is forged with some entity other than the one the medium sought. The medium may be unable to sever the connection or may even become a permanent anchor to a hostile ghost.
Failure: You fail to get more successes than the ghost. The attempt to contact or summon is unsuccessful.
Success: On a contact roll, more successes are rolled for the medium than for the ghost. The medium is considered an anchor for the remainder of the scene unless the effect is ended early. On a summoning roll, the ghost is compelled to come to the medium’s vicinity.

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