Saturday, June 7, 2008

Tricks of the Dark Horde

To foster a bit of trust, I'm going to detail some of the inner workings of Excrucian powers. Some of which are available to Nobles such as yourselves, so feel free to be inspired and let your abilities grow if you can.

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Name

points
"Explanation"
Cost Breakdown: Miracle (level), Penetration X, Activation +X, Range +X, Use +X, Uncommon +1


Decoy

7 points
"Deceivers and Strategists are often known to use this ability to escape from failed situations or force an enemy out into the open. By spending 1 DMP, the Excrucian can loosen the tiniest fragment of its anti-nature and give it a list of tasks to perform for 24 hours (all attributes are zero). The decoy is guised on a visual and spiritual level, as if disguised by the Ritual of Two Skins, but will dissipate when attacked. Many users of this ability use it in tandem with Invisibility."
Cost Breakdown: Major Creation of Distraction (7), Penetration 5, Normal -2, Local -1, One Trick-3, Uncommon +1

Entitlement
5 points
"We Deceivers can fool the rather simplistic spirits of everyday possessions as if we were their owner; to accomplish this, we must make some kind of contact with the target in order to extract some piece of them as a focus for this ability. With a piece of hair, skin, blood, or whatever and a one hour ritual, a Deceiver can pose as that person in any form for the purposes of accessing their possessions for seven days (normally the Ritual of Two Skins would allow this benefit, but only with one at a time). The focus becomes a skeleton key to the victim's property. Doors unlock, checking accounts withdraw, and homes invite. Passwords are useless; the most imposing security system, even magics up to the point of Major Preservations, will generally fall to us with this charm in place if the victim could circumvent it with a key or the like. For all intents and purposes we own them with all rights available to the victim. Mortals, Anchors, and Powers are all common targets; spiritual protection rarely applies as the only time spent within an Auctoritas is to procure the focus. From then on the ability is worked at the Deceiver's leisure."
Cost Breakdown: Minor Change of Property (6), Normal -2, Global +1, Comprehensive -1, Uncommon +1


Excrucian Blessing

6 points
"The constructs of mortals are weak, but sometimes all we have to make do with. With a touch and a rather steep investment of anti-nature, we can enhance that thing to a more miraculous nature. Vehicles become almost impossibly fast, weapons can strike with the force of titans, walls can only be breached by the most devastating blows, and many other generous modifications. The item is similarly warped in its appearance, and the effects last at most one hour. Warmains and Strategists are very found of this capability, and usually transfer its power into a glove or wrist accessory to hold the anti-nature required to fuel it."
Cost Breakdown: Minor Change (6), Hard -3, Single -2, Unlimited Uses +1, Uncommon +1, x2 (the Estates of items, etc.)
Alternatively, the ability to alter one type of object reduces the effect to a single Estate, and thus 3 cp.

False Veneer
1 point
"The gift of Immortality is most commonly seen as offering just one benefit, the ability to resist any and all damage. Yet some deceitful Excrucians, even Powers, have realized that another benefit is that the sight of an oncoming juggernaut can demoralize even the most determined foes. The gift of False Veneer makes the user look as if he or she were unaffected by damage to a distance of six inches from its skin; a spear impaled through an Excrucian will seem to have healed over, but beneath the image will be a gaping wound. Missing limbs will fall out of the 'projection', but it still appears as if the limb is there. The spear would be covered in blood (or whatever pervades the Excrucian form) when pulled out but spray from bullets is hidden.
See False Veneer - Conspiring, for a greatly enhanced version."
Cost Breakdown: Minor Preservation of Appearance (3), Automatic +1, Self -3, Limited -2, Uncommon +1

Flense
3 to 10 points (default 5 points)
"Warmains trained in flensing are vicious; by finding the weakest point where body and soul meet and working a weapon or spiritual claw into the joint to tear a chunk of both out. This requires a succesful strike with legitimate melee weapon, such as a hook, a sword, or an axe, or a free hand. As part of the attack, this gift is activated and the resulting wound, if any, is made permanent. A piece of the victim is torn free and must be recovered and reassimilated by the victim to allow the wound to start healing. The magic still isn't fast enough to remove the flesh of an Immortal before it can heal, and often provides a comical tugging match for those involved."
Cost Breakdown: Major Destruction of Health (8), Penetration 2, Simple -1, Single -2, One Trick -3, Uncommon +1

Goose Chase Invocation
3 points
"By planting the slightest hint of another Estate at the scene of a crime, we Deceivers gifted in the art of the aptly named Goose Chase Invocation can instill an area with the presence of any Estate we desire. This is perfect for giving a soon to arrive Power the impression that another's Estate was involved here and can lead the users of a Witch Hunt Rite to a dead end."
Cost Breakdown: Minor Creation of Presence (4), Normal -2, Local -1, Limited -2, Uncommon +1, x3 (all Estates)


Hypnosis
6 points
"This trick is popular among Deceivers, and the occasional Strategist. The former puts the ability through the most twisted uses, though. By making eye contact with an enemy, they can unleash a hypnotic trance upon the victim to render them suggestive to any sort of directions given to them. Immutables and Immortals are typically immune, and Sacrosancts can be the wrong ones to try this on as it generally invokes the fury of their curse. Aspect 4, Spirit 3, or a proper Virtue can also spoil the effect.

"With the trance set in place, an Excrucian can give a series of commands within bounds of the victim's Code. It works on mortals and Powers, perhaps lesser Horsemen as well. The victim 'awakens' afterwards and carries out the task with realizing it."
Cost Breakdown: Major Creation of Command (7), Penetration 2, Simple -1, Single -2, Comprehensive -1, Uncommon +1


Lesser Excruciation
4 to 9 points (default 7 points)
"When a particularly vile Excrucian renders a Power helpless, it often decides to let the Power live in order to weaken its remaining Familia. This act of 'mercy' doesn't come free at all; with an hour of work and 2 DMPs, the Excrucian is able to bestow a horrid affliction from beyond the Weirding Wall. This contagion eats away at the Power from the inside and often goes unrealized until significant damage has occurred. Whenever the Power uses a miracle or gift, the miracle's attribute is reduced by one (if it would be reduced below zero, the Power loses all its relevant MP) or use of the gift is lost; this lasts until the sickness is resolved. Hints of the Excruciation are not to be given to a PC until his or her miraculous abilities quickly become more cumbersome to use and eventually die out all together, along with the Power when there is nothing left to be lost. A Power killed in this way or by being forsaken by its Imperator and Familia comes back to life as an Anchor to an Excrucian shard, or as an Excrucian shard to a full Excrucian.

"The Lesser Excruciation can be undone by having the afflicted Power consume the heart of one who naturally carries anti-nature within them; the heart from an Anchor of the attacker will undo the damage of a shard, while it takes the heart of a shard to stop a full Excrucian's Lesser Excruciation. If the attacker itself is destroyed or banished, it will also undo the effect but this generally takes more effort."
Cost Breakdown: Major Change of Miraculous Power (9), Penetration 3, Hard -3, Single -2, Wide -1, Uncommon +1

Proof Against Weapons
2 to 7 points (default 4 points)
"Most Excrucians and some Powers bear the radiance to turn waves of mortals, yet some can even resist the ravages of mortal weaponry. Those who carry the Proof Against Weapons gift have an aura that automatically shatters any crafted weapon such as a bullet, blade, or crushing implement that holds no miraculous power greater than the level of this gift (such as a focus, abhorrent weapon, or alchemical creation; a major preservation will allow a lesser weapon to strike). The drawback is that this cannot be turned off, and it limits the offensive options of the user. Improvised weapons can bypass this defense, but a more puissant version may be bought at twice the cost to cover that venue of damage as well."
Cost Breakdown: Minor Destruction of Weapons (5), Penetration 2, Automatic +1, Self -3, Limited -2, Uncommon +1

Telekinesis
4 points plus 2 per point of penetration
"Available to Noble and Excrucian, Telekinesis is a gift for the excitable warriors of either side of the war.
It works as a more superficial version of the Sovereign's Gift that I've heard about. They can focus on a single object at a time; boosting it to Local raises the base price by 2 but grants the option of moving many such items, no more that they could lift with their own body is a general rule of thumb, because it takes a bit of work to micromanage and control that many things at once. "
Cost Breakdown: Minor Change (6), Simple -1, Single -2, Limited -2, Uncommon +1, x2 (physical Estates)


Uplink
2 points + encryption
"Available to both Excrucians and Powers, this ability is common among Familia and Excrucian groups who share an exceptionally strong bond, one which encompasses the mortal conception of 'telepathy'. With this gift, a Power can speak effortlessly to all its Anchors, Familia, and Imperator on the same realm; in brief it offers the functionality of a text-only chat room. It is overwhelming popular among Strategists.

"Spending points on encryption treats the miracle level as that much higher in order to counteract any means of intercepting the messages. Improving the flexibility to Wide (-1) allows for the user to transmit images as if through a webcam, but also makes the gift uncommon (+1) to make the gift cost 4 points + encryption in total."
Cost Breakdown: Minor Creation of Communication (4), Penetration 0, Simple -1, Global +1, Limited -2

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